Newbies shot for the Whipping post???

[jbr13]

Please give me some feed back on this shot. Thank you.


http://www.jbr.smugmug.com/photos/132311288-L.jpg

[dogwood]

Well, just my two-cents. I've always heard it's better to "show, not tell" with photos. What's your subject? How are you drawing the viewers attention to the subject? If someone didn't read english, would this photo catch their eye?

Guess what I'm saying is that it looks like you're trying to show the historic district by using the sign-- personally I'd rather see a cool shot of a building in the historic district. This shot kind of looks like a tourist snap to me-- but that's just my opinion.

EDIT: oh yeah... welcome to dgrin! You have courage to make the whipping post your first post!

[pathfinder]

Welcome to dgrin, jbr. You are a brave individual to jump into the WP - it is not always that warm and fuzzy.:D

You have not filled out your profile so I know nothing about you, your equipment, or your experience level, and this means that I need to go gently with my evaluation of this image, until I hear differently.:dunno

The image does have a complete range of values from black to white. However, the areas of interest seem to lack contrast to my eye. The black to white range has been used in the forground and the background, but not really in the area of interest to my eye.

The whitest area is behind the central sign, where it says "Cecil's Old Mill" but this is not the subject, it is too white, out of focus, and hard to decipher. The central sign is easier to read, but lacks contrast to my eye, and it does not seems sharply in focus either. Some folks like angled images, but I must confess I am not a fan that thinks any angled image is better. ( I do shoot some though sometimes also:): )

I have difficulty trying to discern what it is that you are wanting the viewer to notice. The sign seems to be the subject, but it is not easy to read, and yet, there is not really anything else that is likely to be the subject, and the background setting of the sign is not really displayed either.

I would prefer a bigger, more contrasty rendition of the sign, with a wide angle lens that might also display some of the historic architecture that it describes.

When I shoot signs, I try to get a full frame shot of just the sign if I am recording information that I will use later. I then try to get a shot that allows the sign to be read, but that also displays the surrounding area or background to give depth and meaning to the sign if possible. Here (http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/109061073-L.jpg) is one attempt of mine at this.

Once again, welcome to dgrin. We look forward to seeing more of your work.:thumb

[jbr13]

Dogwood and Pathfinder, Thank you both for the comments. You are both correct. I am trying to transition from snapshot photos to photography. Maybe not doing as well as I hoped. Please if you have any suggestion on COmposition books, I would like to get better. I have had some good shots of people and motocross, but they were easy shots and lucky at times. Thanks again.

Jason



Welcome to dgrin, jbr. You are a brave individual to jump into the WP - it is not always that warm and fuzzy.:D

You have not filled out your profile so I know nothing about you, your equipment, or your experience level, and this means that I need to go gently with my evaluation of this image, until I hear differently.:dunno

The image does have a complete range of values from black to white. However, the areas of interest seem to lack contrast to my eye. The black to white range has been used in the forground and the background, but not really in the area of interest to my eye.

The whitest area is behind the central sign, where it says "Cecil's Old Mill" but this is not the subject, it is too white, out of focus, and hard to decipher. The central sign is easier to read, but lacks contrast to my eye, and it does not seems sharply in focus either. Some folks like angled images, but I must confess I am not a fan that thinks any angled image is better. ( I do shoot some though sometimes also:): )

I have difficulty trying to discern what it is that you are wanting the viewer to notice. The sign seems to be the subject, but it is not easy to read, and yet, there is not really anything else that is likely to be the subject, and the background setting of the sign is not really displayed either.

I would prefer a bigger, more contrasty rendition of the sign, with a wide angle lens that might also display some of the historic architecture that it describes.

When I shoot signs, I try to get a full frame shot of just the sign if I am recording information that I will use later. I then try to get a shot that allows the sign to be read, but that also displays the surrounding area or background to give depth and meaning to the sign if possible. Here (http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/109061073-L.jpg) is one attempt of mine at this.

Once again, welcome to dgrin. We look forward to seeing more of your work.:thumb

[dogwood]

Please if you have any suggestion on COmposition books, I would like to get better. I have had some good shots of people and motocross, but they were easy shots and lucky at times. Thanks again.

Jason

Jason:

Well, I actually like magazines for inspiration on composition, lighting, poses, etc, but it all depends on what you want to shoot. Shoot what you love and the rest will happen...

... if you love motocross, for example, start going to all the local events you can, hand out business cards, and shoot as much as you can. The first couple of events might not go so well in terms of photos, but learn from those mistakes and keep at it! Plus, if you sell any photos, make mental notes of what sells and keep trying to shoot that way.

Oh yeah-- while there is certainly a level of skill involved in photography, I think you might be amazed at how much 'luck' is involved too. Even a studio shoot where almost everything can be controlled-- sometimes you luck out by having a model suggest a pose or idea that you hadn't thought about.

When you see photos you like, xerox 'em or tear 'em out of magazines and add them to a folder-- after you have a bunch of photos, look through them to see if a common theme develops. Then try to bring that into your personal photography. Personally, I try to "copy" images I like, and they ALWAYS look different than the original because my own style creeps in and the model and makeup/hair people have their own style and all that comes together in images that were inspired by others, but end up looking totally different.

Hope that helps. You can obviously spend a lifetime learning photography and pushing your creative limits-- that's why most of us hear love it so much! :D

[Andy]

I love odd-angles but it's not working for me here. I can't tell what the left 1/3rd of the shot is, and it's troubling me.

Nice bw conversion though!

[jbr13]

THanks Andy, The left third of the picture is an old shell gas pump. Like I said before I am really need to work on composition. I like the way a lot of my exposures turn out, other than composition.

I love odd-angles but it's not working for me here. I can't tell what the left 1/3rd of the shot is, and it's troubling me.

Nice bw conversion though!