What do you all think of my photos?
- Thread starter Zachadoodle
- Start date
Imamacuser
Veteran
Is this compilations intended to act as a portfolio? If so, I recommend culling photos with bad composition, bad lighting, missed focus, incorrect white balance, chroma/luma noise, and ones that are cropped-in to the point of seeing individual pixels.
Shoot in RAW for high contrast scenes.
Post process your photos in Photo Shop, Affinity Photo, GIMP or similar software. Post processing doesn't have to be fancy or complex, it could be as simple as one of the following or a combination of all five: cropping, color boost, s-curve, unsharp mask, and noise reduction.
For landscape photography, I recommend a high quality circular polarizer and soft edge 0.9 graduated ND filter. You will have to learn how to use those tools properly, and when to use them or not use them. The highlights were blown out on a lot of your photos, and a CPL & Grad ND can help you hold your highlights.
Hoya makes good "affordable" CPLs. Finding an inexpensive, color neutral grad ND can be a little more challenging. I have a pretty neutral Kood resin 0.9 grad ND in Cokin P size that I got from B&H years ago.
If you don't have one already, I recommend that you buy a book on photography and review the fundamentals. Your photos don't reflect a photographer who has mastered the fundamentals, and I don't mean that to be condescending, we all start knowing nothing, and have to learn and practice to improve.
Shoot in RAW for high contrast scenes.
Post process your photos in Photo Shop, Affinity Photo, GIMP or similar software. Post processing doesn't have to be fancy or complex, it could be as simple as one of the following or a combination of all five: cropping, color boost, s-curve, unsharp mask, and noise reduction.
For landscape photography, I recommend a high quality circular polarizer and soft edge 0.9 graduated ND filter. You will have to learn how to use those tools properly, and when to use them or not use them. The highlights were blown out on a lot of your photos, and a CPL & Grad ND can help you hold your highlights.
Hoya makes good "affordable" CPLs. Finding an inexpensive, color neutral grad ND can be a little more challenging. I have a pretty neutral Kood resin 0.9 grad ND in Cokin P size that I got from B&H years ago.
If you don't have one already, I recommend that you buy a book on photography and review the fundamentals. Your photos don't reflect a photographer who has mastered the fundamentals, and I don't mean that to be condescending, we all start knowing nothing, and have to learn and practice to improve.
Zachadoodle
Well-known member
Not my portfolio just a gallery. I've gotten good ratings on a lot of them so I don't see where what you're talking about is distracting? Go a little bit more in depth with it so I can learn a little bit more about it.
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Doug Jensen
Veteran
You think this these are worthy of showing publicly? And asking professionals to comment on?
Go back and read Imamacuser's comments again and then take a fresh look at your pictures. His advice and comments are spot on.
Zachadoodle
Well-known member
1st one, yes I do admit that it does kinda look a bit bad.
2nd one that's an interesting piece of wood. To me It looked like an album cover.
3rd one gives a distant look on the sea, like it reminds me of a postcard.
Not having the proper ISO I can see being an issue. I do have issues getting the subject properly in focus too.
White balance I don't see that being a problem in the images. As for lighting, I can see the subject clearly and can tell what they are. I've had people previously tell me they could see it clearly.
These I think are my best images:
Were there any that you think look at least okay?
2nd one that's an interesting piece of wood. To me It looked like an album cover.
3rd one gives a distant look on the sea, like it reminds me of a postcard.
Not having the proper ISO I can see being an issue. I do have issues getting the subject properly in focus too.
White balance I don't see that being a problem in the images. As for lighting, I can see the subject clearly and can tell what they are. I've had people previously tell me they could see it clearly.
These I think are my best images:
Were there any that you think look at least okay?
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Doug Jensen
Veteran
It really depends one what your purpose was when you took them. I don't think any of them have the slightest bit of commercial value. Most are snapshots with the subject smack dab in the center of the frame and no attention paid to composition or lighting. If you took them just for your own pleasure, there's nothing wrong with that. But I think it is a mistake to post them on a forum like this and expect other people to admire them.
Zachadoodle
Well-known member
Nah it's okay.
ISO is an issue. The T2i wasn’t really that good in lower light, and higher ISOs could get very grainy. Also, higher ISOs with lower light turned the colors all plasticky.
Getting the subject in focus is pretty much make-or-break for photography.
White balance is a problem. If you don’t get it right, and the colors are all wonky, it’s a problem.
Being able to see the subject and to tell what it is, doesn’t define a good photo. Pretty much everything in your gallery is grainy, pixellated, soft-focused, or aliased. A lot of that has to do with proper exposure (especially underexposure, which will make for grainy pictures). Overexposure blows out highlights and loses important detail.
As I mentioned above, tack-sharp focus is critically important, unless you’re going for intentionally blurry, avant garde content. Maybe you haven’t learned how to focus properly. Maybe you’re shooting handheld and don’t have the shutter speed fast enough to avoid motion blur from an unsteady hand, or your aperture is wide open and your focal plane is too thin to get the whole subject in focus. Maybe you have one of the Canon Rebel kit lenses, which were often known for being a little soft. Or maybe it’s a combination of several or all of these things.
The geese are grainy and soft, and the highlights are blown.
The flowers are okay but still a bit soft. The yellow disc florets are what draw the eye, and there’s some shallow focus in there that loses some of the pattern.
The apple is mostly out of focus. I can see the focal plane, closer to the stem and the water droplets, but the entire front section is blurry. Your aperture was too wide.
Like Doug said, if this is just a collection of pictures you took that make you happy, that’s great. These are not refined or professional in any way, though. Also as has been mentioned, the framing and composition on most of these are flat and uninspired.
Keep practicing, as that’s the only way to get there.
You have snapshots, not photographs. Photography is about framing, composition, lighting, and a bunch of other stuff. It's not "see something at take a picture of it from where you are standing". Here are some examples. Do you see the difference?
This is a photograph of an apple:
This is a photograph of a daisy:
Here is a photograph of geese:
This is a photograph of an apple:
This is a photograph of a daisy:
Here is a photograph of geese:
Zachadoodle
Well-known member
Could this be a photo? 
I did it in the kitchen with black printed out paper with a small tomato, utilizing overhead lighting.
I did it in the kitchen with black printed out paper with a small tomato, utilizing overhead lighting.
Zachadoodle
Well-known member
Lastly, how about this bird photo?
Photographed this bird in the middle of the morning when it was outside my porch window on a pot with a T2i using a 70-210 from a distance from the door panel. I think it turned out good. The F/stop I believe was F/5.6 or F/3.5. ISO I believe was either 160 or 320. I used Gimp applying a lot of sharpness to it.
Photographed this bird in the middle of the morning when it was outside my porch window on a pot with a T2i using a 70-210 from a distance from the door panel. I think it turned out good. The F/stop I believe was F/5.6 or F/3.5. ISO I believe was either 160 or 320. I used Gimp applying a lot of sharpness to it.
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Zachadoodle
Well-known member
Imamacuser
Veteran
Unless you're going for a specific aspect ratio, I'd crop off a little from the top & bottom to eliminate some of the empty space, get rid of the floating grass blade at the top, and draw attention to the bird. You could also paint out the grass blade if cropping isn't an option due to aspect ratio.
While I'm thinking of it, multiples of ISO 160 are the cleanest values on your vintage of Canon DSLRs, but there's some debate on it effecting your dynamic range, see this CanonRumors thread.
While I'm thinking of it, multiples of ISO 160 are the cleanest values on your vintage of Canon DSLRs, but there's some debate on it effecting your dynamic range, see this CanonRumors thread.
morgan_moore
Major Contributor
These are genius, its just we are too stupid to see it. high art.
My friend was on a 'presser' and an art photographer took a picture of his step ladder $100k per print.
DustinSchmidt
Well-known member
Weighing in quickly here with a few thoughts.
First, I think the title of this thread is the wrong question to be asking and part of what leads to ineffective feedback.
If the OP is looking for specific notes on things like composition, exposure, or other technical things then it's best to be specific. Asking questions like, "Are these photos properly exposed?" would lead to helpful feedback on that topic.
In the professional world of taking photographs there is typically a creative brief and/or shotlist specifying the desired look, feel, style, mood and shots that need to be captured. If the brief was, "We need tomatoes on a black background," and that's what the OP delivers, then congratulations, you've accomplished the brief and the client is happy.
But asking generally "What do you think of my photos?" opens up a hornet's nest of opinions where everyone is picking random things to comment on. Some don't like the subject matter, some won't like the composition or framing, etc., etc.
Even providing feedback on a question worded as generally as this is an exercise in futility.
First, I think the title of this thread is the wrong question to be asking and part of what leads to ineffective feedback.
If the OP is looking for specific notes on things like composition, exposure, or other technical things then it's best to be specific. Asking questions like, "Are these photos properly exposed?" would lead to helpful feedback on that topic.
In the professional world of taking photographs there is typically a creative brief and/or shotlist specifying the desired look, feel, style, mood and shots that need to be captured. If the brief was, "We need tomatoes on a black background," and that's what the OP delivers, then congratulations, you've accomplished the brief and the client is happy.
But asking generally "What do you think of my photos?" opens up a hornet's nest of opinions where everyone is picking random things to comment on. Some don't like the subject matter, some won't like the composition or framing, etc., etc.
Even providing feedback on a question worded as generally as this is an exercise in futility.
Imamacuser
Veteran
Dustin, I think we should interpret this thread as "what can I do to improve my photography?" which I grant is a rather open-ended question, but I and others have provided a list of things to get Zach on the right path. Taking all the college photography courses would be a comprehensive solution, but I think that's a ripoff, as LinkedIn learning videos will cover the same material.
Zach, here's a suggestion for getting consistently correct exposure; download your T2i's manual, and read the sections on histogram, metering mode, and exposure compensation. A lot of people remember to set their metering mode, but neglect to adjust the exposure compensation.
I find histograms rather imprecise, and unlike false color or waveform, it's not obvious what in the scene is clipping. Nikon gives you an RGB histogram, and a highlight overexposure warning, so I prefer Nikon's system, but perhaps Magic Lantern enables a similar option.
Zach, here's a suggestion for getting consistently correct exposure; download your T2i's manual, and read the sections on histogram, metering mode, and exposure compensation. A lot of people remember to set their metering mode, but neglect to adjust the exposure compensation.
I find histograms rather imprecise, and unlike false color or waveform, it's not obvious what in the scene is clipping. Nikon gives you an RGB histogram, and a highlight overexposure warning, so I prefer Nikon's system, but perhaps Magic Lantern enables a similar option.
Doug Jensen
Veteran
Can't you use auto exposure on the T2i when shooting photos? I always use auto with my A1 and 5Dm4 when shooting RAW photos. Never got home and regretted it.