This would have been a better way to spend winter.
You've got some really nice shots here! Some of the comments below will be a bit nit-picky, and remember it's ALWAYS easier to critique than it is to be the one actually shooting - so take some of this with a grain of salt.
1. Rule of thirds - the building on the beach would have been nicer on the left or the right, but is a bit awkward in the middle like it is.
2. A beautiful sunset, and a well-exposed scene! But I'm not sure what you wanted the focus to be because there's so much stuff in the picture.
3. I like this one. To get nitpicky... you might have brought out the sunset even more by crouching a bit lower, stepping to the right a bit. You also might have either stepped forward to get rid of the little bit of clutter at the bottom, or stepped back a little ways to get more of a sense of setting.
4. The swan... first, think about location. You're shooting from standing up above the swan, which shows it to me, but doesn't invite me into the scene. Get lower, play with different perspectives. Also, pay attention to the details in the background; the remote on the bed, the lamp, the distracting line on the wall? Sometimes you want these things, but always pay attention to the background so that you include them on purpose, not on accident.
5. Gorgeous place. Nothing to complain about with this shot, although there's nothing really as a focus here, either - it's just a pretty scene! Although the rule of thirds might apply here, too... most of the time, you don't want the horizon line to go right through the middle of the photo. Show me more sky or more sand.
6. Ditto.
7. Pelicans are awesome. But you either need a good distance lens, or a way to invite them to dive-bomb for fish right next to you.
8. Artsy, I like it. I would look at this the same way I would your fire hydrant picture from the blizzard, as a "solitary figure" sort of image. Maybe zoom out a little bit more, so it's surrounded by sand? And again, you usually don't want the image right down the middle of the picture.
9. Ditto #7.
10. Ditto #7.
11. This one, with a bunch of birds flying in different directions, really works for me from this far away. ESPECIALLY if you cropped it to you square. With this one, your focus isn't on one particular bird, it's on a whole scene, so your distance makes sense. Aside from cropping, I think it's great.
12. Ditto #7.
13. Hurray for good perspectives! You got down low, on level with your subject, which is great. For this one you might have gotten closer, in order to show more of the shape and detail of the buoy and rope. Also, as before, don't put your subject in the middle of the frame - rule of thirds!
14. Ditto #5.
15. Me gusta! Again, lone solitary figures are cool, and Dave on a beach especially rocks. My only issue is, again, rule of thirds - put him over on the right side more, not in the middle.
16. I like this one too, but it's a good example of needing to think about perspective again. Everything is centered (horizon, Dave), it's shot from eye-level, and the horizon is cutting through Dave's head. Crouching a little bit lower (chest-level?) would have been fine. Shooting from, say, waist-level would have been even more epic, as you would have had a powerful Dave striding across the beach, framed by the sky.
This would have been a better way to spend winter.
ReplyDeleteYou've got some really nice shots here! Some of the comments below will be a bit nit-picky, and remember it's ALWAYS easier to critique than it is to be the one actually shooting - so take some of this with a grain of salt.
1. Rule of thirds - the building on the beach would have been nicer on the left or the right, but is a bit awkward in the middle like it is.
2. A beautiful sunset, and a well-exposed scene! But I'm not sure what you wanted the focus to be because there's so much stuff in the picture.
3. I like this one. To get nitpicky... you might have brought out the sunset even more by crouching a bit lower, stepping to the right a bit. You also might have either stepped forward to get rid of the little bit of clutter at the bottom, or stepped back a little ways to get more of a sense of setting.
4. The swan... first, think about location. You're shooting from standing up above the swan, which shows it to me, but doesn't invite me into the scene. Get lower, play with different perspectives. Also, pay attention to the details in the background; the remote on the bed, the lamp, the distracting line on the wall? Sometimes you want these things, but always pay attention to the background so that you include them on purpose, not on accident.
5. Gorgeous place. Nothing to complain about with this shot, although there's nothing really as a focus here, either - it's just a pretty scene! Although the rule of thirds might apply here, too... most of the time, you don't want the horizon line to go right through the middle of the photo. Show me more sky or more sand.
6. Ditto.
7. Pelicans are awesome. But you either need a good distance lens, or a way to invite them to dive-bomb for fish right next to you.
8. Artsy, I like it. I would look at this the same way I would your fire hydrant picture from the blizzard, as a "solitary figure" sort of image. Maybe zoom out a little bit more, so it's surrounded by sand? And again, you usually don't want the image right down the middle of the picture.
9. Ditto #7.
10. Ditto #7.
11. This one, with a bunch of birds flying in different directions, really works for me from this far away. ESPECIALLY if you cropped it to you square. With this one, your focus isn't on one particular bird, it's on a whole scene, so your distance makes sense. Aside from cropping, I think it's great.
12. Ditto #7.
13. Hurray for good perspectives! You got down low, on level with your subject, which is great. For this one you might have gotten closer, in order to show more of the shape and detail of the buoy and rope. Also, as before, don't put your subject in the middle of the frame - rule of thirds!
14. Ditto #5.
15. Me gusta! Again, lone solitary figures are cool, and Dave on a beach especially rocks. My only issue is, again, rule of thirds - put him over on the right side more, not in the middle.
16. I like this one too, but it's a good example of needing to think about perspective again. Everything is centered (horizon, Dave), it's shot from eye-level, and the horizon is cutting through Dave's head. Crouching a little bit lower (chest-level?) would have been fine. Shooting from, say, waist-level would have been even more epic, as you would have had a powerful Dave striding across the beach, framed by the sky.