The SSP Photo Critique and Suggestion Thread

glowrock · #1 Posted: **May 23, 2013, 1:52 PM**

Given the extremely high level of skill so many of our SSP photographers exhibit in their photothreads here, I thought it would be a great idea to have a thread in which people could offer their photos for helpful and constructive critiquing, suggestions and the like. Let's face it, photography is an art form that takes years of practice and thousands to tens of thousands of photos to really develop true skill at, and we've all got occasions where we'd like others to help us get even better in our skills.

So with that being said, this thread is for us all to submit our photos here for others to give their critiques and suggestions on how to improve them. Just please keep comments and criticisms on a "professional" level, please.

If noone offers up any of their photos by this afternoon, I'll throw a couple in as the guinea pig. I'm really curious how much interest there will be in a thread like this!

Aaron (Glowrock)

SignalHillHiker · #2 Posted: **May 23, 2013, 2:54 PM**

I think it's a great idea!

Let's try to all start taking Flash-quality photos,

!

I'll volunteer one that represents an area I'm struggling with. Just so you know: I'm not defensive or possessive about my photography at all. Please be polite,

, but don't hesitate to tear it apart.

So... I think I've got a handle on proportion, where to crop photos, how to compose them, etc. Sometimes, out of necessity (not wanting to include something ugly, wanting to include something attractive), I have to line things up a little strangely... but that's fine. I'd rather the left side of the photo look cut off a little too soon than to have half a building's blank wall in it.

Where I'm struggling most is photographing at distances during the day and, especially, during the fog. I find the photos are often far too grainy.

I've figured out that the main key seems to be leaving the shutter open as long as I possibly can and I have to process lightly, and ensure I reduce noise if I'm adding any HDR effects. Beyond that, I've no ideas what to do.

Also, I often end up with a sky that's far too white. But I just can't figure out what to do short of taking separate photos for the land and sky and blending them as a panorama, such as this one:

Any advice, tips - GREATLY appreciated.

glowrock · #3 Posted: **May 23, 2013, 8:45 PM**

Here's one of mine I could use some suggestions on:

photoLith · #4 Posted: **May 23, 2013, 10:26 PM**

Photo critiques are hard to do online. You'd have to be there in person to see he situation at hand.

glowrock · #5 Posted: **May 23, 2013, 10:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photoLith

Photo critiques are hard to do online. You'd have to be there in person to see he situation at hand.

I agree it's certainly best to be there in person to see the actual situation, but still, it's a heck of a lot better than nothing.

Aaron (Glowrock)

ChiTownCity · #6 Posted: **Yesterday, 12:24 AM**

Glowrock, the only thing I would suggest is to use the widest aperture you can when doing isolated portraits so the background won't be as detailed unless there's something back there that you would like to keep visible. What lens did you use for the pic you posted?

glowrock · #7 Posted: **Yesterday, 1:08 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiTownCity

Glowrock, the only thing I would suggest is to use the widest aperture you can when doing isolated portraits so the background won't be as detailed unless there's something back there that you would like to keep visible. What lens did you use for the pic you posted?

I was using the Nikkor 105mm f2.8 macro lens. The problem I had was that I was an idiot and forgot to check my ISO settings that I had used the evening before when I was getting night shots. As a result, the ISO was stuck at 1600 for the whole set of shots I took, which of course meant my aperture was entirely too high.

Moral of the story: CHECK YOUR SETTINGS BEFORE SHOOTING!!!

Aaron (Glowrock)