I love skyline shots. this is great. I noticed a pole of somesort in the foreground. I always try to avoid those when taking a skyline shot.
Great job on the reflection shot..
I love the black and white shot and the fact that you cannot see the face. I always think that this adds a lot to a photo.
Nice photos. If you're looking for general thoughts, I think they're great. If you're wanting picky things, read on!
The first one is gorgeous, but the foreground is distracting.
I like the second one. Only thing that might improve it is shooting from a lower position, maybe even aiming up at her.
The selective color shots don't work for me. Both are nice portraits, but the color is very distracting. Maybe the blue eyes would be ok, but the pink lips bother me for some reason. The green in the following shot pulls the focus away from the face. I like selective color, but I guess not in portraits.
The second skyline shot - the sky and the reflections are nice. The buildings aren't as nice as the first shot though. I think that one needs different framing. Usually having the horizon in the center is good for reflections, but in this case I think I'd lose either the top third or bottom third of the image and see what it looks like. I think it needs some drama in it.
The last shot is nice. Maybe if you were closer to the subject it would be more "intimate" like you're looking through their eyes.
Oh, and it doesn't bother me, but it bothers a lot of people - many of your horizons aren't quite straight. You can straighten them out in post processing.
The motifs and compositions of all of your photos are very good, which is an important thing and quite harder to learn than a bit of post-processing.
My ideas would be:
1: As the others said, get closer to the railing to have just the water and the skyscrapers and a more simplistic composition (normally more appealing to the eye), then if you have photoshop you could "cross-process", which means just selecting the skyscrapers and water and brighten it up, then just selecting the sky and darkening it to make a stronger contrast.
2: Lover her pose and the glittering water, the only problem here is that her face is not very visible. Maybe you could brighten it up or put a hand over your camera to shield it from direct sunlight.
3: Nice and cute face ;). Could be a candidate for selective colour - just select the eyes and make everything else black and white. Then increase contrast for a stronger effect.
4: A beautiful portrait, especially with the black background. I would also brighten it up a bit and increase contrast here.
5: Nothing to add here, the composition is just as I would have adviced for 1.
6: I really like this one, especially in b&w. Maybe also a bit brighter and stronger contrast (that's usually the first thing I do in post-processing). This shot could also be a candidate for sepia, which makes everything a bit warmer and softer and for me works wonders on nostalgic sweet shots like this one.
Hope I could help a bit, you're off to a wonderful start :)!
The only thing I would say is that - to me - the first one doesn't seem quite straight. It feels like the horizon is leaning to the right, a little. It could just be me reading problems into something which simply aren't there - I know I absolutely obsess about straightness in my pictures, and I often go to back to re-edit six or seven times, making minute rotational adjustments - but that's just how it seemed to me.
Overall, I like your pictures. I can tell that you are telling a story through each picture and I really like that! To me, having a story in a picture really draws my interest and brings me back to look at the picture over and over again.
Here are my specific comments and/or suggestions for each picture:
1. If I was on the scene, I would decide upon a main subject/s (e.g. bridge?) and make that my focal point. Another idea is to get down low and use the posts in the foreground to my advantage (would be a cool contrast with the vertical buildings in the background). Does the sign say something about the scene? If so, I might step over to the right and catch the words on the sign and use the buildings on the background. In other words, this would be one place where I would be trying a lot of different angles & perspectives. It would be a fun photo taking experience.
2. I like this one. Suggestions to make it better: Crop a bit to get less of her shirt. Get down lower and shoot up at the girl. However, it is nice as it is.
3. I would just color the eyes. Perhaps a little deeper blue color?
4. I wonder how this would look cropped closer, especially taking some off of the left side. Perhaps a square picture? I think this would look nice in a portrait format. Personally, I don't like that shade of green, so I would use another color (if I could do selective coloring). However, that is just my color preference.
5. I really like this. If I was better at cropping, I would crop off the left hand building and a bit of the water at the bottom to emphasize the reflections more. However, I find this picture a pleasing one like it is.
6. I like the child faced away from the camera. If you would have stepped over to the right a few inches, you would have eliminated the tree on her head. This also would have placed the child looking at the bench in the shelter house. This would have added drama to the shot. Is the child going to run for the bench? Is the child looking at the bench? What is the child thinking about? You could try some fuzzy framing around the child during processing and see if this creates a mood. I am not certain if framing is the right word---perhaps this is a lighting process effect.
Overall, you are a step beyond me. I don't take a lot of portraits and I am just beginning to include water in my shots. I am just beginning to get into processing.
I don't have a ton to add, but just that I think it is wonderfully brave of you to be open to critique and I hope you take it and run with it! This are some wonderful and talented people on here, and you are off to a wonderful start! :)
I'm just a beginner so take anything I say with a HUGE grain of salt. But one thing I am trying to work on is not cropping in so tight on pictures. Try to make sure you don't cut off anyone's hands, feet, top of head, if possible.
These a really nice. I LOVE #4, the colors and reflection are beautiful.
I would like to Thank Each and Everyone of you for their posts. I know I am just beginning my love affair with photography, and I will DEFINATELY take all your advice to heart! Some of the suggestions you have listed I would never have thought of and I truly appreciate each and every one of you!
I will be adding new photos regularly, so if you feel like it stop by and tell me what you think!
Thank You
Veronica
So at the advice of some of you guys out there...here is picture #3 with out the pink lips.. and I agree...much better...its my youngest so she is beautiful no matter what..but the pink didnt do her any justice! Thank you again of the advice!
much better without the pink lips,it looked a bit like she had lipstick on in the first one which i wasn't keen on.
number 1 i would straighten up a bit and take out a bit of the foreground.
essdentially though they are all pretty good pics imo, i love number 6
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Great job on the reflection shot..
I love the black and white shot and the fact that you cannot see the face. I always think that this adds a lot to a photo.
The first one is gorgeous, but the foreground is distracting.
I like the second one. Only thing that might improve it is shooting from a lower position, maybe even aiming up at her.
The selective color shots don't work for me. Both are nice portraits, but the color is very distracting. Maybe the blue eyes would be ok, but the pink lips bother me for some reason. The green in the following shot pulls the focus away from the face. I like selective color, but I guess not in portraits.
The second skyline shot - the sky and the reflections are nice. The buildings aren't as nice as the first shot though. I think that one needs different framing. Usually having the horizon in the center is good for reflections, but in this case I think I'd lose either the top third or bottom third of the image and see what it looks like. I think it needs some drama in it.
The last shot is nice. Maybe if you were closer to the subject it would be more "intimate" like you're looking through their eyes.
Oh, and it doesn't bother me, but it bothers a lot of people - many of your horizons aren't quite straight. You can straighten them out in post processing.
My ideas would be:
1: As the others said, get closer to the railing to have just the water and the skyscrapers and a more simplistic composition (normally more appealing to the eye), then if you have photoshop you could "cross-process", which means just selecting the skyscrapers and water and brighten it up, then just selecting the sky and darkening it to make a stronger contrast.
2: Lover her pose and the glittering water, the only problem here is that her face is not very visible. Maybe you could brighten it up or put a hand over your camera to shield it from direct sunlight.
3: Nice and cute face ;). Could be a candidate for selective colour - just select the eyes and make everything else black and white. Then increase contrast for a stronger effect.
4: A beautiful portrait, especially with the black background. I would also brighten it up a bit and increase contrast here.
5: Nothing to add here, the composition is just as I would have adviced for 1.
6: I really like this one, especially in b&w. Maybe also a bit brighter and stronger contrast (that's usually the first thing I do in post-processing). This shot could also be a candidate for sepia, which makes everything a bit warmer and softer and for me works wonders on nostalgic sweet shots like this one.
Hope I could help a bit, you're off to a wonderful start :)!
I think these are brilliant pictures!
The only thing I would say is that - to me - the first one doesn't seem quite straight. It feels like the horizon is leaning to the right, a little. It could just be me reading problems into something which simply aren't there - I know I absolutely obsess about straightness in my pictures, and I often go to back to re-edit six or seven times, making minute rotational adjustments - but that's just how it seemed to me.
Here are my specific comments and/or suggestions for each picture:
1. If I was on the scene, I would decide upon a main subject/s (e.g. bridge?) and make that my focal point. Another idea is to get down low and use the posts in the foreground to my advantage (would be a cool contrast with the vertical buildings in the background). Does the sign say something about the scene? If so, I might step over to the right and catch the words on the sign and use the buildings on the background. In other words, this would be one place where I would be trying a lot of different angles & perspectives. It would be a fun photo taking experience.
2. I like this one. Suggestions to make it better: Crop a bit to get less of her shirt. Get down lower and shoot up at the girl. However, it is nice as it is.
3. I would just color the eyes. Perhaps a little deeper blue color?
4. I wonder how this would look cropped closer, especially taking some off of the left side. Perhaps a square picture? I think this would look nice in a portrait format. Personally, I don't like that shade of green, so I would use another color (if I could do selective coloring). However, that is just my color preference.
5. I really like this. If I was better at cropping, I would crop off the left hand building and a bit of the water at the bottom to emphasize the reflections more. However, I find this picture a pleasing one like it is.
6. I like the child faced away from the camera. If you would have stepped over to the right a few inches, you would have eliminated the tree on her head. This also would have placed the child looking at the bench in the shelter house. This would have added drama to the shot. Is the child going to run for the bench? Is the child looking at the bench? What is the child thinking about? You could try some fuzzy framing around the child during processing and see if this creates a mood. I am not certain if framing is the right word---perhaps this is a lighting process effect.
Overall, you are a step beyond me. I don't take a lot of portraits and I am just beginning to include water in my shots. I am just beginning to get into processing.
These a really nice. I LOVE #4, the colors and reflection are beautiful.
I will be adding new photos regularly, so if you feel like it stop by and tell me what you think!
Thank You
Veronica
number 1 i would straighten up a bit and take out a bit of the foreground.
essdentially though they are all pretty good pics imo, i love number 6
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let me know if you see it then, if not something is real goffy here