Enjoying photos and not fault finding
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Maybe that's why I wont post my own images up here, for fear of criticism
That's a shame, there is some very useful comment here amongst the occasionally rude - I was just looking at a wedding series and some good crit was given and received, to the benefit of the tog I am sure.
Don't be put off posting, neither be hyper-critical of your own pics, photography should be enjoyable, take your pics and enjoy what you are doing, don't worry overly what others think.
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One of the problems with becoming good at something...
I always remember my brother...in his younger days he was a musician and did a lot of recording in the studio. His hearing was excellent, and his recording was precise.
He was a nightmare to sit with and listen to music...I would enjoy the music, but he would be sat there wincing! Every slight problem with the music, however tiny, would annoy him. He began to dislike listening to his favourite stuff because he couldn't skim over the faults.
He's different now...he left music and is now a film and TV lighting man. And I'm sure he enjoys his music listening again. But he's a nightmare to watch a TV programme with..."oooh, look at that shadow there...he's got that light 2mm too far to the right. Oooh, look at that highlight on that cooker know...I'd have had a tiny strip of blackwrap on that cooker hood to get rid of that...." etc. etc.
I always remember my brother...in his younger days he was a musician and did a lot of recording in the studio. His hearing was excellent, and his recording was precise.
He was a nightmare to sit with and listen to music...I would enjoy the music, but he would be sat there wincing! Every slight problem with the music, however tiny, would annoy him. He began to dislike listening to his favourite stuff because he couldn't skim over the faults.
He's different now...he left music and is now a film and TV lighting man. And I'm sure he enjoys his music listening again. But he's a nightmare to watch a TV programme with..."oooh, look at that shadow there...he's got that light 2mm too far to the right. Oooh, look at that highlight on that cooker know...I'd have had a tiny strip of blackwrap on that cooker hood to get rid of that...." etc. etc.
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That is true. I am currently starting out with my studio. I am practicing with the lights and so on. In a lot of places I get "Nice photo" and the like. That's fine, and I like it. But then some other people are much more direct (like Garry). He knows his lights, and he hasn't held back in his critique, and in his ideas to solve my lighting problems. The first time, it can scare people away...but if you stick with it, then the advice is great.
Post some pictures...take the advice, ignore the rude, and lap up the praise. It's all part of the experience.
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I get irritated with myself for liking photos that I know were taken using an auto-creative mode with little thought to the composition or lighting yet it's still worked.
I have found it takes a lot more to impress me now but it's a but like watching 'behind the scenes' footage of a DVD - it takes the magic away when you know how it's done
I have found it takes a lot more to impress me now but it's a but like watching 'behind the scenes' footage of a DVD - it takes the magic away when you know how it's done
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I used to love looking at photos and trying to work out what is going on. But just lately when I have been viewing images, not just on this forum but other places also, I have been fault funding.
At the moment I have a thing for lens distortion, I seem to keep seeing it a lot in peoples photos now, I seem to be on the look out for it!
The reason I got drawn to it was because I took a park photo, and this was on a path lined with street lamps. I noticed the end one was bent, when I went back to the park and compared the photo. The post was pretty straight, it was my lens distorting my images!
Maybe that's why I wont post my own images up here, for fear of criticism
PS most of my photos are distorted, and those that are not are just badly composed !
Criticism is all part of the learning curve.With out self criticism you can not improve your skills in anything.
Every thing you do is less than perfect (Just as a Christian would say no one is with out sin).
That being the case, If we want to improve a skill, we first have to recognise possible faults faults and what causes them.
Photography has elements of both art and craft. there is little point in learning about one with out the other.
If You want to improve you must be prepared to spend time and effort.
No one is forcing you... very few camera owners would describe themselves as photographers.
Your problem with distortion is knowing what causes it.
Just about all affordable lenses distort in some respects. A zoom lens will always move to some degree between Pincushion and barrel distortion. This will show mostly at the edges of shots. Some modern cameras can correct the image in camera with firmware, others not.
Every time you take a shot with the back of the camera out of vertical you get a degree of keystoneing (if you are pointing up vertical lines will converge toward the top. If you are pointing down they will converge at the bottom) This is purely geometric it is not a fault with the lens.
All Distortions caused by a lens or geometry an can be corrected with simple software. PTLens is perhaps the cheapest, and photoshop the most expensive.
happygolucky
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Maybe that's why I wont post my own images up here, for fear of criticism
Just part of your photographic journey!
Liking that graph
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I kno exactly how you feel, it takes a lot to genuinely impress me & in all honesty, most of my own work doesn't impress me. I'm gradually learning to overcome this but I'm still pretty far off from uploading most of the shots I take even to my small Flickr collection. I always appreciate feedback/critism even if its harsh ~ it's almost as if it's my own critisms holding me back? It's insane, why do we do it? & I often wonder where my high expectations came from..
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I think we all go thought this,at one time or another,but i am getting better at it,i sometime like the stuff i do
.I think every time i look at my new stuff for the first time i can be hard on myself,as those i have just missed the shot i wanted,but as i go back to them,i am less hard on myself.
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After reading some of the above posts, I decided to stick two photos up for criticism. But I can't find the two photos I wanted to post, I must have deleted them
One of them was a photo that I thought was great, it was of two girls lying on the grass, and another girl was photographing the girls lying down. I stumbled upon them and grabbed a quick shot. After looking at the image a few times, I realised it was very badly composed, as the girls were in the middle of the frame and looked like they were floating! I know cropping it may have made a difference, but I want to try and keep the images how I saw things on the day.
Another photo was of a building and I thought it was a great picture, this was until I realised the wall of the building curved inwards. Infact there was nothing wrong with the wall, just lens distortion!
I am sure I have deleted them, but if I find them I will upload them for comments
One of them was a photo that I thought was great, it was of two girls lying on the grass, and another girl was photographing the girls lying down. I stumbled upon them and grabbed a quick shot. After looking at the image a few times, I realised it was very badly composed, as the girls were in the middle of the frame and looked like they were floating! I know cropping it may have made a difference, but I want to try and keep the images how I saw things on the day.
Another photo was of a building and I thought it was a great picture, this was until I realised the wall of the building curved inwards. Infact there was nothing wrong with the wall, just lens distortion!
I am sure I have deleted them, but if I find them I will upload them for comments
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There is a cure, get yourself any of the following:
- A plastic lens Holga and a bag of 120 film; or
- A £5 compact 35mm from a local charity shop and a handful of Fuji C200 from Boots or Jessops; or
- A £10 compact digital camera from a car boot sale.
Drop off the GAS-train and get back to the roots of photography. If all you can see is minor lens distortion, then your images aren't touching your soul, so why the hell are you taking them?
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, i think sometimes we get so far into the technicallities and the pursuit of the technically perfect photograph, that we forget why we got into photography in the first place, and sometimes we have to step back and look at it.
Personally for me its all about creating the image and capturing the moment, i enjoy the pleasure of being out and about and looking for something that i can capture that I would want to look at on my wall for a long time, if it happens to tick the boxes technically and other people like it thats a bonus, at the end of the day the only person that has to be happy with it is me
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