Sian on location

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Well, after the feedback on my last thread not being as positive as I'd have hoped, I tried to take on board the comments into this next shoot. I feel they were more successful overall and would like to hear your thoughts on them. I'm trying to really cull the shots from a shoot to less than 5 as there are many more 'useable' ones but also think too many can water down the better ones, especially if your not trying to tell a story which work better as a series. Anyways, on to the potos.

1.

• by GazMortonPhoto, on Flickr

2.

• by GazMortonPhoto, on Flickr

3.

• by GazMortonPhoto, on Flickr

4.

• by GazMortonPhoto, on Flickr

Thanks for looking. :)
 
Number 2 for me is fab - DOF, lines, symmetry and the wistful look over the shoulder all work for me!!

S
 
2 and 3 for me... 2 for the DOF and 3 for the sheer simplicity of the portrait. Lovely shots.
 
They all work for me, and a very attractive star of the images, top draw.
 
#3 for me. Love the hair & the stare. All cracking shots - lovely model.
 
mattd85 said:
No2 is wow !! Great set all round, :)
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Thank you Matt. :)

Ady N said:
#3 for me. Love the hair & the stare. All cracking shots - lovely model.
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Thank you. :) I think this was my favourite too.

ianmarsh said:
I'm not keen on the muscly-looking arm in #1 but 3 and especially 2 are belters
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Thank you. I wasn't sure about the arm myself at first, whether it make it look too muscular or not, but the model seemed to like it so I kept it.

Stevie- said:
2 and 3 are quality
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Thank you. :)

DEANSUPREME said:
3 & 4 are really nice but number 2 is stunning.
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Thanks Dean. Your the first person to mention number 4 but I quite liked it. Guess it just isn;t as good as the previous 2 though.

manda said:
All beautiful - kudos Mandy
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Thanks Mandy. :)

PD_BARBS said:
#2 for me also, great composition
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Thank you. :)
 
I have to agree with the guys above- Nice set overall, but No2 is a cracker :clap:


Les (y)
 
1. the hair is messy, a little cloning would perfect the shot. the lack of DOF makes the shot pretty meaningless
2. nice composition, but the lack of DOF is a little unsettling. This results in the girl and the environment looking a little detached
3. good solid portrait. the crop is very slightly too tight for my taste, but ignore me on that
4. Again, the DOF is wrong on this shot, the detail in the fence is distracting, had you gone for more DOF or less, it would have worked better. The B&W conversion is very safe, and you could have really made the shot bounce with a more edgy B&W conversion
 
rallying1 said:
Top stuff mate, natural light on all of them or not?
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Thank you. Yes, just natural light.

Nick_1981 said:
2 and 3 would be my pick of the set. 2 really draws the eye in.
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Thank you. :)

Richard King said:
1. the hair is messy, a little cloning would perfect the shot. the lack of DOF makes the shot pretty meaningless
2. nice composition, but the lack of DOF is a little unsettling. This results in the girl and the environment looking a little detached
3. good solid portrait. the crop is very slightly too tight for my taste, but ignore me on that
4. Again, the DOF is wrong on this shot, the detail in the fence is distracting, had you gone for more DOF or less, it would have worked better. The B&W conversion is very safe, and you could have really made the shot bounce with a more edgy B&W conversion
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Thanks for the detailed feedback. Not sure what to say to it to be honest. The part where you say "the DOF is wrong". Is that a hard, fast rule? To be honest, that's the kind of detailed response I've been after, as I've been thinking I'm wasting my time for a while now. I've even been chatting to my parents about it tonight funnily enough. I think your comments have helped me make a difficult decision regarding my 'photography'. It's, to quote a word you used to describe the first shot, "meaningless".
 
Nice set, I don't mind the arm in number 1, but I really like number 3. A tighter crop on number 4, with the fence cloned out, would be a lot better, imho.
 
I've seen a few times you have been up and down with your photography Gareth and I don't understand why?You have posted some really stunning shots in this section that many would have been over the moon with if they had taken them(including myself).I really like your pics that you post and always look forward to see what you will produce next.:)
 
Thanks for the comments David.

Thanks Dean. Your right, ups and downs. But, if after all this time I can't even select the "right DOF" for a series of shots, then I believe it's time to hang the camera up. I'm not good enough to ever make money from photography and its too frustrating to be a hobby anymore for me.
 
Well if you can show me a model or person that wouldn't purchase them shots of themselves then I will eat my own hat.Remember we on the forum are looking with photographers eyes and over see things at times that maybe the model or Joe public wouldn't pick up on....Just showed them my girlfriend and she said they where all really great shots.
 
Yeah I get what you mean Dean and tell your missus thanks. But, if I were a photographer, surely I should be able to see these problems, especially at the time of shoot if I am selecting the 'wrong' DOF. FWIW, I like the shallow dof but didn't think it was just flat wrong. I thought it was more subjective than that. This possibly makes me sound ungrateful for the comments of people. i am not. It's the only was I can see at the moment of learning and progressing, but for what? THere's no point to this anymore if I no longer enjoy it as a hobby so may as well call it a day. :)
 
I have to agree with Dean. These and others I've seen are cracking shots.
Maby I also have no idea about photography, but I would be happy producing any of these shots.
You may be down on your photography just now but I wouldn't be giving up,you obviously do have a skill for it. I go through fazes of wanting to push it or just throw in the towel and don't produce work that matches these.maby consider taking a break for a month or changing what you shoot to re light your love for it.

I wouldn't let one persons opinion and that's all it is there opinion ,get you down even more. photography's subjective and sadly there's far to may that criticise others work, but don't seem to produce work of a similar standard them self.
Why should they be all high the authority on what's right and wrong, professionals seem to be the worst for this. Because they make money from it doesn't make them great photographers I see as many if not more bland and boring shots from pro's, than amateurs.
 
A lot of critique is subjective. Personally I think the DOF in number 2 is spot on, it's down to personal opinion not 'the rules'. It is great to get detailed crit from a photographers point of view but keep in mind that the vast majority wouldn't pick up on certain things. As an example I posted a picture of my mums new puppy, she loves it and has it framed in her front room, but the crit I got on here was that I should have cloned a whisker out that goes over his eye - valid crit but that's where his whisker goes so why clone it out?

I'm not saying that good detailed crit isn't valid, because it absolutely is, but don't let it get you down. Use it to learn from and remember what to look out for next time. Over time things will become habitual without you even realising :)
 
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They are excellent shots, the things I mentioned are fairly subjective. When you post shots at this standard, to do "even better" you do need to have a honest opinion as opposed to a blanket "these shots are marvellous"
 
Dont take Richards comments about the dof literally.

Remember that photography is subjective. The dof being wrong is only Richards opinion on the shots. For me the dof is perfect. You see. Neither of us are right. They are just our opinions. If you shot this again I wouldn't change a thing about the aperture you used.
 
pmac said:
I have to agree with Dean. These and others I've seen are cracking shots.
Maby I also have no idea about photography, but I would be happy producing any of these shots.
You may be down on your photography just now but I wouldn't be giving up,you obviously do have a skill for it. I go through fazes of wanting to push it or just throw in the towel and don't produce work that matches these.maby consider taking a break for a month or changing what you shoot to re light your love for it.

I wouldn't let one persons opinion and that's all it is there opinion ,get you down even more. photography's subjective and sadly there's far to may that criticise others work, but don't seem to produce work of a similar standard them self.
Why should they be all high the authority on what's right and wrong, professionals seem to be the worst for this. Because they make money from it doesn't make them great photographers I see as many if not more bland and boring shots from pro's, than amateurs.
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Thanks for taking the time to post that. :)

Nick_1981 said:
A lot of critique is subjective. Personally I think the DOF in number 2 is spot on, it's down to personal opinion not 'the rules'. It is great to get detailed crit from a photographers point of view but keep in mind that the vast majority wouldn't pick up on certain things. As an example I posted a picture of my mums new puppy, she loves it and has it framed in her front room, but the crit I got on here was that I should have cloned a whisker out that goes over his eye - valid crit but that's where his whisker goes so why clone it out?

I'm not saying that good detailed crit isn't valid, because it absolutely is, but don't let it get you down. Use it to learn from and remember what to look out for next time. Over time things will become habitual without you even realising :)
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Thanks for your comments. :)

Richard King said:
They are excellent shots, the things I mentioned are fairly subjective. When you post shots at this standard, to do "even better" you do need to have a honest opinion as opposed to a blanket "these shots are marvellous"
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I agree with you Richard and didn't want to come across as though I wasn't grateful for critique. After all, i do want to improve so don't just expect to receive praise. However, the way your comments are worded makes it sound like it's a maths question and I have got the answer wrong. It didn't come across at all as subjective. It was simply, "the DOF is wrong". Which is probably what irritated me the most.

adam.wilkinson said:
A lovely set of images. Really like the PP too!
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Thank you.

joescrivens said:
Dont take Richards comments about the dof literally.

Remember that photography is subjective. The dof being wrong is only Richards opinion on the shots. For me the dof is perfect. You see. Neither of us are right. They are just our opinions. If you shot this again I wouldn't change a thing about the aperture you used.
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I agree with what your saying Joe and thanks for the comments. To echo what I said above, the way the comments were worded it was like I had tried and got it wrong. Now, whilst I don't expect to get everything right, there is, as you quite rightly say, no black and white with photography, but this is also why I see it as an annoyance where some people will embrace that fact. I think i would much prefer it to be like a maths problem where I had either got the right answer or the wrong one.
 
Gareth it sounds like you have pretty major confidence issues, despite the fact you produce and edit shots better than 90% of this forum, and that includes the full time pro photographers. There is no black and white in photography (except black and white photography) and yeah sure, sometimes when you have a successful formula going on it can feel like a bit of a treadmill, like you're just churning out photos. What feels a little uninspiring to you, everyone else will still think looks great. You actually have quite a defined style and you should look at that as a good thing, not a bad one. It's quite easy to look at other peoples work and say "Wow, I like how they did that. Why didn't I think of that?" but chances are, they're probably saying the same about what your work. It's a strange concept, I know - but it's true.

I saw your other thread that got pulled, where you said that somebody asked you to do a wedding and you turned it down. You also mention that you don't feel you are good enough to earn money from photography. The thing is, you will never earn money from it if you turn down the opportunities that arise. Just go for it.

It's also worth remembering that people who are giving critique are flawed photographers themselves.
 
theurbanclown said:
Gareth it sounds like you have pretty major confidence issues, despite the fact you produce and edit shots better than 90% of this forum, and that includes the full time pro photographers. There is no black and white in photography (except black and white photography) and yeah sure, sometimes when you have a successful formula going on it can feel like a bit of a treadmill, like you're just churning out photos. What feels a little uninspiring to you, everyone else will still think looks great. You actually have quite a defined style and you should look at that as a good thing, not a bad one. It's quite easy to look at other peoples work and say "Wow, I like how they did that. Why didn't I think of that?" but chances are, they're probably saying the same about what your work. It's a strange concept, I know - but it's true.

I saw your other thread that got pulled, where you said that somebody asked you to do a wedding and you turned it down. You also mention that you don't feel you are good enough to earn money from photography. The thing is, you will never earn money from it if you turn down the opportunities that arise. Just go for it.

It's also worth remembering that people who are giving critique are flawed photographers themselves.
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Not sure if people are getting cheesed off with this thread yet but you took the time to write all that so I think it's only fair that I take the time to reply. :)

Firstly, thank you for the compliments. I cannot agree unfortunately but I appreciate it all the same. Also, yes, it's no secret that I have self confidence issues, especially with photography.

I have actually turned down around 6 weddings now. Even refunding a deposit a while ago that was booked as a direct result of the last wedding i had done. I had a series of wedding photos pulled apart by another photographer which really kicked me in the teeth. I sold up not long after. Truth be told, weddings is something i would love to do. Not because of the money either, but because I actually like weddings. I know a lot of wedding photographers hate them and do them because they are good at them and for the money but they actually hate the event. I am quite the opposite. However, whilst my confidence with my own photography is down, I cannot shoot for anyone else, especially when I look at other peoples work (let's use weddings as an example again) and think that mine aren't as good, nor will they ever be so what's the point?

Not to mention the grief I would get if I were even to start a thread asking about getting into wedding photography. ;) :LOL:
 
you shouldn't let anyones comments here stop you doing something you want to do. No matter who they are.

get back at it!
 
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