It's a lovely colour in that light......
But.... its a YBR... a bike I recommend whole-heartedly to so many... but.... well... it IS the accountants choice! You don't buy one for its looks, do you? DOES of course mean that you WERE out and about, rather than cussing tempremental italian electrics that dont like British weather or too busy trying to re-tighten all the screws that had come loose and find ways to replace the parts that had fallen off in your weeks commute from something that LOOKS like a CBR125, but was made in the Kwanton, with whatever you can make from a baked bean can and a milk-bottle! BUT... asthetically, it's a bit challenged... but we work with what we got, AND I bet you love that little bike, but... well, you didn't get it's best side... the other one... without that tree-hugger freindly barely a wisper, excuse me whilst I pass wind exhaust-pipe! (Though its not the worst-zorst out there; does seem that the manufacturers are all out to win the who cam make the ugliest exhaust pipe of the year competition, lately; WAS headlamps a year or so back; now they are worrying about the exhausts! But still....)
Yeah... the photo...
Well INSTANTLY two things scream out at me.... first is the tank-bag.... the second is the L-Plate!
NEITHER should be there.... though we can forgive the L-Plate as a temprary fixture... you ARE planning to do your mods soon, aren't you ;-)
Next up... why were you using a tripod? Actually how the heck did you carry one on a YBR!
Surely in that light, wasn't really necessary...and I suspect may have hampered composition, WHICH is a bit... well... the bike is the subject, obviously, BUT you have got a bit of wall, a bit of field a bit of sky... that I had to look at three times as its a bit hiding in the corner, then a bit of woods with quite colourful trees.... and.... do you see where I am going with this?
There's about half a dozen things of 'interest' in the photo, that on their own or in combination could work together... BUT its almost like you were spoiled for choice and tried cramming in a bit of everything, rather than concentrating on one at a time... OR you didn't think too much about it and just shot from where you stopped, taking straight side on profile of bike, not looking for any 'angle' that might make it more prominent and appealing.
With that light, playing in the contours of the paint-work, bringing out that colour.... well, I'd have been shunting the bike around, angling it this way and that posing it, to see how the light played out on the paint, probably laying the bars off to one side or other to get some sense of direction into it; and I would have most likely been shooting a lot from low level, and close up, filling the frame with the bike, as the subject, or backing right off and trying for 'lonely lane' type thing, to get the surroundings, fuller, making the bike more incidental, and evocative.
Grass verge... hint; old-skool, we'd crush a beer-can on our forehead and keep it under the seat; then when we wanted to park on soft ground; we had something to pop under the side-stand to spread the weight so it didn't sink in.... you can actually buy, not only cheap plastic molded stand-pads, in bright fluorescent colours these days... they even do 'deluxe' aluminium versions, milled from billet or made from chequer plate, and then there are the super-duper carbon-fibre ones for the folk that ride Ducatis! Take your pick... but such trick would let you put bike on the verge, out of traffics way, and do more posing. (You did your machine handling in CBT... treat it as Mod 1 practice ;-)
Meanwhile... the enthusiasm of the newbie! IT'S DECEMBER!! And you were out on the bike... for FUN!
You'll grow out of it... you will... well.. probably!
I looked out the window this morning at the 750... daughter's at her Grans; O/H's at work... no one to moan if I take the back light off and start soldering LED's on the kitchen sides.... BUT... lasted only as long as it took to open the back door to let the dog out! To Cold. FAR too cold! I admire your dedication, I do. But, bad enough trying to set the camera with frosted fingers when you have just got out of a warm car; LET alone try and get the feeling back into them after pulling the bike gloves off! Although; do have to say it is one of the few times I have appreciated modern plastic cameras... my old Sigma film camera? All metal. About two and a half pounds of the stuff, and once cold, it stayed cold! So I can sort of appreciate you not really faffing around SO much at the side of the road... but still. You did ask for feed-back, and in ideal world.....