Your photos (155)


Hints and tips
by Philip Grosset



If you'd like to submit photos for criticism,
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with comments from Philip Grosset




"I'm a amateur photographer and have taken 2 good pictures of a Boston Terrior. They are close up and show a lot of emotion. People respond to them and I'm interested in selling them or at the least getting them published. How do you make the connections and protect your copyrights. The first is my dog, Sparky. We were outside on the family farm and he is soooooo happy. It was his perfect day, lots of excitment and sunshine.
The second is his sister, Angel. She is in her owner's arms whom she loves dearly.
The third is a student who has a dramatic flare and when I was learning my new digital camera, she started playing around with a sheet. Looking forward to your comments." (Rebecca King, Arkansas)
Dog 2
Dog 1
I can see why people like these photos and I think they are great fun, but I'm afraid I don't think a commercial publisher would buy them. The photo on the left is too distorted. Were you using a wide angle setting? If so, try a telephoto setting (from further away) next time and the dog's nose and tongue won't seem so large compared with the rest of its head.
The photo on the right is more successful, but once again the dog's head looks distorted, and it might have been better to have seen more of the person carrying it. If she had been shown reacting to the dog, this might have added to the picture's general appeal.
Girl
Girl cropped
I like your photo on the left, but it looks slightly underexposed (perhaps your camera was misled by the white sheet), so on the right I've lightened it and arranged the girl's eye at one of the intersections of thirds - this nearly always strengthens the impact, although here your original composition works well too.

If later on you want to try selling your pictures, you may find the book "Photos that Sell" helpful. You'll find a link with details about it at the foot of my More Books page. Generally speaking, though, most commercial publishers are still looking for color transparencies.

Reply from Rebecca King: "I agree with your comments concerning the photo of the girl. The two adjustments made a major difference in the impact of the image. I see your points for the dog photos, but his breed of dog has a disproportionately large head, mouth, tongue to body ratio. Would you work to hide this?

I've been looking at photos of Boston terriers (see the Images section of Google at: http://www.google.com/), where it seems to me that the most pleasing photos are taken from at least slightly to the side rather than confronting them head-on. I'm not suggesting you should falsify the dog's appearance - just be very careful not to distort it!




"Hello, I am looking forward to reading your criticism about my photos. Here is some backround information: The first one is of a sunset over a Resort where i was staying, i just wanted to capture the brightness of the sun at that time. The second one, is of a Condo that i admire and i wanted to capture the shape that i see when i look up. In the third one i wanted to capture, the many layers of how busy that part of town is. I would like to know if i have any chance at professional photography. Thank you very much for your advice." (Ashley Martinez, Miami, Fl.)
Sunset Tower
In your sunset picture, the sun itself looks over-exposed so that you can't really see it, and there seem some unwanted reflections in the cloudy area above it caused by dazzle on the lens. You certainly show its brilliance but it might have more interesting to have included more foreground silhouettes. But I like the way you've arranged the horizon just a third of the way up the picture instead of right in the middle. Have a look at my sunsets page for some good ideas of what can be done with sunsets!
Your photo on the right doesn't really show enough detail to mean all that much to anyone except you. Of course, if this is the view you wanted to capture, that's fine, but surely,when you look at it, the tower doesn't seem to taper as much as this? This is the distorted effect produced by tilting the camera, particularly when a wide angle setting is being used. This can be used deliberately to emphasise the height of a building, but, if that's what you intended, it might have been worth searching out an even more dramatic angle.
I find this the most interesting of the three photos, as there's so much more to see here, but it seems a pity you cut off the bottom half of the traffic below as it would have been interesting to have seen this too, and it's really needed if you want to communicate how busy the town is.
Buildings
For advice on becoming a professional photographer, see Opportunities in Photography Careers, or for advice on selling photos (with pictures showing the quality required), please see Photos that Sell , two books that are recommended at the foot of my More Books page.

Reply from Ashley Martinez: "Thank you for your comments on the photos and the quick response. I find them very useful. I like to take pictures of the sky and sunsets, so i find your comments on the sunset pictures extremely important. I agree on what you said of the tower picture, it has much more meaning to myself, i'll try to capture more next time. Thanx again."




"Hello, attached is the photo taken by me during our trip in Egypt in 1999. I was trying to capture in full the three pyramids while my friend and our guide were on their way. Personally, I like this photo very much except that I would have wanted the photo to be sharper. I think I need you to comment on this photo to help me improve my photos in the future. Thanks." (Danilo S. Calub,
Bulacan, Philippines)
Pyramids reversed
Pyramids
I too like your photo on the left. Ideally, though, it might have been even better if it had been possible to show the riders (it was an excellent idea to include them as they add scale, depth and human interest) looking into the picture from left to right (as in my version on the right) as then we more naturally follow their gaze as we read the picture from left to right. I've also sharpened up my version and agree that this improves it further. But, even as it is, it's a really effective photo with stunning colors.




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