Your photos (162)


Hints and tips
by Philip Grosset



If you'd like to submit photos for criticism,
click here.

with comments from Philip Grosset




"Hi, my name is Mendy Ritala. I am not a professional photography to say the least. But my dream one day is to become one. I love to take pictures. So far I have only taken pictures of my kids and relatives. I would love to have any advice and suggestions. I was using fabric for my background. it is tablecloth material. And the bottom was burlap. I shot the pictures outside because I don't have proper lighting equipment. Do you have any suggestions for that area? I live in Alaska. Thanks Again, I hope I didn't waste any of your time.The black and whites were taken with a piece of fabric also not table clothe fabric though." (Mendy Ritala)
Boy Boy cropped
Your photo on the left is a very effective fun picture, but is let down by the wrinkles in the background cloth. On the right I've smoothed out most of the wrinkles and also moved the boy just slightly off-center. I think this makes a very successful picture.
Boy grinning
This is less successful because the wrinkles in the background are more pronounced and the boy's face is not really sharp. But why bother with a background cloth at all? Wouldn't a real background be more interesting - even if it's only part of an old wall?

Boy lying down An expressive photo, but again the background (and the fabric the boy is lying on) don't really help as they suggest a set-up picture in a studio. Why not just show him in a real setting lying on the real ground?
Boy This is a very happy photo, helped by the white border - and the background here is more subdued.

Altogether a lively and interesting set of photos.

Reply from Mendy Ritala: "Hi, I totally agree about your comment on the backgrounds. In fact my husband and my mother-in-law noticed the same thing. I was not happy when I got my pictures back from the store. I was so excited when I took the pictures because I had bought a new filter, and the salesperson told me that it would give my pictures a soft finish to it. Instead it made my pictures look a little blurry, so I tried to fix it on my computer hence is why I think the pictures don't look that clear. Any ideas on how and when to use the filter? He said it was called a diffusion filter. Thanks again for the comments I will be looking forward to sending you more pictures to critique."

Sorry, I can only comment on a total of four pictures. Try using your diffusion filter on close-ups and see if you like the result. If you really want a soft focus effect, it's safer to take a sharp picture but amend it later with a computer program as shown on my People page.




"I stumbled across your site, and I'm finding it very interesiting and useful, especially the photograph critique page. I'm looking at photos I've taken with new eyes, thinking how I could have done them a little better! Thank you, I'm learning a lot. I'm sending you a few pictures that I took lately:
'Outside Barbies Flat' (Barbie is a friends nickname) was taken with an Olympus C-860L digital camera. It is in France during the Fete D Bayonne, when it is traditional to dress in white, with a red scarf around your waist, and a red sash around your neck. This picture was taken pointing straight down out of a 3rd floor window, without a flash, at some locals out still drinking at 5am. I held the camera hard against the wall of the building to support it.
'tim and the fireworks' was taken at the opening ceremony of the fete, also with the C-860L (the fete lasts 5 days solid), again taken without a flash, and believe it or not, I didn't use a tripod. I was holding the camera still in my hands. I thought about cropping it in to the statue, but it becomes to pixelly, and I like the white of tim's shirt against the white smoke in the opposite corner, and I really like the range of colours in there, so I'm leaving it as it is!
'Brixham Harbour' was taken with my new toy, an Olympus D-40Zoom digital camera. It's the harbour where I live, and I just went out to play with it. I rested the camera on the sea wall, and used the 'night' setting on the camera. I like the reflections of the lights in the houses, and the line of the horizon coming down to the sea against the dark blue sky.
'sunset at berry head' is also taken with the D-40. It's of the lighthouse and coastguard station on Berry Head in Brixham. It was a straight forward point-and-shoot picture, although I played with the levels and colour depth in Photoshop to make the foreground totally black. I like the colour in this photograph, but it's a bit boring.
Thanks, I'll be interested in what you have to say. Regards. (Jon Bowen, Brixham in Devon, UK)
Looking down The problem I have with this picture is that I couldn't see what it was until I read your description of it! It means a lot to you because you were there - but doesn't really communicate much to anyone else.

This, on the other hand, makes a fine dramatic picture. I like the range of colors too, and the framing provided by the two figures in the foreground. A very successful photo.
Fireworks

Brixham harbour
Brixham harbour cropped
Your photo on the left looks very attractive although it isn't quite as sharp as it might have been if you'd been able to use a tripod (particularly helpful with the slower shutter speed produced by the "night" setting). On the right, I've tried coming in a little closer so as to lower the horizon slightly below the halfway point.
Sunset cropped
Sunset
I agree with you that your photo on the left has pleasing colors but isn't all that interesting! On the right, I've tried coming in closer to produce a bolder effect, positioning the most prominent part, the mast, just a third of the way across the picture. But doing this loses most of the menacing black areas on the original and may not be such an improvement. The real problem is the mast and buildings. It seems a good idea using them as silhouettes, but, as we can't see that they include a lighthouse, they are, as you say, just a little bit boring.

Reply from Jon Bowen: "Superfast response! I think the first picture possibly works better when it's seen with the other photos I took that day, as then it is obvious what it is. I thought about cropping the wall off at the bottom of the picture, but then it becomes a not-very-nice shape.
Thanks for your kind comments on the second one, the fireworks. No credit
to me though, it was a total fluke!
The third one, the harbour. I like your cropping to move the horizon a bit, but what I found pleasing about that picture was the triangle shape formed by the reflection of the hill in the water. After the crop, it's not so apparent, though aside from that, it does improve the pic.
Fourth one, berry head. Definite improvement on that one. The problem with cropping though on a digital camera, is you often have to make the picture bigger as a result, and then you lose quality as the picture becomes more pixelated. Less of a problem with my new camera of course, with the higher pixels to play with in the first place. Thanks for your advice, like I said, I'm learning a lot. Regards." (Jon Bowen)




Go on to YOUR PHOTOS (163)




Please don't forget to sign my GUEST BOOK before you leave the site!



 Finding your way around this site

NEXT PAGE