Camera Labs

Hi guys,

I'm new to photography, I have did beginners course about 6 months ago, but between then and now, I've only really used my camera solidly for about a week when I went to Thailand. I've decided to get back into it now that I've move neighborhoods and there will be more interesting stuff to see:

Firstly, I wanted your honest opinion regarding my editing, general photographic style, shot selection and any areas for improvement:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/richielyons/sets/72157629663483161/ Here some snaps I've taken in the past week of Manly, where I now live. I shooting in JPEG at the moment using the above mentioned camera and lens.

Secondly, I find I have a tendency to edit too much, so the above photos I've tried to hold back. The bulk of the editing I've been playing around individual colour saturation, blacks, subtle (attempting) vignette and bit of grain (which I might avoid as I'm not sure when I should use it). All the editing is done in Lightroom.

Does anyone know how to explain curves (or know any good links/articles they can provide) as I understand this is a pretty important part of editing and also the histogram. If anyone knows some recommended links videos for Lightroom too, that would be much appreciated. There's a lot of info on the web and it's hard knowing where to start without spending hours and hours working through it.

Good and bad feedback welcome

Richie

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richie lyons | sydney australia

photography by [ fresh ]
http://www.facebook.com/photographybyfresh

I consider myself a novice, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

The histogram displays all the information of an image in a graph chart. If most of it is to the extreme left or right, it means most of the pictures information is either lost in shadow or washed out in bright light. Generally, you want most of the graph within the extremes, but that's not always the case. (A night time photo of a city or building would be fairly dark, for example.)

I like composition on your photos, maybe you need only little bit of practice.
Some photos looks darker than i think they should, and i would saturate them little more (but thats my personal opinion).

honestly, i cant tell any improvements, because i did not reach your level.

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I'm new to DSLR's, so please be patient and take my opinions with reserve. Thank you : ) Yes, i am Canon man.
Google + My picasa photos My 500px album
Canon 60D + 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 IS, Canon 70-200 F2.8L IS II, Canon 430EXII, polarizing filter 72mm,
Canon AT-1, 50mm FD F1.8
Canon A430,

Your photos aren't "bad", that's for sure Nothing leaped out at me that shouted "bad" but nothing shouted "amazing" either, and that's not a bad thing at all... My photos were terrible for at least six months after I got my camera and I still take horrible ones

I left a comment on your Wharf photo, as I think that is your strongest image out of all of them. The cricket pitch photos would be my next favourite ones, as I think I'm liking the negative spaces in those photos. My least-favourites of the bunch are probably the ones taken at the beach. They're all underexposed by about a stop or so, and to me they aren't overly interesting to look at... There are lines, yes, but they don't lead anywhere and there's a lot going on in each of the photos so they don't capture the viewer's eye.

For the "Waveless" shot, think about maybe making the blues a bit brighter, in doing so you keep the silhouettes of the surfers but bring the contrast up so that it has more impact

Hope that helps!

Edit - As an afterthought (and not to get into a debate) I highly suggest shooting RAW, even as a beginner because it allows you a LOT of latitude in correcting exposure mistakes as you're learning your camera, and later more flexibility in getting a desired "look" rather than dealing with some Japanese engineer's settings in the camera regarding contrast, saturation, or sharpening I've gone back to images that are ~4 years old and re-edited the RAW files I shot and the difference is like night and day, almost hilariously better now...

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Canon EOS 5D MkII | Canon EOS 7D | Canon Digital Rebel XSi | EF 35mm f/1.4L | EF 50mm f/1.8 II | EF 85mm f/1.8 | EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM | EF 135mm f/2L | EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS | 580EX II | LumoPro LP-120

My Flickr

As a side note, Cambridge In Colour is an amazing site with a lot of information about the technical nitty-gritty bits of digital photography. This page here explains Curves pretty well with before and after rollovers to illustrate each point really well

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Canon EOS 5D MkII | Canon EOS 7D | Canon Digital Rebel XSi | EF 35mm f/1.4L | EF 50mm f/1.8 II | EF 85mm f/1.8 | EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM | EF 135mm f/2L | EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS | 580EX II | LumoPro LP-120

My Flickr

thanks very much for the feedback guys. Plymer, I appreciate your comments, this is just the feedback I was wanting. I think I need to learn more about editing as I just 'wing it' at the moment and yes I haven't quite taken the plunge into RAW photography yet but it is on the cards. Appreciate all the comments

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richie lyons | sydney australia

photography by [ fresh ]
http://www.facebook.com/photographybyfresh