Camera Labs

I opened this thread for people like me who needs improvements and want to learn more in portrait and street photography. Experienced enthusiasts are also welcome to post their work here for critique purposes. This thread doesn't mean to only critique on the bad side of the photos but I strongly encourage, as well to give credit if credit is due. Otherwise, let's encourage each other.

I believe that the best way to learn is to take directly your photos straight to the eyes of your critiques to evaluate them and point your mistakes and give you advise on how you can improve in your next photo shoots.

Having said that, I invite experienced photographers/enthusiasts and professionals to critique my photos.

I would encourage to exercise objectivity and honesty in giving out opinion/critique of photos submitted herein.

Good luck! I will now post my first photo for you guys to critique.

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Nikon D3200
AF-S DX 18-55 f/3.5-5.6G VR
AF-S 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G VR IF ED
AF 50mm f/1.8D

Camera: Nikon D3200
Lens: Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D
F-stop: f1.8
Exposure time: 1/30 sec
ISO: 1600
Exposure bias: 0 step
Flash: No flash




Camera: Nikon D3200
Lens: Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D
F-stop: f8
Exposure time: 1/1600 sec
ISO: 100
Exposure bias: 0 step
Flash: No flash

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Nikon D3200
AF-S DX 18-55 f/3.5-5.6G VR
AF-S 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G VR IF ED
AF 50mm f/1.8D

Ok so in my opinion the first shot needs a point of focus but doesn't seem to have a pin point.

The second shot has some nice texture but the subject matter is a little dull so doesn't really excite me to look at it for many amount of time.

The B&W works better than color for these shots but they both lack something.

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Canon 550D, Canon EFS 17-85 IS USM, Canon EF 75-300 IS USM, Canon EFS 10-22mm USM, Canon EF35mm F2.

Got some of the gear but really still no idea...

Thanks Robbon. Those were actually the very first clicks of my new D3200. In basketball, it was like shooting bricks. I think those were ugly photos.

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Nikon D3200
AF-S DX 18-55 f/3.5-5.6G VR
AF-S 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G VR IF ED
AF 50mm f/1.8D

What is that you are trying to accomplish with the first image?
It's abstract, which can be considered a good thing by some, but if you are aiming at shooting street photography, this is not it. Still life, perhaps, and the enthusiasts in that genre would probably be less forgiving about the lack of sharpness than us street photographers are. You did a good job on the black and white conversion, but besides that I don't see much of a purpose of this shot, certainly not in this part of the forum.

Your second photo is more interesting. I see now you have uploaded it to Facebook. Please consider that Facebook compresses your images before they host them on their servers, which leads me to believe that this and the first image where sharper before you uploaded them. As for the content of the picture: the shoes are interesting, set up neatly near a stack of well-stacked crates. There is good contrast with the dirty wall to the left. The picture does indeed lack something. It could benefit from more depth, or you could involve people or animals in it. While this would fall in the realm of street photography, unlike the first shot, I look forward to you posting street shots that capture some dynamic scene, rather than still life type of images.

- Bjorn

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Street and documentary photographer | Google+ | Twitter | Blog | Tumblr

Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

Thanks Bjorn for that wonderful insight.

Street photography is one of the many things that interests me. I can see that the image I link to in here is somewhat degraded in quality. It appeared a bit more sharper in my camera and computer but appeared less appealing when I uploaded it in FB.

This is how the image appeared from my shutterfly page.




This is one, as you said is not street photography. I realized that now. But if it's under abstract photo, as this was my original intention, would it still be that bad?

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Nikon D3200
AF-S DX 18-55 f/3.5-5.6G VR
AF-S 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G VR IF ED
AF 50mm f/1.8D

Abstract photography is not my forte, but if you're aiming for that you should consider looking for starker contrast and more abstract subjects as well (the knot is not quite abstract enough, IMO).

Street photography is so much more fun though!

- Bjorn

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Street and documentary photographer | Google+ | Twitter | Blog | Tumblr

Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

Both images are technically weak. There's really no excuse for blurry still-life.

The B&W conversion in the first one is very flat and lacks contrast. The second is a little better. You need to do more when shooting in digital colour and than just stripping saturation to convert to B&W. Try adding contrast as a starting point.

Even with the above technical aspects addressed, I would still not find these shots interesting. As Bjorn said though, that could be perhaps because they don't really suit this forum as street photography and I have very little interest in still life.

It's refreshing to see someone ask for real critique though. The endless threads on this site with mediocre images followed by "nice shot" and "thx!" are utterly pointless and do nothing to help both the photographer and the viewer improve their craft.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/53061745@N02/

Panasonic G3: 9-18mm, 14mm, 20mm, 45mm