New to photography part 1

[superking]

Hello to everyone,

As you can see from the number of my posts im very new and raw not only to this forum but to photography. I was given as a christmas present by my lovely wife a canon 400d 18-55mm lens. I have taken photos mostly in the Auto mode as you will see but im experimenting now with what i call the "real photographer's" setting's. I know im not fit to lick the majority of your shoe's when it comes to photography, but i hope with your help and advice someday i will be at least be able to polish them:D. c&c welcome

[Just Be]

Welcome!
Post often and share your pics. :D

[Flo]

Second shot is a good one to me..some bump in contrast and maybe a boost in color would bring more detail perhaps?

[tonydee]

You've certainly earnt the best feedback we can offer for your entertainingly modest intro... :-)

I think the first one's a bit (literally and figuratively) ungrounded: we need to see where the lamp post and bushes hit ground to avoid having the sense that they're all floating randomly, and strengthen the sense of depth. Also, the dominant things in the picture - both bush and lamp post - are too central and inline with one obscuring the other. For a shot like this you you want one or both of the subjects a third of the way in from an edge, and the other one to one side. Often you don't realise how bad it looks to put a couple things in line until you look back on the photo. For example, there was a nice shot posted in here maybe 2 days ago with a couple birds on posts in a lake - all great stuff - and the dominant tree on the horizon almost but not quite covered by them. Would have ruined the photo if it wasn't so easy to edit out. If you can find it, see the before/after editing to see how important this is.

Your second shot's good: the head is nicely placed to the left, looking into the open space, with an interesting cloud there. My only suggestion comes from the observation that, having taken in that "bigger picture" composition, the viewer's eye wants to settle onto the facial features which aren't quite satisfyingly presented. So, moving even a tad to the right would have quickly taken in a lot more of the front of the face without changing the overall composition too much, and would have made for an even better result.

Good work,

Tony

[LeuceDeuce]

Second shot is a good one to me..some bump in contrast and maybe a boost in color would bring more detail perhaps?

I agree with Gail on this one. This image actually has a lot of potential.

[superking]

Thank you for your comments. Being a total novice your remarks and constructive suggestions will benefit me greatly once again thank you for your advice