Another newbie looking for feedback

[julioangelortiz]

OK, I broke the ice with my other thread on night pictures, but I figured I might as well seek critique on some other "regular" pictures I've taken over the past several weeks since I decided to try my hand at photography. I picked a sample from my Flickr set (linked in my signature), and each picture links to its Flickr page.

Thanks again for looking.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3497/3261993174_692de16697.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/34095906@N05/3261993174/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3473/3283511262_a079be2931.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/34095906@N05/3283511262/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3486/3305478250_bd281615d2.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/34095906@N05/3305478250/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3386/3314487325_47500461be.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/34095906@N05/3314487325/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3379/3314491651_236b8f49c2.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/34095906@N05/3314491651/)

[Damian75]

Someone has been spending time at Valley Forge I use d to shoot there allot when I lived in KOP

[julioangelortiz]

Haha, yes, I work near there and I figured it would make a good spot for photos.

No critiques, though? I can take it. ;)

[Damian75]

OK here goes
The first shot at the church I think I would have liked a tighter crop to remove the distracting bright light on the right hand side.
Second shot again the really bright section at the top is distracting
Three I have one almost just light this it is great when you get a windy day and the flag is flying nice shot you might try it again at night too
Four just too busy no real focus perhaps a horizontal of the three antique clocks not sure just need a point of interest
Five similar to four my eye is just not drawn to any particular part.

All of the exposures look solid so you seem to have the technical part of that down pretty good I would focus on composition and what you are trying to say with the photo think about how to draw the viewers eye across the image to your point of interest and always be on the lookout for distracting elements.

Off topic we should try to get an eastern PA POTN get together going.

[vpnd]

try simplifying your compositions. think frgnd, mddlgrnd, bkgrnd and concentrate on that for a while and you'll start seeing things that way. Welcome to the forum.

[julioangelortiz]

Thank you very much for the feedback! I will keep those things in mind and work on composition. I also will work more on post-processing / cropping photos.

Thanks for the tip on trying the arch shot at night. That sounds like a great idea!

I took your advice and tried it on three of the photos:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3640/3323478165_d9feecdff0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/34095906@N05/3323478165/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3663/3324317474_5dd8b0f923.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/34095906@N05/3324317474/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3545/3323480745_4f5b438f37.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/34095906@N05/3323480745/)

Off-topic, an Eastern PA POTN would be great! I'd be down for that.

Thanks again!

[Damian75]

If you are trying to learn I would focus on trying to do as much as possible in camera ie. shoot as close to the final crop as you can. Your PP gets easier if you start with an image that is as close as you could get it in camera. My mentality is to still shoot like you have film in the camera and only use PP for refining things.