A little help for a very ameteur photographer

[Cocobelle]

Hi everyone,
I took these photos the other day and I was hoping for some critiquing. I'm am really really unknowledgable on lighting, but I know these have really bad lighting because I took them in the afternoon near sunset so they turned out quite dark but any critique, what was good, what was bad etc. I really want to learn so won't take comments the wrong way or anything like that. Ok here are a few......
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/deloca/th_176.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/deloca/?action=view&current=176.jpg)
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/deloca/176.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/deloca/105again.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/deloca/241again.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/deloca/253.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/deloca/280again.jpg

hopefully this works
thanks.

[rammy]

The sun is directly behind your subjects, as you see them in the photo, directly in front of you. So the subjects will become silhouetted. A speedlight flash would have helped by you exposing from the background and then using the flash to bring up the subjects.

In a situation like this, for you, I'd say don't shoot it like this until you have more experience. Try it with the sun to the side of you or behind you. Or better yet, in the shade or a cloudy day.

[lindsaytblum]

Well...I hardly ever shoot people...but I'll give it a go.

Composition wise, I think photo #4 is the strongest. Just rotate the horizon slightly so that the horizon is straight. Since this photo is so dark and you can't really make out any details in the subject, you could do some PP and bring out the light shining on your subject's head...If you don't mind people altering your photos, you can turn on Image Editing OK, and people can give you their own take on your image. For example...I'd like to play with your 4th photo...:-)

Lighting is tricky. It looks like you were shooting with the sun to your left. The amount of light washes out the sky and leaves it almost colorless. It takes a lot of practice to find the lighting you like the best. Do you have a circular polarizing filter? This will help reduce the glare in the water as well as saturate the sky.

I hope that was helpful, and others will soon chime in with tons of advice. Welcome to the forum!

[Cocobelle]

oh thanks, what is image editing OK? pardon my ignorance, I would love people to alter and play with the images, if anyone wants they can alter them and then post to get a perspective, go nuts, I don't mind.

[lindsaytblum]

oh thanks, what is image editing OK? pardon my ignorance, I would love people to alter and play with the images, if anyone wants they can alter them and then post to get a perspective, go nuts, I don't mind.

Go to your User Control Panel (on the upper left, says "User CP". Click on that icon and click on "Edit Profile". Scroll down to the "Additional Information" section, and there is a field where you can allow image editing.

[Cocobelle]

done!!! edit away.

[lindsaytblum]

Cool cool. This was my take on your photo. I just cropped it a little, leveled the horizon, and sharpened just a tad. I also saturated the sky a teenie bit...

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/7751/253hzz.jpg

[Cocobelle]

Wow, thanks alot that is wonderful, do you mind if I use your edited version to print for my personal use?

[lindsaytblum]

Wow, thanks alot that is wonderful, do you mind if I use your edited version to print for my personal use?

Go right ahead, it is your photo after all. :p