Angela

Reasonable thinking about the cups but your girlfriend is the main subject but the composition works against that ...

First off. I loathe you.
...just kidding

I say that because I wish I had started photography at your age. Then I'd have the energy to scale Half Dome and take pictures from a good vantage point. As it is, the mountain has to come to Muhammad. Bummer.

Now on to the photo.

I really don't have much to add over what's been said already. Before I read any of the responses, I also thought the cups were a net minus rather than plus. Beyond that, increase your knowledge on getting the exposure right; what Bryan Peterson calls the The Triangle.
Aperture
Shutter speed
ISO

A nice fast prime might help here. The 50mm f/1.8 is good starting point...cheap too.

Happy shooting! Welcome to the forum...the best photography learning place on the internets

Wow. Wish I was 15 again with a digital camera. Keep at it.
Would be better without the cups.

PeaPicker wrote:
Wow. Wish I was 15 again with a digital camera. Keep at it.
Would be better without the cups.

Come on now, PP. The guy said he was 17. No need to put another 2 years between him and a legally purchased cold beer.

15 18 21 30 50 I'd take any of em.

you and me both, brother
cheers

At 17 I was in between cameras....from a compact Yashica Electro Gold on to a Nikkormat FT (I still have that one, and it works, too !!)...but I must confess I was too busy chasing skirts to devote much sparetime to photography !!

I love coffee shop photos. I always take my camera with me when going for coffee. I also sort of collect cafe photos.

Like many have said, the cups are distracting. But to me they are distracting because they are that nasty styrofoam. I believe this was already mentioned but a couple of ceramic mugs would add to the charm.

And just a bit of a rant....

Why do they always give you coffee in a "to go" cup when you ask for it "for here"? This happens everywhere I go and it's one of my pet peeves. Coffee just doesn't taste as good in styrofoam/paper. Join me fellow photographers in standing up for our rights to the "for here" mug. Down with styrofoam. Long live ceramic.

freddycr wrote:


At 17 I was in between cameras....from a compact Yashica Electro Gold on to a Nikkormat FT (I still have that one, and it works, too !!)...but I must confess I was too busy chasing skirts to devote much sparetime to photography !!

Well, skirts are more important than photography!

I sorta see what you were trying to do with the cups. But you know now that it actually worked against you. You know how to operate a camera. That's a good thing, but as you already know it's only part of it. Knowing how to use a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter right? You're off to a GREAT start wanting to learn more about the artistic side of photography. I think you'll be a great one as you get older and more experienced.

My advice to you about composing a photograph. Well, I have three things.... lets call them guidelines.

One: have a clear subject or theme. Your girlfriend... sitting in a coffee shop. Yep, works for me. You got this one.

Two: Make sure that immediate focus is on the subject. You slightly missed here because you were relying on the cups leading the eyes to the subject which basically gave the viewer more to look at, on the way to the subject and ends up distracting. Leading lines are ok but not leading objects. IF the cups were thrown out of focus, they would have been less distracting, but relying on the table and the walls to frame your subject would have been a better choice. Which leads to number three.

Three: Simplify the photo... meaning the only elements in the photo should be there to enforce the subject and/or theme and not take attention away from the subject. The same miss effects two guidelines. Again, I go for the cups. Maybe your subject is, your girlfriend in a coffee shop so one of the cups could be an ok element in the photo to re-enforce that she is in a coffee shop, but maybe it could be out of focus and really out of the center of the frame. Again, use the table or walls to frame and lead to her. You don't want the leading lines to be a concious thing. You want it to be a sub-concious thing. In other words, if you are going to use something in the photo to lead the viewer's eyes.. you don't want the viewer to realize that he/she is being lead. It should just happen. and their eyes should just automatically just fall on her.

You will do just fine, I can see the potential. Keep at it and by all means keep posting.