General C&C needed for direction

Hi

After posting a few times in the normal photo sections and not really getting much (any) comment i thought i would try in here...

I'm trying to develop my eye and see shots plus i love the post processing

These were all taken on Thursday night around 6 - 7:30 pm around the lovely spa town of Bath in the UK. Using mainly my 28-135mm IS lens.

Please feel free to tear these apart and tell me what i'm doing right / wrong, what i could do better or what they're lacking ... i want to grow and don't mind comments made in good faith.

Larger versions on my zenfolio page (link in sig) along with my entire 400d pic collection so feel free to comment on anything you see.

Thank you

Jamie

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#1 is a very nice silhouette. I like it.

#2 is almost abstract. I like the composition, but I feel that it may do better as a B&W.

#3 is very interesting, and I can imagine that you would like to get rid of the branches in the upper right. However, they don't hurt that much. I would put my effort into getting a bit more light and contrast into the lower range of tones, because they are a little too dark.

#4 is very nice, because I like people pictures. However, in this shot she dominates. I would prefer that the human figure be incidental and let the cityscape dominate.

#5 is very nice and very interesting.

Altogether a very nice group of good shots = congratulations!

I think Robert pretty much hit what I was going to say.

last one is kewl took me a while to figure out what it was.
Where was it taken?

I'd go along with Robert on most but I find #1 quite boring, you've got far to much black in this shot and just the top right hand corner with any interest in, I think it needs a little more to look at apart from just solid black. Sorry. On a plus I love #4 it leaves you wanting to see more of what's going on. #4 is my favorite.

strmrdr wrote in post #2958998
last one is kewl took me a while to figure out what it was.
Where was it taken?

Basically...down next to the canal below the pulteney bridge, back of the "boater" pub

this is a wider area shot of the same point

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pleasing compositions, Yes; interesting subjects, Yes; and capturing the mood of a place.. not getting mood too much.
Mood is more an overal picture where these are mostly specific things.
Thats not bad they are just different things.

The shots with the girl are mood relooking them over but the others are more pictures of things.

wallisj wrote in post #2960477
...
Overall, i guess i want to know whether i'm going the right direction for pleasing compositions, interesting subjects and capturing the mood of a place.

Thank you for all comments.

Rules of Composition have to be fairly flexible - they are only for general guidance.
You need not worry about your compositions - it's clear that you have a good eye.

One point i have now had my attention brought to is that one of the comments was that a picture was a little dark...

I agree and did lighten it ... on my home PC the picture too appeared darker ... however, i originally did the work on my laptop and on that the picture appears MUCH, and i mean that, lighter

Given this wild difference between the 2 displays, how can i ensure that on both machines i am getting a more true representation of how my pictures are really coming out.

I am using Photoshop (cs3 beta until 17th april ) to do the work in ... is this to do with having to calibrate the app with gamma setting etc?

First, calibration of your monitor is a must, and second, I would not trust the laptop, even if calibrated. At least my laptop! It is too sensitive to the viewing angle.

Just a shame since i have much more free time during the week to shoot and PP and that's on the laptop ... have to see what i can do

I liked the blue version you first posted.

Thanks .... i think, like everything, its purely personal taste....i thought the blue one worked but i do also like the normal B&W