Constructive criticism required! Please!

Hey Everyone,

Fairly new to this forum and after seeing knowledgeable experienced photographers giving constructive criticism however harsh it may sound...it is still valuable and worthwhile getting the feedback.
My camera is a Canon 550D with various lenses and this is what I have been up to so far.
I do not think I have gone too far wrong so far but I know there could be a vast amount of improvement.

Swan-Canon 70-300 is usm @300mm
Ruby- Canon 50mm 1.8 mkii

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

More pics !
Both pics # Canon 50mm 1.4

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

And 1 more portrait. The only 2 portraits i have done so far

50mm1.4

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

If you really want good constructive criticism its helpful to keep it to one, or maybe two images tops because its too easy to look at the group and make a general comment. Which is sort of what I am going to do. It looks like you've gotten a handle on exposure and focus, and your post work seems very good. In the two animal shots and the boy you have the composition dead center. Thats not the worst thing, but you might want to try some variety in composition. (BTW you are only allowed to attach 2 images, if you want to do more you need to embed them, its easy if you have a site like flickr).

Thanks for the reply! The portraits of my nephews was unplanned and it was a matter of plonking them on a chair at a busy new years day party, had to get rid of a lot of unwanted stray hands and other things etc lol. The last portrait he was actually holding a glass up near his face so i photoshopped his arm out making it look like it was down his side.

The centering for the first portrait works quite well, but I do not think it works for the second. Aligning him to the right would improve it. Same about the composition with the dog, although Im not sure if it would look better in portrait orientation or just applying the rule of thirds to it horizontally (excuse the wording, brain is dead) The last portrait's color temp is too cool imo.

Good light in all of them though!

Wallpap3r Thanks for your critique! I think my biggest fault so far is cropping everything so that the subjects are framed to the centre.
I always have the rule of thirds in mind when setting up a shot but seem to lose that when cropping! To be honest if i had the best composition in the first place i wouldnt be cropping them like so.
This is what i now have to start concentrating on!

The only one that really "works" for me is the one of the first -white and tan- dog. Good depth of field focus is on the eye and composition isn't too bad either.

The rest seem snap-shotty to me. You have a 50 f/1.4... use the 1.4 to your advantage for these indoorsy shoots. Try not to center things directly in the middle of the frame unless that is your creative vision. The ones of the kids could look really cool(er) if they were standing exaclty the same and no chair in the photo. Red is actually a good color for them, but be aware of your white balance. The older child is warm, the younger one is cold.