Need advice please

[Alexandra]

To be honest i dont expect to sell anything... Its more a chance to boost my ego... Once upon a time i had a lot of support from that organization... Later i did some work in graphic and web design for them and when they asked me to exhibit some stuff i felt honored...

I agree that none of my work is wow... But if it would be, then id be a genius given that i just started in photography...

On another point of view i saw a photo booklet today (Women Weekly or something like that) and without coming across as a show off, i think that some of my work is much much better then most of the stuff in that book...

But as i said, i know how much more i have to learn, not only in terms of composition, but also technical aspects, and even in PP because even if i do know Photoshop as the back of my hand, i know it for graphic design which is different from photo retouching... So yes, i agree i still have a long road to go... And i dont think that i will ever know everything or ever reach perfection... Its always space for getting it better which is what drives me in all i do...

[ijbrewst]

While some of your shots are a bit flat in the lighting eg DSC_ 0068,0244 and 0161, I think you have some great compositions and appealing images eg. memories2small, red flower, gold and candles, DSC_0235.
A tip I took from a watercolourist was to try to get a highlighted area to draw the eye in - works well if the "rule of thirds" is used for this.
Another tip was to always put on a Teflon overcoat when you invite criticism: distill the gems and go for it!

[Alexandra]

Thank you so much... Its funny in a way, the images you mentioned as being good are the ones that are most personal to me... Except red flower, the other ones were created to tell a story for my family...

I agree with the ones you said are a bit flat in the lighting... Didnt use any lighting if i remember correctly and the day was overcast...

As for criticism, i tend to take it rather well if i have something to learn out of it. "Making a fool of myself" as my friend put it doesnt teach me anything which i guess its the reason for why i took it so badly...

[FormElement]

I honestly don't see any risk, except that you might get experience. (My favorite tounge-in-cheek joke is that Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.)

Everybody has to start somewhere. For every photo that makes the cut, I guarantee you, a proud and self important photographer somewhere has made a thousand more that didn't!

If you can afford it, and you will enjoy it, then by all means, DO IT. What do you have to lose? Some time? A few bucks? What do you have to gain? Experience? A good time? Some appreciation? Maybe even a paying gig or two?

No guts = No glory ... ;-)

Do take it seriously though, and try to put your absolute best foot forward! I don't think you have eight showable images on flickr, but you could reconsider a few for additional processing and probably get some very nice artistic results. You can usually save a blah capture with creative artistic processing. You can't expect world class images, but then again you're not Dave Hill...(yet!)

dsc_0070 could be warmed up a little in my opinion...
rocks and darkness might have some visual impact in B&W with a high contrast blue filter...

Come to think of it, why not try processing everything you think might work in B&W? Some with high contrast, some for a more natural look. It would contribute some continuity to your exhibit, and you may see something useful that was not obvious before. I won't say that it's a slam dunk, but it's a brainstorm worth testing out...