Help me improve my photography skills

[ani1130]

Hi Guys,
I have recently purchased a Nikon D3000. I am still a novice, I would appreciate if you guys could help be better at photograhy with some constructive criticism....Please give your comments on the photo I have posted below:

[mangomm]

hi!!
i love the focus right in the center of the flower
i also like the dof
but the white reflects on the left side are a bit distracting !
maybe you could fix that with photoshop

[JamesO]

Hi There,

I'm doing a school project where I have to critique people's pictures, so I chose to get a double whammy out of it and actually post my critique to help others improve their photography. My critique might sound a little odd as I'm presenting it to a teacher, but here we go:

Exposure: The area on the left side of the flower is overexposed. This could probably be fixed in post processing or prevented by lowering the exposure bias.

Focus: The focus is a sharp focus, which is very good for macro shots.

Depth of Field: Personally, I would have done a slightly larger dof as lines of the flower go towards the center, but the center is not exactly in focus.

Centered vs. Rule of Thirds: The position is centered in the frame, which works for this picture, but personally, I would have positioned it like the picture attached.

Feeling: Although I hate to say it, but I’m not getting much of a feeling from it as the overexposure keeps grabbing my attention. It is very close to a WOW, but just not quite there. The sharpness at the top right petal is fantastic and if this was carried around to all the others, it would greatly increase the meaning of the picture.

Hope this helps,
James

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