Trips to the Park

[breezy93]

Okay, so I'm fairly new to the world of photography, and very new to DPS. This is my first post on here. I took a serie's of pictures with my friend in the park today, and decided to upload them one by one to receive critique. Not sure if I got the settings or composition quite the way I wanted it. What do you think?

Camera: Kodak EasyShare C743
Setting: Macro
Time of Day: Around 4:30.

[MrJones]

I like the grass color and how it blows in the wind, I can just see the possibilities of shooting there
I'll divide my critique to pose and lightning:
pose - she looks like she doesn't want the rose. she is standing with her arm in front of her, holding it at the tip and looking away. this doesn't come off flattering and relaxing.
unless you went for that specific "I don't want it, take it away!" look - you should work on the pose.
lightning - you have some very harsh light coming from her right, hitting her in the face and since she's not looking completely at that direction, what you've got is half light half dark face. which is not flattering in this case. plus, her face may be a bit overexposed.
other than that, what did you find special about that specific flower(?) that you want to show it to the camera?

I'm sorry if I'm harsh but I do find that this is the best way to learn

[Rpulliam]

Just a few things I see.... Her head is cut off from the photo. Sometimes this works in a picture, but the flower is also cut off. It almost looks like it was accidently cropped off. Also, one of the flower buds is covering her eye.

[breezy93]

Originally Posted by MrJones

I like the grass color and how it blows in the wind, I can just see the possibilities of shooting there
I'll divide my critique to pose and lightning:
pose - she looks like she doesn't want the rose. she is standing with her arm in front of her, holding it at the tip and looking away. this doesn't come off flattering and relaxing.
unless you went for that specific "I don't want it, take it away!" look - you should work on the pose.
lightning - you have some very harsh light coming from her right, hitting her in the face and since she's not looking completely at that direction, what you've got is half light half dark face. which is not flattering in this case. plus, her face may be a bit overexposed.
other than that, what did you find special about that specific flower(?) that you want to show it to the camera?

I'm sorry if I'm harsh but I do find that this is the best way to learn

Pose: I was actually going for that look in this case. It's a weed and I was thinking in my brain that people usually hate weeds and never want them in their yards, gardens, etc.

Lighting: Hmmm, I see what you're saying now. The light was actually the natural sunlight, to be quite honest. But it does seem very unflattering. How might you suggest I fix that? Could I possibly do it with an editing program? I have GIMP, but I haven't really worked with editing lighting in pictures before.

And it's fine. I'm really good with constructive criticism. In fact, I engourage it because then I learn really well. (:

[breezy93]

Originally Posted by Rpulliam

Just a few things I see.... Her head is cut off from the photo. Sometimes this works in a picture, but the flower is also cut off. It almost looks like it was accidently cropped off. Also, one of the flower buds is covering her eye.

Hmmmm, I see what you're saying. Unfortunately, it wasn't due to my editing the image. This was the way I took it. actually haven't edited this image at all yet actually. This is the raw version. So I guess I have to learn to crop my picture in better next time. I was going for a tight in close-up. Didn't work to well for me.

[MrJones]

Originally Posted by breezy93

Pose: I was actually going for that look in this case. It's a weed and I was thinking in my brain that people usually hate weeds and never want them in their yards, gardens, etc.

Lighting: Hmmm, I see what you're saying now. The light was actually the natural sunlight, to be quite honest. But it does seem very unflattering. How might you suggest I fix that? Could I possibly do it with an editing program? I have GIMP, but I haven't really worked with editing lighting in pictures before.

And it's fine. I'm really good with constructive criticism. In fact, I engourage it because then I learn really well. (:

I don't know GIMP but if you have the use of brushes and layers you can brighten up just the dark spots. next time try and use a reflector to counter the sun and even out the lightning.

as for the cut off heads, don't be afraid to cut off and get close, it usually works. the reason it doesn't work in this case is mostly cause you also cut the weeds which are the main object in the photo.

[breezy93]

Hmmmm, sounds like a good idea. I'm sure I can do that with GIMP. I'll be sure to post my after product when I'm finished editing it.