[funkymunky]

Hi everybody i am doing my level 1 and 2 city and guilds photography, and i am would really appreciate all of your critique on my images.. i will upload plenty starting with just these few.

[EdMak]

What was your brief, just take pics, or, specific assignments. Ed.

[MrB]

In my opinion, there are too many all at once for comment. I'll just mention the one that immediately appealed to me on running through them, which is the B&W seascape - a very pleasant image. Nevertheless, I would be tempted to increase the local contrast (e.g. using unsharp mask: radius 50 pixels; amount 20%). Also there are two obvious sensor dust spots - in the sky top left and near the top edge on the right - that need cloning out.

All the best with the C & G.

Philip

[funkymunky]

Thanku I will upload 1 at a time as ur right it would be easier for comments, I hadn't noticed the dust spots.

[funkymunky]

Ok my theme is Nature so i will have a vairied range of wildlife, landscape, bugs etc. but i am uploading most of my images. so there is gonna be a mixture. and some Cartier Brasson style, Imagon Cunningham, Sally Mann influenced shots as well.

[Dean]

Where do we start? I think your theme is too wide. I should have narrowed it down a bit more, and where does the mother and child on the beach fit in with the theme? To my mind there needs to be a link between the images in the portfolio. You appear to have applied the scattergun approach.
There are some competently exposed images and some not so. Same goes for composition. Some should have been better than they are. The damselfly, for instance. can’t do much about its soft rear end but a couple of clicks in PS brings out the colour, and contrast, diminishes the haze and ups the sharpness to an acceptable level.
The bee is nice, keep that, and I would like to see the monkey in its original state.
the two beasts, lions or dogs?, need more contrast.
Swans?, a bit week in composition and one in depth of field as well
Old trailer and bridge have potential as subjects, nature?, and are reasonably well exposed, but PoV doesn’t do them justice. If you are going to take photos of things like that you do need to be a bit more imaginative. Half a trailer is not arty, its just half a trailer.
Seascape and view of church are ok, but latter is too mid tone.
can’t see the point of the view of the dinghies through the chainlink fence. You can get away with a bit of framing but overdone here.
The raindrops was a good attempt but I find the blurred foreground a bit distracting.
The view of the lake with the row of posts running straight down the middle would have been much better if they didn’t. A diagonal, yes, but not cutting the image in two like that.
Squirrels? need impact and need to be sharper.
All just my opinion and sorry if it sounds a bit harsh. You have posted much better images.

[EdMak]

Seem to have gone for quantity, rather than quality here. As Dean says, you have posted better. Slow down, and, think. You will get there. Ed.

[funkymunky]

thanks Dean and Ed, thats actually what i was looking for. i have too many images and have gone through a lot all ready. posting on here is to get the opinion of others to help me spot what i am now starting to over look or look past. as for the monkeys and lions i am off to woburn in the morning with a photographers pass so i will be aiming to do alot better. i have up until now kept my theme wide because i am still deciding what i am wanting to concentrate on. i spent about 30 mins around the old trailer and have got some different angles and compositions but i am still struggling to get away from just a trailer. (as lovely as it maybe). the mother and child i like and just through it in to get a response. none of these have been put forward for my presentation as yet and i think far from it. but starting here i think is a good idea..

[PhotoPlay]

Yeah I agree with other as it you're in a hurry posting it more. Probably best way to have it critique is post one sinegle image and tell us what makes you shoot it that way. We could narrow it down from there Looking forward to see your image in other thread.

[Dean]

thanks Dean and Ed, thats actually what i was looking for. i have too many images and have gone through a lot all ready. posting on here is to get the opinion of others to help me spot what i am now starting to over look or look past. as for the monkeys and lions i am off to woburn in the morning with a photographers pass so i will be aiming to do alot better. i have up until now kept my theme wide because i am still deciding what i am wanting to concentrate on. i spent about 30 mins around the old trailer and have got some different angles and compositions but i am still struggling to get away from just a trailer. (as lovely as it maybe). the mother and child i like and just through it in to get a response. none of these have been put forward for my presentation as yet and i think far from it. but starting here i think is a good idea..

I think you need to make some sort of decision as to what your theme is going to be about or you will end up with just a lot of images. And the more you get the harder the decision will be, because you will be suaved by the quality of some of the images rather than the subject and context. What aspect of nature are you looking at? Nature in tooth and claw?; contrasts - the lion and the lamb?, structures and shapes - snow flakes, leaf skeletons, small animal skeletons, trees, rocks, flowers?; seasons? Weather? Enjoy the zoo but take a good think about “nature” while you are there.

[johnytrout]

I am fairly new to this site, but have picked up a lot of information which has been invaluable.
Ask this question, "What do I want to see?"
If the answer is swans....... show swans and not the hedgerows or fields beyond as in #6 and #7.
Take a step closer and fill your frame with the image in question.
This keeps the eye fixed on exactly what the viewer wants.

[funkymunky]

thanks for the tip Johnytrout. couldn't go to the safari today (poorly kids) but in a way its probably good i didn't. i have far to many images and just can't decide which to choose. i originally wanted to do landscape views. i then wandered on to old people and candid shots, coffee shop images, marketplace, etc. so i think i should just stick to those 2 original thoughts.i really do appreciate your input peeps. i will be posting as soon as i get them off my card and past PS..

[Barbara G.]

Yes - please create new threads for one to three photos for critique. This will make it much easier to comment on - don't worry about creating too many threads. Thank you!

I split the posts into thread the best I could. Members can make comments on each thread. Thank you.

[Tom G]

Ok my theme is Nature so i will have a vairied range of wildlife, landscape, bugs etc. but i am uploading most of my images. so there is gonna be a mixture. and some Cartier Brasson style, Imagon Cunningham, Sally Mann influenced shots as well.

Mr. Funkymunky,

A person's name is a precious thing.

It's not Brasson, it's Cartier-Bresson to be exact, and Imogen not Imogon. Misspelling and mispronouncing anyone's name is an affront to that person and what they did.