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Whoah, portraits in abandoned buildings? That is a fresh and exciting concept. Six Flags by Tom Olson, on Flickr
RangerScum fucked around with this message at 15:43 on Aug 4, 2015 |
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Aug 4, 2015 15:41
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A Saucy Bratwurst posted:If anyone has a minute to look at the pics I posted before and give me some pointers etc, I'd really appreciate it. I put a bit of effort into it, and I'm pretty happy with what I got, but I'm sure I can improve. It's obvious that some care was taken in making them, they aren't just snapshots, but I don't find them exceptional in terms of composition or storytelling. What deaders said about ensuring you properly exposed the subject is dead on. One technique you could use to improve is to edit, then step away from the photos for some hours or days before looking at them again so that you can see them with fresh eyes. You will likely find that on looking at them fresh you'll be able to immediately see "I really underexposed that graffiti wall" or "this picture is dumb and meaningless" or "i still like this, i did a good job". There's lots of ways you could improve but finding those ways is your job. If urbex is going to be your jam I suggest you start by finding urbex photos you really like, teasing apart what it is about them that strikes you, and emulating those things. There was one series in the abandoned places thread that struck me as good, here is a link. Note the varied compositions, techniques, and subject choices throughout the series. Now look at your series again. There is a notable lack of diversity in terms of composition. Almost all of the shots are dead on, subject in the middle with lines moving in from the corners to the center of the frame. (not that there's anything wrong with that composition, I've shot lots of stuff like that and some people exclusively shoot that comp in an effort to reduce subjects down to lines and colors/tones, making them almost abstract). Is there are reason this series has this sort of sameness of composition? Is there some similarity of the subjects that is meant to be highlighted? Something else? If not, perhaps you'd be better served to learn/try some other compositional techniques.
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Aug 4, 2015 16:50
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It might have just been that school but the building's were all giant cubes and kinda made it easy for me to just default to that. I did notice it and made a mental note to see if I could avoid it next time. E: I am pretty happy that it's noticeable that I put some effort in. Thanks for the feedback underage at the vape shop fucked around with this message at 22:29 on Aug 4, 2015 |
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Aug 4, 2015 22:14
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RangerScum posted:Whoah, portraits in abandoned buildings? That is a fresh and exciting concept. Pretty much all photography has been done before, who cares. He was giving a new guy some ideas to help him learn, you think he should be out doing some kind of avant-garde surrealist photography or something? Personally I mostly shoot pretty generic landscapes but I don't care, it's a hobby and I like taking pretty pictures of cool places when I'm on holiday/wandering around town. It doesn't have to be high art.
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Aug 5, 2015 05:42
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Wafflecopper posted:He was giving a new guy some ideas to help him learn, you think he should be out doing some kind of avant-garde surrealist photography or something? Another fresh and original concept 
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Aug 5, 2015 06:26
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To be honest it seems like photography is like 99% of hobbies where whatever you do will have been done, so who cares just have fun. I doubt I'm ever going to be inventing some new cool thing like the benzier method. I don't really care if my photography isn't the freshest poo poo, and if I did, I doubt anything I come up with in the first few years of this would be original or good anyway. Even overdone stuff sounds good to learn cause there's a reason it it is overdone, and it seems like I'm already ok at composition compared to my ability to actually use that to make interesting photos. If I can do overdone stuff and understand why it works and what doesn't then I can apply those principles to other things. underage at the vape shop fucked around with this message at 09:14 on Aug 5, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2015 09:06
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If you ain't tryin though? Why? Why at all?
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Aug 5, 2015 09:14
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A Saucy Bratwurst posted:it seems like I'm already ok at composition compared to my ability to actually use that to make interesting photos. If I can do overdone stuff and understand why it works and what doesn't then I can apply those principles to other things. If you think you are already "ok at composition" then you need to be harder on yourself. Or just do it as a hobby and copy whatever is flavour of the month.
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Aug 5, 2015 11:08
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deaders posted:If you think you are already "ok at composition" then you need to be harder on yourself. Thats the feeling I got from the feedback. I'm not saying I'm amazing or anything, just that from what was said here, my ability at picking interesting subjects and exposing properly compared to my ability to create the lines etc in the shot are lacking. I like it as a hobby but I'd like to get good at it, as a hobby.
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Aug 5, 2015 11:46
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A friend of mine referred me to this forum to start posting here and I posted super lovely urban landscapes and urbex shots which were far, far worse than anything you posted and I got shredded because they were obviously garbage. For someone who's just kicking around with a camera you're not doing terribly. Photography is a steep learning curve and finding the balance between being too hard on yourself yet remaining critical enough to know that you need to improve is important. What I really like about the dorkroom is that people here aren't afraid to tell you that you need to improve, unlike 99% of other photography forums that just jerk each other off and praise the poo poo out of each other without adding constructive criticism. Posters here tell you they don't like your photo but then tell you why they don't like it and how you can improve. Realising you can do better is an important step, and if you keep it up sooner or later you will get results you will be happy with. Personally I think your shots of that abandoned tafe campus are good for a beginner/amateur/hobbyist but deaders was pretty on the money with everything he said. I'm far from 'great' myself and make no claim to be good, I still crash around here posting garbage but I keep coming back because it's pretty much the only place online you will find honest constructive criticism from people who actually know what they're talking about which will only encourage you to try and better your photography. The best way to get better results is to just keep taking more photos. Keep it up mate
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Aug 5, 2015 13:18
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Thanks. I agree about the rest of the internet being trash though, like you go on flickr and people are just so circlejerky, and they seem to really love a tonne of bokeh, even when it makes the photo look poo poo. I guess it makes it feel artsy to them? And yeah something awful in general is a pretty good place to get told exactly why you are poo poo at what you do, but I like that. You don't get better by being lied to.
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Aug 5, 2015 13:27
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A Saucy Bratwurst posted:Thats the feeling I got from the feedback. I'm not saying I'm amazing or anything, just that from what was said here, my ability at picking interesting subjects and exposing properly compared to my ability to create the lines etc in the shot are lacking. Aside from improving technically, try to figure out why you're shooting. That might really help to improve your photos.
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Aug 5, 2015 17:14
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Look at photos everyday. Create a folder and save the ones that aren't just technically good but have some type of impact on you. Do this for a month and then look through them. The common characteristics and themes you can pull from them are a good starting point for answering the more abstract questions like "why you're shooting".
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Aug 5, 2015 17:44
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Aug 5, 2015 17:50
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Thoogsby posted:Look at photos everyday... Do you have favorite website for looking at photos?
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Aug 5, 2015 19:33
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accipter posted:Do you have favorite website for looking at photos? Photobooks help a lot with that, but those curated photo tumblrs like mpdrolet are also a good start to get exposure to different styles of photography.
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Aug 5, 2015 21:53
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 Red Apple Lounge by Isaac Sachs, on Flickr
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Aug 5, 2015 22:05
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alkanphel posted:Photobooks help a lot with that, but those curated photo tumblrs like mpdrolet are also a good start to get exposure to different styles of photography. Got any recommendations for more landscape type blogs?
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Aug 5, 2015 22:32
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A Saucy Bratwurst posted:Got any recommendations for more landscape type blogs? Luxlit and lensblr-network are good tumblr blogs also newlandscapephotography.com is a decent website/blog that may be up your alley that you can sign up to for updates Sludge Tank fucked around with this message at 23:28 on Aug 5, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2015 23:07
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A Saucy Bratwurst posted:I like it as a hobby but I'd like to get good at it, as a hobby. I'd advise from this style of thinking. Like many (most?) on this forum I'm no pro and have no illusions of becoming one, but improving is improving. There's no difference in improving as an amateur and improving as a pro, other then whether you make money from your photos. what the gently caress just called himself out as not being "great" but holy poo poo he is messing with some real crazy alt-process stuff that you wouldn't even see many pros touching in a million years. Not saying that's what you're doing, but dismissing the (often abrasive) advice from the more professional Dorkroomers as "that's not for me" won't help you improve as a hobbyist, either!
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Aug 5, 2015 23:20
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Also flickr is good just because there's so much content Hashtag surf for days on that one, that's how i found some of my favourite photographers.
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Aug 5, 2015 23:26
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Geektox posted:I'd advise from this style of thinking. Like many (most?) on this forum I'm no pro and have no illusions of becoming one, but improving is improving. There's no difference in improving as an amateur and improving as a pro, other then whether you make money from your photos. what the gently caress just called himself out as not being "great" but holy poo poo he is messing with some real crazy alt-process stuff that you wouldn't even see many pros touching in a million years. Thats not how I meant it. I want to improve, I haven't dismissed anything here.
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Aug 5, 2015 23:50
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Also I figure I should pick up a polarising filter at some point, I really like how they make water look and they should help make it easier to take shots like these: Easier right?
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Aug 6, 2015 00:28
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A Saucy Bratwurst posted:Thats not how I meant it. I want to improve, I haven't dismissed anything here. I wasn't trying to single you out or put words in your mouth! It's just a common enough excuse on these forums that it's worth mentioning. FWIW I think the photos you posted were a poo poo-ton better than the first stuff I posted here, even if I'm not particularly into urbex stuff, but I'll leave actual critique to people more skilled than I.
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Aug 6, 2015 00:39
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Geektox posted:I wasn't trying to single you out or put words in your mouth! It's just a common enough excuse on these forums that it's worth mentioning. FWIW I think the photos you posted were a poo poo-ton better than the first stuff I posted here, even if I'm not particularly into urbex stuff, but I'll leave actual critique to people more skilled than I. Thanks. I more meant what i said as this is a hobby but I'm not really content unless I'm improving. I know that looking back in a year or so I'll be really satisfied with myself if there is noticeable improvement. I completely understand what people here mean now when I should wait a few days and review my own work. All of the photos I shared look a lot worse to me now than they did when I was still excited after shooting and editing and posting within 24hr. The ones that I didn't post because they had focus issues that my parents/friends liked look better now on the other hand.
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Aug 6, 2015 01:03
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A Saucy Bratwurst posted:All of the photos I shared look a lot worse to me now than they did when I was still excited after shooting and editing and posting within 24hr. Welcome to photography
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Aug 6, 2015 01:15
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Wait until you get to the point where you can look back on photos you took years ago. I am genuinely ashamed of the turgid hyper-saturated landscape garbage I was taking about 5 years ago.
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Aug 6, 2015 01:51
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I think I lost my way, a lot of stuff I shot 3-5 years ago seems 'better' to me than what I do now tbh
365 Nog Hogger fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Aug 6, 2015 |
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Aug 6, 2015 02:24
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365 Nog Hogger posted:I think I lost my way, a lot of stuff I shot 3-4 years ago seems 'better' to me than what I do now tbh A lot of that would be related to motivation and purpose I would assume.
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Aug 6, 2015 02:29
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A Saucy Bratwurst posted:Got any recommendations for more landscape type blogs? Unfortunately I did most of my general exposure to landscape via photobooks so most of the Flickr and Tumblr people I follow now are quite specific to my style and taste, so probably not your type (yet). FWIW the first photobook I read was something "populist" like Ansel Adams's Examples: The Making of of 40 Photographs and now I'm reading stuff like This Year's Model by Go Itami and Blocks by Dustin Shum. The more photobooks you read, and the more you shoot and curate harshly on yourself will definitely help you to evolve.
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Aug 6, 2015 06:27
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post more photos
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Aug 6, 2015 06:40
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 HRC Nighttime by Tom Olson, on Flickr
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Aug 6, 2015 17:08
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bellows lugosi fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Aug 6, 2015 |
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Aug 6, 2015 17:26
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 Untitled by Drew Davis, on Flickr
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Aug 6, 2015 19:23
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 sodium by Max Piepenbrink, on Flickrthumbnail looks like poo poo  fish sign by Max Piepenbrink, on Flickr calvary chapel by Max Piepenbrink, on Flickr
a cyberpunk goose fucked around with this message at 07:20 on Aug 7, 2015 |
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Aug 7, 2015 06:47
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Aug 7, 2015 08:21
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 dead genset by Devin Wilson, on Flickr
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Aug 7, 2015 10:09
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Aug 7, 2015 15:48
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 Bollman Funeral Home by Isaac Sachs, on Flickr
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Aug 7, 2015 16:13
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Those hedges are awesome.
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Aug 7, 2015 17:21
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