Critique my shots

[NorthDave]

Hi Guys,

Some of you may remember I asked for advise on my first DSLR? I have finally completed my first case study of photos.

A bit of background - we install things which are installed in peoples homes and I want to be able to take photos of the kit to show we know what we are doing. I have no previous experience really but am happy to play.

I'm aware some are much stronger than others but I am generally happy with the results. The colours seem very vibrant.












Any feedback is welcome but please do be gentle!

[Simpo Two]

For me the first two are quite decent, but they then deteriorate in terms of perspective control and lighting. Too many dark corners, and on the last one, if you'd stood to the right a little and squared up, you wouldn't have half a bus shelter coming in through the ceiling.

[tenohfive]

Certainly on the right road, but a few could do with some improved processing - some lightened shadows and increased contrast to make them pop. Are these 'out of camera' or have you run them through Lightroom/Photoshop etc?

[NorthDave]

Thanks guys. Definitely a learning curve!

No processing at all, straight out of the camera.

[budfox]

Not too bad, but the thing with extreme wide angles, as has been noted, is to try and keep the camera horizontal. That way the vertical lines will stay parallel. (Apart from any distortion the lens puts in).

You are photographing a lot of straight lines, so this is certainly something to look at.

If you don't get it right in camera it can be fixed in Lightroom, but you'll be introducing unnatural effects which will bring a certain weirdness to the result.

[Simpo Two]

NorthDave said:

Thanks guys. Definitely a learning curve!

No processing at all, straight out of the camera.

You'll have to learn some Photoshop if you want to do better. Lighting is a whole art in itself and can be costly, but if you shoot RAW and take multiple exposures and learn to recover highlights and shadows, and blend different exposures, and pay attention to horizontals and verticals, then you should do well. Be fussy!

[flat-planedCrank]

In addition to the great advice already given...

I'd say pay attention to the borders of your shots, I'd try to avoid the corners of objects jutting in slightly or touching those borders.

Eg. The first 2 shots are good, but if we look at these:

NorthDave said:

The top one has the corner of the foreground chair appearing, and the second has the lower corner of the bed cropped slightly by the bottom of the frame. It can make the shots feel like 'quick snaps' rather than professional images. Always watch the edges of your shots...


If you are new to taking these sorts of shots then I'd say you did a good job

Hope this helps

[IATM]

What camera did you use