Your photos (171)


Hints and tips
by Philip Grosset



If you'd like to submit photos for criticism,
click here.

with comments from Philip Grosset




"I recently bought a 3 MP digital camera and shot a couple of hundred pictures. On my recent holiday in Turkey I shot some photo's I would like to be criticized.
Picture 1, is a close up on some lemons hanging in a tree. I walked by this tree and saw the dew still on the lemons. I tried to catch this 'freshness' in this picture.
Picture 2, is a plain landscape picture of the Taurus maintains in the south of Turky. I just tried to shot some pictures of the landscape and thought the tree was a nice foreground. In my opinion this is just a ordinary landscape shot.
Picture 3 and 4 are from my daughter on the beach. At picture 3 Laura is looking at a distant boat. I personaly like the emptyness at which she's looking. Picture 4 is a posed shot of my daughter in the evening sun. The sun was in my back and like the light yelow light in this picture. I look forward for your comments, suggestions and or tips. Greetings, Max." (Max Bisschop, Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
Mountains
Lemons
I very much like your lemons picture. The coloring and the dew make it highly attractive and you've come in really close to bring out its appeal.
Your landscape photo is much helped by the inclusion of the tree, although it does merge a little into the background. It is, as you say, an ordinary landscape shot - just a bit too ordinary, perhaps.
If it's the emptiness in the background that you like, it seems a pity that your daughter isn't really looking at it. Alternatively, it might have been better to have shown more of her face. As it is, the picture falls a bit between the two stools.
Girl

Girl Girl cropped
Your photo on the left is very attractive, but your daughter looks a little lost below all that sky, so I'd try coming in closer, as on the right.
You've certainly got some pleasing photos here.

Reply from Max Bisschop: "Thanks for your quick response. I mainly agree with your comments. As for the picture where my daughter is looking at sea, I agree that although I really thought she was looking at the boat at that particular moment, it doesn't seem to be that way on the photo.
The picture of the tree is too 'flat', I agree. Still I am wondering how I could have make it more attractive.
I agree that the close up of the last photo you've added makes the photo more attractive. Though I very much liked the sky and the clouds and I wanted to include as much as possible of the sky. Maybe the angle should have been more from below in order to get the head on two third of the picture and still leave as much sky as on the first photo.
Thanks for you very interesting site. I read all the tips and tricks and I think I might be able to use them to make more interesting photo's. Greetings, Max"




"First of all may say how much I have enjoyed your site and how much I have learned from it.  I treated myself to a new digital camera as a retirement present and am still learning about it.  I use many of my photographs to create cards for family and friends. The pansies were taken just after a summer rain shower when the sun broke through.  They were part of a group in the uninspiring site of a drain cover!  I have cropped this picture so the pansy is not central and have brought is forward a little too.  I used the macro setting to take it.
The Japanese bridge was taken in the Japanese Gardens at the Irish National Stud.. Access was limited as the path was narrow and windy so again I moved the bridge slightly and cropped the picture.
The bridge with the geese was taken at Cannon Hall, Barnsley.  Again access was not easy to get the angle I wanted so I did quite a bit of pacing up and down the river bank until I was happy with the composition.  To create this picture I cropped and moved the image so the bridge was not central.
The final picture, taken at the Royal Armouries, Leeds, is of my grandchildren.  We were all helpless with laughter as the two younger ones tried to clamber on the cannon. Thank you in anticipation." ( Pat Westmoreland, Wakefield, West Yorks)
Pansies cropped
Pansies
This is a very pleasing photo on the left, helped by the dew, sunshine and your careful placing of the largest pansy. You could, perhaps, still clip off just a little more, as I have done on the right, as this concentrates even more on the pansies.
Swans
Bridge
I prefer your bridge photo on the left, and particularly like the way the red immediately grabs attention. The one on the right might have benefitted from more contrast - some dappled sunshine might have helped. Easier said than done, I know!
Children
Children cropped
Your photo on the left very successfully captures a happy family situation. But I'd be inclined to move in closer still, as I have done on the right.
These are all effective photos - you're obviously making really good use of your digital camera!

Reply from Pat Westmoreland: "Thank you, Philip, for your comments on my four photographs. I am encouraged by your observations and will continue to develop my skills but, most importantly, I will continue to enjoy the creative outlet the camera gives me."




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