Photo Critique's

[Legin]

Hi, I am new to both this forum and digital photography.
I would like some comments on my photos. They were taken with a Panasonic FZ-10.

Thanks
Legin

[ponder]

Legin,
I looked at all your photos and here's what I think. Your domestic duck picture is nice, but the highlight on duck's face could have been toned down a little bit, since it's burned out. Shooting white objects on dark backgrounds can be tough because your light meter is fooled by the dark area and tries to open up the lens too much thereby burning out the subject. I like the water dripping off of the duck's beak. If you have a manual mode on your camera, you might try bracketing when you shoot your subject. Bracketing meens shooting whatever your light meter tells you and then opening up a 1/2 stop and closing down the lens a 1/2 stop.

Your 2nd image, the flower breaks the rules of thirds by putting the image dead center in the frame like a bullseye. Think of your frame in the camera and then pretend that there is a grid broken down in to 3 boxes on top, 3 in the center and 3 on the bottom. Now place the subject of your photo in any of the three boxes, but not in the center box. You might want to move in for a tighter shot on the flower and then maybe light it different because the flower appears very flat because the light looks flat. When shooting outdoor photos, try to shoot early in the morning or late in the afternoon, to get a more dramatic lighting effect.

Your 3rd image of the flower suffers from basically the same things as number 2 and it's not very sharp. When shooting anything in nature, it's good to try to shoot in a way that no one else shoots. For instance, when I shoot flowers, I will sometime lay on my stomach and shoot up at the flower or even place the camera on the ground to get an extreme angle of the flower. Move in as close to the flower as you can and capture just a small area of the flower to make it appear gigantic. Most people starting out in photography make the mistake of shooting from their eye level and that can make for a rather dull photo. Stand on a ladder or get down low to the ground and see how the photo turns out.

I hope this helps you,

Ponder

[Legin]

Ponder, thank you very much for your comments. This is exactly what I am looking for. My FZ-10 does have both of the features you talked about including bracketing and the thirds overlay.

Thanks once again
Legin

[ponder]

Legin,

Happy shooting and I'm glad I could help. Next time post some to your private gallery.

Ponder