Amateur Photographer...need some critiquing!

Thats really too bad... in our Year 1 photography classes we could sign out Pentax K1000 cameras to use for our projects. Learned more with that old thing than any camera since... darn thing worked without batteries. (Lets see a digital camera do THAT. ) Purchased my own Pentax - the P3 - in my last year: 1989. Used it for almost 20 years and it never skipped a beat. Still have it.
Maybe I am old fashioned but the old manual SLR film format can teach one alot.

GT

 

that is how I learned. Also medium format and 4x5 bellows cameras

 

We were looking at photography schools this year and at least one forced students to start off with film slr and darkroom. I can't remember which it was but we were looking at several of the bigger ones. Daughter accepted at R.I.T. for photojournalism.

 

Sometimes I really miss the manual focus line-up-the-stick-with-the-lollipop metering film slr of my youth!

 

G.B. - you have some really great pics there...

If your interest is in HDR, please have a look at Trey Ratcliffs website : http://www.stuckincustoms.com/
Im not a huge fan of HDR photography myself but im really impressed by Trey´s work......He also has a great tutorial on HDR on his site....Keep posting more of your work as you progress...

Cheers, Nick

 

Not at all old fashioned, but with enough perspective to understand that digital is not that big of a deal. Formats change, a good concept does not. People love to hear numbers all the time, that's the way American consumer practice works. It's why everyone is always after new gear and why whole magazines are devoted to the minutia of all these products which they can sell to continue circulating money through the economy. It's 100% pure garbage. New, better, faster, numbers, numbers, numbers...at the end of the day I can't think of one really good photograph...I mean, the kind that changes your mind about a big idea...which was made on some fancy high tech digital camera. A look at the most compelling and emotional images of our time indicates the camera is a mundane tool for communicating an idea and little else. Even in landscape photo where you can make arguments about resolution a film camera and a decent scanner yield are 1/10th the cost of equivalent digital gear. Yet strictly because they give instantaneous results and are available to buy at thousands of shlock warehouses (best buy, etc.) across our great nation, people go out, buy it, and then have an unrealistic idea about what constitutes good photography. I got 30% of my photo education from concepts I was made to understand before even picking up a camera, and the other 70% from going out and doing it -- with film 35 gear, or my trusty mamiya RB67, etc. None of it has ever come from using a better camera or post production technique, although those things are sometimes nice flair.

 

GB, you have the potential to be a great shooter but like it's been said here before, concentrate on the things that differentiate real talent from a 'Hack with a Mac'. Apart from having a good eye as you do, work on concept, composition, lighting real and practical,lens selection,etc. Now days, thanks to the computer anyone can play photographer and get sucked into tricky digital techniques but if you're serious about a career in photography you've got to do your homework. One of the best things you can do is mileage.........shoot, shoot, shoot and learn by doing. Be a creative sponge and soak up every little bit of information you can, if you have the fire within ( passion ) you will feel it and it will make itself apparent in your work.
Also, beg , borrow or steal your way into Art Center College, Brooks, etc. after you get your prereq's out of the way in JC. They are the best schools on the planet for a shooter, of course I'm a little prejudice of my old alma mater and I also taught at Art Center but if you're serious that's the place to be.
Remember the camera and the computer are just tools......you are the talent that makes them work. Now quit screwing around on FChat and go take some great shots.

 

GB,

Outstanding!, if you apply you're talent to neurosurgery as you do to photography you'll make a hell of a brain doc. Good luck to you and keep your eye on your goals as well as your photography .............oh yeah don't forget about us with your pics.

 

Signup at the NikonCafe.com forum
They have a large group of HDR experts who can help you.

 

there is absolutely no need for HDR.
i posted up some pictures i took in this thread
http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=253458
and i did not use any HDR...its a lot of work for not that great of results.

 

Great Job!! Keep us updated on new stuff you do, we'd love to see it!!

 

Sure, but if the environment exceeds the 4-5 stops a digital sensor (or 7-8 stops most film) can resolve, it will be there (in real life), but won't be there (in your capture).

 

Keep shooting; but TBH, I really don't see anything special in any of those other than you have some good memories. The cropping is awkward, the reflections, and the framing doesn't really work; and my eyes aren't drawn to anything that makes sense. Are you shooting with a SLR? Make sure you have a good understanding of when it's appropriate to use low and high depth of field...

 

Nice photos but the pics look grainy.

 

The most obvious thing to me is that the man in the first photo is out of focus. Make sure you press the shutter half-way to focus (probably on his eyes or so) before you take the shot.