[GALLERY] ThePlague's Photography

[ThePlague]

Yeah...guess taking pictures is a new trend. Anyhow this is going to be my update thread for all of the pictures I take. So far i'm getting some beautiful shots because i'm in New York visiting, and this place is green to the extreme. Especially coming from a place that's nothing but desert and bushes (Arizona).

My camera is a Canon Powershot S3 IS, completely stock with no additions to it.

Here we go:

New:



















These are my select best i've taken, and this will be updated whenever I see it needed.

Also, if you have any crit, i'll be glad to hear it. Because this is a new thing for me, and i'd like to learn how to get better.

[Corndogman]

Really vibrant and colorful, but the subjects really aren't that interesting. Remember, a picture of something cool, doesn't make a cool picture, so work on composition. Otherwise not bad, some nice ones there.

[ThePlague]

Thanks, i'll take that into consideration. Tomorrow i'm going to a mansion, supposed to be haunted, and it has a huge garden, among other things. So hopefully i'll get some good shots with that.

[SnaFuBAR]

Have Reaper explain the rule of thirds, weights, perspective and entrance/exit. Your work should look much nicer in format.

[Reaper Man]

Really vibrant and colorful, but the subjects really aren't that interesting. Remember, a picture of something cool, doesn't make a cool picture, so work on composition. Otherwise not bad, some nice ones there.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Have Reaper explain the rule of thirds, weights, perspective and entrance/exit. Your work should look much nicer in format.

Well, to make your shots more successful, you firstly need a subject. If you insist on presenting a bush of leaves, you still need something somewhere to draw your eye to it.

When one considers this, they usually place their subject dead-center. While this may work, it usually results in a bland shot.

When composing a shot, think of it as being cut into thirds. While this may seem weird at first, it soon becomes automatic.

Try avoiding the center of the grid when composing shots. I'm not saying never use it, it does work. The "rules" of photography are just guidelines. Place the subject elsewhere. Cross the lines, don't think of them as discrete cells. Use the rule of thirds loosely. It may help if you enable the grid display on your camera. Personally I find it distracting and only use it for landscapes and architecture, when level lines might be required.

Speaking of guidelines, lines are another thing you should consider. Lines help lead the viewer's eye (usually subconsciously) around the shot. Lines can be anything like a road, the stalk of a plant. They usually work best when cutting across the frame. A great type of line to consider when shooting things with great perspective (landscapes etc) is the S curve. Literally, a line shaped like an S, think, the contour of a hill or a winding road, for example.

This makes it interesting because it leads the eye in multiple, but natural directions.

I think that your photo of the lamp is the most successful shot. It's got it all. While the lamp is dead center, you have lines just off the center of the image. This is weird, yet it captures your attention and leads you back to the light, confirming it as the subject of the photo, and giving an otherwise uninteresting background something visually interesting.

As for what Snaf said about entrances and exits, well, that's basically what you can imply with lines. Additionally, if you're shooting a moving subject, give it space to "move" i.e. some space in front of it.

Beyond all this technical/theoretical stuff. I recommend you shoot from a more interesting angle. We all see plants top-down, every day. Try lying on the ground, shoot upwards, shoot at the level of the plant.

Consider lighting before you shoot. While the plant may be interesting, the light is almost flat, there's almost no contrast between light and dark. Your lamp photo on the other hand has really interesting light.

Eh, that's all I can think of right now, I'm tired and distracted.

Anyway, keep shooting, learn what works and what doesn't. Alot of this stuff I'm saying went in one ear and out the other when I first started, it only was when I started figuring out these things for myself that I went back to the books. You should make a habit of analyzing your photos - which ones work, which ones don't and why? Before simply uploading a bunch of photos that you think are cool.

"Coolness" means absolutely nothing in the world of art. It's the substance of a photo that makes it interesting, not the fancy colors and extreme editing that I see many people, thankfully not you, do - all because it's "cool"

You've got potential, keep it up.

[ICEE]

^ You live for this don't you?

Ontopic: that place is really green and beautiful. Looks nice and cool too. Fuck california. I think your best are the ones with vivid contrast between greens and reds. Thats just my opinion though. Doesn't mean shit in the art world i suppose.

[Reaper Man]

^ You live for this don't you?

Yes, yes I do

[ThePlague]

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Well, to make your shots more successful, you firstly need a subject. If you insist on presenting a bush of leaves, you still need something somewhere to draw your eye to it.

When one considers this, they usually place their subject dead-center. While this may work, it usually results in a bland shot.

When composing a shot, think of it as being cut into thirds. While this may seem weird at first, it soon becomes automatic.

Try avoiding the center of the grid when composing shots. I'm not saying never use it, it does work. The "rules" of photography are just guidelines. Place the subject elsewhere. Cross the lines, don't think of them as discrete cells. Use the rule of thirds loosely. It may help if you enable the grid display on your camera. Personally I find it distracting and only use it for landscapes and architecture, when level lines might be required.

Funny thing about grids, my camera has grids built into it. So whenever you look through the viewfinder you can see a grid. I'll use it now. (I didn't know what it was used for)

Speaking of guidelines, lines are another thing you should consider. Lines help lead the viewer's eye (usually subconsciously) around the shot. Lines can be anything like a road, the stalk of a plant. They usually work best when cutting across the frame. A great type of line to consider when shooting things with great perspective (landscapes etc) is the S curve. Literally, a line shaped like an S, think, the contour of a hill or a winding road, for example.

This makes it interesting because it leads the eye in multiple, but natural directions.

Alright, that's a really good thing to learn.

I think that your photo of the lamp is the most successful shot. It's got it all. While the lamp is dead center, you have lines just off the center of the image. This is weird, yet it captures your attention and leads you back to the light, confirming it as the subject of the photo, and giving an otherwise uninteresting background something visually interesting.

I was also thinking that (sort of) ,but for another reason of being the best. I thought it was one of the best because of the lighting, it reminded me of a 3ds max render.

As for what Snaf said about entrances and exits, well, that's basically what you can imply with lines. Additionally, if you're shooting a moving subject, give it space to "move" i.e. some space in front of it.

Yeah. I knew about the movement stuff because I have friends that take pictures of karts, which move past you before you can blink.

Beyond all this technical/theoretical stuff. I recommend you shoot from a more interesting angle. We all see plants top-down, every day. Try lying on the ground, shoot upwards, shoot at the level of the plant.

Now that you mention that, I did take a few pictures with different angles. Like the wild strawberries, I was laying down to get that one. A few others I took while kneeling or on my knees. I'll try some not-foreward pics though.

Consider lighting before you shoot. While the plant may be interesting, the light is almost flat, there's almost no contrast between light and dark. Your lamp photo on the other hand has really interesting light.

I learned about the lighting thing today actually, i'll keep it fresh in my mind for tomorrow's pictures.

You should make a habit of analyzing your photos - which ones work, which ones don't and why? Before simply uploading a bunch of photos that you think are cool.

I have been looking at my pictures, but like you said I should look at them more. These photos I picked were the best of the 200 or more I took, so I certainly didn't upload them all

"Coolness" means absolutely nothing in the world of art. It's the substance of a photo that makes it interesting, not the fancy colors and extreme editing that I see many people, thankfully not you, do - all because it's "cool"

It's a good thing I didn't edit these. I was going to but natural pictures seem to be better. (I can't edit with photoshop worth a crap)

I do think editing photos is cool when I do it, but with photos of nature or anything like that, there shouldn't be a need to edit it.

You've got potential, keep it up.

Thank you.

I appreciate all of the words of wisdom you gave me, and i'll read over this a few more times to learn everything from it. Thanks for taking the time and making that post for me, I really appreciate it. I hope to get good at this, and all criticism is useful.

[Reaper Man]

I'm glad you appreciate my long post, I always worry that I'll come across as some cocky know-it-all lol.

As for photo editing, it's always been a touchy subject for photographers, but hell, photos have been edited since the age of film, so it's not always a bad thing. It's really about the extent you do it. Personally I try to avoid per-pixel editing. The most I'll usually do is exposure compensation, color correction, black and white conversion and sharpening.

It's worth it to learn how to use curves in Photoshop, it could give your photos an extra pop, if you think it may need one.. and there's no harm in playing around with your photos.

One last thing to keep in mind, when it comes to plant photography, it's usually better to isolate your subject, with low depth of field or otherwise. Your wild strawberries are hidden behind a bush and there's a distracting, relatively in-focus background. Try using a larger aperture and getting closer next time.

[ThePlague]

I'm glad you appreciate my long post, I always worry that I'll come across as some cocky know-it-all lol.

As long as the long post has important information, i'm glad to read it.

As for photo editing, it's always been a touchy subject for photographers, but hell, photos have been edited since the age of film, so it's not always a bad thing. It's really about the extent you do it. Personally I try to avoid per-pixel editing. The most I'll usually do is exposure compensation, color correction, black and white conversion and sharpening.

I like editing photos, but I don't know enough about photoshop to create something worth looking at. I know the basics, but nothing really above that.

It's worth it to learn how to use curves in Photoshop, it could give your photos an extra pop, if you think it may need one.. and there's no harm in playing around with your photos.

I don't exactly know what you mean by curves. Do you mean parts of photoshop? Or actual curves like a curve in a road? Like I said above, I only know the basics of photoshop, so editing it to make it better isn't really something I can do too well.

One last thing to keep in mind, when it comes to plant photography, it's usually better to isolate your subject, with low depth of field or otherwise. Your wild strawberries are hidden behind a bush and there's a distracting, relatively in-focus background. Try using a larger aperture and getting closer next time.

I thought about moving the bush away, but it wasn't something I saw at that time to be important. I'll bear that in mind next time.