[funkylizard]

Hi there. Thought I would post some pictures from Japan to see what people thought. Used a Canon 10D and a 17-44L lens.

Thanks for your time.

Funkylizard

[Odds]

Wow, these are very inspirational. These pictures really make me excited to goto Japan; I think we're going this summer, too.
Great stuff, funkylizard, keep'em coming.

[agflash]

Wow really nice.
I like the 7-th the most and the other with old architecture.
Thanks a lot.

[Mikko K]

[JOSHUATHEJAMES]

Wow. Great, thanks for sharring!


-Joshua James
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[funkylizard]

Wow...Mikko, I appreciate the criticism....a tad harsh, sounds like you might have some issues you need to deal with. I never claimed these were "good" photos....the crits are fine...the back handed, snotty attitude that came along with it is unnecessary.

Now, back the the critiques you made. I don't understand what you mean by the value range and chroma. I used photoshop. Not sure if you use that too but could you explain how you would fix the problem or maybe explain in more detail? I'd like to try and fix these problems if I can.

Checked out Lunatique's photos...VERY nice!

Thanks for the responses people

Funkylizard

[digitalxtreem]

What type of cameras do you use ?

Thanks

[funkylizard]

It was a Canon 10D.

[neewom]

[daZork]

[Mikko K]

First of all, I apologize for sounding like an ass, I forgot the positive things totally as I was tired when writing the reply.

I think these images have a good sense of the architecture and the general "mood" of Japan. As is, they're good vacation pictures.

I was mainly commenting some of the obviously photoshopped-on-top solutions here, from a photography standpoint. I had a teacher in school who was a good photographer and he just laughed at our works sometimes. I didn't mean to go that far, so again, my bad.

It's not a good idea to adjust color parts inside a photo, unless you know well what you're doing. That blue sky seems glued on top of the nicely overcast gray ground. So if you're going to adjust the color balance (warm vs. cool etc), be careful not to overdo any single areas and thus lose the "unity" of the piece. The temple image also has an overly blue sky (saturated=intense=high chroma) versus the subtle grays and greens in the rest of the image.

If you can post one unedited image, I can show better what I mean. Now I think the best ones are the cool building wall pic and the people sitting on the bench, because those don't have overly done effects. Overexposed skies (burnt out to pure white) can be used as an artistic effect though.

Keep up the stuff, I guess that the fact you posted in gallery/finished work forum I just took a too strictly honest approach (to the point where it can sound hostile), as I would critique someone who wants to make money with photos.

/ end stupidity and shut up Mikko

[Dekard]

Honest critiques are what 'should' be given on this board, he nor anyone else betters themselves by someone patting them on the back and saying "Nice job" when it really could use a nice constructive critique. Your critique was not a personal attack on him, just your analytical views from an outsider viewing his 'personal' work. If it means anything, I agree with your critiques of the work. The pictures are beautiful, the shots are nice, but the color values are off or heavily toyed with, which makes the image seem less brilliant.
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.::astrochimp.net::.

[Mikko K]

I read my first post again carefully, and I know that it may have sounded like I was throwing down lightning bolts from my ivory tower.

I'm not a professional photographer, but some things I have studied. Many people skip giving any critique if they don't really like the work posted. I see potential here, and I'm willing to give some pieces of advice if I can. It doesn't have to be patting someones back or kicking mud to their face. I will try to find a honest, but a bit more polite way of giving critique in the my future posts.

[Dekard]

Don't get me wrong, the pics are excellent, just seems washed out a bit and overtouched in some places as stated above. Here's a quick photochop i adjusted the colors a bit. It's a bit dark on the people, but I was working from your image..

See the greens pop a bit more, with just a little color and level adjustment.

Please don't take honest critiques as personal attacks on your art or photography they really are not personal, just observations and opinions from people other then yourself. Some people will absolutly love your work, others will be more critical, nobody said your images sucked.


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.::astrochimp.net::.

[daZork]

I tried to fix what seemed wrong, but unfortunately the information on the upper left corner was destroyed. It is black. I really wonder why you did that...

Edit** And as Dekard here says.. you should use levels or Brightness/contrast more.


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Some people are bad. That is because many people are better.

[funkylizard]

Thank you all very much for the informative posts!! Thanks Dekard for the example, WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! I started playing with the contrast/levels and it makes a world of difference! I just need to experiment more.

Mikko: Thanks! I don't mind the critique at all. The reason I posted the pictures was to get them critique. The second email was more what I was looking for. I am also sorry if I snapped back at you I will adjust the pictures and repost them soon. Hopefully you will have the time to further critique them

daZork: Yes, every single girl looks like a manga character hehe

Thanks again for taking the time to comment everyone, I will repost once they have been fixed up

Funkylizard

[Mikko K]

[Lunatique]

My suggestion would be to practice more with your camera. Don't just focus and take pictures--really pay attention to what you're doing. Make sure your AF point is where it should be (the gothic lolita girl for example--you were't focusing on her eyes. It's not off by a lot, but noticeable), your exposure setting is optimal, your framing the best you can achieve--then press that shutter button. Stop down your aperature if you want optimal sharpness. Expose for the highlights instead of the shadows. The human eye is a lot more forgiving about lost of detail in the shadows than overblown highlights. Learn to read your histogram correctly. There are so many photography information/tutorial websites out there--fire up Google and educate yourself. All of this information is free. Take advantage of it.

My feeling about post processing is, if people can see the marks you've left from your post processing from a mile away (usually it means you've made the images look very unnatural), then you've failed (unless it's done so masterfully that the post processing itself has become the focus of the piece--such as the Lazlo technique). No amount of post processing can save a crappy picture, yet bad post processing can destroy even the best picture. The amount and style of post processing is a matter of taste, and you must cultivate good taste--it is something you acquire, not born with. Get the best books on photography--be it landscape, portraits, fashion, macro..etc. When you look at a lot of excellent photography, your taste will change. Get a book or two on digital darkroom techniques--it'll do wonders for your post processing skills. Truthfully, your post processing skill (lack of) is what's destroying your photography right now. I bet if you posted the originals, people will prefer the originals over the processed version.

Having a camera like the 10D, and an excellent pro lens like the 17-40 f/4 L (you typed 17-44 L, but such a lens doesn't exist), you have on your hands a tool that's more than capable of taking photos that can compete with the best of the best (resolution not being part of the equation) in the world of photography. The 10D is a very capable camera--only one step down from the very best of the pro bodies, and even then, a lot of pros use the 10D as a backup body. The 17-40 f/4 L is one of the favorite lenses among Canon shooters--even Nikon guys are jealous of it.

If you take all the advice in this thread to heart and take the time to improve, I bet the next time you post photos, they will blow what you have this time out of the water.

Good luck!