Ben's Photography

Hello everyone, and welcome to my thread for all of my photography. I made a thread once, but it's long gone, and plus I hate all of the pictures that were in it. I have a new camera, and many new pictures and overall I think I'm better. So, anyway, here are some photo's I'd like to share with ZU. Leave some comments or constructive criticism (which is always appreciated.)

Wow, I love the colors in all of these. The flowers are especially beautiful to me. The first is probably my favorite, it looks really nicely cropped and I love the mix of colors.

I'm not really knowledgeable about photography though, so I don't have much in terms of constructive criticism.

I like the picture with the bird in it.

Very nice. My particular favorite is the second one.

Those are all pretty cool, but I think there's one big issue to need to pay attention to: lighting. I know those are all outdoor shots, but you need to know how to use the light to get the most detail out of the subject. For instance, the first photo is back-lit. Which is fine, but the face is too dark. If you used a mirror or a small portable light to brighten up the front, you'd get more detail and color. The front doesn't have to be brighter than the back, but it should be a little brighter than it is.

Same sort of thing for the second photo. The light isn't on the subject at all, which is also fine, so long as it's lit somewhat. A good point is the contrast that the bright background and darker foreground creates, but it still needs some light.

The same thing for the third, but more so. The bird isn't lit up from the front at all, which makes it uninteresting and easily overlooked. Especially with the under-lit rocks all around it. Again, I know it's outside, but a reflective board or a fill light would go a long way. Another point is the composition. You rarely want to put the subject smack-dab in the middle. Look up the Rule of Thirds, and it'll help you a lot.

For the fourth pic, I noticed the focus. You either want a short area of focus, where only the main leaf and droplet are in focus, or a long one, where most of the picture is in focus. You're kinda in a weird area between the two.


Over all, not bad. Watch your lighting, composition, and focus, and you'll do fine.

Really nice! All of them are great. I'm a little into photography and also take pictures similar to these. What type of camera did you use? The timing was excellent for them.

Originally Posted by Halcyon Hero

Over all, not bad. Watch your lighting, composition, and focus, and you'll do fine.

I understand what you mean, and your advice is really going to help me, so first of all I'd like to say thanks, since your the first one to offer some great advice. I'm actually afraid to use any other equipment, to alter my pictures. Even an editing program to touch up spots. I just feel like if I do anything like that, they are artificial.

And, I do know what the Rule of Thirds is, it's just the other shots I got of the bird were pretty bad, and that one was my best. I understand what you mean, it could be better, its just that I was trying to get as many pictures as I could before it flew away.

And, could you tell me some more things I could do to help my lighting? I mean, I didn't see it as much of a problem in those pictures, but it doesn't hurt to try something different.

Originally Posted by silver-hero

Really nice! All of them are great. I'm a little into photography and also take pictures similar to these. What type of camera did you use? The timing was excellent for them.

Thanks a lot. And I use a... *looks at camera* Nikon Coolpix P90.


Here are two more pictures, older ones I took, until I can upload more.






EDIT : Here are some more just uploaded. I took these around a week ago. I have many more, I just have to filter through them first.

Your works are beautiful. :3 I love your themes, and you make very nice pictures of them. I especially like the first pic; the colors of the flowers look very good next to each other, I really like that. ^^

The only thing I'd say is that this picture is a bit empty for me. I believe you wanted the biggest cloud to be the main object, but it was too small to fill out the picture. The light on the left side was good, so it'd be perfect, if you'd wait a little or find another place with more clouds.
But that's just my opinion. x3 Otherwise your works are really-really good, honestly. ^˛^

Oh, and I was about to make a photography thread too, and my ideas are pretty similar - hope you won't think I copied you or something >.<

Originally Posted by Ben

I understand what you mean, and your advice is really going to help me, so first of all I'd like to say thanks, since your the first one to offer some great advice. I'm actually afraid to use any other equipment, to alter my pictures. Even an editing program to touch up spots. I just feel like if I do anything like that, they are artificial.

No problem. And I know what you mean. There's nothing wrong with using editing programs to touch up pics, but it still grates against me. I prefer %100 natural photos, which maybe a little touch-up on small inconsistancies.

And, I do know what the Rule of Thirds is, it's just the other shots I got of the bird were pretty bad, and that one was my best. I understand what you mean, it could be better, its just that I was trying to get as many pictures as I could before it flew away.

Oh, I understand. It can be pretty difficult to get a good shot of wildlife. But using the time the bird gives you to get one great picture is better than using it to get ten mediocre ones.

And, could you tell me some more things I could do to help my lighting? I mean, I didn't see it as much of a problem in those pictures, but it doesn't hurt to try something different.

I'll PM you. And your pictures weren't bad, but they could improvement.

Pretty good, but the barbwire fence is off-putting. I would have either brought it higher up, to mirrior the lines of the horizon and present a parallel of opposites, or taken it out completely. Or I might have angled it the other way to contrast the horizon.

This one is really, really good. I like it a lot. The field of focus is set just about right (maybe a little more tweaking) to blur the background and isolate the subject. The lighting is prefect for getting the best color and detail. Bravo.

I thought this one a bit weird, but it's pretty good all the same. I like the contrast of the dead grass and shadows, where they create a pleasing pattern. I also like the graduation of light on the roll, where it goes from bright to dark, without venturing too far into the extremes on either side. The only thing I would like to see is more color saturation in the green grass.

Another really nice one. Good detail in the fluff. I only would have cropped it in a bit closer and tried to get more color saturation, unless it took detail out of the fluff.




By the way, don't take anything I say as absolute. I'm by no means the greatest photographer in the world, and still have much to learn myself. I'm only speaking from what I've studied and from my personal experiences. Other photographers may disagree. But then, hey, it's art. Someone always disagrees.

Originally Posted by Halcyon Hero

I thought this one a bit weird, but it's pretty good all the same. I like the contrast of the dead grass and shadows, where they create a pleasing pattern. I also like the graduation of light on the roll, where it goes from bright to dark, without venturing too far into the extremes on either side. The only thing I would like to see is more color saturation in the green grass.

It's actually a mushroom, and it's funny because when I showed it to my friends, we played a game where they guessed what it was

Originally Posted by Halcyon Hero

By the way, don't take anything I say as absolute. I'm by no means the greatest photographer in the world, and still have much to learn myself. I'm only speaking from what I've studied and from my personal experiences. Other photographers may disagree. But then, hey, it's art. Someone always disagrees.

Well yeah, and your really the first person to ever give me some advice/criticism on how to make my pictures better, so I'm taking everything in, so that I can take better pictures. The more people that tell me things to fix and try, the better I'll get. Thanks, again though.


Another picture I took a few days ago, I have more, and I'll upload them tomorrow after school :

. . . Mushroom? Wow. Freakest shroom I ever saw.

Anyway, cool looking frog. But there's too much glare on him. It's mostly because he's wet and slimey, but there are some things you can do to fix that, without grabbing a towel and drying him off. You might try changing camera angle or backing up a bit. Or you could use something to divert the light so that it doesn't fall directly on him. Also might tweak the focus so that you get the back part of his body as in focus as the front.

And I'm still planning to PM you lighting tips, but I'm waiting until I have time to sit down for a while and compose it as best as I can.