# Critique my photos **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 23, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-photos/341307 "2006-01-23T20:58:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-photos/341307/21 "2006-01-25T03:08:34Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > In my opinion, you have a great natural talent. Forget about my criticisms and that of everyone else as well. You are in a position to trust your own judgment. I would suggest that this is poor advice. Seeing your efforts through others’ eyes can’t possibly hurt. You don’t need to take the advice, but you did ask for it. “Great natural talent” is hyperbole when it’s based on three photographs. You might try [Shuttercity](http://www.shuttercity.com) as a good forum to have other amateur and professional photographers critique your work (and you can return the favor). There is a lot of insight there and a lot of talent. I’ve posted about [four pages](http://www.shuttercity.com/ShowGallery.cfm?AcctID=9921&GalleryID=0) and have appreciated the commentary. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-photos/341307/22 "2006-01-25T03:14:16Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > I finally got a scanner and have started going through some of my pictures and learning how to get them online. I was just thinking of starting a thread like this, then I saw this one and decided to wait, and now you’ve opened it to other submissions. Thanks. > > Take a look [here](http://www.muppetlabs.com/~eric/enhanced/) for my latest results. (I wasn’t really trying for artistry or composition or anything with the shots of the crested saguaro, they’re just really rare.) > > So, let me have it; am I a photographer or just a shutterbug with delusions of grandeur? You’ve got a good eye for light. The Paris photo of the Arc de Triomphe is nicely done; it appears to be marching into the photo. The Grand Canyon photo is a nice mood. And I like your cat, as well. You caught him/her in a good moment. You need to clean your scanner bed and wipe your photos before scanning to get rid of the dust motes and what appear to be threads. If they are scratches on your photos, you can use the cloning tool on any digital photo program to get rid of them. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-photos/341307/23 "2006-01-25T03:18:29Z")
> [@XWalrus2](#): > > I humbly ask to have mine critiqued here as well, so I don’t have to start a new thread. > [A flight of stairs I found floating in the Chattahoochee](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/xwalrus2/B%20and%20W/downstairs-1.jpg) > [Do not enter. Lava.](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/xwalrus2/B%20and%20W/enter-1.jpg) > [Thorns and barbed wire.](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/xwalrus2/B%20and%20W/thorns-1.jpg) > [A friend.](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/xwalrus2/B%20and%20W/talk-1.jpg) > [A cinderblock.](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/xwalrus2/B%20and%20W/cement.jpg) > Thanks. I really like the cinderblock. It looks like you’ve got some overexposed areas that could be fixed with some manipulating of the contrast levels. The barbed wire looks to be pixilated, probably from repeated compression of the file. I like the relaxed mood of your friend with the trees, which appear to cradle her. Have you tried a sepia tone with that one? ---
**Author:** ![Tio\_Gringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@Tio\_Gringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tio_Gringo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-photos/341307/24 "2006-01-25T06:20:41Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Can you upload a 1024 x 768 version of foggy morning(original and modified)? I’d like to use it as my wallpaper. I’d be happy to. Here you go: [Foggy Morning III (original, resized)](http://photobucket.com/albums/d140/aarontx/Art/?action=view¤t=FoggyMorningresampled.jpg) [Foggy Morning III (B&W, resized)](http://photobucket.com/albums/d140/aarontx/Art/?action=view¤t=Foggy-Morning-III_edited-1-.jpg) Aside: I resized the pictures in Photoshop Elements 4.0 to the dimensions that **Mahaloh** requested, but when I uploaded them to Photobucket, the dimensions changed. 😕 What gives? Did I do something wrong? Help! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-photos/341307/25 "2006-01-25T14:43:18Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > You’ve got a good eye for light. The Paris photo of the Arc de Triomphe is nicely done; it appears to be marching into the photo. The Grand Canyon photo is a nice mood. And I like your cat, as well. You caught him/her in a good moment. Thanks. Looking back, it’s interesting how the good pictures aren’t the ones I expected when I was taking them. Sometimes they’re very fortunate accidents. > [@](#): > > You need to clean your scanner bed and wipe your photos before scanning to get rid of the dust motes and what appear to be threads. If they are scratches on your photos, you can use the cloning tool on any digital photo program to get rid of them. It’s not a bed scanner, like a photocopier, it just has a slot for 35mm film or slides; so I can’t really get in to clean it. And I know the film was clean when it went in. I may have to have it looked at. Some of the older shots are dirtier, but I think that was from the camera; it’s 40 years old. I’ve had it cleaned. But part of it is I’m not really in the mindset of changing, cropping and processing the pictures. I’m used to thinking that they’re finished when I get them back from being developed. Altering them seems like cheating. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-photos/341307/26 "2006-01-25T16:05:31Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > But part of it is I’m not really in the mindset of changing, cropping and processing the pictures. I’m used to thinking that they’re finished when I get them back from being developed. Altering them seems like cheating. I understand your point. I seldom create anything that wasn’t there in the first place (unless I’m just playing around), but I look at cropping as being just another photo I’m shooting. People who have their own darkrooms do it all the time. In fact, the photo processor at Costco alters photos all the time by tweaking the saturation levels. I remember how pissed I was when I got back a film shot of a lake that was all in purples when I shot it, but the processor made it come out in browns. ---
**Author:** ![ReuvenB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@ReuvenB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReuvenB)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-photos/341307/27 "2006-01-25T17:03:45Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I really like the cinderblock. It looks like you’ve got some overexposed areas that could be fixed with some manipulating of the contrast levels. The barbed wire looks to be pixilated, probably from repeated compression of the file. I like the relaxed mood of your friend with the trees, which appear to cradle her. Have you tried a sepia tone with that one? I haven’t tried a sepia tone, but I will as soon as I have access to my home computer. The barbed wire is probably pixellated because I used a “sharpen” tool on it in Picasa, it made it look more real to me. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-photos/341307/28 "2006-01-25T17:28:02Z")
> [@EvilAsh](#): > > I have recently gotten into photography and have taken some photos I feel are actually _pretty_ good. However, I believe to improve my skills, I need feedback. > > So…with that in mind, may I humbly submit the following pictures for your critical assessment: > > [Foggy Morning III](http://photobucket.com/albums/d140/aarontx/Art/?action=view¤t=FoggyMorningIII_edited-1.jpg) > [Untitled](http://photobucket.com/albums/d140/aarontx/Art/?action=view¤t=Rockport_108_edited-2.jpg) > [Doorway Through Time](http://photobucket.com/albums/d140/aarontx/Art/?action=view¤t=TerlinguaTX_12_edited-6.jpg) > > What do you think? I notice you like to centre your subject. In all 3 photos there is a left/right split. This can work but the rule of thirds tends to produce more interesting compositions. Imagine a tic-tac-toe grid over your photo and place points of interest on the intersections. Once again this is not the _only_ way to take photos but it is a better thing to fall back on than putting everything in the middle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-my-photos/341307.md?page=1)