Your photos 100

Your photos (100)

Take Better Photos

Hints and tips
by Philip Grosset

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with comments from Philip Grosset

"Thanks for your advise (on previous page) will do what you suggest. Could you have a look at this photo taken with 70-28 minolta lens. thought there may be to much in the photo. glad to here your comments any way I can improve it. All the best." (Bob Casserly)

I agree that there is too much in your photo on the left. Remove the distracting chairs, as I've done on the right, and the photo is much improved! You could hopefully have got a roughly similar effect by choosing a camera position to the left of where you were.

Reply from Bob Casserly: "Once again thank you for you advise. My fourth and final photo is a landscape like to here your comments. May I take this opportunity thanking you for a great site number one in my book wish I could use it more. All the best."

Your Greece photo on the left isn't very arresting. You've sensibly included part of a house and some bushes in the foreground, but it's a pity that these don't look more characteristically Greek. On the right, I've tried concentrating on the most interesting part of the foreground, and this adds to the apparent depth of the picture, but I'm afraid it still isn't all that exciting! It's not helped by the way the background is out of focus. Here the background is really more interesting than the foreground, so it would have been better if you had focused on, say, the jetty almost halfway up the picture, so that we could have seen it really clearly. To obtain the maximum depth of field (area in apparent focus) try to focus on something (like the jetty here) that is a third of the way towards the far background.

"Hi Philip. Firstly I like to say how helpful your web site has been to me since I was given a Canon EOS Rebel 200 for Christmas. This photo is one I took not long after I got the camera and it is my favorite of all the ones I have take since, so I'd like your opinion on it. Thank you." (Beverley Wheeler)

Your picture on the left is really striking. Everyone takes photos of sunsets, but your use of water, reflections and silhouettes takes this quite out of the ordinary. I much like the way you positioned the sun less than halfway up the picture, but if you also move it away from being exactly halfway across the picture, as I have done on the right, I think the result is even more pleasing.

Reply from Beverley Wheeler: "Thank you for your comments. This photo is one of a series of 5 photos taken at sunrise, around 5am, in late January. I had this photo enlarged and framed as a present from my grandmother and had them crop it the same as you have done here. I have been trying since to get something of the same quality, but have yet to succeed."

"here is two pictures i did using a canon EOS rebelX THE ONE OF THE BABY I WAS GOING FOR HIM TO JUST LOOK AT ME,HE HAD ON COVERALLS AND WE THREW A STRAW HAT ON HIM AND SAT HIM ON A HAY BELL.....I USED KODAK200 AND THE LITTLE GIRL I USED THE SAME,...WITH HER BEATIFUL BLUE EYES I WAS HOPING THE BLUE FLOWERS WOULD MAKE HER EYES MAIN FOCUS....AS IT IS............" ( JENNY IRVIN PARAGOULD ARKANSAS)

Top left is the photo you sent me. Top right, I've moved in closer. Then on the left, I've moved in closer still. Which do you prefer? I think, as so often, the closer the better! In your original, his face is a bit washed out, so I slightly darkened it too. This may be because the meter was trying to open up for the large dark areas. I'm a bit puzzled why you add the words "Reflective Memories" on the bottom right of the picture - especially as these get partly lost in the background.

I like this photo very much indeed. It's quite stunning. You've come in really close and haven't shown too much of the blue hat to distract from her eyes. You've also used an appropriately low camera angle. Congratulations!

"Hi i sent two other photos that turned out ok but i have had several like this one that i just am not sure how to fix this problem,...im thinkin it is something to do with the flash my using it not suitable for the f-stops or something can you please explain to me why this happens and in english terms how to fix it thank you ...." (jenny irvin)

Try to avoid such sharply contrasted areas of dark and light, and with flash close-ups try to arrange your subjects so that they are the same distance from the camera - and don't let them come closer than any minimum distance recommended in your instruction book. And avoid shafts of sunlight!

Reply from Jenny Irvin: "Thank you for you comments on my photos...I had cropped and darkend the babys face and the words are on there cause it is name of my studio that was a proof and had not yet been cropped and the name printed as was on the other one,i am just learning and am doing quiet well, i was very please with the out come of the the girl in the blue.I enjoy your site i find there is alot of information to be discovered here,thanks Jenny."

This is the end of this collection of older photos. To see newer ones and to explore the whole TAKE BETTER PHOTOS site (where you can get your own photos criticised too) please go to: http://betterphotos.cjb.net.

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