Your photos 50.

Your photos (51)

Take Better Photos

Hints and tips
by Philip Grosset

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with comments from Philip Grosset

"I thought I would send this photos over to you for some criticism....first of all they were take several years ago during a trip to Nova Scotia. Peggy's Cove to be more precise.
Picture one was taken on my first visit to the cove in the early morning hours. It was just something that caught my eye.
Color Picture two was also taken in the morning. Another spur of the moment kind of thing.
Picture three was taken just after supper while it was still light out( excuse the marks as they are on the pic itself, I have 3 young children). I had read an article about the effects you could get by playing with the f-stop and thought I would give it a try. I also used a cokin 4 star filter.
Picture four was take while in the car on the way home. I just thought it was a beautiful sunset. Thank you in advance for any advice you would be willing to give me..." (Tobin Toohey, Canada)

I'm afraid I don't think this makes a very interesting photo, as we are not quite close enough to see exactly what it is. Sorry!

Above left: I like this misty harbour very much. On the right, I've tried removing some of the empty spaces around the edges, and I've also taken out the slightly distracting diagonal line in the top right of the original picture. I've sharpened it up a bit too, as, even in deliberately misty pictures, it's often a good idea to include a sharper foreground object, such as the boat. But it's really a matter of personal choice. An effective picture, either way.

I've tried to removed the worst of the children's marks from the lighthouse picture on the left, and, on the right, I've also tried to make a bolder composition out of it (although I must admit that personally I'm not all that keen on this sort of filter effect). I wouldn't normally position the main centre of interest right in the middle like this, but on this occasion it seemed to produce the most effective pattern.

A dramatic picture, but on the right I've removed the slightly distracting lights at the bottom of your photo on the left, and also moved the sinking sun from being almost dead central to being at one of the intersection of thirds - often a more arresting position for the main point of interest. But you may still prefer your original version!

I seem to get sent such large numbers of pictures of sunsets that I've devoted the next page entirely to sunsets, so that you can make direct comparisons and decide what appeals to you!

"Good morning,. This photo was taken on the outskirts of Rocky Mountain House Alberta Canada. It is taken approximately at 3 in the afternoon. Any suggestions on how to improve it? Thanks for your time..." (Hilda Fleming, Alberta, Canada)

Your photo (on the left) would be better if we could see the girl's face. Either she needed to be looking up a bit more, or, perhaps even better, you could have looked up at her from a lower angle from closer in. I've moved a bit closer in (on the right) but can't do anything to reveal her face! A pity, that, because there's potentially a good picture here.

Reply from Hilda Fleming: "How nice to have received a reply so quickly. I have attached the corresponding facial photo for your review, as well as an additional 3. It is wonderful to be getting feedback on something that I love doing. Thank you for your time."

This version was much more successful. However, because she is looking at the camera, it now looks just a bit more posed. I'm still left wanting to try to get in closer and to look up at her, perhaps with her holding the gun higher and looking at it (or loading it?). Something like that - but there's a lot of room for experiment!
I've added your other photos to Your Photos (53).

Go on to YOUR PHOTOS (52) to compare different sunset pictures, or, if you prefer, go straight to YOUR PHOTOS (53)

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