Constructive Criticism on these?

Question

Hey, please take a look and tell me what I can do to improve?
Be honest, I really am not fishing for compliments!

LINKS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15109915@N05/1659520788/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15109915@N05/1659454478/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15109915@N05/1658566439/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15109915@N05/1659482538/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15109915@N05/1658643191/

Again, THANKS!

Answer 1

I agree fully with everything Edwin said. But I DO like your creativity and the angle you choose for your subjects. The idea behind them is great - but you can't yet achieve what you're aiming for. I suggest you take a course or read lots of photography magazines and websites.

Having said all that, I encourage you to keep going because you're going to be a great photographer when you get your head around photography itself. :-)

Answer 2

Sometimes when learning, it's good to concentrate on one thing at a time. The thing in your photos that stands out poorly is you've blown your highlights. This is a really important thing in photography.

What does this mean. It means that the white areas in your photo have no detail. Consider a brides white dress. If you blow the highlights you won't see all the detail of her dress. While this affects white areas most, it could be other colors as well.

What do you do about it?

Well with these photos, you probably can't fix them, but what you'll need to do in the future is watch your histogram. Most of the better digital cameras have a histogram in them. You might have to click on "info" or change a menu setting. If you shoot in RAW mode (if your camera can), you can often salvage blown highlights.

If you have a more sophisticated photo editor like Photoshop, it will be in one of the pallettes you will regularly view. It tells you information about your photos, mainly how the exposure is balanced.

Here's a fairly descent explanation about histograms....
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml

Answer 3

You need to learn about lighting and exposure. Take a class in photography, or at least read a book on it. The exposure on your calla lily was way off, leaving a huge hotspot, and I don't mean wireless. Some others had exposure issues also, that could be corrected by better lighting of your subject. Keep learning and keep trying!

Answer 4

1st. one: Out of focus blade of grass in foreground is a distraction.

2nd. one: Way over-exposed, blown out.

3rd. one: Out of focus. Period.

4th. one: Blah. Boring.

5th. one: Out of focus and over-exposed.

Of the 5, the 1st. one is the best.

IMO you need to spend some quality time reading and studying the Owner's Manual for your camera.