Talk Photography - Feedback

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/critique-a-few-photos-for-my-college-project-part-1.540191/

Me: I would like your honest opinions and critique on these unedited photos, what I could have done differently, what is good about them, and things I could do in Photoshop.
Also, any ideas for editing in Photoshop to make them look eerie/creepy/atmospheric would be greatly appreciated. 
There will be a second thread with more photos in if you would take your time to look at those too 
Thanks,
Kirstin

skiwhiz: Hi as no one has commented I will give you some feedback, first to help people comment you need to post what the brief or project is covering, is it to shoot something that is eerie or atmospheric? that way the feedback will be focused on the task and peoples views as to whether it was achieved and if so how well you did.

In shot 3 the roadworks cone is distracting, did you mean for it to be there, if not crop it out. The light is not good with the exception of 4 and appears flat, which can help create an eerie shot, but as the photo's don't have a real point of interest that hits you, its hard to comment. If it was something spooky you were shooting, it may have been on 3 you got up close and shot the windows of the cabin to highlight the cobwebs and neglect. Try to play with angles and shoot something that is not at waist or head height.
hope this helps a little.

sbowler579: Well Kirstin very difficult to crit is this set. Firstly there is very little focal point of anything of interest, particularly in the first image. I am not sure what you were wanting to capture there. I don't think you could improve the first shot. You say you want to make them, eerie creepy and atmospheric, but they would still lack an interesting element to the shots. May be a revisit on a misty foggy morning and with a figure or strong silhouette in shot would help. 

The second shot with the figure in makes me ask what he is doing/upto. But am not sure how you could make it more errie, maybe convert to black and white. The third image again is uninteresting and the traffic cone needs cloning out. The last is the best of the set and the seat works well and is composed within the frame nicely, just needed a more interesting sky, maybe re shoot at sunrise sunset.

pjm1: I might not be best placed to critique other peoples' photos as I'm a novice, but I don't really do "rules", so here goes...

I have a habit of seeing something which looks nice and taking a photo. In these cases, I'm just trying to capture what I've seen without there really being a story behind it. More often than not, these are my worst shots - they lack "something" but I can never quite put my finger on it. Your first photo reminds me of those shots of mine in this regard.

Then again, sometimes I'm taking a photo which has some emotion behind it. It might be a photo of one of my children, or of a landscape that really reflects how I'm feeling... the point being there is something in the photo which communicates that emotion. Portraits are easier in this sense because you have eyes, landscapes are trickier for me, but can still convey eeriness, wonder, desolation, busy-ness or other feelings. When the viewer is able to pick up on the emotion which made you want to take the photo, you have a keeper. A beautiful sunset can be a great photo because it makes the view go "wow" in the same way the photographer did when he/she saw it. But there needs to be communication.

I like the fifth (edit: can't count!) photo because it speaks to me of a story which hasn't been told. It is missing something - a person who was there? Why is there a bench there at all? I think something added to that picture and shot at a different time could be brilliant. If you wanted to go sombre, a bouquet of flowers sitting on the bench, shot in the golden hours would be very interesting.

Just my 2p!

shruggy63: Would I be right in guessing that these images are part of a photo-story? A sort of murder in the woods thing?

First thing I'd do in Photoshop for each pic would be Image/Adjustments/Auto Levels from the drop down menus. I can think of some ways to make the pics more eerie but I'd need to know what your initial aim with the shots was?

Dunstan: The images all look a flat on my screen and need levels or curves adjustment to give some punch.

Jayst84: I think that flatish light is good if you're wanting 'spooky'.

What I would say is, really think about what you want from the photo. Why are you taking it? What is in the frame, and why is it in the frame?

There could be a reason for that pole in the first image I suppose, but I'm sure the traffic cone shouldn't be in either of those other images.

Had a very quick play in Photoshop with a couple. The desolate bench shot you could work with; could be a start / end of a story I think. And the trees - perhaps you could make something of that little light well in the middle leading into the unknown.

Would be good to know the story you're going for, then we can see the aim of the images. Most of the work should be done at (and before) the taking stage though, don't worry too much about post production yet.

Reflection...

I know I asked for peoples' honest opinions but I didn't realise that my images were THAT bad. I really tried with the composition and to make the best of the lighting and to use the right settings on my camera so it was very disheartening to read what these people have said. I think I will try posting some of my newer stuff on the forum, my edited stuff, although I'm not quite sure my mixed media/arty photography techniques would be appreciated here. I think I did mention that these photos were UNEDITED, I just wanted peoples' opinions on the compositions and stuff. Actually I did get that...

I feel like this has knocked me down a bit and made me feel like I'm no good at photography. I KNEW I should have stuck to painting. I'm feeling really negative about the whole project now and that I won't achieve my target grade. I feel lost and I don't know where I'm going with the project.