Constructive Advice Request

Hello

I like your work of churches and should you be interested in becoming a member of the Christian Theme Artwork group at the link below then your work would be featured there.

http://fineartamerica.com/groups/christian-theme-artwork-group-.html

I also have a number of Christian Theme Blogs and if you would like to have your work included you will find details in a discussion here in FAA at the link below:

http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=1983574

All the best
Geordie Gardiner

The sunset photos are too common, the horizon is in the middle, the sky is kind of plain and there is not that much going on on those.

I have seen a whole series of Atlantic Sunsets, all look almost the same, I would pick one that you like the most and get ride of the others.
The rabbit picture is very over processed, too noisy, it will probably not print.

I like the birdhouse pictures, but again at least one of them is way too noisy, it will not print.

This one is too noisy too:


This one is interesting, however it will be hard to compete with other sunset pictures, when you search for sunsets I doubt that any of your pictures will even show up, there is too much competition.

One thing I personally dislike (meaning maybe I'm the only one) is the multiple similar images in galleries. I took a quick look and saw it in the sunset gallery and butterfly gallery where three, four or more photos are essentially the same with minor differences. If I were a buyer, this would turn me off. Pick the best work and display it. I don't see anything that sticks out to me as issues with your work, however. Sales will come. Just keep at it, keep shooting and keep learning.

Sebastian does bring up good points about the sunset shots. And remember, a sun set shot does not have to have the sun in it to work.



A second glance at your work suggests you are centering a lot of your subjects when generally goes against what everyone else will do. Look up Rule of Thirds, even though perhaps it should be Suggestion of Thirds. The animal shots especially seem centered.

Hello, I think for a "newbie" you are doing just fine. You have some really good photos and then you have some photos that are just average. For example, the picture of your Canadian Goose.. its not a bad photo however its not really an interesting photo. You may want to try different angles, a tighter crop, and more shallow depth of field to really isolate your subject. All those things just come with time, practice, and sometimes equipment. The one thing you are doing right is shooting everything! It will make you a well rounded photographer and help train your eye so you will know automatically what makes a good picture vs what makes a FANTASTIC picture. Be your own worst critic and always push yourself to make it better, more creative, more interesting and unique. I would also watch youtube videos to help learn new techniques.. maybe try some different filters for long exposures and graduated filters to help balance out your sky. Also the real key to photography is lighting... "painting with light" so try to get some shots during sunrises, sunsets, or dramatic cloudy days. Bright days are fine but they tend to be less interesting.
Everyone has their own taste and personal preference, so these are just my opinions... but I think it will really help you progress and make your a well rounded photographer. Hope I helped :)

Kathleen,

Looks like you've been busy! Here's what I would concentrate on. Images of your area and especially any "touristy" places. While some of your flowers,sunsets are nice,there is a lot of competition here, flowers and sunsets, probably the 2 highest numbers of photos, so that's a bit of an uphill battle. On the other hand, you could really take over shots of your surrounding areas and begin to sell those and continue to shoot flowers,sunsets,etc.

Keep playing with and learning your software program you have and that will also help you to have a bit of an edge on your images,over others that may only just upload them and not spend any time, tweaking them.

Good Luck!

Rich Franco

This is exactly the feedback I wanted and needed!!!

THANK YOU so much to each of you who responded for such great constructive advice :-)

Kathleen

you have like a half dozen of these butterflies that all look the same. choose one of each color. preferably the one that is all in focus, or at least the body is.


this is too close to the top, and the flower on the right is distracting


this one has a better look, but the leg is in front of the eye and it doesn't seem that sharp, the loupe isn't working for me.


it's just a goose standing, and you have 2 that look the same. geese aren't that interesting to start with and with it just standing there, it doesn't make it any better. the center crop doesn't either.


you have to be more selective with your work. these are the same image. choose the better of the two. to be honest, neither of these are that interesting. the building doesn't tell a story, there are stray branches, and the whites are too dark. it also seems a bit crooked.


you have 4 of these, choose one. this one isn't bad, but the thing on the top should go. the main issue is, the background doesn't look natural. i would replace it with a sky background.


without color, its kind of cluttered and hard to look at. the dark colors all stray into each other.


these might as well be the same. choose only the one you like the very best. if a customer is looking, they may get confused and just leave.


what is the difference between these two?


you have too many groups overall, you don't need an ALL section, it just gets confusing. people can click on images to see that. try not to have too many repeat galleries. mostly you have to be far more selective. only choose the one best. even if you shot a 100 images of a yellow flower, chose the 1 that represents the bunch the best. i can't see it up close so i can't comment on noise and such.

---Mike Savad

THANK YOU so much Mike Savad - I feel like you have opened my eyes! I can't believe I didn't see some of these things myself now that you have commented on them.

All such great constructive advice - Thanks to everyone again as I am starting right now to go through my site and make changes.

Kathleen

Having retired from the commercial field of photography and back to shooting for me it's a treat and you are well on your way and hopefully enjoying yourself. Photography is seeing and not just looking meaning composition is critical and lighting just as critical. Unlike what I dealt with in a studio most of FAA images are in uncontrolled lighting situations and so being in the right place at the right time is sometimes purely accidental. Sunsets and sunrises you precompose and sit there with the camera on a tripod and get a variety of looks over a period of time. Your work is a good start and a good thing for you to do is go to the photographers sites here on FAA who are successful and take a look at what they are doing regarding composition and lighting and then compare to yours and this will be a nice learning curve for you. Most are not using their cameras on program or auto but they are controlling dept of field and exposure manually to come up with their final images. Pop them into photoshop and other programs then to "create" final images to sell here on FAA.
Enjoy as you are on the right track.

Peter Hogg

I am not a top seller or a great photographer but here is what I've learned from others here:
- If you ask for critique on FAA, there will be and endless line. Listen to all (including the arrogant) as they all have wisdom but you can learn more from the unsuccessful photographer.
- On FAA you are selling wall art. Ask yourself if what you are posting is what that snooty Martha Stewart would buy. Decide for yourself if you think cards/iphones are worth it.
- Get some good software and become good at it. You are competing with some digital artists who can do anything they want without a camera, not painters or sculptors.
- You can sell what you like or you can sell what they need. Some really bad stuff will sell occasionally as well as really good stuff will sell occasionally, but if you sell photos of weird maps and nudes it would seem you can get rich.
- Constantly cull and redo your work (RAW is a beautiful thing) and re-post it. I can always find problems with even the best on FAA and the better I get, the more dissatisfied I get.
- Likes and Favs are nice but they do not mean much towards the quality of your work - I like and fave stuff because I like looking at it and it has worth to me and I don't compare to others.
- Views are nice, but learn what a 'bot' is and you won't be so impressed with yourself.- I have stuff that sells with few views or tweets, likes, etc. some with none.
- Contests have nothing to do with how great a photographer you might be but has more to do with how nice of a person your are. Both are worthy goals.
- Don't get a big head if you sell a lot and always be thankful somebody would even take the time to look at your stuff, let alone hang it on their wall. You will be humbled next month.
- And the last point would be that you've been here a year, you have decent equipment, and an apparent willingness to be humiliated. That's what it takes to be successful and you will do better this year, I'm sure.

I can't think of anything to add that hasn't already been said. I'm still learning here on FAA myself. LOL! And I have learned a LOT from asking, observing, and listening here in the discussions.

About all I can tell you is to continue shooting, asking questions, and learning. And above all...have fun and experiment with different things. One of my favorite things I'm doing now is something that happened by accident when ignoring my camera settings! LOL!

I'm still waiting for my first sale here on FAA. Best of luck to you!

I'll go contrary to some of the others here. I wouldn't take down any sunsets. Yes there are tons of them but sunsets in particular places that people have fond memories of can and do sell even if they aren't the greatest shots in the world.

Here's an example of a "good" sunrise and IMHO a not so good sunrise. One sold to show in a gallery while the other sold to someone on FAA who must have had a fond memory of a backpacking trip on Isle Royale. They were both taken in the same place on the same beach just a few minutes apart.






The one purchased by the gallery is still hanging on the gallery wall so an actual person hasn't yet purchased it to display.

The point is that you never know what someone will like and buy and you can't under estimate the power that a "boring" sunrise or sunset in a very specific place can have to bring back fond memories or some time, experience or event there. IMHO its best to post them and not take them down so long as they will print.

Any guesses as to which one is hanging in a gallery and which one paid for the backpacking trip to get those two?

Adam, here's my guess :)

Superior Sunrise, hanging in gallery.

Royale Sunrise, FAA.

Hi, there! Welcome. I haven't read all the other critiques in detail, so this may have been mentioned. In your bio, you talk about yourself in the first person, but you do not give your name. Whenever I read a bio, I wonder who the person is. I don't think your name is Black Brook, but I could be wrong. If so, I apologize.

I agree with Mike about cloning out that thing at the top of the zebra finch photo (I made a comment on the image), but I don't agree with changing the background color. That's one of the things that drew me to it.

Best of luck!

Adam, I would say that one is a sunrise picture and one is a Kayak picture. Both good shots.

What Robert Federick said, in length, above. Couldn't say it any better. Good luck!

@Carol, the other way around. Sunrise with kayaks in the gallery, plain old sunrise someone bought.

@Adam, this proves your point that there's no way of telling who will buy what. It's a guessing game I don't want to lose.