# Need critique for future improvement



## SJ (Jan 21, 2013)

Hello, im newbie in photography, im love to capture landscape... here im attaching some picture for C&C. i'm very pleased to hear critique from you all to improve my picture.

tqvm.. love u all.. peace


----------



## SJ (Jan 21, 2013)

more pictures


----------



## Quasimodo (Jan 21, 2013)

SJ said:


> Hello, im newbie in photography, im love to capture landscape... here im attaching some picture for C&C. i'm very pleased to hear critique from you all to improve my picture.
> 
> tqvm.. love u all.. peace



Not a critique, but the second picture is magical!


----------



## robbymack (Jan 21, 2013)

Those are all pretty good. I'd say keep doing what you're doing.


----------



## Jim Saunders (Jan 21, 2013)

robbymack said:


> Those are all pretty good. I'd say keep doing what you're doing.



+1

Jim


----------



## wickidwombat (Jan 21, 2013)

pretty good shots there only main comment is some of them the magenta slider must have slipped to the right a bit far


----------



## serendipidy (Jan 21, 2013)

You got skills!! 8)


----------



## Orangutan (Jan 21, 2013)

Clearly you know your equipment -- your technique (for these shots) seems solid. The composition and concept are also very good. While I agree with the previous comment to "keep doing what you're doing," I'd also note that there's a thematic similarity in the images -- I'd encourage you to try more variety in subjects and theme, just for the sake of experimentation. I don't mean to divert you from the subjects that inspire or provoke you, but you can grow as an artist by challenging yourself to try the unfamiliar.

Note:I'm also an amateur, so my advice may not be worth very much.


----------



## Cannon Man (Jan 21, 2013)

Keep at it.

After some time you will learn to compose your shots better, (for starters that's good)
Also in time you will learn to edit your photos better. The colours pop here but don't look
professional. 

Good start.


----------



## SJ (Jan 21, 2013)

firstly thanks very much because spend time to view, critique, commenting my pictures, i'm very² appreciate it.
im very² sorry, my english is terrible, i use google translate, to translate from malay to english..
i hope u all can understand.. 



wickidwombat said:


> pretty good shots there only main comment is some of them the magenta slider must have slipped to the right a bit far


I have trouble to blend/produce the harmonic color in post processing..



Orangutan said:


> Clearly you know your equipment -- your technique (for these shots) seems solid. The composition and concept are also very good. While I agree with the previous comment to "keep doing what you're doing," I'd also note that there's a thematic similarity in the images -- I'd encourage you to try more variety in subjects and theme, just for the sake of experimentation. I don't mean to divert you from the subjects that inspire or provoke you, but you can grow as an artist by challenging yourself to try the unfamiliar.
> 
> Note:I'm also an amateur, so my advice may not be worth very much.


u have given me an idea, thanks friend



Cannon Man said:


> Keep at it.
> 
> After some time you will learn to compose your shots better, (for starters that's good)
> Also in time you will learn to edit your photos better. The colours pop here but don't look
> ...


Thank u sir, im still learn/try to understand about color, maybe there can give me guidance..



wickidwombat said:


> pretty good shots there only main comment is some of them the magenta slider must have slipped to the right a bit far


thanks sir.. noted


----------



## NormanBates (Jan 21, 2013)

nice!


----------



## paul13walnut5 (Jan 21, 2013)

SJ said:


> Hello, im newbie in photography, im love to capture landscape... here im attaching some picture for C&C. i'm very pleased to hear critique from you all to improve my picture.
> 
> tqvm.. love u all.. peace



Hi SJ

Some cracking results here, I'll offer my thoughts on whats good and maybe what I think I would do differently, there's no right or wrong answers and it's just an opinion.

First image:

Great sharpness, love the effect on the clouds. There is a strong colour cast, which is probably down to the ND filter you've used. Filters like the LEE 'big stopper' or B+W 3.0 usually need some colour correction. Resin filters like the Cokin range are fine if used one at a time, if you stack them, you can get these kind of colour casts.

I usually recommend getting the colour right in camera, but when you are using very opaque filters like strong ND filters this isn't always practical. As such I would suggest shooting raw and fixing as much as you can at the PC for this kind of shot. If your camera allows you to select the white balance manually you could play with this a bit. 

I shoot with a B+W 3.0 filter, and these kind of colour problems are common.

I'm not all that keen on your composition, it seems to follow the rule of thirds, which can sometimes be a little dull. There's nothing in the middle ground to lead you through the shot and pull you in. I would maybe try setting the tripod much lower to reduce the expanse of sea and make the interesting rocks more prominent. If it was safe enough I would get closer to the breaking waves, as the blurry effect is kind of lost.

2nd Image:

I love this. Very very unusual. Were the waves breaking over the pontoon / pier during your shot. Very striking image. Nice tonality. A winner. The pontoon / pier gives you great lead in to the person, that holds your attention. A much more engaging image.

3rd Image:

Liking this as well. The mono / colour wash helps the cool feeling. Again the composition pulls you into the picture, great perspective, and I like the way the long exposure has rendered the motion of the sea. I would have cloned out the post or rock in the left hand side of the picture near the horizon, and I think there may be some halos along the piers edge, either the effect of slightly too much sharpening or over applied HDR, but I think you've done well to retain detail accross the frame. Very nice.

4th Image:

Great use of leading lines and dramatic perspective. I don't like the leaning lamp-post or converging fence posts, I would have kept the camera level on the lens axis to keep this straight. This could have cropped off the top of the lamp-post, as you might be at the limit of your wide angle. Could you have taken it closer to the lampost, to crop it out? This would also have let us seen a less interrupted view of the islands at the horizon. A tilt-shift lens was invented for situations like these, but obviously these are rare and expensive.

The colour cast is perhaps a little funny again, but much better than in the first image, I appreciate you are shooting through dark filters and the light changes constantly during the 'magic hour'. 

On the positive side I like that the frame is filled and that your eye is led through it. 

5th Image:

Love the colours here and the rock formation. There isn't a focal point so much, and the rocks could have made an excellent lead in. Getting down lower and in closer would have helped fill the frame more and let the serrated rocks lead you to the sunburst. I would be happy with this myself, just would maybe have tried a different height to play with the perspective.

6th Image:

Briliant. Subtle colours, great rendering of the wave motion. Beautiful setting at the perfect time of day and very humourous too! I think any seascape photographer can absolutely relate to this and it's my favourite image of your set, and one of my favourite images that I've seen in a long time. 

You plan your shoot, you think about natural framing, you plan the optimum time for the suns position, you look a the tide tables and you drive for an hour to get there to find... somebody has beaten you to it! Rather than just pack up, you've made them a feature. Brilliant. Even better, they've stayed that wee while too long and have got their shoes soaked - we've all been there "just one more shot" "just one more shot" Absolutely love it.

7th Image:

As for above, beautiful location in beautiful light, captured perfectly.

Last Picture:

Liking this too, sodium light is a pain to deal with, and you've played it the right way, it would be tricky to be able to balance this out without getting strange greens elsewhere. I love these magic hour shots, just after lighting up time. Folk so often get it wrong, you've got it perfect.

Nice frame filling composition and nice paths for the eye to follow, good foreground and distant detail.

If I was being really fussy I would again suggest getting the camera lower (but keeping the lens level) and making slightly more of the foreground -again the impact of the sea is slightly wasted- and if you were really keen you could have made a copy and had a go at the lights (maybe lassoo select, colour replace in photoshop) just to soften them a little, but I do like it as it. 

Conclusion:

I hope you don't take what I've said as being negative, just my opinion, really really love the guy getting his feet soaked in the cave, and there some great stuff elsewhere.


----------



## agierke (Jan 21, 2013)

Hey SJ,

nice work. the only thing i could add is to be a little more careful when doing your post production. you have some "halos" happening around some of your details that can be distracting as it "reveals" your retouching...so to speak. i liken it to watching a movie where you wouldn't want to see a boom sneaking into the frame...it breaks the illusion of that world for the viewer. 

also, you could pay some more attention to midtone contrast on some of the photos to reveal more of the detail. here is a quick redo that i did to demo what i am talking about







i used Nik tonal contrast to bring out more detail in the surf and sky but you could also do some selective dodging and burning in PS. to handle the halo of the rock i zoomed in and dodged the midtones of the edge of the rock and then cloned in the sky where it got too bright. always zoom in when you are in PS so that you fill your screen with the area you are working on and always use appropriatley sized brushes for the size of work you are doing. 

for me, this allows me to stay focused in the world you are showing me and not have my attention be broken by thoughts like "oh, there's a weird halo on that rock".


----------



## SJ (Jan 22, 2013)

> Hi SJ
> 
> Some cracking results here, I'll offer my thoughts on whats good and maybe what *I think I would do differently, there's no right or wrong answers and it's just an opinion*. ~ _thanks sir, i really need guidance_
> 
> ...



Thanks sir, i learn a lot thing from you. tqvm


----------



## SJ (Jan 22, 2013)

agierke said:


> Hey SJ,
> 
> nice work. the only thing i could add is to be a little more careful when doing your post production. you have some "halos" happening around some of your details that can be distracting as it "reveals" your retouching...so to speak. i liken it to watching a movie where you wouldn't want to see a boom sneaking into the frame...it breaks the illusion of that world for the viewer.
> 
> ...



Wow, u did it very well, i love it.. thanks for, critique, comment and sharing the tips, i'm very² appreciate it


----------

