# a(nother) 14y/o looking for feedback



## Longexposure (Jan 9, 2014)

Hello guys!
As you read in the title, I'm a 14 (almost 15) y/o, amateur photographer looking for some feedback and critique from all of you.
A little background info on me, I live in Brussels, Belgium and have always been into photography as my dad is an (amateur) photographer. I picked up my first dslr about two years ago which was a 600d (t3i) and recently switched to a 70d. 
I would really apreciate if you guys could take a look at my work (from my two most recent trips: Canada and Iceland), any feedback and positive and negative critique is of course welcome. (most of these were shot in raw then processed into lightroom 4 or 5)
Thanks in advance,
Alex


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## Longexposure (Jan 9, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

2&3


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## Longexposure (Jan 9, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

4&5


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## Longexposure (Jan 9, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

6&7


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## Longexposure (Jan 9, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

8&9


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## Longexposure (Jan 9, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

10&11 (last one)


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## RLPhoto (Jan 9, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

I liked the 1st photo. The edge of the light on the bottom right and the stones on the bottom left built a triangle shape in between which keep my eye in the frame a bit longer. It would have been nice to have a point subject to keep me inside that triangle longer though.

The 2nd photo feels like it should be a horizontal.

The 3rd clipped the top of the falls.

The 4th would be nicer if the camera was lower to draw your eye into the falls with the waterline (in the left corner of the frame) in horizontal position.

The 5th has nice color but the smooth shape is clipped at the top.

You have alot of talent of getting rid of distractions in your frames. I dont see ugly boats, powerlines, stray people, etc... and that's very good. Now that you have only the good elements in the frame, you have to compose them to keep your eyes glued.

Edit: I didn't catch the rest after this post.


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## Longexposure (Jan 9, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

thank you very much for your feedback and I agree with all you comments. however, I couldn't have made the second one horizontal because I would've had the crowd in the frame.
Thank you,
alex


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## gshocked (Jan 9, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

Hi Alex,

I like picture 8. It's very interesting how the antlers have captured the light. There is a glowing/halo effect.
Picture 1 is also nice, althought I'm curious what would happen if you increased your exposure by 1 point in lightroom just to bring out some detail in the shadows? Anyway just some food for thought, however, everyone will have their own opinion. Overall looking great!


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## Longexposure (Jan 9, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

Hi gshocked and thank you for giving your opinion, i will try to brighten the image up and post it tommorow. However i don't know how it's gonna end up because the original pic's exposure was wrong so it's already tweaked quite in the shadows and highlights (thanks to raw!).
Alex


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## Deleted member 91053 (Jan 10, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

You should be proud of those images. As others have suggested there are always improvements that can be made - there is no such thing as the perfect shot - but you are already showing that you have a talent for this game and a good eye.
Keep at it and keep improving, you are definitely on the right track.


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## Longexposure (Jan 10, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

Thank you very much john. It means a lot. 
Alex


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## Skatol (Jan 10, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

Hi Alex and welcome to the forum.
Lots of images to digest but I will concentrate on image 1.
Nice highlights and details in the lower left on the rocks.
2 second exposure was a good choice for blurring the water, nice effect.
My suggestion would be to use an adjustment brush in LR and bring out some shadow detail in the center rock.
You may have tried this, I can't quite tell if there is enough detail to bring out.
The other thing is the upper left clouds looks a little blown out, possibly reduce the highlights there as well.
You definitely have an eye for this. Lighting on the right hand side is exposed quite nicely.
I would proudly hang this on my wall.


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## Skatol (Jan 10, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

Image 7 really appeals to me.
One thing to keep in mind is to leave a little extra room on the edges for matting.
Looks like you will cut off a small part of the leg if you were to mat this image, which I hope you will.


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## Longexposure (Jan 10, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

Thank you skatol for your feedback,
I will try following your advices when I get home.
Alex


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## Quasimodo (Jan 10, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

I think the moose shot is excellent! Love the light in the horn?.. and the lightplay in the water. The first shot looks a bit too HDRish to me, but that might be my screen. You obviously have a great talent for this, and I suspect that you already have familiarized yourself with Lee filters, although I do not see them in the gear list.

Keep up the good work!


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## Longexposure (Jan 10, 2014)

*Re: a(nother) 14yo looking for feedback*

Thanks Quasimodo!
But no Lee filters(only 3 stops nd) and no HDR although I would like to try them out (the filters).
Cheers
Alex


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## gshocked (Jan 10, 2014)

Hey Alex,

It's great your getting the positive feedback for your images.
If I can make a suggestion - if there is an image in your folio of work that you like, trying getting large prints of them.
In my opinion printing photos out at the larger sizes changes how you look at and appreciate your own work. This is something I'm revisiting myself, as I've got too many images that have remained in the digital realm. Keep up the great work!


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## Longexposure (Jan 10, 2014)

Thanks! I'll definitely do it.
Alex


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## Skatol (Jan 10, 2014)

gshocked said:


> Hey Alex,
> 
> It's great your getting the positive feedback for your images.
> If I can make a suggestion - if there is an image in your folio of work that you like, trying getting large prints of them.
> In my opinion printing photos out at the larger sizes changes how you look at and appreciate your own work. This is something I'm revisiting myself, as I've got too many images that have remained in the digital realm. Keep up the great work!


Second this. You will see things in print that you might not see on screen as well. I've had to reprint many times due to some details I missed the first time around.


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## Quasimodo (Jan 11, 2014)

Skatol said:


> gshocked said:
> 
> 
> > Hey Alex,
> ...



+1 me too

I had a very nasty experience with this. On one of my first paid photojobs. I took what I thought was a clever group shot (the subjects stood on a bridge approx 100m away from me on a bridge, and me on another bridge with the 70-200L II + 2xIII TC. Well, the problem arised in postproduction. I was fairly new to Photoshop, and unbeknown to me at the time,- quite heavy-handed with the sharpening. It looked great to me on the screen. I did not know that they would expose the picture on a 3m wide and 1.5m height steel plate... The two people in the middle got somewhat of a halo around their heads. Luckily for me, only people who knows pictures and pp sees this, but a great learned lesson for me. Now I always zoom heavily in on the picture whenever making corrections.

The second reason why I agree that you should start printing, is that the choice of paper/material greatly influences the kind of expression that you want for the image. I have a Canon Pixma Pro 1, and it gives me the opportunity to experiment with different paper types (also from different brands). The difference of your moose shot on a matte type from Canson vs. a high gloss one would be considerable. Given the hardness of your light and highlight I would probably opt for a high gloss rendition, as detail are accentuated on this type of paper. 

just my 2 cent


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## Longexposure (Jan 11, 2014)

Quasimodo said:


> Skatol said:
> 
> 
> > gshocked said:
> ...



Thanks for sharing your experience. 
Alex


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## Northstar (Jan 12, 2014)

I really like 1,6,and 8. My least favorites are 5 and 2. All if the others are solid shots.

Welcome, and continue to post!


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## Harry Muff (Jan 12, 2014)

Nowt wrong with them. Keep shooting and have fun with it!


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## sanj (Jan 12, 2014)

Great work buddy. 

If these were my photos I would ease out on post work a bit as they looking overdone to me. But if that is they way your artistic expression goes, then push it more. 
In particular I am referring to tints and excess chroma that you using.

Keep it up!


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## batotman (Jan 12, 2014)

They're pretty amazing. People can nitpick the smallest things but I'd be proud of all of them.


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## Raj (Jan 12, 2014)

Hi there.....

Great work pal............ Did not know lens from film when I was 14 /almost 15........ 
And guys.... all comments on our friend's work are completely valid...... but let's first genuinely appreciate what he has done.... am sure, if he keeps clicking away, he can ONLY improve.........
For what's it's worth... all I'll chip in to say is this.......... always try and get the best images directly out of our camera... perfecting post-process will come in due course, else there is a real danger of ending up like one of many chaps out there who only rely on post to improve at best mediocre out-of-camera images.
Check out the online portfolios of the master Henri Cartier Bresson, and as you see those images... never forget..... vast majority of those images were taken with 1 camera and a standard 50mm lens....... food for thought??????? street, people, landscape, nature... what does it matter ... a great image will always be a great image.........
Keep up the good work....
Keep clicking....
Cheers
Raj


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## Albi86 (Jan 12, 2014)

First of all, I wish I was as good as you when I was 15 

I think you really have to mind composition and post processing. Your images are nice, but lack that something that makes them interesting. Also be careful to blown highlights in image one and to artifacts like in the elk. I really like your number 11, but some cropping would do to obtain a stronger composition.


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## Longexposure (Jan 12, 2014)

Thanks to everyone!!
Sanj: yes i know they're a bit too overproccessed but i was experimenting and can never decide on which version is better
Raj: yes I know bresson and like his work very much. He is one of my favorite photographers. And I always try to do most of it in camera (composition, exposure, etc..) but sometimes I don't have enough times to correct things (like with the first as it was a school trip and they were leaving so i had to rely on post. But I totally agree with you. 
Thank you again!
Alex


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## Longexposure (Jan 12, 2014)

Albi86 said:


> First of all, I wish I was as good as you when I was 15
> 
> I think you really have to mind composition and post processing. Your images are nice, but lack that something that makes them interesting. Also be careful to blown highlights in image one and to artifacts like in the elk. I really like your number 11, but some cropping would do to obtain a stronger composition.



Thanks Albi. 
And yes i know i gotta be more careful. 
Alex


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## wayno (Jan 12, 2014)

As a mostly architectural photographer, the converging perspective in 6 drives me nuts. Everything else looks great to me though. 1 could maybe do with a bit of lightening but if that's your creative vision then it's no less valid.


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## Longexposure (Jan 12, 2014)

wayno said:


> As a mostly architectural photographer, the converging perspective in 6 drives me nuts. Everything else looks great to me though. 1 could maybe do with a bit of lightening but if that's your creative vision then it's no less valid.



Thanks wayno.
At first i didn't like it either but i got used to it and now i like it. But everyone has its own opinion and i understand that there are some rules in archi photography. 
Alex


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## silvestography (Jan 12, 2014)

Hey Alex,
that's some really nice work you've got there. Here's some feedback coming from a 16-year-old who, like you, still has plenty to learn. With your landscapes, one thing you might want to focus on as a general concept is creating "rhythms" with dark and light (alternate large sections of shadows with large sections of highlights moving across the frame to create interest). Your first image does that pretty well, so keep it up. I'm no expert in wildlife, but much like people photography, you want to make sure your subject stands out somehow. That could be by putting a dark subject up against a light background, having the subject and background work as complimentary colors, or by creative framing. Number 10 does a good job of this, but the others could be better. 

Anyway, I don't mean to be harsh (though I wish people would offer me with some harsher critiques), and keep up the good work!


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## Longexposure (Jan 13, 2014)

silvestography said:


> Hey Alex,
> that's some really nice work you've got there. Here's some feedback coming from a 16-year-old who, like you, still has plenty to learn. With your landscapes, one thing you might want to focus on as a general concept is creating "rhythms" with dark and light (alternate large sections of shadows with large sections of highlights moving across the frame to create interest). Your first image does that pretty well, so keep it up. I'm no expert in wildlife, but much like people photography, you want to make sure your subject stands out somehow. That could be by putting a dark subject up against a light background, having the subject and background work as complimentary colors, or by creative framing. Number 10 does a good job of this, but the others could be better.
> 
> Anyway, I don't mean to be harsh (though I wish people would offer me with some harsher critiques), and keep up the good work!



Thanks for your honest critique! 
Alex


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