honest critiques please =)

[kate90]

a few of my first tries =)
please be really honest
thanks

[baceball6]

I am just starting out but I think those are nice

[jetrim]

Welcome to the forums!

Diving right in...

First shot, would probably be stronger if the whole flower were included and it were set a bit more off center (include more background on the left)

Second is very nice as is, good use of DoF (depth of field) with focal point about 1/3rd down the keyboard, nice strong leading lines pulling your eye into the photo, and good contrast.

Third shot looks just a touch soft (blurry) and whatever that pink thing in the background is, it's distracting. The softness may be due to compression of the photo - after resizing a shot smaller, it's usually a good idea to hit "sharpen" just once to clean up any artifacts.

Fourth and Fifth are also quite nicely composed, but seem to have a bit too much contrast (obscuring some detail)

Overall, nothing to be disappointed with, for someone without tons of experience. You are definitely on the right track. Stick around and critique other peoples work too, don't worry about experience level, understanding what you like and don't like about the photos of others will go a long way in helping you improve your own.

[gracie_r]

I love the piano shot. The sax I would have zoomed in further, so you'd lose whatever that purple is on the side. You could crop it some and clone it out, but I think zooming in would look better. I like the little girl shots, but the second one looks a like a little too much flash was used.

Welcome to the forum!

[Frog]

The flower needs to be much sharper and not chopped at top.
Pretty good angle on the keyboard but I wish there were more dof.
The girl is cute but the first one needs sharpened and the you cut off her chin in the the second.
Keep shooting!
One of the best learning tools is to critique others photos and then you'll see your own in a new light.

[danic]

Some of them have a lot of potential. I especially like the Sax and Piano shots. Perhaps a little more depth for the sax shot. I do like the shallow DOF in the piano, perhaps move the focal point so it is closer to the bottom of the shot?

[shootme]

My 2 cents:

1) Look to shoot the entire flower in the foreground, increase your f-stop to say 5.6 to get more clarity of the flower itself yet leave background with a blur for nice DoF.
2) Nice shot, these always make nice pics, may have tried B&W for this as well, good you focused about a 1/3 in. I may have moved a touch to the left to cut the distraction behind the piano far left.
3) Use a prop behind the instrument next time, looks like a backpack against the wall there? Consider the light reflecting off the brass and what Gracie said. Nice artsy shot though well done, play with the angles you can get super shots with lots of stuff around the house.
4 & 5) I like B&W and you've made a good effort here, I think you have a good eye for special compositions which is nice to see. Not sure but ficus could be out or that might just be me? I like both but prefer the second one.

Trust this helps, Cheers S

[kate90]

Thanks everyone, this is all really usefully =)