People

Hello All...
I am brand new to this site and have loved looking at all of your photos and good critiques. I am looking for some constructive criticism and feedback on my photography. I am trying to photograph different kinds of subjects, and experiment with my digital SLR. I have had it about 2 years and so I still have a lot to learn! To start with these photos are all people photos taken in Zambia. I really would love any thoughts. Thank you so much.

Here is some background info on each photo if you are interested. Sometimes I like knowing the story behind and photo and sometimes I don't, so its up to you. Not all these photos have titles yet but...
1) The Road Home: This photo was taken just outside Lusaka.
2) Oranges for Sale: Taken at the Soweto market (the largest and most crowded market in Zambia) in Lusaka.
3) Rubi: My Zambian friend's daughter
4) no title: these two girls led me around their village just outside Lusaka. They showed me their home, their goats and brought me to the matriarch of the tribe. This adventure happened all without being able to communicate verbally since we did not know the language of each other. It was great.
5) no title: This photo was taken through a van windshield. We had to drive because we had a lot to buy. It is near impossible to drive through Soweto market because it is so crowded.

Again thank you.

Nice photos and subject matter. Off the bat the contrast on the 1st four is good but the 5th shot through the vehicle window is flat. I would work on adjusting the contrast on the last shot to give the image more punch.

The 4th shot of the two children is really good, I would try to bring out more detail in their faces without blowing them out. It could also be my monitor.

tilwehavefaces,

Welcome to the forums. Don't forget to visit the Post Processing forum too :D

Looks like you've done a little traveling. I think your shots show that you have a journalistic viewpoint, at least here. They all seem to be saying something, though very discretely. They don't punch me in the forehead that is, but make me take a second and third look.

Starting from the top, the woman and her children are interesting, but having their back to you isn't as good as seeing their faces.

I really like the next shot of the fellows against the oranges. The orange color is powerful and the way they're looking in opposite directions is comical. I also like the way the truck makes a plane behind them. I really wish that table wasn't there in the right foreground though.. really wish! maybe you could post process (PP) it out, but that would take a bit of work. Perhaps cropping the image so it is just out of the scene might work.

# 3 has potential, but the bright area behind his ear is distracting and his eyes need to be sharper. Try sharping up the image a little - I think it will work. You could also fix that bright spot in PP.

The 4th is OK but needs to be a tad lighter on my screen, and the composition doesn't work for me. Why all that dead space in the middle and upper right?

The last one is OK but again them turning their backs to the camera somewhat limits its effectiveness. More contrast would help the overall look. The fellow with the missing leg makes me wonder what happened, but I guess we will probably never know.

Welcome again

G