New Photographer! Help!

[griffith.jones]

It seems like the hardest thing for a brand spanking new photographer to obtain is... Honest feedback. To be honest, I just love photography. I love looking at photography books and websites and reading about the greats. I absolutely love street photography and I wish I had the innate talent of Vivian Maier. It seems though that lately the only person actually looking at my photo blog and telling me what I'm doing wrong or right, is my father.
I've been traveling/backpacking for the last 5 months through Europe and I always have my Nikon D80 by my side. Every once in a while I feel happy with a shot, but it seems that once I get it on the internet I feel pretty deflated about it and everything just seems subpar. I'm 23 years old, I've had no training other than what I've read and I really want to learn.
Please help me improve my photography by giving me ideas on what I can change and by helping me get some real unbiased criticism! I have thick skin and I know I'm a beginner so don't worry about being too harsh with me. I hope someday I can take photographs that I don't get bored of by the time I post them hahaha..

Thank you for any help you can offer.

Griffith Jones

Photo Blog:
www.griffithjonesphotography.blogspot.com

[silversnapper1]

Hi Griffith and welcome to the forum.

That's a good Welsh name for someone living in the States.

Best place for feedback is if you pop a couple of pics in the feedback forum here. There are a lot of good togs on here and someone will usually pop in and give you an opinion.

[Stormsong]

Helllo Griffith and welcome,

Silversnapper is right - best to do is post some images for comment and critique.

I have commented (at length) on the other thread - photo critique! Apologies if it sounds unduly harsh.

Regards,
Denise

[Adamj1984]

All

I'm in a similar boat to Griffith and would love some constructive criticism on some of the photo's I have taken and posted to my photo page. I have been trying to take photos for around 4 mothsish and all feedback from you guysvthat all seem to take perfect pictures would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Adam

[pburness]

Originally Posted by Adamj1984

All

I'm in a similar boat to Griffith and would love some constructive criticism on some of the photo's I have taken and posted to my photo page. I have been trying to take photos for around 4 mothsish and all feedback from you guysvthat all seem to take perfect pictures would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Adam

Adam,
Upload some to the photo critique forum and for sure, somebody will comment.
Always remember though - comments are opinions, and the feedback is always (in my opinion on what I've seen so far) aimed at encouraging you to stretch yourself and explore different ways to see an image.

Phil

[Stormsong]

@ Adamj1984 - yes, it is better if you upload some images into the threads - people are notoriously lazy and won't simply flick through galleries - it's not a unique thing to this site, it happens on other photo sites as well. However, I have swung by your gallery and have left some comments on some of your images. Hope this helps.

PS: If I had indeed taken the perfect picture, I would be a millionaire!

Regards,
Denise

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by Stormsong

PS: If I had indeed taken the perfect picture, I would be a millionaire!

Regards,
Denise

It's not taking the perfect picture that's the problem, it's knowing which one it is from the thousands you took!

[jet_kit]

Hi Griffith and welcome.
I've looked through the pics you've posted and I think your basic technique is good, and you have a good feel for your subject.
If I was to be critical (and you did ask!) I would say that your tendency is to centralise your subject. There are times when this works, but more often you'll want to stick to the Rule of Thirds. This means imagining the frame to be divided into 3 equal parts vertically and horizontally (so you end up with 9 sections), then try to position your subject so that it lies on one of the 'lines' divinding the frame. Also, it's more appealing to the eye if your subject is not looking out of the picture, another danger with centralised subjects. So, if you're taking a picture of someone in the street try to get them on the 'third' and looking/walking into the rest of the picture. You don't say which camera you have, but many will have a feature to superimpose the 'Thirds' graticules n the viewfinder.
Finally, we all feel the way you do about pictures we post. When we take them we can see some potential; when we've finished 'tweeking' them on the computer we love them; but, by the time we get to post them we start seeing little flaws which annoy us, but aren't seen by anyone else. Don't worry about the little things, it's the big picture (excuse the pun) we want.
Good luck