Just started Photography - Need feedback!

[zhikang]

Hi guys, this shot was taken @ a drama event at school. Adjusted tone curve and desaturated the pic during PP. Pls comment!



Taken wif a 300D wif grip and Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 EX DG Macro

[with_brokenwings]

i think its a little OOF [pic's a bit too small to tell, or it could be my monitor] and the compositon's too central. and personally, i dont really like the desaturation.. i think leaving it at its original state would have been nicer.

[Stoned]

Generally, if you can help it, you should endeavour to take away elements of distraction from photos of drama performances. The biggest problem with shooting drama performances is that there is often evidence of the backdrop(in your case a black cloth at the rear) unless the photographer is careful to avoid it. In some situations, you will need to get a tight shot of the performer to isolate an expression, rather than taking a full body shot which shows nothing at all.

Was your focus here her sniffing the flower? Her sitting on the table? Her in the scene? Try to have a particular focus when you make your images, and then bring that out succinctly, clearly, and powerfully. If for example you wanted to focus on her expression when sniffing the flower, a tight headshot would be in order and the 24-70 is the wrong lens to use, unless you can get close to the subject.

Next, notice how many elements that do not contribute are present in the picture. What value does the creased backdrop add? Or the chair? or the paper cup and litter in the background? Could you have avoided any of these? If you could then you should have. If you could only have avoided some, then avoid those and minimise the prominence of what you cannot exclude totally. Know the space well beforehand, it will help you to find better angles to produce more outstanding images.

On a side note, whoever was your school's lighting technician ought to be shot, the lighting is terrible.

[zhikang]

thanks alot ppl... points noted...

well no choice 24-70 was the only decent lens i culd get my hands on at that point of time, any worse and it wuld have been 18-55 kit lens... no $$$ sadly... haha lighting done by students oOps...

but in anyway, really appreciate the comments! =D

[espion]

maybe u must ask yourself what are trying to capture here.

the face? her expression? the pose? the dress? certainly not the table and chair right? or maybe it is?

most ppl will tell u that u need to know what u want to shoot before shooting, and that will then inform you of the equipment, positioning, timing, what to look for and so on.

On the other hand u can also make a picture after u shoot it - especially with a digital camera.

But in either case you must be able to see a picture in the first place, and that is common to either approaches and whatever photography philosophy school you belong to.

So what do you think is the picture in this photo? Or is there any picture in it at all?

If you see it, then go make that picture, either with this photo or another time, another shoot, with this or that hardware or software, etc etc ... and present it so that your viewers see the same picture as you did.

[zhikang]

Originally Posted by with_brokenwings i think its a little OOF [pic's a bit too small to tell, or it could be my monitor] and the compositon's too central. and personally, i dont really like the desaturation.. i think leaving it at its original state would have been nicer.

mmm perhaps i wanted to achieve a certain melancholic effect with the desat.. point noted. oh and image is very soft, as with quite a lot of the shots taken that night, maybe due to lens and lighting conditions... =S

[Rashkae]

other than being OOF...

There's too much clutter. The spilled plastic cup in the bottom-right, etc. You may want to have done some PP work on her legs too, as the blemishes are very obvious.