tainkc Loc: Kansas City

I am being serious. I see such good pictures with good composition. Mine seem too technical. I kind of like the rose. I don't know. After viewing other photos on this forum, I am thinking of deleting my hard drive. I am not kidding.

I do have a big butterfly garden and here is a butterfly


This is the rose I am talking about.. It is a Fairy Rose.


I think it is a Roughy

bobmielke Loc: Portland, OR

Whoa there. That's not necessary. You've got to walk before you can run. I've been at this photography thing for 41 years and it all doesn't happen overnight. I'm still learning every time I pick up a camera.

Keep things simple at first. There are tons of great instructional videos on this site about the fundamentals of photography. Take the time to watch a few of them and then grab you camera and go out and explore, experiment and learn.

I challenge myself constantly by going back to the basics. I loaded my Nikon D7000 with a 50mm F/1.4 prime lens and forced myself to move my feet to fully frame a shot, concentrate of holding my camera properly as I squeezed of my shots. This basic lens has no Vibration Reduction. The results were very pleasing but it's because I had to do everything manually.

Your photos will get better with time & practice. At least you have a digital camera that costs you nothing to shoot. I started with roll film cameras that cost plenty for each click of the shutter. Don't get discouraged so easily. Photography is a very rewarding hobby. Hang in there. :)

bobmielke Loc: Portland, OR

Now about your photos: The first is lovely, well exposed and sharp as a tack. That's a good beginning. I don't what sort of photo editing software you have but if it were my photo I'd remove distracting elements like that green branch sticking out at an odd angle. Example below:

http://bobmielke.smugmug.com/Other/Camera-Stuff/i-xxKWzhz/0/M/thumb-1315731671960-M.jpg

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

These are good examples of what you get in your camera is only the beginning. I would pass on the flower. The wilted ones detract from the main one. By time you fix up the picture, you can probably find others that are better. Or just wait for next summer.

The other two have great potential. I would strengthen the contrasts in the butterfly a bit. It could also use a little lightening and perhaps sharpening. Then, it will really pop more from the background. I agree with bobmielke about the green stalk but think he cropped this too tightly. However, he is right in getting rid of the unwanted material in the lower right.

As for the bird, the same comments apply here. You have two problems. The distractions at the bottom and behind the bird. That is great how you captured the bird in flight. Cropping may be difficult because it might wind up too tight. I would darken the background and add a little negative vignette. That will make the bird pop. A little sharpening and color/contrast manipulation should increase the detail on the bird and make it pop more from the background.

On the other hand, you might want to keep the background as is. This is where science becomes art and anyone can interpret your pictures in many different and valid ways. It is all a matter of taste.

As you see, taking the picture is just the beginning. In addition to learning the camera, you have to learn a program for improving and cataloging the images. I use Adobe Bridge and then Photoshop. However, I am sure many other programs will work just as well.

Good luck.

cameranut Loc: North Carolina

Whatever you do DON'T delete that hummer! Maybe I'm just too much of a realist,but I live in a REAL world with REAL birds & such, so I like things to look real, not artsy. Your hummer fits that criteria perfectly. Only thing I don't care for is the black background for the butterfly.A little too dark for my tastes. Keep shooting & have fun! That's the important thing.

tilde531 Loc: Seaford Delaware

I'm thinking they're ALL wonderful (although the removal of the green stem was just enough improvement, imo.)

I really love the tonality of the fairy rose especially nice against a red background. Refreshing... and it brings out some of the beautiful imperfections on some of the petals. But that's just my opinion.
I sometimes see perfection in IM-perfection.

And... FAB hummingbird!

KishaB Loc: Northern Indiana

Don't give up. You have great pics and I love love your hummingbird. And I think it was you that posted that we like photographing alot of the same subjects...Yes btw I do like trains and train tracks as well. I have yet to capture any.....I will tell you what I was told by my "professional " photographer uncle...shoot from different angles, try to capture things in a different way than others. And practice practice..that's how we get better. Your photos are wonderful :)

bobmielke Loc: Portland, OR

I keep waiting here but haven't caught a train yet!

Zoo Train Water Tower

Toni's Vision Loc: Quincy, Illinois

Don't be so hard on yourself. Many of us are our own worst critic. We see all the flaws and think of all the what ifs. abc1234 is right... everyone has their own opinion and everyone has their own unique likes and dislikes. One person may look at your photos and absolutely love them and the next person not so much. Enjoy what you're doing and create the photos that make you happy. Everyone else has their opinion but that's all it is.. their opinion. Personally I think all 3 photos show real talent and that hummer is awesome. Move forward.. and have fun!

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

Yeah, that was me responding to you. Thank you for your encouragement. From a technical point of view I am very good. I just don't have that "eye". But I do have tenacity so let's see what happens.

Here are 3 more pix of the Union Pacific Challenger that I took when it was here, in Kansas City last October. One of them as you can see, I tried to get artistic and ended up being autistic instead.

Tracks looking east toward K.C. I like the clouds.


The steam is real. I did not add that.


Wide open doing 70 mph heading toward Topeka.

evandr Loc: Tooele, Utah

An artist is always his own worst critic; it is what drives them to greater heights. Your pictures are fine, I know some people in my photo club that would be tickled pink if they could capture a hummingbird as well as you have here. Of course your pictures could be critiqued and made better because there is always somebody with a better eye, “always” and it does not matter how good you might or might not think you are; we all have the ability to learn and then teach. So don't go playing the role of the martyr or you will never get to where you, as well as the rest of us, want to be. :thumbup:

evandr Loc: Tooele, Utah

Oh cut it out, me thinks you're fishing, your pictures are very nice and I think you know it. :roll:

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

Thanks for the words of encouragement. It's just that I have taken literally thousand of pictures since getting my first DSLR and I thought a lot of them were really good until I saw all of these cool pictures on Ugly Hedgehog. No, I am not giving up. It is just that my composition sucks and I need to keep working at it.

djfkeefe

The comments I read are what I think has become wrong with photography since digital has taken over. You have very nice pictures as they are (perhaps more attention to the background); the comments relate to computer manipulation of pictures, and have nothing to do with basic photograpy.
Call me a Luddite, but your point of view should always be "what's it a picture of?"; take the pic and let the camera do the rest, not the computer.

bobmielke Loc: Portland, OR

"Photography purists generally scoff at Photoshop users because they don't know how to use Photoshop"... Scott Kelby on "The Grid"

Ansel Adams, world famous landscape photographer, carried glass plate negatives containing cloudy skies to add to his photos with a blank sky.

Art Wolf, "Travels to the Edge" on PBS, clones out herd animals in his wildlife shots if they are distracting.

I think every photograph ever taken has been "manipulated" in one form or another.