old poet

No power lines, unless they are your subject.

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

I like horizon level. Like verticals that are vertical sometimes.

I wrote in a forum about the work of Photo Journalist Lynsey Addario Love and War.
What I was reminded was to break the rules when you think it works.
She angles the horizons and shots of her battle shots. It works.

I looked at Robert Frank's "The Americans" book a watershed photo essay.
His captured moments are not posed or predictable. His compositions are
a caught moment.

I have been in the creative business all my life as an Art Director and Producer.
I find myself questioning why anything needs fixing. I am trying to see with
a new sense of my environment.

This photo I took this summer with th RX100 mark 4 and post processed
breaking all the rules. eye movement starts at the feet and moves un to a partially
covered scene mother daughter baby and a really liked the feet in the air
and into the sky.
The bored life guard. This pool is way "over the top" for the mountains.
It is annoying that the feet cover the family.
Should I duck?

(Download)

BlueMorel Loc: Southwest Michigan

In post-processing, stop while you're ahead, wherever that might be. Your stopping point may be different than mine depending on your desired result. I prefer natural, but your tastes might be Thomas Kinkade (yuck). Meanwhile, fix the horizon, crop appropriately, fix exposure.

srt101fan

"Thomas Kinkade (yuck)"

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

#1 fix.

Calibrate that computer monitor!

I see a LOT of mis-adjusted images here and everywhere else... and would bet the reason is that they were post-processed on uncalibrated monitors.

It's a simple and relatively inexpensive thing... a calibration device can cost under $100 and takes 10 or 15 minutes to use once every month or two.

Tom, I love your shot of the swimming pool! It's a self portrait of sorts, isn't it? After all, those are your feet.

It's also a nice example of "street photography" and capturing Americana.

And it's a great example of why wide angle lenses can be difficult, with all that's going on in a wide shot. You made it work, and that's not easy.

You may not realize it, but you've actually got a fairly classic composition going. It's almost perfect "rule of thirds" both horizontally and vertically.

Your feet and the clouds in the sky both "point" toward the family and the life guard.

Now, I really hope you don't mind, but I also have a few criticisms. The first of which, I'm guessing you don't use a calibrated monitor because your original image is very low contrast, flat and underexposed. It's a pretty easy thing to fix, when the image is being viewed on a calibrated monitor. Most computer monitors from new are way too bright for accurate photo evaluation and adjustments, causing you to mis-adjust your images without realizing it. This really shows up when you make a print.

There also are some small, easily fixed things... when you straightened the horizon line, you accidentally clipped the upper left and lower right corners. Those are easily fixed with cloning tool. There are also a couple small, unidentifiable objects protruding into the image on the left and right edges, which are easily cloned out.

With these simple fixes and adjustments to the contrast and brightness of the image, I think it's a fabulous shot! I've always been a fan of street photography and this is a great example!

See what you think. Here's the result:

(Download)

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Sorry, - https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-236741-1.html

..

Busch Loc: San Diego

leftj Loc: Texas

I have three things. Practice, Practice, Practice

Dikdik Loc: Winnipeg, Canada

and it's a lot easier with digital photography.

Dik

canon Lee

Interesting question. From my point of view, I know that subject sharpness is most important as is composition. Composition is what frames the subject, so its important that the subject is the focal point of the picture.
For everyone else the only thing that matters is the subject, no matter what the composition is or if its not sharp, dark, or not color corrected.
We as photographers are more concerned with technical things, where others only see the subject.
As a working full time photographer in my own photography business, I have to be concerned with detail since I'm getting paid.

tdekany Loc: Oregon

When I look at results like this, https://www.marcadamus.com there is nothing SIMPLE that is going to improve a photo. But if we are talking amateur hour,

1 - shoot around sunset or sunrise,

2 - try to find an interesting subject

aellman Loc: Boston MA

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1. Become familiar with all your camera's controls until you no longer have the think about them.

2. Take a moment for a second look before you shoot.

>Alan

leftj Loc: Texas

Item #1. You will never reach that point.

DanielB Loc: San Diego, Ca

White balance and natural light.

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

Most important is focus. If it’s not in focus, then the picture gets trashed.

In PP, the FIRST thing I do is straighten and crop the picture. I hate crooked pictures and I love the transform tool in Lightroom.

Then I apply my standard preset if not applied on import. There’s usually little else that needs to be done except maybe swap a face in group shots or removing unwanted objects that I do in Photoshop.