brandy sanders wrote:
i love taking photos and i have been doing it since i was about 13. i am now 36 and i would like to get into photography a lil more. i have never taken any classes and i would love to do so. i bought my nikon d 90 in feb. and i love it. but i need to know how do you know if i will ever be good enough to be a"pro"?
Brandy.
First, my advice, then my critique of your pics.
1. I am a firm believer that anyone can excel, moving above others in the pack if they (a) believe in themselves, (b) are realistic, and (c) follow my signature guidance below. All of this ends up translating to work, hard work, and work that progresses the talent and skills. Just taking a lot of pics without critiquing the pics, without getting others to critique the pics (TO INCLUDE PROS), without learning from the pics, and without improving is simply a great waste of time and effort. To excel - or just call it "improve" - demands: a goal (you have a good start but should eventually refine your goal to something more specific like a pro that specializes in ...), a plan and your mention of classes is part of a good plan, and heart - the strength to preserver when it gets boring, tedious, tough to stay focused, demand sacrifices, and sometimes be just plain disheartening. Everyone that has achieved "Pro" status has gone through these emotions, gotten back on track, and stuck to the course. That's what separates the Pro's from the amateurs. You are getting into an area that can cost bucks. Good news is the expenditures do not have to come all at once.
2. Your pics are a touch above average. They show some thought toward composition, color, theme, and the technicals like focus, and depth of field. I really like the crane flying but it does exhibit the prime mantra, if you do not like a pic - get closer. A cropping if possible (given the rez the pic was shot at) would help. Never be afraid to "get in the face of" when shooting if possible, crop if not. The crane pic suffers a pit from the fact that the focal point, the crane, is overcome by the trees to the left. I am posting my example of how this could have been cropped. I also dulled down the background to get the bird to pop a bit. The "Wild Ducks" is nice;"Wild Flowers" mundane but using a good DOF (depth of field) to blur out the background. For me, backgrounds are always an issue. My first question to myself is whether or not the background, in all its glory, adds or detracts from my pic. Next question is whether or not that background is even needed in the final pic. Maybe I will take the main subject and add my own background post-processing (Photoshop).
So, good luck. The world can always use more and better pics of itself. :lol:
quote=brandy sanders i love taking photos and i h... (