hi, i haven't posted here much before, i just got my first camera for christmas (point and shoot) and would like some advice so i can improve

tower bridge:


hammersmith bridge:


putney bridge (hard to see):


southwark cathedral:


london bridge:


building next to the tower of london:


deer in richmond park:


devon roads, lundy island in the distance:


sunset, fremington quay:


chickens, instow:


sheep, instow:
[img]http://imgur.com/LyjrLl.jpg[/img]

Welcome again then and congratulations on you new camera

I will leave the technical advise for the real experienced experts who know what they are talking about!
But i like especially th first 2 pictures. Looks like a little sight seeing tour through the cities.
You seem to be a fan of bridges?

What you might consider in my view:

E.g. in the picture of the deer or also the chickens you have some huuuge objects in the way which cover a LOT of the picture.
I can imagine its hard to take picture of moving objectes, especially the shy deer.

But if you get a chance, i think it would look way better without that huge tree or wall with a clear way between you and the animal.

I had problems to see that other bridge. Think it wasnt the best light conditions with the dark backgroudn behind the bridge.
Maybe at a different time or from a different spot it would have been better.

I like the angel you have chosen on the cathedral, makes it look magnificent.
Also the hammersmith bridge looks nice, just that the very top seems to be cut out and a little blurry.

The sunset with the boat looks really beautiful, very romantic mood and i like the idea in it!

As you just started i think you are doing good and there is some potential you can still unleash by getting more practice on the field!
Would be great if you let us share it and the development you go through

2 more small things which I now find a bit distracting

On alot of pictures you don't keep your camera horizontally

on the hammersmith bridge you have the whole bridge on the shot, except for some tiny bit on the top left.

Maybe it's just me, I think they can look much better with those things in mind.

tower bridge: you should make sure you straighten up a bit more when you shoot,
if you have any software for editing, straighten it up with the bridge in middle as reference

hammersmith bridge:same, straighten up, use one of the cables hanging straight down as reference

awesome lightning on the first one, I like the colors and the water very much

putney bridge: missing something, I dont know what really

southwark cathedral: nice composition, nice lights, I like it

london bridge: a bit too much star effect imo, maybe you should have toned down the red a bit as well

building next to the tower of london: straighten it up, nice motive anyways :))

panorama: Wow, I like it :), the horizon isn't so good at the right part though :/

Some of these have something really nice in them, I'm not so good at expressing my thoughts though.
Anyway, welcome here and keep on working

I think those are some quite nice pictures. Keep up the good work.

thanks for all the feedback, i agree with a lot of what has been said so i'll try to keep it in mind for my next shots

also hestJavel how do you tone down the colours a bit? i tried the changing the white balance but it didn't work very well

I just found this guide, maybe it can help you a bit

http://www.geofflawrence.com/photoshop_tutorial_raw_part-2.php

(I'll even read it myself, seems like a good one :P)

This post was edited by hestJaevel on Jan 20 2010 12:16pm

ah, thanks for the article, but atm i'm trying to use photoshop as little as possible

i took another photo today (saw lots of rare birds but the only time it stopped raining was for about 5 minutes, so i ended up with a photo of a robin):

Wow, that picture is truly amazing
Just getting a shot that close to a bird is a killer

this one is my favorite because I like the colors and the contrast of the reflective surface the bird is standing on good job