Enjoy and dun forget to chat and comment... :D

Silhouette...

Hi dough,

I like seeing your photos :) I'll like to give some comments on Silhouette... First nice clouds, great actions happening around you, good opportunity for photos.
I believe you were trying to make the structure and kids on the structure silhouettes stand out, but the trees around seems to be stealing some limelights. A change of angle make the structure stand out more :)

Second, this photo is initially full of energy, kids are climbing on the structure but looking at the 2 idle people at the left corner causes the photo to lose its energy. Fill the frame :)

Third, the positioning of the sun, where else can it be placed?

Fourth, i think there is a flare above the 2 idle people, can happen when shooting into the sun(or is that a lamp?).

Fifth, distracting blue circle near middle, pp it or (in theory, i have never tried this, not at the level where i can immediately discern details) use an orange-red filter to reduce blue light

I think this is a great attempt, silhouettes creates strong feelings, combine with energy of the kids creates a strong message.

Thank you fo the compliment... The blue circle i think i've a way to edit it i'll post the new photo once i've edited it... Once agn thank you...

Regards,

Doug...

Agreed with Keith on the positioning of the sun and the lack of filling up the frame in the photo.

Although the structure and children are already silhouetted, you should use a very small aperture such as F11 or F16 to ensure that minimal light enters the camera. By doing this, the foreground will be completely black because the sky is much brighter than the structure and children.

There seems to be no focus on your photo and I don't know what story it is trying to tell. Although I noticed you were following the rule of thirds, sometimes shooting in a vertical format helps you get rid of unwanted space and give you more focus on a particular subject.

The sky seems to be a little underexposed as well.

An extra tip to you is that - anything that is completely white can be seen as a huge distraction in your photo and should always be avoided. Clouds are an exception because they can come in many colors and shapes. This being said, notice that your sun is completely whited out causes the photo to become quite unpleasant and 'hazed'. Hazed being a whitish cast being imposed on the whole photo.

Increasing the contrast of the photo will solve this.

As Keith has already mentioned, lens flare can be avoided using a filter(which, in my opinion isn't very practical since they can sometimes cost a bomb to buy). There are always the options of using a lens hood and avoiding angles that are facing the sun. Post processing however, is the easiest way out. Simply use the "Clone Stamp" tool and edit out the blue spots.

Other than all that, this was a great effort on your part; considering the fact that you're not using a DSLR at all! Just keep shooting and sharing and you'll improve.

Hope this helped! ;)

Cheers,
Isaac

Hi its me keith again :) I think got a mistaken identity i gotta clarify. The blue circle i mention in my fifth point was not referring to a flare, i assumed the blue circle is an object, maybe a balloon or a helmet, somewhere in the middle of the structure. I agree totally with Isaac that the best way to reduce flare is a lens hood(i forgot totally about lens hood :lol: ) and changing angle.

Back to the blue circle, it is important because the silhouettes are telling me their story through their lines and shapes but a blob of bright blue in the middle drew my eyes away(our eyes are naturally drawn to bright colors:)). An orange to red filter intensifies red lights but rejects blue lights(the color wheel taught me) so the "balloon" will be darken and blend in, the skies will be darken too, making the clouds more prominent.

Telling you is telling myself, i am enforcing the learning upon myself too, thanks for sharing your photo :D

Yep that's wad i'm trying to do now using picasa...

Oh... yar the other dae i forgotten my lens hood cos i tot was just bringing my cam to my granny's house to send the photos to my cousin... but end up... <_<

I dun really think thats an object i still think its a flare...

Two flares in different position, interesting, i gotta look up on flares soon :) Opportunities sometime occurs unexpectedly, preparedness is one way to deal with it, another way is improvise, your hand can form a make-do lens shade, be careful of camera shake :)

You should never take the lens hood off your lens. ;)

Oh... haha some times i use flash so... But taking natural photos i shld not use flash rite?

Yep opportunity always comes out unexpectedly...

Normally I avoid using a flash as much as I can except for studio shoots as I prefer lighting by ambient light because it's more natural and less harsh than a flash..

It really depends on your preference, but I would avoid using a flash as much as possible if I were you. ;)

Ok i'm posting new photos stay tuned... ;)

wells: high speed nature deploys flash, e.g. humming bird shots

the question of should or should not:
as long as it does not cause harm to the animal, (or yourself when the animal comes after you); up to personal preference. :)

Hi Bro,

Super long time no hear... :P

Oic... So some times flash does make things look natural... when there's back light?? :P

Taking your example of backlight and using a human model, without flash the model's face is totally cast in shadows. With flash set to half the brightness of the backlight, there are still shadows on the model's face but we are able to see more details in the model's expression. Both of these cases will look natural in a photo.

However, if we increase the flash output to be equal to the backlight, there are no more shadows and the photo produced will look unnatural because we know in our mind that with a bright source of light in the background, there must be shadows somewhere.

So to say that flash sometimes makes things look natural is giving me a headache haha, what flash does is help the photographer obtain his/her desired results :)

So that's when we use something called a soft box?? :o