[Schellamo]

in a bit of a photo rut at the moment I've been pretty dissapointed with my photos lately, but I guess that is just going to keep me striving for better shots.

Here are some I took on the weekend at my parents farm of TJ and his cousin, Jackson. I thought I would get better results than these, but the light was pretty harsh outside (it was an absolutely beautiful autumn day though, so I can't really complain). Anybody got any suggestions as to what I could've done to get better shots??
Thanks all.

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.

[EnglishBob]

Most of those are great shots Shell. The only 2 I think were off the mark are 1 & 5. And the lighting was just horrible in those 2, not a lot you could of done other than change the place and moment.

[Russt]

Hi Schell, i agree with Colin........I think #1 not much you can do there shooting into the light. It depends what you were going for, if you wanted to blow out the background?? #5 The PP is part of the problem. The contrast(if thats the right word) is too much. You need to play more with this one. Blow out some detail to bring you subjects out more. I hope you dont mind its easy to show you what I mean.



I really like #7 you can almost see him thinking as he looks out over the valley.

I have read from you before that you don't shoot in RAW.....You should give it a go. My Raw processing is very limited but even if I only use it to change exposure its worth it.

cheers

[Kombisaurus]

Hey Schell,

I'm sorry to hear you're in a rut. It happens to everyone from time to time I guess. You might try to simply work through it (I have a theory that every single shot I take, no matter how bad, brings me one small step closer to that unachievable perfect photo) or perhaps take a little break from photography and come back with some fresh enthusiasm later.
But don't be too hard on yourself either.. While perhaps not your best work, these are all lovely shots that capture the atmosphere of an autumn day really well. Compare these shots to some you might have taken 1, 2, 5, 10 years ago? See how far you've progressed?

The first two shot I really like a lot, and I think they can also be improved with some thoughtful PP. A good B/W conversion using Channel Mixing can do wonders to make bland colour skies look better and boost skin tones (in the 2nd shot) and also hide some flare or at least make it look more attractive (in the 1st).
Below are some very quick attempts to illustrate what I mean. These have both just used Tone Curves and Channel Mixing, plus a bit of sharpening and noise reduction (when boosting the contrast, jpg artifacts, noise, and dust bunnies all become more prominent).

I am also really drawn to #5, and think it is almost a fabulous shot. The mottled light, the atmosphere, and the idea of having the boys there is beautiful, but as Russ says, that grass around them is just too contrasty and dominates the foreground. You can reduce the contrast in the grass (tone curve with a mask), or soften it as Russ has done, but the real solution would be to take a slightly different shot with the boys against a more neutral background.

Good luck getting back on track.

[Irma]

I like the composition in most of your pictures Schell... I think they very good...... but the problem here was the light, as it was said already...

I think #3 is the one that has the best light... you have great contrast and the expression is great!! Where did you take it? Under a tree? The conditions were perfect... so you gained something here... you probably found a location for those birght days

We have tried to take pictures in the sun with flash as well... I they have turned out ok... I really don't know if it would have helped for example in the #4 ... I have very little experience about this... I must say I find very difficult to take good pictures in bright sunlight...

Oh! and my advice is "just keep shooting"

[sg]

Schell, just to confuse the issue further, i also am with Kombi, although i have no qualms about the shot, i think it's a brilliant capture.......... :|. Good luck in dragging yourself out......

[shuttertalk]

I think I'm in more than a rut.. I'm in a trough.

That said, I see lots of potential in your pics, Schell, and I think the others have confirmed it - especially with a little post processing as Kombi and Russ have done.

Keep up the good work!

[Schellamo]

Kombi and Russ, I love your fixes!! i haven't done tone mapping before, so i'll go find myself a tutorial.
i think I was hoping that the flash would make the light a little bit more workable, but also I was trying hard not to underexpose, and I think that resulted in harder to work with pictures because of all the blowouts in the grass and things.
I don't know, I wasn't really planning any shots, just following the boys around in the hope of catching some cute moments.
Anyway, will keep plugging away at it Thanks for the encouragement, you guys are worth a million.

[Toad]

Hey Schell.

You are being too hard on yourself. Personally, I find these to be among the best of your works I have seen yet (JMHO). I love the light in #1 and the composition in #2 is brilliant. I like to see you push your envelope.

I wish that I had a dollar for everytime that I have been in a creative rut. Long time followers of this forum (and ADI before it) can testify to my periods of being down-in-the-dumps creatively. I have always eventually bounced back - but sometimes that takes pushing my own personal envelope.

My advice - challenge yourself. Pretend that you have been assigned to do a pro gig on some subject that you usually don't photograph. You may find that jogs you out of your malaise.

Too hard to conceive of? I'll assign you one. Take some photos of men at work. Not too hard - give it a shot.

Best Regards
Toad

[Schellamo]

Thanks toad!!

As a matter of fact, that very day I was actually taking some shots of my dad doing farmwork for an assignment of his!!!
Farmer Dad

Now I'm just being cheeky

I will find something for myself that's out of the box though. I'm thinking the 'night' photography assignment, I don't get out much at night and its something I've never photographed before.