Photography Looking for a little critique and advice

Firstly, what dslr do you have?
If you have a nikon, I can most likely help you out a bit with the mechanical aspects of taking pictures with a nikon.

Anyhow, if you arent already... Start taking pictures with the "p" setting on the wheel on top of the camera (preferably m, but then you need to get used to manually setting your camera settings).

You're more than welcome to pm me, if you want some help ( in english or norwegian... )

 

Don't feel bad. I have an Olympus and am the only one in my Photographic Society (out of at least 70+ members) to own an actual Olympus SLR. It just makes us special...and resilient because we don't have many other people to rely on for specific camera help lol.

Your photos look good technically. The first one looks over processed, so I'm not sure how it was originally. The other two seem exposed properly and everything is in focus which is always a good start. I'm going to skip over the first one because I'm not sure how to help.

Middle Picture:
The poor little thing is lost in all of those branches. Logically, I know to look at her, but it's so busy around her that I'm fighting to keep my eyes on her. This is a good time to get in as close as possible and fill the frame with this little cutie. Also, it's pushing really close to the center of the photo. If you've heard of the Rule of Thirds, try to take that into consideration when framing and cropping.

Last Photo:
This one is my favorite. I think she's exposed well enough. You can see a catch light in both of her eyes (a very good thing. It brings life to the subject), and she almost fills the frame (aka not a lot of dead space). The only problem seems to be two things: 1. There's very little contrast in the picture. She looks like she's lit from a light that is off to the camera's left, but the shadows are very grey instead of black. You don't want the shadows black, black, but you want a darker to add dimension at least. 2. Her hair is completely lost in the background. Sometimes, this can be solved by holding a bit of white board over her head to bounce the light back onto her hair. Or adding a lower powered light that's shining on her hair.

As for your camera, your manual is your best friend. I've had my camera for years and constantly refer back to it. I usually shoot in A-mode (aperture priority) of M-mode (manual)...depending on what I'm doing. It's utter preference really. What helps me decide on what to shoot is if I am constantly moving around from place to place, I'll probably just use A-mode because I don't want to have to keep changing my setting based off where I happen to be moving at the time. If I'm taking photos in one place with my lighting all set up, I'll use manual mode. Nothing should be changing and I can get the settings the exact way that I want it. And I have no idea what P-mode is. Sorry.

 

Welcome! Good luck! ^_^

 

I am also a sony user, and have found the alpha series to be more than adequate for dolling needs. There are sony users out there ^^...and DSLRs share basic functions within the realms of photographic technique that do not depend on your camera to look good; it is a TOOL. What makes a picture stunning is the photographer, not the camera. I've seen some point and shoots blow DSLRs out of the water in some people's works.

Your largest problem is composition, that I can see. Bland backgrounds or odd placements really take away from a photo. I find your angles boring and unemotive.... Please study up on basic compositions like the rule of thirds before worrying about your camera. Also try to keep emotion in mind when taking photos.

 

Rivon: sony is pretty new to the DSLR game. There are fewer lens options and they are more expensive. This is why they aren't as popular