Hi everyone.  I'm pretty new to photography in general, but I'm having a lot of fun and hope to turn this new hobby into something that can sustain itself with a few print sales here and there.  My first step was to start building an online portfolio (hello Zenfolio) - check.  Step 2, leverage the community of people who have probably been doing this long enough that they'd be willing to share some constructive criticism to help me improve my craft.

While hearing "you're awesome" is nice, it isn't particularly helpful when what you're really after is feedback that can help you advance (same goes for "you suck" - no help there either).  So, if there are any community members with landscape/nature experience that would be willing to offer their opinions, I would be very appreciative for the help.  Also interested in hearing what other sites offer good venues for such critiques.

Thank you in advance.  You'll find the link to my gallery in my signature.

Ken

Ken - you are off to a good start.  Your photos are beautiful.  You have an eye for beauty.

Here are some things that have helped me.

1)  Keep taking photos.  Practice constantly.  Experiment with different angles, focal lengths, lenses, times of day, etc.  You have a good eye and you will find what looks best in each situation.

2)  Read.  About cameras, composition, locales, exposures, filters. etc.

3) Some do not like to use a tripod.  However, a good camera support helps reduce camera shake.  Gives you a sharper photo.  Takes more work though. 

4) Experiment with filters:  polarizers, neutral density filters, softening filters, starpoints, etc.

5)  Look at what others have done with landscapes.  As you keep taking pictures, you will develop your own style, etc.

6)  Cropping.  I see on you have cropped one of your files to resemble a panoramic photo.  I like to do that as well.  Cropping can turn a so-so photo into a very attractive photo.  Practice with cropping a lot.

The best advice I have ever heard about photography is a statement by Australian Photographer Ken Duncan : " Just stick a film in your camera and get on with it."  Well, today - we just stick a memory card in the camera!

Above all else - have fun!  Hope this helps and encourages.

Charles Townsend

www.longskyimages.com

ummm... I have to ask Charles...  didn't you used to have a detective agency where you had 3 girls working for you?  Maybe in California somewhere?  And just in case... tell Kelly that Kevin says "hello!".

Thank you for the feedback, Charles.  I openly admit that my biggest challenge is your first and probably most important point.  Take a lot of pictures.  I've yet to develop the discipline to take my camera with me everywhere and as a result, I have a much larger gallery of incredible shots that exist only in my head with no way to "download" them.  If I had a dollar for every time I've said, "Man, I sure wish I had my camera and tripod with me", then there wouldn't be any problem being able to afford the new lens that's sitting in my wishlist at B&H.

Again, I appreciate the feedback. Do you have any favorite books, online references, galleries, etc you'd be willing to share?  Always interested in finding new sources of knowledge. 

Ken

Ken,

I think you have a great eye for composition.  Your pictures are sharp, and the colors are interesting.  There were a few pictures of birch trees and one with a road and some birch trees where I felt a little lost looking at them.  There didn't seem to be a focal subject, and the composition didn't really lead me through the picture.  I'm sure as you take more and more pictures, you'll scrap these ones, but I think you're off to a great start.  In addition to Charles' suggestions, I would try experimenting with natural frames and more prominent foreground objects a little bit.  Several photographers talk about intimate landscapes, which I take to mean compositions where your viewer could reach down in front of them and touch a rock or out to the side to touch the leaves or a branch that forms a natural curve or frame around your subject.  Just some thoughts.  Nice work! 

I'd really welcome the same critiques of my images as well and commend you on being willing to put yourself out there.  It's really useful to hear some constructive feedback, and a lot of times as you mentioned, many people just tell you how great your pictures are when they like them.

 Kevin -

I sold the agency years ago!...LOL....seriously - No, I am not the guy, but still very happy just the same.

Charles

 Ken,

Two of my favorite photo mags are:  Digital Photo @ dpmag.com and Outdoor Photographer. 

Take a look at Ken Duncans' work online.  He is an Australian photographer; he usually photographs in panoramic. 

 Ken, I like Aaron's comment about the intimate landscape, i.e., having an attractive object in the foreground that is so close and sharp you want to reach in and touch the object.  A rock, a leaf, flower, etc.  His advice is spot on.

This brings me back to the tripod.  You need a lot of depth of field to do that so a tripod is a must.  Although,  a very solid bean bag and/or a jacket can work well - takes a little positioning to keep the horizon straight.  Be careful though, I have almost turned a camera over doing that!

Also, collapse the tripod to it's minimum height and if the legs fold out to get the camera about 6-12 inches off the ground, that is even better.  I love photos of landscapes that are at ground level with a rock, an autumn leaf, or a flower in the foreground with the landscape stretching out behind it. 

When you find a good scene, photograph it from every angle possible. 

Thanks again to both Charles and Aaron.  I do shoot off of a tripod (Manfrotto 055XPROB - the non-carbon fiber heavy one ) with a wireless remote about 85-90% of the time because I'm usually in low light situations, but your comment about getting low with a foreground focal point is something I continually need to remind myself of... especially when on the tripod. It's fullly capable of getting my camera to within inches of the ground and i'm not afraid to get dirty to look through the viewfinder, but I get caught up in the heat of the moment and don't take the time to reconfigure - especially if the light is changing quickly.

Excellent suggestions.  Keep them coming. This is very helpful.

Thank you. 

 Here is an example of how a photo looks when getting down low and placing something in the foreground.

http://www.longskyimages.com/p741263254/h3c89b439#h3c89b439

I really like this photo and my family really likes it; but I blew it on the water.  I was concentrating on depth of field so much, that I let my shutter speed go to long and I blew out the white color in the water.  There had been recent rains in the area so the streams were running well.  I had a polarizer on so I though that would help, but it was still tough.  A neutral denstiy filter  might have helped, but it was in another bag!  I shot at several different openings, with two different cameras and had the same problem.

Ken, Aaron, Kevin - I would like your critical feedback on this photo.  It will help me become a better photographer as well.  I can always learn.

Thanks in advance.

Charles,

I absolutely love the composition on this, and the color is great.  Yeah, you blew out the falls, but otherwise you wouldn't have got the dark foreground.  I imagine a split ND filter might help with that, but alas I don't have one of those either.  You could potentially to a double edit of the same photo for shadows and highlights and do an HDR combo.  I've done it before with limited success, but I know it can work with moving subjects.  One other thing that I found a little distracting is the leafy green branch just above and to the right of the falls.  The composition is good, but the bright color just draws my eye away from the falls and foreground.  A little selective darkening or desaturating might help out there....nothing too drastic, just a little something to tone it down.  Nice work! 

Yep. That's the way to do it! Makes all the difference in the world.

I see what you mean about blowing out the waterfall.  My LCD on my Nikon is nearly always set to Highlight mode and I've made it a practice to eliminate what Scott Kelby (daily read for me) calls "The Blinkies".  I can quickly refer to the display and adjust the exposure compensation until I've recaptured the detail on subsequent shots.  Even if the forground is darker than you like it's easy enough to bring it back up in post processing if you're shooting RAW (which leaves me with another question.. what do you use for post processing?).  I do carry graduated ND filters with me too, but they're 4x6 rather than the screw on kind so I typically hold them in front of the lens while I release the shutter with the remote.  Need to invest in some tape or the step up ring I need to mount the holder (Cokin) because all too often I'm introducing vibrations on long exposures as I try to hold the filter in place.

I love the image, Charles, and other than having adjusted compensation to regain the detail in the waterfall, I'm not sure what I'd have done differently.  I know a few books I've read have suggested you never let the water run off the frame, but with the foreground rock, I'm not sure I'd agree. 

Very nice shot.  Gives me something to shoot for .

I shot this a few hours ago.  I had about 10 minutes of really nice pink sunset light.  I would love some feedback if you all are willing: http://www.sawyerphoto.com/mocentral/h4c971da#h4c971da

Stay away from HDR! Far away! That land holds nothing but terrible, terrible overprocessed photographs.

I saw the same nice pink glow here in Wisconsin too and, again... no camera in hand.  Going to glue the thing to my hand before I leave the house.

Love the image, Aaron. Incredible purple hue working its way down to a deep blue.  I like the composition too.  Nice strong line with the rocks lining the creek up into the frame.  When I hit the end of the water, however, my eye wants to stop.  If it were me, I'd try to find a way to pull more color from the sky or otherwise I might try to crop it to eliminate some of the plain white and probably cut the tree out coming in from the left side of the frame.  I'd have to try it to see if i liked the effect before i'd commit though.  What do you use for post processing?

Thanks for sharing and for allowing me to critique.  I think even offering up opinions is a great execersice in that it forces you to consider what you'd have done if the scene were in your own view finder.