PopPhoto Flash

Your Photo: Our Critique

Miggy Teotico submitted this image taken with a Sony A700, with an exposure of 1/400sec at f/2.8, ISO 200. This was taken from the back of a Jeepney in the Philippines. This photo has a nice composition. Miggy is new to photography and did a great job with this image. The overcast sky from an apparent rainstorm helped create even light and bring out the vibrant colors in the background. Using a 50mm lens and shooting with a shallow depth of field allows for a sense of place, giving more context to the sign. 

—Melissa Macatee
Contributing Blogger

This photo gets four and a half on the PopPhoto Flash rating system.

The PopPhoto Flash rating system.
*= This part of the camera is called the lens
**= Don’t quit your day job
***= Good, but not yet great
****=So close you can taste it
*****= Yes, a thousand times yes!

Want us to critique your shots? Send 'em to us!

Your Photo: Our Critique

Kenni Merritt submitted this image taken with a Nikon D80, with an exposure of 1/400sec at f/6.3, ISO 100. This photo has a nice graphic feel to it, the crisp blue sky behind the white snow covered trees and ground is very striking. Good job keeping the snow white.  Often we forget to catch what appears to be simple scenes but this is a nice composition, with good use of negative space, shapes and lines.

—Melissa Macatee
Contributing Blogger

This photo gets four and a half stars on the PopPhoto Flash rating system.

The PopPhoto Flash rating system.
*= This part of the camera is called the lens
**= Don’t quit your day job
***= Good, but not yet great
****=So close you can taste it
*****= Yes, a thousand times yes!

Want us to critique your shots? Send 'em to us!

Your Photo: Our Critique

Andrea Biagianti submitted this image taken with a Nikon D300, with an exposure of 1/2000sec at f/4.5, ISO 640, with an exposure compensation of -1.0. Interesting settings, I realize the fast shutter speed was set to freeze the walkers in place but a slower shutter would have still worked. I would recommend a smaller aperture, which I realize would cause a slower shutter but the people should still be frozen in place and the result would give you more depth of field. If the depth of field obtained here is exactly what was intended then I would suggest a lower ISO which again will affect the shutter but shouldn’t slow it down too much. The result would be a better quality file. The exposure looks off to me but I believe the intent was to silhouette the people.

—Melissa Macatee
Contributing Blogger

This photo gets three stars on the PopPhoto Flash rating system.

The PopPhoto Flash rating system.
*= This part of the camera is called the lens
**= Don’t quit your day job
***= Good, but not yet great
****=So close you can taste it
*****= Yes, a thousand times yes!

Want us to critique your shots? Send 'em to us!

Your Photo: Our Critique

This photo was taken with an Olympus, with an exposure of 1/500sec at f/4.7, ISO 64. The background of this image adds to the scene. The old tree has great character but is overexposed, a touch of curves will bring out more detail in the wood and help to fix the exposure. With bright sunlight overhead this is one of those times you should bracket your exposures to be sure you get the right one. The tree is a good focal point and creates some nice leading lines.   

—Melissa Macatee
Contributing Blogger

This photo gets three stars on the PopPhoto Flash rating system.

The PopPhoto Flash rating system.
*= This part of the camera is called the lens
**= Don’t quit your day job
***= Good, but not yet great
****=So close you can taste it
*****= Yes, a thousand times yes!

Want us to critique your shots? Send 'em to us!

Your Photo: Our Critique

Debbie Auld submitted this image taken with a Canon Rebel XT, with no exposure information available. Debbie got the idea for this shot from a letter in our June issue. She mixed water and cooking oil together, dropped some color beneath the pan and used available light to get her version of the “Better Bubbles” shot. Using a metal potato masher she was able to create sections in the mixture of color. With a shutter speed of 1/1000sec, she even caught a droplet as it hit the surface. There is almost too much going on in this photo; there are a lot of white areas that take away from the pink and green. Next time cover up the white area with a more neutral color that would blend with the pink and green. Play around with the crop and consider cropping off some across the top where the colors are not as constant, while still including the droplet.

—Melissa Macatee
Contributing Blogger

This photo gets three and a half stars on the PopPhoto Flash rating system.

The PopPhoto Flash rating system.
*= This part of the camera is called the lens
**= Don’t quit your day job
***= Good, but not yet great
****=So close you can taste it
*****= Yes, a thousand times yes!

Want us to critique your shots? Send 'em to us!

Your Photo: Our Critique

Moshe Budow submitted this image taken with a Nikon D700, with no additional data except an aperture of f/22. This is a nice capture, and most likely took quite a bit of patience to wait for the right moment. The small aperture resulted in the nice starburst created by the sun shining through the church bell tower. The building is tilted a little to the left, go ahead and straighten it up. This is a very creative way to include the sun in the photo. 

—Melissa Macatee
Contributing Blogger

This photo gets four stars on the PopPhoto Flash rating system.

The PopPhoto Flash rating system.
*= This part of the camera is called the lens
**= Don’t quit your day job
***= Good, but not yet great
****=So close you can taste it
*****= Yes, a thousand times yes!

Want us to critique your shots? Send 'em to us!

Your Photo: Our Critique

Anthony Armstrong submitted this image taken with a Nikon D80, with an exposure of 1/200sec at f/7, ISO 100. This photo shows great perspective, making the tree look larger than life. Unfortunately, cutting off the branches just isn’t helping the image. The dramatic sky definitely adds to the shot, but the composition comes up short. 

—Melissa Macatee
Contributing Blogger

This photo gets three stars on the PopPhoto Flash rating system.

The PopPhoto Flash rating system.
*= This part of the camera is called the lens
**= Don’t quit your day job
***= Good, but not yet great
****=So close you can taste it
*****= Yes, a thousand times yes!

Want us to critique your shots? Send 'em to us!

Your Photo: Our Critique

James P Malone Sr. submitted this image with no additional data. The size has been increased so that you can see the image better, but as a result it has lost some of its sharpness. This is a nice basic photo of the boats with the red one dominating the frame. The background is mostly clean and allows the red boat to stand out against the blue water with a nice composition. The frame does not add anything to this photo.  

—Melissa Macatee
Contributing Blogger

This photo gets three stars on the PopPhoto Flash rating system.

The PopPhoto Flash rating system.
*= This part of the camera is called the lens
**= Don’t quit your day job
***= Good, but not yet great
****=So close you can taste it
*****= Yes, a thousand times yes!

Want us to critique your shots? Send 'em to us!

Your Photo: Our Critique

 

Tom Ehlers submitted this image taken with a Canon D30, with an exposure of 1/160sec at f/7.1, ISO 100. Tom has created an abstract photo out of this waterway. The symmetry created by the reflection works to draw the viewer’s eye through the opening to the lighter background area. Good use of shapes and lines. The black and white adds to the abstract concept but appears a little on the dark side on my monitor. Overall, Tom did a good job photographing beyond the obvious.

—Melissa Macatee
Contributing Blogger

This photo gets four stars on the PopPhoto Flash rating system.

The PopPhoto Flash rating system.
*= This part of the camera is called the lens
**= Don’t quit your day job
***= Good, but not yet great
****=So close you can taste it
*****= Yes, a thousand times yes!

Want us to critique your shots? Send 'em to us!

Your Photo: Our Critique

Roger Duncan submitted this image taken with Nikon D300, with an exposure of 1/500sec at f/2.8, ISO 800. This is a nice moment caught by Roger. The expressions of the two speak volumes. The background light from inside the building is adding a nice rim light across the top of their hair. The tight crop frames their faces nicely and the open light from outside falls on their faces evenly, while still allowing for some definition. 

—Melissa Macatee
Contributing Blogger

This photo gets three and a half stars on the PopPhoto Flash rating system.

The PopPhoto Flash rating system.
*= This part of the camera is called the lens
**= Don’t quit your day job
***= Good, but not yet great
****=So close you can taste it
*****= Yes, a thousand times yes!

Want us to critique your shots? Send 'em to us!