Looking For Feedback on my Project

[Xander562]

I've started my own Project365 at the beginning of the summer and now I'm about 45 days in. If you frequent this part of the forums you'll probably recognize a lot of them as I've tried to post them in the Photo of the Day thread. I wanted some comments on how you think I'm doing so far and ways in which I can improve.

Here is my FlickRiver for your viewing pleasure.

 

[GoCubsGo]

I think you're doing fine. If your intent is to take a pic every day you're doing well. There are some real strong ones and then some that just look like they'd be snapshots (like the guy holding the can of NoS).
The PFA is among my fav place to shoot while in SF, I never shot it at night, I envy that shot though not technically super. Many of the shots capture my interest which means nothing to anyone no doubt.

 

[Pikemann Urge]

Lots of great stuff there! Very impressive. You certainly have 'the eye'.

Just a few random comments, seeing as you want some feedback (bottom up):

Day 1, Dragonfly - great colour and subject, but you need a narrower angle of view for this shot to work.

Day 4, Bracelet - lovely colours with are soft and saturated at the same time.

Day 10, Dolores Park - very good idea for a portrait. Could have been made better by avoiding visual clutter such as buildings in bottom left.

Day 14, St. Ignatius - so much potential for this shot and needs some refinement. You framed it wrongly - too much empty foreground, for example.

Day 23, The Richmond Effect - very good shot. It would have been interesting to illuminate the rooftops in the foreground with a spotlight of some kind.

Day 26, Treasure Island - either make this a panorama aspect or go in tighter. You succumbed to the temptation of wanting as much skyline as you could get, and you compromised the shot in the process. Now, I want you to go to confession.

Day 27, Redwood - such a beautiful scene, yet the random placement of the subjects kind of ruins the overall effect.

Day 29, Segway - nice shot and very nicely balanced.

Day 34.5, Fog - no punch in this shot. Try again! Although you did have something there with the guy in the red shirt, which is a good, traditional fashion-shoot motif (i.e. dull/dark environment with subject wearing bright/strong clothes).

Day 34.3, This Way - potentially interesting shot, but tones too flat, looks like nothing more than a colour pic that's been desaturated, as opposed to a b&w shot proper.

Day 36, Bartender - lots of great opportunities for close-ups here.

Day 37, No Regrets - wonderful panorama, very nice to look at.

Day 38, Portrait - great shot, good use of light. I prefer portraits with longer lenses but wider ones can work, too.

Day 39, Bastille Day - bah, a boring biddy could have taken this with her Kodak Instamatic 126!

Day 40, Snappy the Camcam - the bottom half of the frame is interesting; the top half is too cluttered. This idea is a worthwhile one, keep trying to get it right - the key IMO is simplicity.

Day 41, Cloud City - great scene, but tones too flat. You need an injection of drama here, if just a little.

Day 45.1, Sphere - wonderful!

 

[Xander562]

Thank you so much for your feedback! This is exactly what I was looking for.


Pikemann Urge,
What do you mean by "tones too flat"? Are you saying there should be more contrast between the lights and darks?

 

[ManhattanPrjct]

Hi Xander,

I looked at your project a couple weeks ago after having seen you post in the POTD thread, but I was not aware of your desire for feedback on the whole project!

To follow up a little on what Pikeman said in just a few example:

Day 14, St. Ignatius: clearly you're pretty psyched about your new UWA. It will take some practice to figure out how best to use it. You are creating a lot of space here with that lens which you don't want. Don't worry, you'll get it with practice.

Day 25, Cemetary: this is my style of shooting, so I liked this idea here. Hopefully you'll return to this setting once you have some filters, or when the light is different.

Day 26, TI: Try shooting to get the Bay Bridge in your shots, that would help give the skyline some perspective, and maybe to get some blue in the sky.

Day 36, The Bartender: my favorite so far with another 10mm of FL to get whatever is in the lower right hand corner out.

Keep it up!