Orangila's Photography Course for @macchiata

As part of my goal to help my fellow Steemians to improve their photography skills, I came up with photography related posts:
Orangila's Photography Course - Outline
Orangila's Photography Course - Part 1 (1 Second Rule & Rule of Thirds)

Fish Monger selling fresh seafood at Sai Kung, Hong Kong

Part of my plan is to have individualised course to fellow Steemians:
@digitalmind - Orangila's Photography Course for @digitalmind

Today, I am helping @macchiata to expand her horizon and going to critique her work. In the process, I wish readers like yourself can also benefit from it. @macchiata expressed her interest when she came across my post for @digitalmind. I gave her a short assignment which she completed in just an hour. I applaud her enthusiasm and will be as detail with my critique as I can.

Below are photos taken from @macchiata's post, the rest are my photos unless stated otherwise. Comments below are directed directly to @macchiata

A) STATUE OF GARUDA WISNU KENCANA, BALI, INDONESIA

Travel photography is always a challenge, unless you are at that location for weeks or months, it is almost impossible to capture a perfect photo (perfect skyline, angle, weather, spot, etc).
Main subject of this photo is the statue, but it doesn't blend in well with the rocky background as the colors are very similar. Thus it looks rather dull.

Suggestions to improve this shot:

1) Shot from an angle where the statue's outline doesn't blend in with the rocky hill.

Source
Photo above is a perfect example. You can clearly see the edge of the statue because the color of the statue and they skyline is of different color.

2)Take this photo during the golden hours where the sunlight isn't as harsh. Or when sky is blue. Elements of the weather is beyond our control but we can try our best to visit tourists spots at a suitable time.

3) Include foreign subject(s)

An example is this photo I took in Laos, devotees blend in well with the background especially when color of their clothing are bright in colors.

B) DRAGON FRUIT BY THE BEACH

How I would take this photo is simple.
1) Look for green leaves (a few big leaves will do).
2) Find a spot where the sand is clean (no litter, colourful objects or anything that is a distraction).
3) Place the leaves on the sand, dragon fruit on top of the leaves. Then place camera close to the floor and take the photo.

Photo will turn out well because the color contrasts blend in well with the background. Main subject will be the leaves (green) + dragon fruit (bright pink). Background will be sand (light color), ocean & sky (blue).

Above is a perfect photo that shows how contrasting colors works well in photography.

C) CLOUDS & MOUTAIN PEAKS

This is a decent photo. Foreground are trees in silhouettes, middle ground made up of the two mountain peaks & background is cloud/skyline. Only way to improve this photo is to either enhance the color of the sky (post editing) or be lucky to catch a day when you have a combination of orange, purple and blue skyline.

D) MOJITO

Since introduction of Instagram, food photography (using smartphone) is a trend. Easiest way to enhance this photo is to be creative by adding cutlery, raw materials (for this case: mint leaves), other decorations like flowers or dishes of food.

Below are photos where I had to be creative and added or arranged the subjects to produce a better photo.

E) TRAVEL PORTRAITS

Tips for travel portraits:
1) Look for an interesting background.
2) Place the model on the foreground and subject of interest on the background.
3) Make sure that is not distractions (such as other tourists) on the background.

This is a simple photo I took using a tripod.

In the case where they are too many tourists on the background. Then use large aperture and focus on my friends, leaving everything on the background as blur as possible. This is close to impossible with smartphone but can be easily done if you have a DSLR with a zoom lens of 200mm with maximum aperture of at least 2.8.

Just like all photos, you need to be patient and eliminate ALL distractions. For the photo above, if there is a tourist on frame or a can of coke floating in the water, then it will not turn out nice.

F) INDOOR MODEL

Photography of such nature is always challenging. Because the subject is indoor (that is dark) while it is bright on the outside.

Either one of two scenarios will happen:
1) Brightness of indoor is perfect but outdoor is overexposed. That is the case your photo above because I can clearly see details of the indoor and the subject matter, but I can see the outdoor on the exit is completely overexposed (white in color)

2) Opposite will happen where the outdoor subject is clear and indoor subjects are all dark (silhouette). See photo below

Above is one photo of mine that is similar to yours. Notice that the ruins and colourful background. Also, I made sure to take the photo when there isn't anyone or anything else on frame.

G) OUTDOOR MODEL

Few issues with this photo:
1) Harsh light.
2) Background is okay, but it doesn't stand out
3) The leaf behind his head looks like part of his hair.

When outdoor light is harsh, best to get the model to stand as close to the shadow as possible so that the model and background isn't under or over exposed.

On hind side, I should have used a light last on my friend because he is slightly under exposed and the background is slightly over exposed. Background makes it an interesting subject and is extremely important.

If anyone one of you would like me to critique your work, just create a post and tag me. Kindly be sure to include some comments and different categories of photos.

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Thank You For Reading My Post. I am most passionate about photography and eager to help fellow Steemians to improve on their photography skill. I am happy to give free tutorial, offer advice and step by step instructions to help you take better photos. You can contact me on Discord at orangila#9358

Caricature by @sireh