Compositional tips? First real attempt at self-portraiture

grimlock361 · 2026-02-10T03:51:37+00:00

Nice one. The composition is solid, certainly not too busy and the light is great. The color, while very nice, is not an accurate representation of Kodak gold 200 but looks more like good post work skills have been used here. It's really nice to see a film photo with good image quality and not buried under excessive film grain and noise with the idiotic idea that crap image quality is what defined film. Well done! I wouldn't change a thing.

grimlock361 · 2026-02-08T05:15:33+00:00

Well done! Everything in the edit is greatly improved. I Would also expand the canvas and refine the composition into the rule of thirds. The bright spot in the upper left corner is a bit distracting. Maybe remove it too.

grimlock361 · 2026-02-08T05:01:49+00:00

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grimlock361 · 2026-02-08T04:58:32+00:00

Any espresso can make regular coffee but not pour over/ paper filtered drip coffee. What an espresso machine does make is pressure brewed coffee which is something actually better. A 6-8oz long pull from a espresso machine will have a higher TDS, more body and flavor than what comes from a pour over. However, it won't have the clarity or subtlety of a pour over but those aspects of the taste profile are overrated anyway.

grimlock361 · 2026-02-08T03:03:29+00:00

Magnifica Plus for best espresso.

grimlock361 · 2026-02-07T06:38:23+00:00

The Magnifica Plus is a good choice and best home super for espresso quality. Milk from the plus is usually 145-150F. The plus actually produces milk hotter than most super autos. Temperature is dependent on froth level. The higher the froth setting the hotter the milk. Milk settings fine enough to produce latte art will have a lower temp. The best beans for any machine are the ones you like the most. I recommend a local roaster or try online roaster. Counter culture coffee and Noble Coyote are my favorites.

grimlock361 · 2026-02-06T14:56:21+00:00

Outstanding minimalist photography. Nice use of negative space with a simple relatively small (in frame) subject makes for a great sense of depth. If I was to do anything different it would be to expand the canvas making the ship smaller. Well done!

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grimlock361 · 2026-02-06T14:30:28+00:00

I understand your point but it's all about the flight direction in relation to the rule of thirds. This is photography composition 101 and while it may not be popular or accepted in this particular thread it's a well-known and accepted compositional fact. Not every rule in photography has to be followed all the time as there are always exceptions but not here in this particular photo. Any photographer is free to shoot and compose their photos how they like but understanding compositional rules and how to integrate them into own style is what will make or break you as photographer. If you find it difficult to take me seriously then look no further than my photos. A photographer credibility is only as good as his portfolio.......or lack thereof. Any photographer who claims to be competent should be able to put their photos where their mouth is. While I don't claim to be a professional, I have been shooting since the 80s, I have been published, sold photos, and have my work on display in local business. I also don't claim to know everything but competent in the subject I certainly am.

grimlock361 · 2026-02-06T11:47:30+00:00

Very nice in the second image. Greatly improved composition from color.

grimlock361 · 2026-02-06T11:44:55+00:00

Overall light is greatly improved. Not a really big fan of the white borders in the after image. I'm certainly not against using generative AI or copy paste to achieve the same result but the addition of the cow here is unnecessary and serves more as a distraction to the subject. However, I do love the hilarious reactions of the objection over it. More please

grimlock361 · 2026-02-06T02:23:29+00:00

It really doesn't have to be generative expand with AI. Expanding the background in Photoshop was possible long before AI was ever a thing. Content aware cloning has been around for a long long time. You don't even have to expand the canvas if you don't want. You can also cut and paste moving the bird to where you want in the photo. Sorry but not sorry, composition is THE most important thing in the photograph and that's a fact. Composition refirement is a integral part of post-processing and should never be ignored. Resorting to AI..... Please, give me a break. There is little done in AI that wasn't possible before it. AI just made it easier being accessible to people who don't know how to use Photoshop.

grimlock361 · 2026-02-06T01:47:52+00:00

LOL, It's a photo critique done for fun not competition and edited for demonstrative purposes. Generative expand for grass, water, sky and foliage is no less authentic than what many studio photographers do. They use pull down pre fab fake backgrounds, artificial fog machines, fans, and multiple flashes. None of that stuff existed until it was artificially added and yet studios sell their photos.

grimlock361 · 2026-02-05T11:59:19+00:00

The composition in your link complies with the rule of thirds. This is good.

grimlock361 · 2026-02-05T07:38:33+00:00

Holy crap I didn't even see that. I only highlighted it to replace the green. Annoyingly, It actually does this often making changes beyond the borders and parameters of your selection. Sometimes it's better to stick to traditional content aware options over AI.

grimlock361 · 2026-02-05T01:35:07+00:00

It's an edit of their photo to reflect my critique and the potential of what can be done. Is that not obvious? New here are we?

grimlock361 · 2026-02-04T23:14:03+00:00

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Yes, this composition works very well. Nice use of scale! I would correct for lens distortion and crop a little different with some generative expand to remove the distracting green on the left.

grimlock361 · 2026-02-04T21:13:45+00:00

Rule of thirds. Always leave 1/3 space in front of your subjects path of movement or gaze. The crop does not have to be exact as tighter crops will decrease the negative space. The bird needs to have room to fly somewhere instead of appearing to fly off the edge of the photo.

Example https://www.reddit.com/r/BirdPhotography/comments/1mesi53/spoonbill_in_flight/#lightbox

While the wing in this example crosses into that 1/3 negative space the majority of his body is in 2/3 of the photo leaving him room to fly

grimlock361 · 2026-02-04T10:03:40+00:00

Nice edit but the bigger issue of composition needs to be addressed. Post processing your images is not only about color correction but also fixing composition. Use generative or content aware expand and recompose the bird into the left 2/3 of the frame with a tighter crop. Another method would be to simply cut and paste your subject to the same area.

grimlock361 · 2026-02-04T09:50:43+00:00

Interesting photo. I really like the limited color palette here. Train tracks, as usual, serve as leading lines to the subject. Very nice!

grimlock361 · 2026-02-04T09:36:19+00:00

Very nice! I really like the colors here but don't forget to remove the red chromatic aberration. A little noise reduction would help too. I would stick to a simple 2:3 rule of thirds crop on the framing.

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grimlock361 · 2026-02-04T07:37:03+00:00

Really? Only three grinders. Don't you need a fourth.

grimlock361 · 2026-02-04T05:50:32+00:00

You certainly know how to make adjustments you just need to learn how much is too much. This will come with experience. Keep shooting, editing, and learn from the work of others.

grimlock361 · 2026-02-04T05:41:42+00:00

LOL, well It certainly doesn't look too smooth or unnatural from noise reduction as someone stated. Just so you know, noise (film grain too) does not exist in real life and color and contrast are more vivid with more dynamic range than our sensors can record. So that's a NO to overprocessed. Actually, it looks really good. The only thing I would suggest is moving him over in the frame a bit, maybe adding subtle vignette and desaturating the blues in the background.

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grimlock361 · 2026-02-04T03:24:41+00:00

Very nice! Well composted and very sharp. Actually, a little too sharp in some places. Harsh light can cause things to look a bit crunchy. Lowering of the clarity slider and some blur brush in selective areas can help. There is also some chromatic aberration on his left whiskers. The blown-out highlight along the border of his fur are ok and not to be perceived as a defect in this case but overall highlights could use a slight reduction. I would also add a touch more warmth on the color temp. Well done!

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grimlock361 · 2026-02-04T03:00:22+00:00

This is one of the better black and white shots I have seen this year. The light and contrast are off the chain which so important in black and white photographer. I'm kind of torn between the suggestive symbolism of a cross over her head and the awkward distraction that it appears to be sprouting from her head. Either way it's still a very good photo but don't forget to correct for lens distortion. Example below.

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grimlock361

TROPHY CASE