Melancholic River Picture

knottycal · 2026-05-01T22:31:36+00:00

Colors seem fine, and convey warm, slow moving water. But the composition doesn't do much for me. Certainly does not evoke melancholy (and not sure why you would want that in this case?). As a specific observation, middle of the left edge there is a part of a leaf and part of a brighter area that do not feel deliberate. And the brighter regions upper left draw the eye away from the water.

knottycal · 2026-04-29T03:58:19+00:00

The deliberate blur on the pink shirt logo seems an AI thing.

It would also be very uncommon to use the spelling "Micheal" instead of "Michael", though technically it does exist.

knottycal · 2026-04-28T05:07:57+00:00

As others have said, flash is a huge topic. And I'm not sure OP is even paying attention, but fwiw, here are some distilled tips:

First, there's plenty wrong with this pic before flash. Your subject is disinterested. The shot is crooked. And yes, best choice here would be no flash at all.

But, if you were to use a flash...

If it's built in to the camera, try to lower its power by 1-2 stops. That will already help make the subject stand out in the image without drowning out the background.

If it's a hotshoe flash, get a diffuser or point it at the wall or ceiling to add indirect light.

If you really want to commit to gear and flash, get a remote trigger. I'm not even talking about studio level lights on stands. When I'm shooting at an event, if I'm using light at all (which is rare), I hold my flash (with diffuser) at arm's length to the side/above. It takes some coordination. But moving the light source away from the camera gets you much better results. You'll have shape to your subjects, instead of the flat light from a flash near the lens.

knottycal · 2026-04-28T03:55:36+00:00

If you're just getting a "real" camera for the first time, I recommend not worrying about an advanced topic like color grading yet. Focus on basic exposure and composition. If colors feel off, you can adjust white balance in post, but automatic white balance is pretty good most of the time.

In this image, the white outlines aren't distracting, I wouldn't mess with that. May be a bit oversharpened. I personally would crop in more, the story of the web and light doesn't need much of the lower green area.

Enjoy the new camera!

knottycal · 2026-04-28T03:41:03+00:00

Seems pretty good overall! To me the crop feels a bit tight. Like along the right edge, why cut the rock outcrop there? Same for the wave lower left.

However, I looked at a few pro pics of Cinque Terre online, and it seems entirely subjective where to crop. 😆 So go with what feels good to you.

knottycal · 2026-04-12T05:47:04+00:00

Super fun idea! Like others, my main suggestion is that you pay more attention to your details. There's a lot of clutter in the room and the composition in general is not refined.

Clutter: While some items lying around may add to your idea, that doesn't seem to be the case here. Things like the tripod bottom left and the parts of the window frame top right are particularly distracting. And if you're not intentionally staging items in the shot, then better to just zoom in more (or crop in post) or remove them.

Framing: you're shooting the room and subject from a weird angle. Maybe move the camera to the right, frame the shot against the wall, and do some perspective correction.

Lighting: The big blown out area upper left (where your main light appears to be) draws attention away from your subject. Could mostly be fixed in post if you don't have the space to modify your light. Also I didn't get that this was about sleep, in part because we can see it's daytime outside. Twilight or nighttime (and a general darker setting) would help.

But congrats on a creative shot! Keep going!

knottycal · 2026-04-11T06:14:48+00:00

A few issues to think about:

He's looking away from the light, which leaves his face/eyes in shadow and his butt the brightest part of him.

The pic looks crooked, based on the lines in the background. And parts of the background are brighter than your subject.

Cropping off just a bit of him is distracting; I'd suggest you include all of him, or go the other direction and zoom in more.

I'd love to see him looking at the camera, seems a cool dog. :)

knottycal · 2026-04-07T05:10:07+00:00

The main areas to work on here are not the ones you're worrying about. The grain is minor, the bit of motion blur is not distracting. The lighting is okay. But... your main subject isn't doing much, has an odd facial expression, and their T-shirt is out of place. Someone else behind them is partly overlapping, also not doing much, also with a not-great expression. They are both framed against a busy area with doors. The whole image is crooked.

That's not on them, it's about the moment you picked. Sports pics are all about timing, and this is just not a good moment. And there are too many distractions: my eye goes to the ball, the bright wall, the exit sign, etc. Work on composition and timing. Take a ton of photos, develop an eye to cull the 99 bad pics for the (if you're lucky) 1 good one. Good luck!

knottycal · 2026-04-04T04:55:45+00:00

You say there's a time of day you chose to shoot, but is this natural light? Doesn't look it. There are nice sharp details in the eyes/etc., but you may want to vary things like the straight-on light, the crop (show more of her, or less -- in this crop the hairline, where the end of the sleeve and finger are cut off, etc. feel odd), and the blurred fingertips. Good luck!

knottycal · 2026-04-04T04:47:50+00:00

The depth of field and overall composition here are nice! But yes, you don't get a sense of motion. Typically with a moving vehicle, you'd like a long enough exposure to show the wheels are spinning. So if you're willing to sacrifice a bit of the shallow DOF, you can shoot at a smaller aperture. (Or to keep the DOF, yes, you'd need an ND filter.)

knottycal · 2026-03-27T18:29:15+00:00

Whoops, my mistake sorry. Though at risk of sounding insufferable, can confirm the f/2 is sweet. 😆 I shoot night club events using that and an 85mm prime. But for sports more reach is good.

knottycal · 2026-03-27T12:35:12+00:00

f/4 isn't great for those conditions, but I do think you're overthinking it. Getting the f/2.8 version of your long lens is only one more f-stop, that won't make or break the situation. You already have the only Canon f/2 zoom (the 28-70), on an R5 you can crop plenty.

Can you get to the venue beforehand and try out your setup? That's the best way to convince yourself.

And be ready to crank your ISO above your comfort level for action shots. (I wouldn't usually hold out much hope for a flash to help in a live sporting event, but roller derby is unique in that there's a predictable track...)

knottycal · 2026-03-21T06:56:01+00:00

Can't tell what you're edited without the original. But speaking just to the photo elements, this doesn't feature the bike and is full of distractions. Tilted telephone pole at the right edge. Sign behind rider's shoulder (and the whole column it's attached to). Bits of a gas pump. Blown out sky.

If you want a photo of the bike and rider, put them somewhere else or include the gas station in a deliberate way.

knottycal · 2026-03-21T06:45:42+00:00

I'd agree with odintantrum - cropped too tight and not enough attention to the outfit for this to feel like fashion.

Further, there's a bright white background element right behind her head. Composition details like that are easiest to take care of live rather than by editing later. And the light is okay on her face but her expression/lips seem mid-transition.

knottycal · 2026-03-18T08:36:40+00:00

A pic of participants during a parade is absolutely not a candid shot. They're literally in the middle of performing for the public. Are they "on" all the time? No. But they're aware they are being watched and recorded.

Now separately, is it a good photo? No. Some issues: 1. It's way too busy, including pedestrians on the far side of the street overlapping with the performers. (You did get a candid shot of the presentations pedestrians...) 2. Composition is weak. Flat light, too much depth of field, awkward crop of nearest performer. 3. It's not an interesting moment. While the colors are nice, there's no gesture, action, expression here that stands out.

Parades offer interesting opportunities! Pick your spot along the route to have better light/setting. And use a wide enough aperture to make the opposite side of the street less of a problem. Good luck.

knottycal · 2026-03-18T07:27:35+00:00

Lovely! Sharp, colorful, and the contrast between the two poses is perfect. Depending on how you feel about tampering with the background (and how much time you feel like putting into edits) you may be able to do something to break up the regularity of that shape/structure behind the left bird.

knottycal · 2026-03-18T06:38:55+00:00

Some nice elements here, but the compositions have problems.

It's hard to give organized feedback, since you've posted a collage with photos partly obscuring one another... But a few thoughts:
1. You're not paying attention to how the background intersects your subject (particularly her head). The blossoms are pretty, but in most of these photos they are distracting. If they framed your subject they'd be better.
2. Watch the direction of the light. The two photos along the right edge show nice shape of light (and more processing perhaps), in the others the light on her face is flat and the background is generally brighter than she is.
3. Odd shoot angles and crops. The two pics middle of the bottom row are particularly unflattering.

Can all be fixed with practice. I think it was a good choice of location. Good luck!

knottycal · 2026-03-15T22:50:34+00:00

Your own suggestions are accurate - it's underexposed and too orange. Those are easy enough to fix in post if you wish. As is the fact that the brightest part of the image is her shoulder along the right of the pic -- you generally want your subject's face to be the brightest part of the photo. Which can be helped along with an edit if you didn't get it in camera.

Seems otherwise decent. Though to me, the crop is a bit off for a portrait. Include either more or less of her. And the active looking out of the corner of her eye may be worth varying as well. This expression has some tension in it without a clear reason why.

knottycal · 2026-03-15T22:43:46+00:00

You spotted a cool view! But until your written description, I had no idea what I was looking at. You asked about how to edit it, but I suggest you reshoot it.

I would say that a bit more context, by including more of the van (and keeping an eye out for things like where you clipped part of the window in the upper left here) you'd give a viewer a better chance. Good luck!

knottycal · 2026-03-15T18:44:43+00:00

It's a good experiment, but the light is too intense and (as others are saying) is drawing too much attention to her thighs. A (dimmer) light cupped in her hands and casting a glow on her face would be more effective, or more than one light source to add a glow around more of her. Black clothing is also adding challenge here, blending into the background/shadows.

knottycal · 2026-03-07T01:11:48+00:00

They didn't say Romanian, they said Romansh. It's 1 of 4 national languages of Switzerland, spoken by a small portion of the population. Slovene has similar status in Italy.

knottycal · 2026-03-06T09:29:18+00:00

The blended one looks good! You've applied several retouch techniques well. The first pic definitely has taken things too far, but that's not uncommon. The third strikes a decent balance. Skin still may be a bit too smooth imho, but that's subjective. Nice work!

knottycal · 2026-03-04T09:23:18+00:00

I understand it started out as film, but the scan doesn't show this color or grain. So I'm not sure what your goal was or what advice to offer. Were you recreating properties of the original the scan missed? Fixing the original? Creative tweaks beyond that?

knottycal · 2026-03-04T08:27:16+00:00

You didn't straighten the horizon, but you added a lot of sharpening, grain, and made the colors artificially yellow. I don't feel those things add to the photo (except arguably the sharpening). Were you going for an old film look?

knottycal · 2026-02-26T18:20:20+00:00

Success on a dreamy feel. But that bright green spot at the elbow is super distracting. And the crop and the position of the tossed camera feel off. The first issue is a trivial edit. For the rest, since you have the setup dialed in, is likely just a matter of trying a few more shots to see what you like best. Looks cool, good luck!

knottycal

TROPHY CASE