Do read the guidelines before the Mods come after you.
BTW, can't tell from any of the pics that they are Sentosa or have anything to do with the title.
i'll say that the pics arent really special. they lack composition and the main focus of the subject. ie the first pic i cant tell if the boy is having fun playing with the water. it just looks too plain and static. it doesnt really capture me. but of all the pics, i like the last pic. it made me smile for a while. quite an interesting funny one. the one with the monkey holding the coke bottle. though i think it should have a tigther crop.
sorry if i'm too straight forward and direct to the point. no offence intended if you feel so.
merry christmas! and a happy new year! keep shooting and improving!
its more of your perspective. i'll say explore your angles. if its me i'll get close and shoot from a inclining positon. ie squatting low and shooting up. try to get the eyes and the correct moment. as some say, the eyes open the window to the soul. its not something that can be easily explained in words but i'll try. hmm.. its like when the water suddenly shoots up he might suddenly go into a burst of laughter. i'll try to capture these emotions and joy. if you dont really get my drift, it doesnt matter. but feel free to pm me for any inquries. dont want to go too OT(off topic to the thread) here. and i know i'm starting to type gibberish because its time for me to turn in
cheers mate!
The BAD:
Frist I think the photo is underexposed do photoshop it. (easily fixed)
Second it looks more like a snapshot rather than composed but reading on how you tried different angles, I guess you just didn't hit the lucky spot, maybe you wanna take a re look at the other angles.
The background is distracting, especially the letch with the plants, maybe you could have pointed another way or gave i a higher angle to give it a less colorful distracting background.
The subject is not within the thirds law so it might not bring out as much impact as you wanted it to. (If you don't know what it is, seach wiki, it might or might not improve the shot, so you should take many and see for yourself)
Your horizon was tilted we can see from the letch, try to have a straight horizon, a tripod might help but you do have to set it up fast!
The picture is not as sharp as expected, maybe after you focus locked the boy or you shifted so if im not wrong, the focus seems kinda out (should use continuous autofocus when shootin moving objects) A little sharpening in photoshop might help, but don't go too overboard.
Colours ain't bright enough, a more saturated and brighter color might help. (don't worry photoshopable)
The GOOD:
You got the speed right to freeze the water is just nice, i can see small droplets floatin around him.
The aperture was appropriate as it gave an appropriate depth to the photo.
I think people who like to say the composition ain't interesting in the critique is just taking a vague shortcut to dampening someones hard work which can kill the pride of the beginner photographer no offense maybe you should explain why it doesn't impress you (on the photographers part, do ask yourself that question too). Critique for yourself if very important when taking the shot, do take in these factors the next time you post.
You mean focus lock? I think I wasn't clear, my bad. I was talking about the camera focusing on the boy and when it finds the focus, it stops focusing so when you shift or when the boy shifts, the focus is out as you didn't refocus, happens all the time :bsmilie:
But you said something about manual, are you using manual focus? If so maybe you didn't catch the focus point correctly.
Critics please
Walkabout shots in sentosa.
No ps done.
Suggestions to improve picture is welcome.
(Learn Photoshop. Shooting is only 50% of the job done. The other half of spending time to tweak the image in Photoshop). Personally I find the image flat in terms of lighting. What I like is the composition and timing of the shot and how you freezed the action with a fast shutter speed... but you really need to do some post work on the image to give it more impact.