I took these last week, how can i improve. I have a Canon 40D with basic lenses.

 

IMO, the best thing to do is pick up some magazines and books.

Books will teach basic framing and composition, as well as features and how to use your camera.

Magazines will give you trends in technique and ideas, as well as reviews of current gear. You will also get detailed instruction on some processing techniques.

Just read alot through these and online sources, and you can't go wrong.

Once you get the basics down... learn post processing techniques. Any image coming straight from the cam can use some adjustments and touch up.

Post larger pics and let me or the others show what some post processing can do.



What happened to your pics?

 

Ok so i see you increased contrast? Also, sharpened the image and blurred the left cheek. Is that correct?

 

Good eye. I also dodged the whites and highlights of her eyes, burned the shadows of her eyelashes and all of her lips, slightly increased saturation.

You want to kinda blur the the faces of females as they hate seeing their pores.

Most important though... these are just my suggestions. You will develop your own style of processing as you progress. You are your own most important critique.

 

ok cool tahnx.

 

I like your style, but the only thing we can do for you is point out errors in your process, eg. composition, use of lighting/exposure, use of details... In this case, they all look good. Once you find yourself creating consistantly good images (like these) strive to create some great images. That's the hard part, and it is equally hard to put into words for instruction. IMO the third is the best of the bunch... very good all around.

 

the only thing with me is i dont realy know how to fully use my camera to its potiential. Like all these settings confuse me so i pretty much put it on one setting and snap pics and they come out good after editing.

 

I was/am in the same boat. I was shooting in basically full auto but forced myself to learn to take better pics by shooting in M only. Picked up my first DSLR (T1i) about a week and a half ago. This works for me and might help you but I went out and shot the local landscapes and focused on one thing for about 15-20 minutes and took as many shots as I felt comfortable with (around 20-25). I was shooting while adjusting the exposure and aperture settings and then taking 10 min to review them and seeing which ones turned out best and used those settings again.

It really is trial and error when it comes to photography until you get enough knowledge and experience to factor in everything around you and automatically know what settings you need to be at. You should also check out photography on the net (POTN) for help. Pics look good and I too like you're style but little adjustments in the settings will drastically affect the outcome of the picture. My goal now is to strive for a great pic that I'm happy with before editing in LR or PS and then turning a great pic into a greater pic. My name on POTN is also ni$mo350 and hope to see you over there