I Need Your Help.

out of focus

out of focus

Thanks Kim. Does the whole flower needs to be in focus or just the center?

Here is my other picture that didn't get accepted. I am guessing it's because there is too much going on in the background. Thanks.

Busy, main subject is unclear. Distracting elements in the foreground, side (half car), back. Lines leading in all directions. In the end its a snapshot of someone's porch. Not very interesting.

With the flower one, something has to be in focus. Where do you want the viewer to look?

my suggestion for the flower would be to have the middle in focus. then imo it would look fine with the rest out of focus.

besides being totally out of focus and not that interesting because everyone else probably entered the same thing? there isn't anything particularly special about this shot, the lighting is flat, the focus doesn't seem to be on anything. if you shot this from a different angle it might be more interesting. what makes it special for you? there isn't even a description. keep in mind that when entering things, the photo has to sell itself - not the subject you chose.


---Mike Savad

the problem with these shots are - there is no central focus or story. if the flower had it's stamen in perfect focus, then we could say that is the story. the porch is a snap shot. a truck, flag cut off, empty bench, lots of empty space. there isn't anything in this shot. it's not a matter of clutter, but what is this shot? why did you take it? if the flag was used to frame the all american painted trailer home it might make sense, but only if you cut the porch, remove the lawn thingy and any other distraction. there isn't anything in this scene i would grab onto as being interesting. in other words if you hand this to someone can they figure out your story - why you shot it?

no description doesn't help the case here. i don't see american dream i see a flag and a trailer court, that's not the american dream.


---Mike Savad

If the stamen was intended to be the main subject of the flower, consider using a larger aperture (shallower depth of field) to blur more of the petals and thus make the stamen stand out more as the main subject. Also, try to not center the main subject but rather offset the stamen to the right (in this example), which may add more interest to the image. Sometimes centering the subject works, but in this case I think the offset might help. And don't give up on submitting photos to shows.

Thank you Robert! I will never give up! I love what I do.

“Don’t shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like.” — David Alan Harvey

Busy, main subject is unclear. Distracting elements in the foreground, side (half car), back. Lines leading in all directions. In the end its a snapshot of someone's porch. Not very interesting.

With the flower one, something has to be in focus. Where do you want the viewer to look?

“Don’t shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like.” — David Alan Harvey

Thank you Edward! You gave me some really great advice. :)