LGM's Photography Check-Up (56k Warning: Lots of pictures)

[LGM]

It's that time again! Time to see what ol' LGM is doin' with his camera.


This is a sign in the downtown area of Davenport, one city over from my home town.


This is my buddy Jimmy. He wanted me to take him on a photoshoot, so I did.


This is Andy, the bass player for the fabulous band Parish Festival.


Here's Jimmy again, on a different photo shoot. He's a character, for sure.


Messing in the water fountain with another friend. This is on campus of the university I am attending.


I was about to take a shower when I looked outside and saw how awesome the sky was. This was just after a storm, so I ran for the camera and drove out to the country before it was too late. (The country is literally only 5 minutes from my house).


This is just something I took while waiting for the bus.


My suite mate sitting on the kitchen floor. I blacked out his surroundings to give it that isolated feel.


This is on a basketball court near my dorm. The lighting is spectacular there. Plus there is a constant source of steam because there's a hydro-plant built onto the side of it. This is a good example of the influence cinema has on me.


Took this at night, by light of a street lamp.


Another film influence, same location. I was thinking Blade Runner (if there was a cityscape in the background).


This is a promotional shot for an indie film that was done around my town.


I did the album cover and promotional stuff for these guys. Excellent band, but sadly they've called it quits.


I'm going to get this printed in a huge poster size.


Parish Festival again. This is an actual Polaroid, too.


I didn't think ANYTHING of this when I took it, but now I really really like it.


My first nude shoot. And no you can't see any nudity, she won't let me show those.

And that's about it. Those are some highlights. Like always, feel free to check out my Flickr here http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilgryphmaster

Please, any comments and criticism are welcome.

[Domino]

Damn LGM those are great photo's. I know you have that nice expensive digital camera, and it seems to pay off. (You are using the Dig Camera aren't you?)

I like them all except for the last foot shot.

Very nice color, good composition. I am no photo expert but i like these pics.

I could learn a few things from you about taking decent pics.

Have a good one,

Shawn

[Mikko]

Good work overall. I try to give some comments.

1. Technically good, but would deserve a series around a theme to make it more interesting. Hard to make good composititon with object like that, it is maybe a tad too tight crop.

2. First impression was great, but after a while there is couple of things you might want to reconsider if having another session. The background has a high contrast between the sun lighted grass and the shadow of the building. I know you couldn't change the place of those iron handles in the ground, though. Other thing would be the guys shirt that blends a bit into the background, while his white shorts strike out bright.

3. You might want to watch out those background windows, but otherwise a good describing photo.

5. Again a high contrast bg, but this time it suits wonderfully. Only the area where her face meets the background blends a bit. Good choice of angle.

Do you use sharpening after making images in web resolution, because you could use more. Some of them look a bit blurred, or then it's just me (I woke up not long ago )

7&8. You have captured feelings exceptionally well in these pictures. I can't believe the other one if it's only in basic kitchen lighting without extra flash. It is very well edited.

9,10&11. Again very good use of available light. In the flower picture a tighter crop could do. The women in the picture has excellent pose, only distracting thing would be those halos/lens flares.

12. Brilliant colors and good composition, especially if there was meant to be some text on the left side of the picture. This photo is one example of what i wrote earlier about the sharpening. I'm sure sharpness is no problem in the original, but it seems to me a little too soft in this size.

15. Bright white shirts are always difficult. Good picture, anyhow. As the upper two too.

16. Funny image. It's good that one can identify the baby as a toy right away. It is crazy how much the position of the arm (from down to up, like lifting the baby high) makes for the photo. So good "non-thinking"!

17. Even though you say it is a photoshoot, it doesn't look like this shot was planned. The lighting might be the biggest problem. Atleast I'm  a bit confused about the feeling I should get and about the feelings I do get. But maybe it's just me thinking too much of the technical side.

Sorry I didn't proofread/spell check this, hope you get something out of it.

I promise to visit your site some day.

(...and I promise myself to start taking pictures again!)

[LGM]

Thank you for taking the time to comment. That was very helpful and I appreciate it!

[EagerMind]

Nice pictures! I've always thought about messing around a little with photography myself, but never seemed to find the time to get into it. Just out of curiousity, what kind of camera did you use?

A few comments:

4. I was really distracted by his left elbow, I think because it both juts into the foreground and is where all the light falls. Maybe a little bit better composition and use of light?

5. Interesting colors. I probably wouldn't have recognized her as being in a water fountain if you hadn't said so - to me it looked like she was about to grab onto something that was hanging. Then I realized that was the arc of water and it began from the ground behind her. Maybe if you had captured the full arc of water instead of cropping it off at the top?

6. Great picture. But after reading your description, I find it interesting that the focus of this picture isn't on the sky but rather on the road. Was this a conscious decision? My instinct would have been to take the picture in landscape and bring the horizon down to the lower third of the picture to capture as much of the sky as possible.

15. After reading Mikko's post, it really occurred to me how much that white shirt just glows!

[deadsuperhero]

Those are some incredible photos. Especially for The Meteorites. I love that Fez the man has.
What kind of camera did you use, and how much did it cost?

[Chicky]

Awesome stuff as always pal

[LGM]

Thanks guys. And especially thanks Eager for the input. I have always had a problem with white. It's very hard to control the values and not have something blow out. So now I've just kinda incorporated it as a personal style.

And to answer the camera question, I'm just using a Canon Digital Rebel XT, which is about $700 USD now. If you're gonna go for it, though, I'd get the newer XTi model, which is about 100 bucks more and comes with 2 more MP and an ultrasonic sensor cleaner thingy.

[The Scorposer]

These look superb! Very professional

[rharpe]

Those look ok. You are willing to experiment in angles that are not very traditional, but they are artistic. The nude for example, why the foot as the main focus? It's interesting and disturbing because of the abnormal size the foot in accordance with the rest of the model. That one probably would have looked good in a b/w format or sepia.

I really liked these photos in this order:

It looks almost like a professional album.


This one reminds me of T2 for some strange reason. The color stands out, it hads mood.


Great composition, no negative space... nice fresh color. And the models skin is not bleached out.

[LGM]

Whoa, I didn't even notice your replay rharpe. Thanks for all the wonderful comments, everyone.