Young Writers Society

Went on an excursion to a graveyard for school. Reviews would be awesome!

What sort of camera did you use? A DSLR?
While the polaroid or negative effect is eye catching, it ultimately makes for bad photography. When overused, the effect these filters produce is a kitschy one. In a graveyard you want to go for a more morose atmosphere, darker and with more tension around the edges of the images.
The first image has too little contrast between the cross/headstone and the background (except the sky) so all the small details that compose the image are lost. The tilt of the cross is nice, but you need to be able to see the detail of the flowers and vines on it.
The second image just looks bad - the colours clash horribly, the field of view is bad and you need to get a better angle.
The black and white image again has lost all of the detail required to make an image. It is harsh, with no middle tones, only dark and light.
Your composition would be improved if the angel was more to the center of the image, and this picture is overexposed as well.
The final image should has once again lost all the detail on the headstone. Also, the angle isn't interesting enough. You could try going low, but centering the headstone in the viewfinder so it appears to tower over the viewer.
Drop the effects, they never work.

I'm really sorry, but the effect of your photo isn't really that good. It isn't very attractive, in any way. The angles aren't new, it look's like something you've gotten from some Indian ghost flick (trust me, aren't scary). You should have tried to edit them on some site or something. When you go for a graveyard, it's suppose to be a dark,eerie, smokey look or feeling. But this isn't any of that, keep trying though. Someday you'll get what you want.

-tanya98

P.s. : can I ask why did your school take you to a graveyard for an excursion?

We went to a graveyard for religion, kind of weird I know. My camera's just a cheap little thing, I didn't really put much thought when I took these photos. Call me crazy but I was looking out for ghosts ha ha. I was trying to put colours into these photos, my friends seem to like them but I guess since they are cheap then they must look it. I think perhaps I'll just keep to writing.

emilybrodo: Don't let people's negative reactions put you off photography. To be fair, the previous posts weren't trying to be mean, they were meaning to be helpful and got carried away.

From a non-photographer perspective, I rather liked your images. I thought the negative effects and the absurd colors gave the graveyard a ghostly effect. I think the negatives on the second picture are a bit overdone, but I really liked the first one. It may make for bad photography, as the others claim, but it's eye-candy for someone like me. I just thought it was fitting, all the bright, eerie colors and the tombstones.

But my main point is: when people give you reviews that are less than what you are expecting, don't take it as a hint to back off. From personal experience I've had some critiques on this website that really turned me off and made me feel like I was wasting my time, but I encourage you to continue with your photography, and writing both. Don't let the heartburn-like hollowness that grows inside you when you get an insensitive review eat you up. Say, there are no professionals on here. This is simply one person's opinion, and it doesn't match up with mine, but that's okay. I'll try again tomorrow.

If you post any other photography or writing, do let me know and I'll look at it.

Sincerely,

Narnie,

a kindred spirit

I liked the color changes, they look awesome! Everyone who's reviewed this has said, "This is supposed to look like such and such." That's not true. It's supposed to look how you want it to look. I thought the effects were nice, and even though the finer details were lost, that's fine.

Have you ever watched a good horror movie that lets you see the monster right off the bat? No. Everything is dark and spooky and looks just off enough to grab your attention. The finer details are lost in all the spooky-ness, and eerie stuff. I thought that's what these effects did. Good job! Keep it up!

emilybrodo wrote:We went to a graveyard for religion, kind of weird I know. My camera's just a cheap little thing, I didn't really put much thought when I took these photos. Call me crazy but I was looking out for ghosts ha ha. I was trying to put colours into these photos, my friends seem to like them but I guess since they are cheap then they must look it. I think perhaps I'll just keep to writing.

Ghots? Did you just say ghots? Did you catch any on those photos you took?

Nah, didn't see any and I haven't seen any in my photos, but you never know! A ghost might turn up!

That is so true!

I'll let you know if any do turn up!

That sounds great! ; )