Evening all, let me share my thoughts.
Last few years photography was my hobby and passion and I was hoping that one day, one of my photos gets recognition and it gonna be a breakthrough for me. And now I've found "Fstoppers" and exploring all your work I've realized how small am I compared to you guys. I've realized importance of planning, lighting and attention to details. It's time to evolve :)
And as an example I've considered this photo might be my breakthrough, but now I know it's way too far from it and I know most of you can say something bad about it...or perhaps there is no good or bad photos at all, may be it's just a matter in point of view?
What do you think about all this?
Technically, this photo is fine. The exposure is good and the composition is good. I think it would be better if the swimmer were wearing fins that didn't blend into the background so easily, but that's somewhat minor.
The most important thing you can do is create photos that YOU like and enjoy. I learned a long time ago that trying to make people happy with my work is a fool's errand. Some people like it; some do not. If you try to make everyone happy, the work becomes not your own.
Reading what you've written here, it seems you have demonstrated two stages of the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Like most of us, when you started, you knew just enough to think you knew it all, but over time you've realized that you didn't know what you didn't know, and now you're thinking there is SO much more to learn. That's great. That keeps you humble. Eventually, you'll gain enough experience to know when your work is truly good enough for you to call it "average," though other people will tell you it's amazing. :)
Fstoppers is a pretty good place to share your work and get constructive feedback. I've found the site is mostly devoid of the typical internet cynicism and anger that pervades most other sites. Share early and often, and don't be afraid to critique the work of others, even if you think you have nothing to say. We ALL learn from the diversity of feedback that we get from our peers.
A couple suggestions: Fins and mask color adjustment and a high contrast B&W conversion.
Philip is absolutely right here. So, I'll just reiterate - that most important person's opinion for our work is our own!
That said - here's my opinion! :)
First - I like it! The composition is good (not centered thank goodness!) the focus and exposure are perfect. Yea! I actually don't have any suggestions! (I know, brace yourself!)
In fact, I like it enough to start looking into it even further and it is tickling my 'abstract' fancy. So, here is a suggestion for an additional idea that you could do with this image. I love the fish and the texture of the water so....maybe you could pull out a crop of cool water patterns with a fish or two? I can't crop so small from a screen capture but you get the idea. i just dropped the saturation a bit so the fish might pop out more.
Well done!
Thank you Phillip and Ruth for your feedback and wise words.
When I understand how to take an image and what I'm doing, then that will be the time to give up 😊 It's all about the journey.