Learning to take better photos (2)

I shared my first shy attempt to contribute to the rgbstock photo site over here. Among other things I mused on the matter of not being a photographer. I later had another thought about it. Occasionally I go on long streaks of reading all sorts of instructional photography-related stuff. And there's one advice that pops out in different sources: go out there, take photos, take the photos all the time. And this is where the "I am not a photographer" recognition comes in again. See, I don't want to take photos all the time. I want to take photos when I feel like it - and that happens regularly, just not every day. (Incidentally the same principle applies to most of the activities I engage in.)

Even so, I've found many useful ideas from all that reading. Among them one of the best descriptions of a photography related learning curve I've ever read. I think that post "spoke to me" more than I realized at the moment. Because I think the thoughts that started to unravel after reading it, finally gathered into this form: "So what if I'm not a photographer - I can still want to take better pictures!"


But back to the present day - last week I tried sharing some images again.
One thing I've learned since last time was to only upload one series or batch of similar stuff at a time. It's  easier to keep track this way; also this gave me a better use of the uploader tools. Let's see this time's rejects.

This had too much stuff going on in the background.

This was too dark.

But the best part? Again, they accepted some of my images. What's better - they accepted some images from the same batches as those rejects. Which means that not only do I receive constuctive notes to keep in mind, I also get to view those notes and suggestions in the context, comparing the images that didn't make the cut with the ones that did!