I bought a book on photography and read it cover to cover....are my pictures good?

In my opinion you need to re-read the section on composition. Learn the Rule of Thirds and use it and later, when you're more experienced, you'll know when you should ignore it.

Children and pets should always be photographed at their level. If this means lying on the floor or the ground then that's what you do. The same applies to wildflowers since they are often close to the ground. Often, you can make a better picture by being willing to get a little wet or dirty.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drifter45h/3581810196... Lying flat on my belly in very wet grass.

Its usually best to include all of a subject such as your dogs. Cutting off parts such as their paws or hindquarters should be avoided. While you're looking for that certain expression you must learn to look at everything else in the viewfinder and change your composition as needed. This is equally true for landscapes.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drifter45h/3991210245... Before I settled on this composition I picked up a discarded tissue, 3 cigarette butts and a plastic bottle.

I congratulate you on actually taking the initiative to begin reading and studying on your own. You should find these sites helpful:

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/

http://www.illustratedphotography.com/photography-...

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html The more you learn about Depth of Field (DOF) the better your photography will be. Its important to know how, why and when you'd want to maximize or minimize DOF.

My favorite was "Winter Berries".

For your next purchase I suggest a tripod. By using a tripod for pictures like the berries you can use a smaller f-stop for better depth of field and you're guaranteed that there will be no possible camera shake.

I buy books at least twice a month, also belong to Leserskring, I cover the "coffee table books" on art, history, animals etc with plastic because they are so expensive and the paper backs I do not. I have almost 3 000 books, a mini library, inherited some from my grandad. I do not lend any books out so therefor I will never borrow a book from anyone.

You are off to a good start, and your work seems to have potential. Some additional study and practice in composition would be beneficial (ie: rule of thirds, cutting off extremities, etc.). I would also recommend a shallower DOF on some of your images.

I would add that you are wise to study. Contrary to the ads often seen on TV, people cannot simply buy a camera and immediately take one world class photo after another. Practice and study is necessary.

Some I liked, some were boring. I agree with the other answerer, an more interesting subject would be better. Some of the first photos in your photostream really just looked like snapshots, but towards the middle, I liked the dog and a few of the leaves. I think more interesting subject matter would help alot.

Check out mine?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46074724@N08/

Composition is probably your weak point with lighting/exposure next in line.

I suggest an art design class to inform you on the first part than when doing your exposures the light should play into the over all picture.

Your attempts here aren't bad but I believe they could be way better!

I see an improvement, you are still not getting eye level with the dogs yet, Bonnie and Bridget were the best. Shooting downwards, like at the dalmatian are just uninteresting. It appears you have a bit more grasp of the technical side, but need some more interesting subjects other than greenery. If there is nothing else around why not buy a bouquet and isolate some of the flowers, try different lighting, etc. Look around your house

http://www.flickr.com/photos/perki88/385129451/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/perki88/385132791/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/perki88/386191690/

Try Trick Photography Special Effects : http://tinyurl.com/8GZ6ojHC1w

I think you take great pictures at awesome angles. The only thing I would suggest is to photograph things that people don't see everyday. You have the skills.. now you just need good material.

They're OK...when you take close ups...try using the Macro setting on the camera...

what you think of mine...I took most of these on this site...http://www.sacred-ways.info/

i just critiqued some of your photos yesterday and i have to tell you you are really coming along congratulations