Amateur Photography.a little

I'm by NO means a professional photographer, or even CLOSE. I've had zero training. No classes, no one to teach me, not even a "Nikon D40 for Dummies". I'm majoring in Photojourn. And like trying photography (trying is the key word here), but I've never had an actual photographer look at any of my photos and critique them.

I have a Nikon D40. I use either an 18-55mm or a 70-300mm.

These photos are linked from Facebook, so they're lower-quality (FB does something to them, I don't know, internet magic). Are these good? Bad? If so, what's bad about them & how do I fix it?

Since these got rammed through FB and aren't the highest quality anymore there's NO POINT IN STEALING THEM So WATCH YOUR STICKY FINGERS.

These haven't been edited/retouched at all. I know I should have watermarked them.

ALL comments welcome, except the "OMG THEY'RE So STUPID AND DUMB AND RHINOS ARE UGLY" variety.

Well, I enjoyed them because I like your subjects and the photos were by no means horrible. The horse team is my favorite shot, although the white balance is too blue. You do have a habit of cutting off important things in your compositions. The rhino, for instance would have been better in portrait orientation to get his ears and the rest of the hay he's chewing. The squirrel should have the entire body, or if not, crop closer to just his head and front paws. Again, portrait orientation would have been a better choice. The top fish (or maybe it is a reflection of the same fish) is too close to the edge of the frame. Same with the BMW logo, too close to the bottom.

Your composition skill needs some work. Everything is smack dab in the middle.

There's no reason why you can't begin learning more about the craft on your own. There are lots of books in the library on basic photography and composition, and many good websites that will help. You have a nice beginning, I encourage you to continue to learn and practice. You will see your skill improve as you advance. Best wishes and happy shooting!

I agree with Ara57, you do need to work on the composition of your photos. Overall, for someone that has no experience or training, you're well on your way to doing even better shots. The more you practice, the better you will get.

Read up on the "rule of thirds" (it is not a set in stone rule, and rules are meant to be broken, but it will help with some of your shots).

The Rhino shot would have been better in portrait instead of landscape, and the squirrel would be better if the body was more to the left following the "rule of thirds".

Majoring in photojourn: we photojournalist say photojournalism or pj

I'm by NO means a professional photographer: that's why you're in school

I've never had an actual photographer look at any of my photos and critique them: you are paying people to teach you let them critique your images

NO POINT IN STEALING THEM So WATCH YOUR STICKY FINGERS: kinda insulting and know that no amount of SHOUTING will deter a thief but as a rule thieves don't go after low res images posted online since the images will not scale up for print.

Look, it's like this, I didn't look at your pix, they are either good enough to steal in which case you shouldn't post them on FaceBook or you need constructive criticism and you shouldn't worry about them being nicked and should be grateful that your name isn't on them, that way there's no damage to your future reputation. Most people worry too much about copyright and don't do anything to protect their copyright at the same time.