a couple recents please C&C!!

[bof.]

so heres a few recent shots please comment critique and leave pointers

thanks in advance;

1.

2.

3.

4.Long Exposure of the moon

5.

 

[Resin42]

1, 3 and 5 do nothing for me I'm afraid, blown highlights or too dark or both but most importantly nothing to really interest the viewer.

2 is a nice shot, well captured. The highlights among the trees are blown but you'll struggle not to in this situation, they could be cropped out though. Maybe clone out car below the back wheel. Also a basket on the bike, with E.T., in a blanket.

sorry

4 is a nice idea, possibly slightly too long an exposure, the moon looks a bit hot and the clouds are blurry. I'm also not sure about the band of black trees,you could try this somewhere with a longer stretch of water and less obstruction of the horizon, try including a reflection of the moon also.

What are you shooting these with?

 

[bof.]

1, 3 and 5 do nothing for me I'm afraid, blown highlights or too dark or both but most importantly nothing to really interest the viewer.

2 is a nice shot, well captured. The highlights among the trees are blown but you'll struggle not to in this situation, they could be cropped out though. Maybe clone out car below the back wheel. Also a basket on the bike, with E.T., in a blanket.

sorry

4 is a nice idea, possibly slightly too long an exposure, the moon looks a bit hot and the clouds are blurry. I'm also not sure about the band of black trees,you could try this somewhere with a longer stretch of water and less obstruction of the horizon, try including a reflection of the moon also.

What are you shooting these with?

thanks man these are just a couple shots i took at camp where i was a counsellor for 7 weeks this summer, im shooting with a nikon d70s only a 18-55 crappy lens though.

 

[manaheim]

I was curious to see if someone else would pipe up, but I suspect people are trying not to bruise your feelings. I'll try to give some constructive criticism without being horribly abusive. Let me know if I fail miserably.

By and large most of your images have some pretty significant exposure problems... in most cases they are just underexposed, essentially to the point of ruining the shot completely. (sorry)

Compositionally, I think 2 was really interesting, but you just didn't QUITE get it... you cut off his foot, which is distracting, and the angles and stuff are a little weird. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, I just think it didn't quite work, which is too bad, because I think this is the best of your shots overall, and the lighting is pretty cool.

5 is just a rough shot to take- dark room, bright outside through a window. People tend to try to do HDRs with these or just accept that it's going to be a rough lighting situation... used well, this can have dramatic cool effects, but it's not easy.

I would go pick up that book "Understanding Exposure" that everyone is always talking about and read it thoroughly. I think that will cover a lot of your technical mishaps, which will allow you to focus more on the composition going forward.

Don't give up!

 

[Resin42]

thanks man these are just a couple shots i took at camp where i was a counsellor for 7 weeks this summer, im shooting with a nikon d70s only a 18-55 crappy lens though.

You've actually got an excellent jumping off point there. The D70s is a great camera, I've seen some amazing shots taken with it and the 18-55 lens is a pretty good all rounder, slightly limited zoom but great for the money, I intend to upgrade mine but I'd never actually part with it.

Your main problem here is that every one of these shots is a tough one to expose properly, shooting from the shade with strong light in the background will always give you problems. If this kind of thing is what you like to to do then a decent flashgun would be a worthy investment.

Once you've got a better handle on exposure I think you'll be taking great shots in no time, you've got a good eye and a bit of imagination. Keep shooting and keep posting.

 

[bof.]

You've actually got an excellent jumping off point there. The D70s is a great camera, I've seen some amazing shots taken with it and the 18-55 lens is a pretty good all rounder, slightly limited zoom but great for the money, I intend to upgrade mine but I'd never actually part with it.

Your main problem here is that every one of these shots is a tough one to expose properly, shooting from the shade with strong light in the background will always give you problems. If this kind of thing is what you like to to do then a decent flashgun would be a worthy investment.

Once you've got a better handle on exposure I think you'll be taking great shots in no time, you've got a good eye and a bit of imagination. Keep shooting and keep posting.

i have an sb-600 but i didnt bring it to camp, and thanks, i appreciate honest comments