Brand New DSLR User - Would like some initial C&C

StevenisWhere · Jun 2, 2010

I just got my Nikon D5000 a few days ago, and took to the streets of Beijing to practice. Along with the kit lens, I got the AF-S 35mm f/1.8 lens, and I haven't taken it off the camera yet!

I'm shooting in RAW, and using Aperture 3 and a little bit of photoshop for post-production.

Some initial C&C would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

1. Practicing Bokeh

2. I had to use the flash for this one, and don't really like the light's effect. Any suggestions?

3.

4.

5. I did the most post-processing on this one. What do you think?

JR Productions · Jun 2, 2010

Looking good. I love the first shot.

I just got a D3000 a week ago. Loving it so far.

benlonghair · Jun 2, 2010

First one. Decent bokeh, but boring. Too centered. Just doesn't draw me in.

Second one. I kinda like it. Better composition, uses the frame well. Missed the focus just slightly (or it needs to be sharpened, not sure). On-camera flash is difficult to use effectively unless you bounce it. You end up with a hot-spot like in the center of the image.

Third one. Too busy. If it had been just the little girl and the dog, it would have been a pretty good capture. As it stands, it's a snapshot. I feel like the shot is more of the woman walking away than the girl and dog. Maybe it's because the way the girl's head is turned, but it just feels awkward.

Fourth one. I really like it. The lighting is moody, the subject pops. The only real improvement I would think of would be stopping down slightly to get a little more DoF on the boxes, as the far edge is slightly OOF.

Fifth one. I think the curves could be adjusted just slightly to up the contrast some. Maybe not, I'd have to play with it. Might apply an unsharp mask if you haven't already. Still not terribly compelling to me.

supraman215 · Jun 2, 2010

GREAT work. I love my 35 f1.8!

StevenisWhere · Jun 2, 2010

Thanks for the comments so far!

@benlonghair thanks a lot for the feedback. Since I am just starting out, I have almost always been keeping my f-stop at 1.8 for the bokeh affect, but I know I need to change that once I've got a better idea about DoF. I don't really have a feel yet for how much the DoF changes with each change in f-stop, so I see exactly what you mean about the end of the mailbox. I'll experiment and try stopping down in increments to see if I can get that shot again with a better focus.

BuS_RiDeR · Jun 2, 2010

StevenisWhere said:
I just got my Nikon D5000 a few days ago, and took to the streets of Beijing to practice. Along with the kit lens, I got the AF-S 35mm f/1.8 lens, and I haven't taken it off the camera yet!

I'm shooting in RAW, and using Aperture 3 and a little bit of photoshop for post-production.

Some initial C&C would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

5. I did the most post-processing on this one. What do you think?

I think I like #5 the best, but IMO, a bit more contrast might help...

My 2 cents...

bigtwinky · Jun 2, 2010

About the shooting at f/1.8...remember that a lens is typically at its sharpest a few stops down from the max aperture. So shooting at like f/4 will help alot with the sharpness. Each lens is different though. There was a website I saw once that described the various lenses and their "sweet spot".

1- I find its too centered in the frame, and I dont like the light shining off the side on the top left. The image is also a bit dark.

2- I really dig the subject matter, great find! The composition is nice, and I know how sometimes you are stuck with what you see, but the bottom red wood is a bit annoying to the eye. Did you take other shots of this? I'm thinking more to the side (if there was room) to get the dials in a line, or even a bit higher up with the camera angled down to get more of the wires in the back and not the red wood in the front.
One of the things I did alot of (and still do) when I started shooting is I would find an interesting scene and force mysefl to take 10 images at different angles, focal lenghts and apertures to kind of force my creative self. I'm not a very creative person, but forcing it sometimes yields dec

3- Intersting capture and nice job framing the two. But as mentionned, the subject matter isn't too interesting. Street photography can be really fun but also really challenging. You need many many snaps to get 1 nice photo. Keep on shooting these though, you'll net a few keepers!

4- I like the concept and subject, but not a fan of the execution. The scene is very busy and while I get your focus is on the boxes, the background kind of blends in with it. Maybe move in a bit closer with the same angle? A straight on shot of just the locked doors might work, specially if you can find a pattern in how the locks and doors are to make it interesting...like frame up 6 doors, but only 5 are locked type thing. Think about the rule of thirds here

If these are you first timer pictures, I cant wait to see the ones you'll be producing in a year.

benlonghair · Jun 2, 2010

StevenisWhere said:
Since I am just starting out, I have almost always been keeping my f-stop at 1.8 for the bokeh affect, but I know I need to change that once I've got a better idea about DoF. I don't really have a feel yet for how much the DoF changes with each change in f-stop, so I see exactly what you mean about the end of the mailbox. I'll experiment and try stopping down in increments to see if I can get that shot again with a better focus.

DoF also changes according to how far away from your subject you are. As you approach the minimum focus distance of the lens, 1.8 will give you DoF of less than 1/4".

If you look at this image, I stopped down to f/5 to get more DoF because I was close to the MFD. Even then I only ended up with about 2.5" and lost the focus toward the back of the flower.

If you haven't already read it, I suggest to every new person here to read [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Updated/dp/0817463003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275488764&sr=8-1"]Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure[/ame].

StevenisWhere · Jun 2, 2010

@bigtwinky Thanks for the comments. Fortunately, all of these photos were taken within 5 minutes of my apartment (most in my complex actually), so I will try some of the ideas you have on my next day out shooting

As for photo 3, everyone is right... it was more of just a snapshot. I have hardly even broken the surface of taking photos of people. I only took two pictures of people the whole time I was out on my first day. I realized I was just too shy/felt uncomfortable. By the time I saw this girl walking down the path with her dog and was able to change some of my settings on the camera (even just changing the focus point takes a while when just starting out) the other woman was in the shot, and the girl had moved in front of the car, and then looked away when she saw the strange white guy taking her photo.

But I'll keep trying

@benlonghair, thanks for the short explanation. I hadn't really thought of it that way before, so now I will take that into consideration. And I actually just got that book, but haven't started reading it yet, so I will get on it!

KmH · Jun 2, 2010

StevenisWhere said:
I have almost always been keeping my f-stop at 1.8 for the bokeh affect, but I know I need to change that once I've got a better idea about DoF.

Bokeh, the way you've used the term, is really DOF.

There are 2 kinds of bokeh:

Cream cheese bokeh
Hollywood bokeh

Nikon AF-S 35mm F1.8G DX Lens Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review

Here are some notes from DP Review, on the bokeh the AF-S 35 mm f/1.8G delivers:

Background Blur ('bokeh')

One genuinely desirable, but difficult to measure aspect of a lens's performance is the ability to deliver smoothly blurred out-of-focus regions when trying to isolate a subject from the background. With its relatively fast maximum aperture, the 35mm F1.8G can produce substantially blurred backgrounds, and while these can be slightly hard-edged in character (especially at F1.8), bokeh is generally rather appealing. Stopping down progressively smooths out the harsher edges, with perhaps the best compromise in the region of F2.8.

Also note from their Conclusions:

If the lens has one major flaw, it is a certain propensity to show chromatic aberration, of both the lateral kind (which can be corrected by the in-camera JPEG processing of the D90 and D300), and the longitudinal (which cannot). To be fair the latter is a pretty well unavoidable with a fast prime, but the 35mm F1.8G DX suffers from it to a rather high degree, and in particular can give some unpleasant purple fringing effects if you're not careful.