C&C - The hubs, park bench

[sjluto]

The following is a picture of my husband taken at the park. He doesn't like his picture taken too much, and I snapped it when he turned.

F/7.1, 1/200 sec, ISO-100

This was a park bench I shot while I was out today. I liked the bits of color peeking through the cracks.

f/8, 1/100 sec, ISO-200

This was another bench at the park. I liked the moss? growing on it and the textures of the wood, nail, and moss coming together.

f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO-200

Thanks for your help!

 

[TiCoyote]

Being a dude, totally comfortable with my sexuality, I'm fine with saying that your man is a stud. It's a nice shot of him, but I might have gone with a wider aperture. The 3rd shot has nice colors, but the two shots of the benches look like a lot of shots I do and I'm disappointed with the result. They're good examples of narrow depth of field, and they have crisp focus in the right place, but they don't really have a subject. They don't really tell a story. But it looks like you're learning how to use that camera pretty well.

 

[LaFoto]

Nice candid one of your husband, and I like the background, and don't feel like an even wider aperture was necessary, he's well separated from the background.

The middle photo of the bench says "beginner is happy with what a wide aperture and narrow DOF can do", we all had to go through the stage of taking this kind of photos, but like TiCoyote is saying: there is no real subject.

The growth on the bench in the last photo is lichen.
Lichen looks good and I like its texture. As a texture shot this is wonderfully clear, but I'd then crop it so no trace of this bench being a bench is to be seen any more, so right to the wood and lichen around the rusty nail. Only that... (My thoughts only).

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

The middle photo of the bench says "beginner is happy with what a wide aperture and narrow DOF can do", we all had to go through the stage of taking this kind of photos, but like TiCoyote is saying: there is no real subject.

But from what we have seen from her previously, this shows she is really starting to think about different perspectives. She has taken that step, and I applaud her! But yes, it is boring. But these shots teach us what kinds of depth of field we get at different apertures (something I need to experiment more with).

The first pic is very nice. He has that look of "oh no you didn't" .
The *only* thing that bothers me is at the bottom of the image what appears to be a white or silver car. Whatever it is, could be cloned out well, and make this pic really stand out.

On the third, I agree with LaFoto. Either bring that closer, or go back a little to bring 3 boards in, and level. My opionion, at least. Nice focus on this, and I like texture shots, myself.

Keep it up!

 

[DScience]

The first pic is very nice. He has that look of "oh no you didn't" .
The *only* thing that bothers me is at the bottom of the image what appears to be a white or silver car. Whatever it is, could be cloned out well, and make this pic really stand out.


Keep it up!

I would personally love to to see you clone this out lol....it seems way to contrasting, and too large an element, to clone out...unless another method was used.

 

[sburatorul]

i like the expresion in the first and the composition although it seems a little oof. the other two are not so interesting in subject but technically they are good.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I would personally love to to see you clone this out lol....it seems way to contrasting, and too large an element, to clone out...unless another method was used.

Ok...

I copied chunks of the trees to put in that area, then did some cloning over that, and applied some blur. I could spend a lot more time than the 8 minutes that I did, but it looks fairly convincing as it is.

 

[LaFoto]

Nicely done, Bitter Jeweller. Looks better this way, I think.

 

[OregonAmy]

^^ wow, fantastic job.

 

[linpelk]

I don't know that I have anything new to say here. The above people have pretty much covered it. I like the expression and lighting in #1. Nice shot of your husband! I like what Bitter Jeweler accomplished with a little cloning (although, I'll admit, I didn't even notice the silver part until after someone else mentioned it). #3 I think I would have liked a little better if it was cropped in closer to leave some mystery. The diagonal lines on the bench are little distracting for me. Nice texture though and the bits of green look nice.

 

[sjluto]

Thanks everyone! I didn't really notice the car in the first, either. Maybe because I knew it was there? I like what Bitter Jeweler did though. Looks great! I'm also glad everyone liked this pic so much. As I'm wanting to eventually get into portraiture, I was really anxious about hearing feedback for this one.

I agree about subject matter with 2 and 3. There isn't much to look at, but like others said, I felt like I had accomplished something with my camera that I hadn't done before and thought I'd post it! I'm the first one to say the photo should tell a story!

Keep them coming!

 

[Sherman Banks]

Thanks everyone! I didn't really notice the car in the first, either. Maybe because I knew it was there? I like what Bitter Jeweler did though. Looks great! I'm also glad everyone liked this pic so much. As I'm wanting to eventually get into portraiture, I was really anxious about hearing feedback for this one. !

I think this candid is great. The lighting on the face is nice and even and you've done a good job of isolating your subject. I do like David's edit of it without the distraction at the bottom of the frame (which to David I give props on the 8 minute edit). I would recommend getting a reflector (or just a sheet of white foam board) if you plan on doing outdoor portraits as it can help you balance harsh shadows and balance lighting like what you have captured here. If you really want to get serious, grab a flash or two and read up on the Strobist blog.