Christmas Dinner - C&C please :)

[mattyP!]

Third post in this section and thankfully I think my photographs are improving each time. I still have a lot to learn and improve on but that's where you guys come in

These pictures were taken at the worthington hotel on christmas day with my d9, tokina 12-24mm, and nikkor 50mm.

1. The dining room, shot freehand with my Tokina 12-24mm @ 24mm.

2. An enormous snowflake in the lobby, shot freehand with my Nikkor 50mm

3. My mom, shot from across the table with my Nikkor 50mm

Many of my photographs have been lacking a focal point so I tried to improve on that with this set of pictures (the rest can be seen here). The first two shots look sharp to me but the one of my mom feels a bit soft. Is this possibly because I was too close for the lens' minimum focus distance? I like the composition and colors of the shot but the focus is driving me a bit nuts.

All comments and critiques are appreciated

 

[feRRari4756]

number 1 is my favorite. nuber 2 has a lot of noise. and number 3 is a little soft and doesnt have a lot of color

 

[Jaszek]

The first one you could've taken about two steps forward to not capture the walls on either side...but you can always crop that out in PP. As for no. 2 You should've tried to get the whole snow flake and not cut out the top and bottom.

 

[mattyP!]

number 1 is my favorite. nuber 2 has a lot of noise. and number 3 is a little soft and doesnt have a lot of color

Yeah I see the noise now that you mention it. The lighting was pretty low in the lobby so I think I was shooting at at least an ISO of 1600.

The first one you could've taken about two steps forward to not capture the walls on either side...but you can always crop that out in PP. As for no. 2 You should've tried to get the whole snow flake and not cut out the top and bottom.

Yeah now that I look at it I wish I had taken more time and framed up the first one better. I was just sorta walking around the restaurant and didn't take as much time as I should have prepping for shots.

Same thing for the second one, it was sorta an impulse snapshot from about 5 feet away.

Thanks for the comments

 

[dtornabene1]

I actually like the walls in the first picture and the picture itself.

Number two I think is too static. I would have shot on an angle, but not match the angle of the star points which are at 45 degrees. May try 27 to 33 degrees on the shot. Otherwise, as noted above, cut off sides way before you ever cut off top and bottom.

What I don't like is number three. USE THE FLASH!!! Too many people forget to get rid of shadows by not turning the flash on. Remember, even if all you have is on-board flash, turn it on and start with a -1 EV setting. Adjust from there.

-Nick

 

[LaFoto]

I really like the first one, and I like it the way it is, with the walls to the left and the right. It makes us look from somewhere outside into that nicely decorated, cosy looking room. I feel that that one has a lot of atmosphere.

The giant snowflake might have required some (up to "a lot more") time to compose it right, and might have required several attempts to later choose from. It has potential, mostly so in the very clear, very reflective baubles which help us see the entire lobby behind you. Zooming in on only the centre is not possible with the Nikkor 50mm, I see that, but somehow I feel that that might have helped you create a more pleasing photo, by getting up more closely and by eliminating things that now are part of your frame.

I like the "given light" photo of your mom and think her eyes are still reasonably in focus, given the low light. And I for one would vehemently speak AGAINST in-built flash, for in light situations like this one it would have been the total "killer" of anything atmospheric in the shot and would have rendered the photo "snapshotty".

My suggestion about the last, though, is one I feel I suggest to about everyone who takes horizontal portrait shots (and cuts off parts of the head, like right at her hairline here): turn the camera around by 90° and go for the "portrait mode" of framing: upright photo, more going with the shape of a face. That's my major nitpick here. (On a side note: a woman your mom's age might actually LIKE her photos being a little soft! And not too revealing - which a flashed photo might just too easily have been. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about here!)

 

[ianm]

no 1 looks good but without the walls like Jaszek says

 

[dtornabene1]

While we all have our opinions, too often we rely on conventional theory to get us through. Walls do not have to be removed. They can, as in this case, provide a frame to an otherwise open photograph.

-Nick