Critique Please

[crh428]

I took these today while I was at Sandy Hook. Let me know what I could improve on.

The Sandy Hook Lighthouse

The Mortar Bunker at Sandy Hook

Really looking forward to hearing what I could do better.

 

[passerby]

I like no:1 and no:3.

Unless if the building in no:1 photo is tilt to the right than it must the camera was not 100% aligned. If you have picasa you can realign that photo.

But whatever it is all those 3 pictures look soft to me. Other people may contradict me.

 

[Miss Banana]

I like 2 because it shows something unusual that most people would not have noticed. 1 and 3 look like your average snapshots, but you did a great job in setting a mood.

 

[BuZzZeRkEr]

Exposure.

 

[Like_Clockwork]

not that I am anyone to be judging, but IMO, I don't like the lighting really, also they seem pretty grainy. I think with a different lighting they could be top notch

 

[LaFoto]

My initial thought about them was similar to what Clockwork is expressing here: these photos could be classes better if you had waited for some better light! It was a very, very dull day, which is why BuzZ...something-or-other so eloquently explained to you that correct exposure was problematic and you obviously underexposed all your photos here. Of course you can describe each and every technical flaw as "artistic" and "setting a mood" but true fact is that these photos, all three of them, are underexposed, and thus too dark, and probably later "pushed" and therefore grainy/noisy.

That said, I still want to welcome you here in ThePhotoForum, and I hope you don't find I was being too harsh in critiquing your photos. But you said you wanted to get getter, so it best be said when the photos have technical flaws, right?

 

[crh428]

But whatever it is all those 3 pictures look soft to me.

Could that be because I was using the cheap "kit" lense? What could I do to make them less soft?

As far as exposure goes, I kinda suspected that they were underexposed.

I want to get my technical skills down before I start trying to be "artsy." I want my artistic crap to be doen on purpose, not just a way to excuse a mistake.

That said, I still want to welcome you here in ThePhotoForum, and I hope you don't find I was being too harsh in critiquing your photos.

I really appreciate the critique, this is only the internet, so don't worry about being "harsh."

Thanks for all the input, hopefully I'll get an opportunity to take more pics later in the week and post 'em up for y'all to tear apart

 

[crh428]

bump

 

[boomersgot3]

Liek others... they look underexposed to me. do you have photoshop?

 

[NateS]

Could that be because I was using the cheap "kit" lense? What could I do to make them less soft?

As far as exposure goes, I kinda suspected that they were underexposed.

I want to get my technical skills down before I start trying to be "artsy." I want my artistic crap to be doen on purpose, not just a way to excuse a mistake.



I really appreciate the critique, this is only the internet, so don't worry about being "harsh."

Thanks for all the input, hopefully I'll get an opportunity to take more pics later in the week and post 'em up for y'all to tear apart

Kit lenses can produce some great photos as I've seen on this forum. My Nikon kit lens has captured some great photos so that's not the problem.

I think the problem is camera shake at your shutter speeds. #2 is at 1/60th and #3 at 1/40th. You should have tried opening up the aperature to around f/8 to get a little quicker shutter speed on such a dreary day.

The exposure and less than vibrant colors bothers me about as much as the photo's being soft. This is probably mainly due to the dreary day, but with proper exposure everything would have looked better.....you can get nice effects with a dreary day if the photo is taken correctly.

I'm far from a seasoned veteran, but that's my thoughts.

 

[crh428]

Kit lenses can produce some great photos as I've seen on this forum. My Nikon kit lens has captured some great photos so that's not the problem.

I have heard that the Canon kit lens sucks, I have nothing to base my own judgement off of, however, so I was just throwing that out there. At my level of expertise, though, I doubt that any lense would be holding me back.

I think the problem is camera shake at your shutter speeds. #2 is at 1/60th and #3 at 1/40th. You should have tried opening up the aperature to around f/8 to get a little quicker shutter speed on such a dreary day.

The exposure and less than vibrant colors bothers me about as much as the photo's being soft. This is probably mainly due to the dreary day, but with proper exposure everything would have looked better.....you can get nice effects with a dreary day if the photo is taken correctly.

I am going to give this a shot. I think the next time I shoot I am going to open up the aperture and go with a faster shutter speed. I think I will also take a few at different exposures. One of the big things I think I need to learn is how to tell what a proper exposure looks like.

Another thing, I think I had the ISO set at 400, is that too high? What is the "normal" ISO setting?

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[NateS]

I always leave the ISO as low as possible (mine is 200). I only bump the ISO if I'm in low light situations and can't get a faster shutter speed otherwise.

NJMAN on here has done quite a few landscapes that flat out blow me away and I remember asking him what lens he was using for one of them, to which he answered "the kit lens". He shoots Canon as well, so it would have been a canon kit lens.

Keep practicing and you'll get better before you know it. I'm still no expert, but looking back even 4-6 months ago I can see how I have improved quite a bit.