Decent night of shooting, harsh C&C Please!!

[jwsciontc]

So I went to the sunset again. Almost froze my fingers off out there! These are the ones i kept from the shoot. The only editing I did was the horizon straightening, and some slight exposure adjustments. The colors are real! It's 2 am so my eyes might not be workin right right now haha.

Anywho heres the ones from the beach:


#1.

#2.

#3.

#4

#5. i like how this came out

#6, hand held from the car

Girlfriend's Westies Happy and Gilmore: I know parts of their faces are cut off, but they're hyper little ones!

thanks for looking and comments are always welcome!

 

[feRRari4756]

VERY NICE pics of the horizon, i just think number 1 and 4 could be improved by the horizon should either be in the upper third of the photo to have emphasis on the water or the lower third of the photo to have emphasis on the sky (i think emphasis on the sky would be nicer).

also, if you included a forground (beach), it would add to the interest.

 

[ShutterSpeed]

You want harsh? Ok, I'll try.

Your very best ones are the birds on the beach and the car, IMO.

The ocean sunset picture has been done and is not that creative. I would have suggested a smaller aperture, but longer exposure to smooth out the water. There i s too much texture to the water to enjoy the sunset. This would have also brought more of the color of the sunset into the smoothed texture of the water.

The lighting on the pictures of your dog is awful. It looks like the built in flash. If you have a speedflash, try bouncing it off the ceiling or a nearby wall.

Sorry, that took a lot out of me to be harsh, but you asked for it.

Let me go to the positive now. Here's why I like the car shot. It's interesting. While you were driving, it seems to have created a surreal and dramatic feeling to following this car. The movement of the car and the closeness you are to it, really stand out.

Generally your framing is good with all of them.

 

[xtort-]

I never pass up an opportunity to be a jerk! (Actually I won't be that bad, because these aren't bad pictures)

#1, along with the dog pictures, do nothing for me. #1 is way too centered and lacks a clear subject. The dog pictures need a solid background, and should be taken from some more creative angles and capture some more interesting poses. #6 has no real meaning, and really should have just been a test shot, and kept to yourself.

#2 is OK, but just OK. You captured some nice color, but that's all the photo has going for it.

#3 is nice. The sun is not centered (a good thing), the horizon is on one of the lines formed by slicing your photo into thirds (a good thing), and there is some more detail in the photo with the wake lapping up onto the beach. I would like to have seen this photo shot with more inclusion of the wake, as it adds interest.

#4 is better than #1, but not as good as #2.

#5 captured a little bit of interest, but the interest doesn't take up enough of the frame. Could you have zoomed really tight on a few of the birds, and opened the aperture way up, creating a nice, soft, watery background? You did notice the highlights and shadows though, and I assume thats why you took this pic- good eye, and this usually does make for a better photo, but it takes away from the birds, or the birds take away from the shadowing.

Not a bad start though. Remember the rule of thirds, and don't center anything. There is no exif data in your pictures, I'd be interested to see what settings you were using.

 

[jwsciontc]

thanks everyone!! And when i do go to the beach, I always tell myself to try to get more foreground but I forget everytime! There is this one white wooden chair that's always sitting in the sand and I just forget about it!!

And yes the dog shots are with a built in flash, just snap shots in the basement.

I see whaqt you mean about the first one, because that was after the sun actually set and there was nothing there but color.

But here is the problem. I always want to try to lengthen the shutter speed to get that soft water texture, but everytime I make it longer, it becomes wayyyy overexposed. I tried messin with the ISO, aperture, even AP mode and nothing could work. What should I do in that situation?

 

[ShutterSpeed]

thanks everyone!! And when i do go to the beach, I always tell myself to try to get more foreground but I forget everytime! There is this one white wooden chair that's always sitting in the sand and I just forget about it!!

And yes the dog shots are with a built in flash, just snap shots in the basement.

I see whaqt you mean about the first one, because that was after the sun actually set and there was nothing there but color.

But here is the problem. I always want to try to lengthen the shutter speed to get that soft water texture, but everytime I make it longer, it becomes wayyyy overexposed. I tried messin with the ISO, aperture, even AP mode and nothing could work. What should I do in that situation?

There are a lot of things you could try. I'm no expert, but you could change the white balance to account for the sun.

Maybe there's a filter that could go on your lens?

Make sure Active D-Lighting if off..

also, it might help if you wait til the the halfway point of the sun being over the water...

which mode are you shooting in? On a shot like this Manual Mode might be the best. You only need about a 2-3 second exposure to smooth out the water (i am guessing)..so, if you can close your aperture enough, adjusting white balance and slow down shutter speed to 2 seconds, you might get a different shot.

I don't live near an ocean, so I can't actually try it on my own other than off a lake with a mountain range behind it..and I found that when the sun crests the horizon - the overall light around you dims very quickly.

 

[jwsciontc]

i just got back from buying a circular polarizer and UV filters. and what do you mean about waiting for the halfway point?

All the shots are in Manual mode.

 

[ShutterSpeed]

i just got back from buying a circular polarizer and UV filters. and what do you mean about waiting for the halfway point?

All the shots are in Manual mode.

halfway point as in when half of the sun is past the horizon..and half of it is still visible.

 

[ccssk8ter11]

I love #3, I like the other ones too but just dont like how centered they are.
Great shots though.

 

[Mgw189]

But here is the problem. I always want to try to lengthen the shutter speed to get that soft water texture, but everytime I make it longer, it becomes wayyyy overexposed. I tried messin with the ISO, aperture, even AP mode and nothing could work. What should I do in that situation?

You can buy a neutral density filter pretty cheaply it allows you to increase your shutter speed because the grey coloring of the filter darkens what the camera is seeing.

 

[Mgw189]

There are a lot of things you could try. I'm no expert, but you could change the white balance to account for the sun.

Playing with the white balance can create some dramatic effects for sure although I am not sure it is the look he may be going for

 

[ShutterSpeed]

Playing with the white balance can create some dramatic effects for sure although I am not sure it is the look he may be going for

i'm no expert, so i am unsure. but i like this shot. very very dramatic.

i only started in October/Novemberish..so, i'm new to all this.

 

[jwsciontc]

halfway point as in when half of the sun is past the horizon..and half of it is still visible.

ahhh i see, ill remember that for enxt time

I love #3, I like the other ones too but just dont like how centered they are.
Great shots though.

yeah i didnt realize how much they were in the middle until i uploaded them

You can buy a neutral density filter pretty cheaply it allows you to increase your shutter speed because the grey coloring of the filter darkens what the camera is seeing.

thanks! i'll look into it. I just got these ones because they came in a pack at the store

 

[Mgw189]

ahhh i see, ill remember that for enxt time



yeah i didnt realize how much they were in the middle until i uploaded them



thanks! i'll look into it. I just got these ones because they came in a pack at the store

Its good to have a UV filter on your lenses if nothing more than to protect the actual glass from damage. The UV filter is very handy indeed. You can also look at a graduated filter. it fades from dark grey to light grey as it moves along the filter. You can use that filter to darken areas of your photos that might be over exposed.

 

[jwsciontc]

Its good to have a UV filter on your lenses if nothing more than to protect the actual glass from damage. The UV filter is very handy indeed. You can also look at a graduated filter. it fades from dark grey to light grey as it moves along the filter. You can use that filter to darken areas of your photos that might be over exposed.

yeah i plan on keeping the UV on there all the time. i want to go out tomorrow and test out the quality of the CP.

that reminds me, i'm going to NYC sunday and i may bring my camera. Any suggestions?