Fresh Pics from Romania - Nikon beginner

bmad · Dec 9, 2008

Greetings all and welcome to this little corner, where I will try to share with you some pictures, that are my "beginner" pictures. They have been taken in Bucharest mostly, with a Nikon D80 (two months old now).

I am trying to get a hold of the technical factors, but I also want to share with you a bit of color from around here. And, if you would be so kind as to comment on any of the two main aspects (technique and message), I would really appreciate it !

Thank you !

#1 MoonDance

#2 La Vie Quotidienne

#3 If I could be where you are...

bmad · Dec 9, 2008

#4 Greener Pastures

#5 Tempus Autumnus

#6 If I could be in your shoes

bmad · Dec 9, 2008

#7 Bridge the Gap

#8 Promise to Love You

#9 Will you enter ?

bmad · Dec 9, 2008

#10 Flora's Secret

That's all for now !
All C&C are welcomed...I won't mind

jenn76 · Dec 9, 2008

Nice work! I especially like #2. With a quick look-through, I can't find anything wrong with them. :wink:

I definitely don't look at these and think "beginner". You have a good eye... keep sharing! :thumbup:

bmad · Dec 9, 2008

Thank you jenn ! Looking at your portfolio, i have to say I really appreciate your comment (although I still consider myself a beginner...at least a willing one

)
Will post here again!

jenn76 · Dec 9, 2008

Well, thank you, I'll take that as a compliment, as I'm still very much a beginner myself.

Looks like a beautiful place where you live! Do you travel much, or are your shots taken close to home?

sabbath999 · Dec 9, 2008

Just a suggestion:

Sharpened it a bit, lightened up the face & hands, added a wee bit of contrast and de-saturated the keys on the accordion.

This is about 2 minutes worth of work in CaptureNX, if I were really doing this I would have spent more time making the skin tone a bit better.

Here they are side by side, the edited one left:

Harmony · Dec 9, 2008

Hmm. Not a 'beginner' at all, then!

Many of these I like, 3 and 4 particularly. The only problem I find with these are the titles. Occasionally a title will add something to the picture, but I find that all these (with the exception of 4) take away from the photo.

This is, of course, personal preference, and it comes from one who's photos' titles are the subject, and the shutter number of that subject. (For example, "Black and White, Canyon Way, 7".) But I am so organized that it borders on OCD, so take my suggestion with a grain of salt. :lol:

Ron Evers · Dec 9, 2008

Sabbith, if i had to chose between the two I go for the original as your rendition looks unreal. Something in between maybe.

sabbath999 · Dec 9, 2008

Ron Evers said:
Sabbith, if i had to chose between the two I go for the original as your rendition looks unreal. Something in between maybe.

Show me

manaheim · Dec 9, 2008

Too many pics to comment on, but really nice work as a body. Impressive stuff, really.

gob144 · Dec 9, 2008

i prefer the dit as well. most of these are pretty solid shots i love number 1

epp_b · Dec 10, 2008

My reading skills must be failing me, because I'm sure I read "beginner" in the title, but I see no photos in this thread that classify anywhere near as low as "beginner".

Fantastic work, all of them!

You've managed to get that extremely polished and professional look in every one of your photos that I struggle to achieve.

bmad · Dec 10, 2008

wow...many kind visitors

THANKS

well, here it goes :

@Jen Well, I really like your family portraits. Nice and clean work ! Good framing, the kind of photos you can put above the fireplace.what's not to like.
Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to travel a lot since I bought the Nikon. The pics are taken in Bucharest (the capital of Romania) where I work and live and some (Greener pastures, Tempus autumnus) in Suceava, the city where I was born (about 500km away). In general, Romania is a really nice country, with some spectacular landscapes. You should try it !

@Sabbath Thanks for the tune-up. I wish I had shot that pic in RAW not JPEG. I also had a more bright version, but it was noisy, so I gave up on it. The picture was the 3rd taken with a brand new 50mm f1.8 lens...bought it and started shooting

. I will try to reveal a new version based on your suggestion ! Thanks

@Harmony I have to agree with you on the concept of titles. Of course, they are highly subjective, and are in connection to the message of the photo. Some photos have strong messages and don't even need titles. I still have to work on my "messages" and of course on my titles. For now, I just resume to matching my photos with songs from Enya, Enigma, Vangelis and so on !

@Ron Evers Thanks for your visit !

@Manaheim Thanks for the visit. I know there were a lot of pics, but I had some spare time (wow!) and wanted to share these with you.

@gob144 Thanks. #1 was taken at a site called the Muddy Vulcanos in Romania. It is a really nice place to visit, a very "lunar" landscape, and lots of tiny vulcanos that spit mud

@epp_b Haha. Thanks. Appreciate it. By the way, I looked at your website. It's a good think to always struggle to achieve higher grounds, but you achieved the professional look you want. Liked the Cars section, Misc. section. The people section is good also, but there are a few photos. I guess portraits are the ultimate grounds in photography, if you really want to capture the essence of a human, not just the colours of the face...

Thanks again guys. I really appreciate this forum (I've been reading it, but never registered...don't know why). See you !