i need some comments & criticism

keystervr6 · May 21, 2008

i'm just beginning to get into photography...i've got a kodak point and shoot that has shutter, aperture, and manual modes, and it seems to do well in good lighting...tell me what you think

thanks:thumbup:

LaFoto · May 21, 2008

Hiya Keyster, welcome to ThePhotoForum.
Any member - newcomers to the forum, beginners in the field of photography, long standing members, seasoned photographers - just any member is welcome to showcase their photos in one of our galleries, while The Beginners' Place is a room for questions and answers that a beginner to the hobby might want to ask. OK?
So I moved your thread to the General Gallery.

Sorry that I cannot say much about the photos as such since I am so very NOT into car photography.

tirediron · May 21, 2008

Hmmm... I guess my main comment would relate to depth of field. The lighting and composition of your images is good, particularily #1, but there is too much depth of field. With the car in this type of setting I would try to re-shoot with a shallower depth of field, placing the background less in focus, and thereby not competing with the subject for attention.

Senor Hound · May 21, 2008

Although Tirediron is right, I have a feeling your depth of field is at its lowest for a point-and-shoot camera. I, too, have this same problem, and at f2.8 my depth of field is like an f8 on a digital... its horrible...

Given this, I would get a less cluttered background. Your car is REALLY nice, with good, clean lines (is that a Jetta?), and your angles are good, but your background is waaaay too distracting. Take this car someplace without the meters, doors, and the huge power box, and your photo's quality will increase TENFOLD! Keep it near a wall or a building, as it makes a great backdrop, just pick one that's simpler

Also, good job for not having a lot of knowledge about what makes a photo good. You should keep going, you'll learn more as you go and before you know it your photos will have people going, "WOW!"

Battou · May 21, 2008

What Kodak Point and Shoot are you using?

As for the Photos them selves.

The angles you are shooting from are good, and the car itself is clean and free of flaws, however your background leaves a little to be desired.

Cars and buildings like that one do not really pair up all that well, As has been said before Some would use DOF to attempt to nutralize this, however I am not one of those types of people, I prefer the vehicle to be a part of the surroundings with a deep DOF, in this case a four door sedan is more at home in a highway and/or residential environment. This industrial/industrialesk environment is better suited to trucks and other working type of vehicles.

I'd reshoot at a different location.

visualpoetry · May 21, 2008

I couldn't agree with everyone more. The background is really taking away from the photos. An important part of being a good photographer is to take the entire view into consideration. Composition and placement is key. Everything else is great.. nice angles.

SoMa · May 21, 2008

Backgrounds in 2&3 are a little distracting for me, 1 is good though...

keystervr6 · May 21, 2008

Battou said:
What Kodak Point and Shoot are you using?

As for the Photos them selves.

The angles you are shooting from are good, and the car itself is clean and free of flaws, however your background leaves a little to be desired.

Cars and buildings like that one do not really pair up all that well, As has been said before Some would use DOF to attempt to nutralize this, however I am not one of those types of people, I prefer the vehicle to be a part of the surroundings with a deep DOF, in this case a four door sedan is more at home in a highway and/or residential environment. This industrial/industrialesk environment is better suited to trucks and other working type of vehicles.

I'd reshoot at a different location.

i'm using a kodak z612, its one of those prosumer models thats trying to be a dslr...

as far as the location, i really like strange/cool backgrounds like that, it may be a bit busy and distracting here, but i don't know what it would look like if i increase the DOF....

i'm gonna shoot some more tonight and post them for more c&c...

keystervr6 · May 21, 2008

two more, same spot as before, just moved down a bit...
i took some of your advice as well as some from a couple books...
C&C please...
1.

2.

Battou · May 21, 2008

keystervr6 said:
i'm using a kodak z612, its one of those prosumer models thats trying to be a dslr...

as far as the location, i really like strange/cool backgrounds like that, it may be a bit busy and distracting here, but i don't know what it would look like if i increase the DOF....

i'm gonna shoot some more tonight and post them for more c&c...

Um....increasing the DOF from where you have it is the opposit way from what most are suggesting, and I am not sure it's possible, the first set looked to be f/16 or 22 as it is, That is a deep enough for most shots like these. I think you are thinking decreasing the DOF if you where wondering about how it would look for what tirediron had suggested.

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For the second set, I can tell you are still in the same industrial setting but, it does look a bit cleaner, in these this building can be easily viewed as the bacl of a grocery store as opposed to the manufacturering facility it looked like before. However now You have a reflection issue. In the first image I can clearly see the powerline risers and wiring nightmare that you just worked so hard to compose out of the background. The second shot (second set) Is much better in that reguard, the reflection is there and gives the impression of urban settings and is not clearly showing a messy surrounding. That second one is a deicent shot that I think could hold it's own in this field.

keystervr6 · May 22, 2008

Battou said:
Um....increasing the DOF from where you have it is the opposit way from what most are suggesting, and I am not sure it's possible, the first set looked to be f/16 or 22 as it is, That is a deep enough for most shots like these. I think you are thinking decreasing the DOF if you where wondering about how it would look for what tirediron had suggested.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

For the second set, I can tell you are still in the same industrial setting but, it does look a bit cleaner, in these this building can be easily viewed as the bacl of a grocery store as opposed to the manufacturering facility it looked like before. However now You have a reflection issue. In the first image I can clearly see the powerline risers and wiring nightmare that you just worked so hard to compose out of the background. The second shot (second set) Is much better in that reguard, the reflection is there and gives the impression of urban settings and is not clearly showing a messy surrounding. That second one is a deicent shot that I think could hold it's own in this field.

ok, excuse my noobness, i was in fact thinking about decreasing the DOF...still trying to learn all the terminology...

the thing is i really like the odd, or strange backgrounds with cars next to them, i think its a fad in the tuner world right now.

for the second set, i went back to the same place, right behind my neighborhood, just moved down alittle bit...and the reflections are non stop, my car is too freakin shiny

...i guess i just need to look for a place that wont have anything to reflect...thanks for the comments

any more comments would be greatly appreciated

keystervr6 · May 22, 2008

took these 2 today after more reading and thought...

1.

2.

Battou · May 24, 2008

keystervr6 said:
ok, excuse my noobness, i was in fact thinking about decreasing the DOF...still trying to learn all the terminology...

No big deal, I find it best to point it out before it gets etched into ones head is all

keystervr6 said:
the thing is i really like the odd, or strange backgrounds with cars next to them, i think its a fad in the tuner world right now.

Don't take this the wrong way, You are incorrect on this one. Tuners are built for innercity racing so to speak, The backgrounds are chosen baised on this fact. The background of tuners is often ment to portrey either the showmenship of an owner (carshow environment) or urban race gatherings (Heavy urban often industrial suroundings where little traffic is frequent). In these pictures the car is out of place IMHO. It's about $10000 in parts and accesseries short of tuner appearence. You are going to want to choose your background to fit the car at hand as opposed to what you want the car to be. I can understand the idea of improvising and using what is available and close, but in those instances you really want to use angles that are somewhat decieving to make the BG fit the car as it stands.

keystervr6 said:
for the second set, i went back to the same place, right behind my neighborhood, just moved down alittle bit...and the reflections are non stop, my car is too freakin shiny ...i guess i just need to look for a place that wont have anything to reflect...thanks for the comments

any more comments would be greatly appreciated

Actually, the reflections are not a bad thing, you just have to pay attention to what is in them, Some times the reflection is just as important, compose the reflection as you would a photo.

keystervr6 said:
1.

Close the sun roof and it's perfect.

Oh, and just so you know I am Not just blowing smoke up your butt. A spur of the moment shot. The BG has it's flaws but it fits the car at hand as it stands and does not distract from the subject. Taken with Kodak C-series P-Shooter.