Local parade - 5 photos for C&C

[mooimeisie]

Last week I got my new Minolta 70-210 f/4 lens I ordered on ebay, so Saturday we took a trip to a neighbouring town for their Ag Days parade. I've never taken picture of people, so I thought I'd give it a try. All pictures were taken at f/4 on the Aperture setting. The day was a little coudy. I started by taking pictures of the parade, then a friend arrived so the camera turned on his little boy.

1. Bicycle

2. Red Car

3. Horse Riders

4. Father and Son Watching the Parade

5. Little Guy Tuckered Out

 

[mamadotbebok]

Love the setting

 

[Sodak]

I like the composition on most of them.

f/4 might have bee a little bit too wide open because only the dad rider seems to be in focus, and the last one the bottom of the shoe seems sharp but the face seems a little on the soft side.

Nice job overall though, I like them.

 

[mooimeisie]

The lens is only f/4 so I don't think I can change it.

 

[Sodak]

The lens is only f/4 so I don't think I can change it.

Well, you can't go more open, like to 2.8, but you should be able to adjust it on your camera to go to say f/8 for these particular pictures. The camera should have an aperture priority setting. It should automatically adjust your shutter speed (slower) but you'd get more in focus on these shots.

Edited to add: I looked up the specs on that lens, it has a minimum ap of f/32, so you should be good to go. Good luck!

 

[docphotog]

the last one is great, you should find his parents and give them that picture haha

 

[marcpro]

Thanks for the reminder to comment on the pics. I missed the previous ones, not being subscribed to receive updates whenever there's a new post here. Hopefully some admin can post a sticky about an easy way to keep everyone in the loop in this group.

First picture: meh.... didn't do much for me.

Second pic: Very nice. A polarizing filter would have reduced glare in the windows, and made the color more intense and saturated on the car.

Third pic, horse riders: I agree with previous comment about aperture being too wide, try to stop down your lens next time, by shifting the wheel to get an aperture of f16 or f22. The "constant f4" means that you can open to f4 at any zoom setting. Higher quality zooms can do this, lower priced kit lenses usually only open to f5.6 at full magnification, you lose one stop.

Last two pics are nice, but the light is pretty flat on them. Just stating the obvious I guess

With such a big zoom, don't be afraid to try a few dramatic compositions, or even macro. And use the magic hour - sunrise or sunset, where the light is warm and there's lots of interesting shadows.

Cheers!!

 

[farmerj]

Thanks for the reminder to comment on the pics. I missed the previous ones, not being subscribed to receive updates whenever there's a new post here. Hopefully some admin can post a sticky about an easy way to keep everyone in the loop in this group

Top left of the threads, there's a "Thread tools" menu. Only way I am aware of being able to subscribe in the community section.

New lens looks like it will treat you nicely. One thing you might want to consider for some shots like this, especially around glass and water. Watch your lighting angles or work with a polarizing lens. It will let you shoot right through a windshield.

As was mentioned. the DOF could be tweaked a little in the riders and on the Tuckers shots.

Someone else posted this on the forum. I shamelessly will repost it.
Online Depth of Field Calculator

I have been working with this a lot lately with my flower pictures and the different lenses I have. You don't have to be 6" away from them to get the feeling you want for them.

 

[mooimeisie]

Here's what a total newb I am. I thought when you bought a lens that was f/4, that was the only aperture you shot at. Now I know different. As far as the polaizer filter goes, yes it was right in my camera bag, in the nice little case so I wouldn't scratch it. So much to learn, so much to remember. I'm going back to the farm next weekend and I'll try again.