Looking for some CC on my photos

[stc2008lt]

Hey everyone. I was recently in downtown St. Louis for a journalism convention and when I had spare time in between sessions (and some after) I took a few photos. I have a Panasonic FZ50 DSLR - about the most basic SLR I think you can get. Anyway, I shot some scenes I thought might be interesting, but I am looking for some advice as to taking better photos. I forget what exposures and f/stops I took these at, they varied, but if I have a bit more time I could pull them up in CS3 later. It was completely overcast and raining most of the weekend.

America's Center:

AT&T Building:

Looking down Washington Ave:

Tryed an artistic type pole shot.. idk how to describe it:

Down one of the side streets:

Another side street, late at night:

and finally my favorite: the hotel we stayed at:

Any suggestions at all? Im always open for constructive criticism.

 

[DRoberts]

Not to bad in general...alittle overall underexposed. Decent composition. Would like to have seen more people in these. When shooting urban shots don't be afraid to put faces with the environment. To me it adds to the story of the place.
That being said, my fav is #5, Down the sidestreet.

 

[laam999]

I agree it they need more people to make it feel alive.

Also I thought that the FZ50 was a bridge camera, I was soooooooooo tempted by it, still am tbh.

 

[stc2008lt]

Thanks guys!

To DRoberts, I won't lie I was intimidated by all of the people. I didn't want to stand in the middle of the crowd.. but I've seen shots of NYC with tons of people and they look good. I guess I need to have some more guts, lol. Thanks for the help!

 

[chrisburke]

Thanks guys!

To DRoberts, I won't lie I was intimidated by all of the people. I didn't want to stand in the middle of the crowd.. but I've seen shots of NYC with tons of people and they look good. I guess I need to have some more guts, lol. Thanks for the help!

you wanna talk about guts, check this guy out (warning, video posted many many times here on TPF)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkIWW6vwrvM[/ame]

 

[DRoberts]

That is great Chris...And it is true. When I did my "Walking in Memphis" series, I just shot away. The worst I had to deal with was just a few puzzled looks. Even the homeless in the park didn't seem bothered by me taking shots of them.
I feel if someone ever has a problem with me taking there picture, I will just show then that I am deleting it.
As long as you are not impossing on someones "reasonable expectation of privacy" you are good.

 

[LaFoto]

That bland sky would have made me try to avoid including it in my compositions as much as I would have been able to, I think.

The night shots were taken handheld?
That's why you needed to stop up as much as you could?

Usually, a smaller aperture (which automatically leads to longer exposures, which at once asks for a tripod, of course) is the better choice for night photography, so the light sources don't turn into bright blobs but retain some more definition (they become like little stars).

The nicest thing I came across when taking photos in a bigger place with many people around was that one person rushing up to me asking "You're the press? You're the press? I get to show up in the paper now?? Yes? YES???" Oh dear. I had to crush his hopes...

 

[stc2008lt]

That bland sky would have made me try to avoid including it in my compositions as much as I would have been able to, I think.

The night shots were taken handheld?
That's why you needed to stop up as much as you could?

Usually, a smaller aperture (which automatically leads to longer exposures, which at once asks for a tripod, of course) is the better choice for night photography, so the light sources don't turn into bright blobs but retain some more definition (they become like little stars).

The nicest thing I came across when taking photos in a bigger place with many people around was that one person rushing up to me asking "You're the press? You're the press? I get to show up in the paper now?? Yes? YES???" Oh dear. I had to crush his hopes...

I totally regretted not bringing my tripod with me that weekend. I knew I wanted some night shots, but I guess I decided against bringing it. I also was disappointed in how overcast it was. Perfect for portraits, but not how I wanted to do my city shots. I did post some night shots in a different part of the forum where I used my tripod though for the night photography, and they turned out pretty cool! Thank you for the critique!