Newb looking for some C&C

[RockDawg]

I'm pretty much new to photography in general, but I've been reading a lot and playing around with my D40. These are my first attempts at shooting in manual mode or in the snow (like I said I'm a newb so pretty much everything I do is a first ). Let me know what you think and be honest. I'm not sensitive.

1.

2.

3.

4.

 

[GeorgeUK]

I think #1 has the best composition and works well. :thumbup:

#4 is a nice idea however I find the area to the right too dark.

 

[RockDawg]

Thanks for the input. I feel like I struggle with composition. Sometimes I feel like I'm just taking an arbitrary picture and lack that "artistic vision" so many on here seem to have.

 

[RockDawg]

Anyone else? I would really like some opinions to help refine my eye for this stuff.

 

[chente922]

#1 is the best one but I think #4 have the best possibility. Try to get back and shoot it again this time with a longer shutter speed so the fluidity of the waterfall and the water is more visible. I think the contrast of that and the ice (the floating ice, sorry, I don't know its name in english) would look pretty cool.

 

[Dustcloth]

Nice RockDawg! NIce!

#1 is my favorite but they're all good! I think the key to these, along with your composition skills, is the snow. I don't think they would look that dramatic without the snow.
I know what you mean about lacking the artistic skills of others on here. I'm suffering from that very lack. I have 1200 clicks on my Canon 40D and haven't ended up with anything "exceptional" yet.....:x...
I'll just keep trying!

-Jim

 

[sabbath999]

This is not C&C, just a suggestion of something you might try. A good dark neutral density filter and a tripod would let you blur the water on that last shot. That might be a good thing to add to your "wish" list if you want to take these kinds of pictures a lot.

 

[RockDawg]

Thanks for all the input. I truly appreciate it. I did use a tripod. In fact I bought it that day. My main goal shooting that day was to try to capture the motion of the water, but even when using the smallest aperture the pics with the best motion blur were over exposed. I suppose this is where the neutral density filter that Sabbath mentions comes in.

Anyhow, I did get two other shots that I originally thought were a bit over exposed, but did capture the motion better. After further review maybe they're fine. Again, these are the types of things I need to learn to "see" better. Let me know what you think. #1 is the same shot as #4 above but with a slower shutter speed and #2 is a wider angle of the same scene.

1.

2.

 

[DigiJay]

I love #1 and #3... may I ask where these were taken?

 

[RockDawg]

Thanks! They were taken at Mill Creek Park in Youngstown, Ohio.

 

[SleepingWolf]

all excellent photos..keep doing what you're doing..the bridge is a keeper

 

[RockDawg]

This is not C&C, just a suggestion of something you might try. A good dark neutral density filter and a tripod would let you blur the water on that last shot. That might be a good thing to add to your "wish" list if you want to take these kinds of pictures a lot.

I took your advice and got a filter, but I got a circular polarizer because the local camera shop didn't have any of the right size neutral density fillters for my lense. The guy said it should do the job also. I hope there's still snow on the ground when I go out this weekend so I can see how well it works. Thanks for the tip.

 

[NJMAN]

I think you did a great job on these. Just study composition of other works by photographers here, then practice, and it will start to become second nature to you.

Try to avoid placing the primary object of interest in the center of the frame. It helps to have something leading the eye towards the primary object, so that there is a nice flow of visual interest.

You can also try cropping the photo afterwards to see it makes the composition more interesting.

Nice job, and keep posting! :thumbup:

NJ