newbie, critique me

t00sl0w · Dec 12, 2009

well guys, just got into photography about 1.5 months ago. been taking pictures like a crackhead doing lines ever since. I love it!! its my new addiction, and my wife is glad something finally got me away from my car. i have taken like 3k pictures, i have hit like every park in my city, and local towns, and taken plenty of pics of my wife.
well, i am just now getting to editing and cleaning my pictures, i couldnt stop taking them long enough to edit anything...haha!!

lately i have been playing with super long exposure times with the aperture set really small, and the ISO set low. i love the way the pictures turn out, they have so much more detail than if you use a fast shutter speed with a large aperture.

so, guys, any help, any tips, and ideas, anything to throw my way, i am here to listen and learn. right now i am pretty dumb, but i want to learn and soke up anything and everything!!!
though, i should say that i am not new new to photography, i did have a decent 35mm with a nice set of primes when i was a younger, but i havent used it in a while, so i am practically new again.

anyway, here is a pciture i took at fort caroline here in jacksonville florida, thought it was a neat picture. all i have to edit photos is paint.net and GIMP right now, so all i really did was mess with the saturation and hue a little bit.
tell me whats good or bad with the picture...thanks!!!

Bitter Jeweler · Dec 12, 2009

Watch your backgrounds.

t00sl0w · Dec 12, 2009

guess i should have rotated more to the right?

Bitter Jeweler · Dec 12, 2009

You should get rid of distracting bits that add nothing to the image. Fill the frame with your subject.
I felt the left side was a bit close to the edge, so below, I gave it some more room. Hack photoshop job just to demonstrate. The greens and yellows were a little hot, so I toned them down, and brought up some Cyan in the subject.

HikinMike · Dec 12, 2009

Why did you take this photo to begin with? If you like it because you liked the "metal thingy", then 'focus' on THAT.

Darkhunter139 · Dec 12, 2009

Do you happen to know what that metal thing is anyways? I am curious.

Bitter Jeweler · Dec 12, 2009

Me too!

t00sl0w · Dec 12, 2009

are we talking about the canon? haha!!
no, i just thought it was a neat angle, and i mainly liked the stuff starting to grow on the right side of it....
and i see what you mean now with the cropping, that does look better...

and, why did you think that the greens were too bright? i thought it made the scene seem, more, "overgrown" i guess...

HikinMike · Dec 12, 2009

Is it really a canon?

I think the green was too over-saturated IMO. 'Bitter Jeweler' re-post looks more natural.

Bitter Jeweler · Dec 12, 2009

Ah! Now I see it. The pipe sticking out the side was a pivot point? The business end is away froim us. Cool.

The bright greens and yellows made it pop, but it looks too fake (to me at least).
And if you really like the stuff growing out of it, and that's what you want people to look at crop even farther in (but try to frame it that way in camera).

Have you done any searching online for "composition", rule of thirds, leading lines, visual balance, etc?
This is the stuff that will help you take better pictures. I like to keep in mind, what I want the image to convey, and try to focus on that. I really dig the stuff growing at the end too. Also keep in mind your shooting angle, and use it to get better backgrounds if the scene allows. Like getting lower here might have gotten rid of that back piece of wood. Or moving to the left, shooting towards the right might have gotten rid of the grass, and kept your background all green bushes. But again, only if your intended composition allows.

Oh, and also play with depth of field to throw that background stuff out of focus if you want too!
What lens did you use for this, BTW? Your nifty fifty?

t00sl0w · Dec 12, 2009

the only things about composition and whatnot that i have read, is what has been posted here, whether it be in the tutorials, or from you guys talking. i have been trolling here for like 3 weeks now. any good online guides or articles too read?

and, no, i am buying the 50mm this week, guess i should change my siggy to 'soon to buy'.
i used the kit lens in that picture. overall, i dont have a problem with the kit lens, its decent for walk around (at least for me)....my biggest complaint is the fact that its slow, and the fact that it doesnt feel as sharp as i want it to be...