2 flowers, a girl, and a boy for this week's C&C

[LuckySo-n-So]

#1.) My nephew; I believe this was taken with a 100mmAIS-E, cropped--a snapshot basically. I took this with a Nikon D40, manual focus. It is a little blurry--DOF is too shallow, I think, and the shirt in the background is really distracting. Anything else????

#2.)This is the third bloom on this particular Magnolia tree in 7+ years.

Nikon D90; Aperture Priority, 1/200, f/ 3.5, ISO 200, Nikon 50mm 1.8

#3) This is my niece at a recent crawfish boil. This photo is cropped and "auto" edited in PSE7. The crawfish is a little out of focus, and the top of her head is cut off. What else????

Nikon D90; Aperture Priority; f/5.6; 1/100; ISO 200; Sigma 18-50 2.8 lens.

#4.) Just a pink flower (not sure what kind). DOF maybe a little shallow.

Nikon D40; Aperture Priority; f/3.2; 1/100; ISO 400; Nikon 50mm 1.8.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2176/3544603898_cb3e643268_b.jpg

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I think #1 is cute. Yes, focus is an issue. Blur the background more and I think that would work. Also maybe crop more in (add) to the right side for visual weight. But I know, there is probably a zombie there. I do like the colors here.

#2 seems washed out. I can see it's focused there, but no detail. I that is hard with such a white flower on the dark green. Why only the 3rd flower in 7 years?

#3 Aww... She has a nice smile. I think the square crop would work if the crawfish were in focus. Maybe an aperture of f/8 or f/11 would have expanded the depth of field a bit to get both in focus. (I am guessing here) I really like this shot though, edging out #1 by a few points.

#4 Is it a begonia? Not keeping the whole flower in focus makes it gets lost in the busy background.

Keep shootin'!

 

[Sherman Banks]

#1. There's the stuff you mentioned, but the key element missing from your composition here is what the boy is looking at. Without the relationship between the subject and whatever is holding his attention, it simply looks like an odd crop. Is that your AIS lens on the D40? I didn't think they metered or focused on that body, so I can imagine getting a good shot with it would be very tricky.

#2. I think this one is OK. It's pretty basic in terms of composition, but I will commend you using f3.5 to increase the DOF. A lot of 50mm users only use it at it's largest aperture and it often works but not in cases like this where more detail is better. It is kind of heavy on the right with the leaves over there, and I'd probably spot heal the dirt spots on the rear left pedals. Nice shot though.

#3. The DOF here is probably too shallow. The only area I can tell that is in focus is around her ear. This is another example where you want that relationship with the two subjects to be clearly defined. Having the crawfish OOF just draws the eye to her face, which is not all your trying to highlight here.

#4. The biggest difficulty you face when shooting something surrounded by a whole lot more of that thing is isolating it, whether it be through focus, contrast, color, etc. Here you've used the focus to isolate your subject, but the color in the background is so close to the subject that it just blends in. Try to shoot these types of shots against a darker or lighter background so the contrast in color and focus is made more clear and the emphasis of the photo remains on your subject.

Overall, the photos all share a common theme among the composition that you should be aware of. You fill the frame edge to edge and leave very little negative space. This works in many cases, but sometimes you need to just give your subjects some room, and this process also causes a lot of your subject placement to be central which is a hard place to put a focal point that retains any attention. Try to take your zoom out a bit and use the rule of thirds to compose your shots every now and then. There's nothing wrong with a central placement, but when you have a series that all share that same placement, the images tend to get boring fast. Also, try to frame your shot in a way that you end up with nothing in an area. That open space can help isolate your subject and add a unique balance that makes a photo stand out. Overall, pretty good shots. I have to ask why you are splitting your time between a D40 and a D90 though?

 

[LuckySo-n-So]

I have to ask why you are splitting your time between a D40 and a D90 though?

1.) Just trying to get a handle on manual focus It's pretty difficult for me because I wear glasses.

2.) Trying to learn how to guess metering. The 100mm AIS-E lens doesn't meter with the D40, so I take a stab at it.

3.) The D40 is only 3 1/2 months old!!! Don't want it to become a $400 paper weight!!! :mrgreen:

Thanks for the input!!! I must say that work has really been taking away from my photographic efforts lately--if I'm not working on Saturday to earn some extra $$$, I'm too exhausted at the end of the day to want to do anything except veg out on the couch.

For those of you who don't know, May-August is to construction what November-December is to retail.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[linpelk]

It seems like everything I wanted to say has been mentioned above! I like your pictures, they are nice. The little boy in pic one looks so sweet. If only we knew what was keeping his attention. It looks like your white balance is off a little in this shot. His skin looks a tad too yellow, but I could be wrong since I see that the white stripes in his shirt look pretty accurate.

Pic #3, your niece is lovely. She has a nice smile and I love the lighting. You found a nice spot to take pictures. As mentioned already, it's a bummer you didn't get that crawfish in better focus. I hate when that happens. I know these moments don't wait for you to adjust your camera do they? Still a nice picture and I'm sure she and her family love it.

Pic #4: I can only repeat what has already been said. This flower would have looked better, in my opinion, if it would have been framed slightly more to the right instead of centered. Also, maybe less of the same color directly behind it to create the separation needed to draw your viewers' eyes more toward your subject.

Hope that helps!

 

[artcodesign]

I can say the last photo is amazing. I love that stuff.

 

[LuckySo-n-So]

Thanks for the feedback guys!

 

[sburatorul]

the second one looks interesting to me. try giving it a soft focus treatment, some more contrast to emphasize the flower and some vignette for the same reason... might work

 

[Skedaddle]

The first photo doesn't do much for me. I agree with sburatorul on the second photo. The thrird has good lighting but it looks like it is focusing on her shirt. I like the colors in the last photo but I would have like the whole flower to be in focus.

 

[sjluto]

The kid is really cute in #1! I agree with the focus issue, but it's a good start.

#2 is a little underexposed for my taste. I feel like its missing something. The flower is beautiful though, I love the shape and your perspective.

#3 doesn't do much for me. Again, maybe a focus issue? Maybe saturate the colors a bit and bring up the exposure. Might help.

I love the colors and beauty of the flower in #4. Like others said, I would have framed it off center though.