A few new shots...C&C welcome!

[v1c70r]

Hey guys, here's a few new shots that I took this morning. This is actually my third day of attempting to be a photographer so I'm still very new. Any tips are appreciated.



1.

2.

3.

Thanks in advance!

 

[v1c70r]

Any thoughts? Good or Bad...

 

[SarasotaTim]

I'm a n00b myself, but I love the last one!

 

[Jarmo]

I think 3 is the best. I like the composition.

Number 1 and 2 seem to be a bit tilted. I think number 2 could use a bit tighter crop from the sides.

 

[cdino88]

#1 in my opinion is boring. A larger aperture could certainly obtain much better results. The fact that everything is in focus makes it seem like just another snapshot. Isolate your subject to really make your pictures stand out.

#2. I also see the makings of a snapshot here. Like something you just wanted to capture with no rhyme or reason to capturing. Play with your angles, play with your composition, play with your crops.

#3 By far the best, by far the most interesting, by far my favorite. I just feel like that pillar on the right keeps pulling my eye away from the seated man which I take is your subject. I feel that if you got closer to the man and had nothing but trees and sky in front of him the picture would be greatly improved.

 

[v1c70r]

Hey guys, thanks a lot for the feedback. I really take it to heart and am striving to improve. I feel like I learn from my errors.

 

[gigi24]

#1. I agree, kinda boring. If you would have gotten just the breezeway and used a larger aperture, it would have produced a more interesting picture.

#2. Crop it in closer maybe, the background is a bit distracting for me. Also, it's tilted a bit.

#3. I really like this one!

 

[cdino88]

Feedback is the best teacher. Mistakes are the best lessons

 

[creisinger]

Read up on the "rule of thirds" which is 101 for every photographer. Rules are made to be broken as well but it helps at the beginning...

In general when taking photos of inanimate objects you're in for a catch 22. On the one side your subjects are not running out of the frame or you have to keep focusing to get it sharp. On the other hand this means that you can take all the time in the world to compose your shot nicely and expose and focus properly (which can be also quite challenging - the framing that is).

The first shot doesn't "wow" me. A few reasons are:
-other subjects are cluttering the photo (back of the car, the sign at the far end, the big tree on the right) and take away the attention of the viewer
- not leveled, the image is slightly tilted to the left
- lighting/time of day (to understand that, ideally you should spend an entire day at that location and watch how the sun moves the light from one side of the walkway to the other). It can make a world of a difference shooting the same place at dawn, at noon or late in the afternoon when the sun is standing really low.
- you shot this photo at f11, you might get also very interesting results if you go down to aperture 5.6 or lower if you can to reduce the depth of field. This way you can emphasize your subject more while moving unimportant elements out of focus.

The second shot looks nicely focused and exposed.
You chose to move the subject dead center which can make the photo look boring (that's where the rule of thirds comes in). Play around and move your subject off-center to the left or right, whatever your background allows you to do. With subjects like these it's hard to avoid "foreign" objects like cars and properties that don't add to the mood of your subject. You may get a nicer results by cloning those out during post processing.
Also straighten the horizon as the image is slightly tilted to left again.

Now in the last shot you almost got it with the rule of thirds. You place the man in the left third and the bottom third but too close to the border of the image. See how much of a difference it makes compared to taking the same image with the man in the center?

Always play with your composition. Take your time! If you can, use a tripod.

When shooting hand held, don't go lower than 1/125 of a second to prevent motion blur.

Best of luck!

 

[reznap]

2.

#3 I think should be cropped lower on top and closer on the right.. maybe in that pillar/support at some point.

#2 just needs some slight rotation, closer crop and some PP punch.. I really like this shot.

 

[v1c70r]

Thanks for all of the feedback guys!

Panzer, that edit looks really good.

 

[thierry]

#3 is very cool