A pic to CC

[MediaMike19063]

Hey guys and gals!

Just had a little adventure at the Museum of Natural History here in Philly. Just one pic to share for now but tell me what you think!

Thanks for lookin'!

Mike

 

[RobNZ]

Hi mediamike and welcome to the forums.

Your here to improve so I will give you my C&C, no holds barred.

Compostion is poor, the butterfly is dead centre, lots of empty space left and right that doesnt really add to the image. Would have been better if the butterfly was composed so it was in the right half of the image with the other half as "empty" space, like the leaf it is sitting on giving the impression the butterfly has somehwere to go, is looking into etc, very hard to explain sorry.

Focus seems soft, but I dont think it is from missed focus, more likely from shooting through glass and or slight motion blur.

The leaf to the right of the butterlfy is overexposed and blown out (no detail).

So basically the shot is one you should chalk up as experience, learn from it and move on. Come back and look at it sometime in the near future and see how much you will have improved.

Once again, welcome and hope to see some more.

 

[bigtwinky]

+1 to what RobNZ said. Lack of sharpness, flat colours, blown out leaf, center composed... not a very nice photo.

If the image was tack sharp, you might be able to get away with the composition if you creativaly cropped

 

[MediaMike19063]

Cool! Thanks a lot for the feedback guys! I have to start looking a little harder at what I'm shooting...being a noob can be tough but a learning experience this has been!
Thanks again!

 

[AgentDrex]

Its not a horrible photo...I kind of like the fact the overblown leaf draws you to the wing which draws me to the head drawing me to the antennae drawing me to the OOF blade of grass in the bg which points to the wing again...

And it has a soft feel to it which lends itself well to the delicate nature of butterflies in general...nice job...

 

[bigtwinky]

There is alot to learn in photography. From the technical workings of the camera, to composition and then artistic message. It can be alot to assimilate.

Many new comers often place their subjects right in the middle. Its the most natural to them after spending years with a point and shoot.

Dont get too overloaded with the stuff to learn. Take a few things and focus on them. One of the basic guidelines that adds alot to a photo is the Rule of Thirds (google it). Placing items on impact points. Start with that...focus on getting things off the center.

Then also concentrate on getting a sharp image. Not sure what camera you shoot, but alot of entry level dSLRs only have their center focus point as their high sensitive, cross sensor. Higher end cameras have multiple of these. So learn the center recompose trick. Use the center point to focus. Place it on what you want in focus (people or animals, this usually means the eye). Half push the shutter to lock the focus. Then while holding down the shutter half way, recompose your shot to get the subject OFF the center of the frame.