A Sunset, A Mirror and A Horse for C&C

[Skedaddle]

Here are some of my latest photos. I've been working to know my camera inside and out. Up for C&C today are a horse, a mirror and another go at a sunset. Let me know what you think of them. The mirror is different from alot of the photos I take but I wanted to try something new. All are taken handheld.

(1) Other than his ears being slightly blurry, how does the composition and lighting look in this one?

EXIF
ISO - 200
Exposure Time - 1/50 sec
Shutter Speed - 1/49 sec
F-Stop - f/5.60
Aperture Value - f/5.70
Focal Length - 300.00 mm
Flash Not Used
75-300 mm Lens Used

(2) How does this one look? I was looking for something different to photograph and this caught my eye. I took it from the gold van next to the bus in the photo. Does the composition look ok? Is the background distracting? Is it boring?

EXIF
ISO - 400
Exposure Time - 1/3200 sec
Shutter Speed - 1/3158 sec
F-Stop - f/5.00
Aperture Value - f/5.00
Focal Length - 230.00 mm
Flash Not Used
75-300 mm Lens Used

(3) Does this one look boring? I tried to put foliage in it to make it more interesting as was suggested last time. Should I try and bring more color into the sky?

EXIF
ISO - 100
Exposure Time - 1/500 sec
Shutter Speed - 1/512 sec
F-Stop - f/5.60
Aperture Value - f/5.70
Focal Length - 50.00 mm
Flash Not Used

 

[JP164]

I love the school bus mirror shot....I don't know why except that this is the sort of thing that I see all the time but never think, "Hey, that would make a great shot."

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

The jury is out for me and the horse. I immidiately liked it, but then when I only saw 2 legs, it felt awkward.

I like the mirror shot. I think it would be fine to center this shot and crop it at the dark line on the left, giving the same margin as the right side. Cool!

 

[Sirashley]

Actually, I really like all 3, but I think in the first one, the uneven fence in the background is actually what's throwing off the horse. Imagine the shot with a solid green grass background and I think it would work alot better

 

[45mphK9]

My opinion for what it's worth . . .

#1 - the first thing I thought was, "what a beautiful horse!" - which is what you want the viewer to focus on. So, I would say it's a good picture. I like the horse off set because it gives you a sense of the pasture too. Maybe if you were to the side just a bit more to fix the leg problem & I would have waited a second longer too so his nose wasn't quite as buried in the grass. Those are minor things though. Good job.

#2 - I like the pic. I never think of shooting stuff like that either.

#3 - my least fav., but still a good pic. More color would be great. Wish the cloud & sun were a bit higher off of the horizon. I think they seem small against the foreground. Although, I like how the foreground is black. Maybe I would have had the foreground closer, but also zoomed in to the sunset more. ??

 

[Stilltime]

1.) I don't like the back of the horse being chopped off. It looks like a cross between focusing on the horse's head and trying to apply the rule of thirds, but neither is really prominent in the photo because the ROT distracts from the head/expression because the top of the horse is missing. If more of the head filled the frame than it wouldn't be distracting that other parts of the body aren't in the frame. But with all the empty space in the picture and to have just the horse's top line cut off is really distracting to me. But I'm also a horse person and as much as I like to look at photos, I also like to look at horses, and my horsey brain is going "but I wanna see his top line!".

2.) I like the mirror one. It reminds me of a shot I took of us on a wheeling trip and the mirror and the whole side of our jeep was covered in mud, expect one tiny spot on the mirror, which I was able to shoot with the reflection of the jeep behind us in it. Very cool.

3.) I like silhouettes. Try as I might, I can't get it right. I leave near the beach and always try to get the sea grass as a silhouette, and this has made me want to try again.

 

[Skedaddle]

Thank you for the comments. I'll remember next time to try and get all of the horse's legs in the shot. I was having to move quickly because the horse kept moving and my light was fading very fast. I would have put the rest of the horse in the photo but I didn't want to get the house with the pool and swingset in the background. I thought it would be too distracting. I can fix the fence since it's slanted by cloning it out.

As for the sunset shot, would it look better if I cropped some of the black off the bottom?

Anyone else?

 

[linpelk]

Nice shots. Sorry for not commenting on your last set. I must have missed them. I like the horse shot. I don't mind the missing nose, I don't mind the missing top, but I have to agree that the missing legs looks weird. I didn't notice right away, but once it was pointed out, I couldn't get past it. The colors are nice, I like your ROT, and it looks super sharp especially considering you shot this at 300mm with 1/50 ss. Usually that doesn't work so well.

I LOVE pic #2. The bus reminds me of something out of Toon Town, Disneyland. I like your composition. I think it looks great offset to the right. It feels like it should naturally be there because of the bar along the bottom leading your eye up to the right. Fun picture.

I'm terrible about sky/sunset pictures. It seems pretty rare that one has any affect on me. I'm kind of the same with flower shots. This one is nice, but again...meh.

Sorry, I hope that last comment wasn't offensive.