Beginner's Attempt.. thoughts?

andyffer · Oct 16, 2009

A bgrinner beginner and photography beginner here just asking for some help or thoughts.
Tell me what you guys think..

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

Used a Nikon D80 with the 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

DScience · Oct 16, 2009

I think you went a bit overkill with the vignette.

tirediron · Oct 16, 2009

Since you've posted rather a lot of images, I'll give general impressions rather than specific critique.

With respect to the automobile series: I would lose the vignette, it doesn't really add anything IMO. As well, your images are for the most part, slightly under-exposed. You really need a fill light in the grill area. As well consider your background (the tree behind the car in #1 is somewhat discordant); a larger aperture and more softly focused background would focus the eye more firmly on the subject.

#10 Doesn't really 'work' for me. There's no discernable subject and nothing for the eye to rest on. The road makes a good leading line, but it leads the eye across the bottom of the image, and you miss the top.

#11 Better use of aperture and selective focus here, but people walking away from the camera are not usually very interesting. (Is this by any chance San Diego?)

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

jnm · Oct 16, 2009

I'm going to agree with everyone on the vignette for the car shots. it's overdone and i dont think even a slight vignette would add anything to them.

for #10 drop the vignette again and see if you can maybe crop up to the lamp post shadow, give it more of a panoramic feel along with dropping the sidewalk in the lower right.

#11 would probably be the best, and i again agree with tirediron, would have been nice to use more selective focus. as it stands i think if you cropped it from the right, between the planter and the suitcase, it would enhance the feeling of the man looking at something to the left.

Plato · Oct 16, 2009

The vignette doesn't bother me. In fact, I wouldn't have even noticed it if you guys hadn't mentioned it. I am slight bothered by the noise reduction. It looks too good - the buildings look absolutely artificial.

Canosonic · Oct 16, 2009

#1 The vignette. Already said, so I'll skip it
#2 Simplicity. The simplicity astonishes me in the good way. But not all might like it.
#3 Focal range. It looks like all these photos are made around 20mm APSC. Never be afraid to get in closer.
#4 I think the POL effects are PP achieved. Get a POL filter.
I might be wrong, I am not the best photographer (not even close ) out there, so it's Just My Opinion

Derrel · Oct 16, 2009

I think Plato's kidding us about not having noticed the vignette effect. Or maybe he left his eyeglasses on the kitchen table with the newspaper this morning....yowza!

The vignette is killing the car shots, but so is the positioning of the car in shots 1,2,3,and 4; the car's too off-center and is leading the eye right out of the frame. Frame #7 is your closest to a successful shot.

I think maybe the one with the two palm trees has a little bit going for it, sort of showing us the car is in Miami or some other Florida (?) location where the weather is nice. Still, car photography is demanding, and we're used to seeing high levels of skill in car photography in the car mags and adverts. I'd suggest looking for a specific, professional car photo you like, and trying to emulate everything about it; the experience of going out and seeing how much has to be done to creates just one,single, good car photo will be an eye-opener.

Plato · Oct 16, 2009

Derrel said:
I think Plato's kidding us about not having noticed the vignette effect. Or maybe he left his eyeglasses on the kitchen table with the newspaper this morning....yowza!

The vignette is killing the car shots, but so is the positioning of the car in shots 1,2,3,and 4; the car's too off-center and is leading the eye right out of the frame. Frame #7 is your closest to a successful shot.

I think maybe the one with the two palm trees has a little bit going for it, sort of showing us the car is in Miami or some other Florida (?) location where the weather is nice. Still, car photography is demanding, and we're used to seeing high levels of skill in car photography in the car mags and adverts. I'd suggest looking for a specific, professional car photo you like, and trying to emulate everything about it; the experience of going out and seeing how much has to be done to creates just one,single, good car photo will be an eye-opener.

Actually, I'm not kidding. In fact, even when I'm looking for it, I can barely see it in #6, #8 and #9. And I am wearing my good glasses!

Village Idiot · Oct 16, 2009

I'm thinking the focusing on your camera/lens combo may be off.

At least in the shot with the guy there's very noticable front focus going on and the subjects in most all photos appear soft.

Plato · Oct 16, 2009

Village Idiot said:
I'm thinking the focusing on your camera/lens combo may be off.

At least in the shot with the guy there's very noticable front focus going on and the subjects in most all photos appear soft.

I suspect that in the shot with the guy, the camera's autofocus caught a portion of the fencing. In the other shots, I'm inclined to blame the PP.

TakenAptly · Oct 16, 2009

Plato you might want to check your monitor settings? The vignetting is actually pretty heavy in those shots..

@ Village Idiot, it could possibly be the editing done to the picture?

Just wondering, were the pictures edited? That would help out if it's the editing that caused the softness, etc..

Anyways, to the shots:
For the cars, like has already been said, you need to get a little more light into the grill in a few shots. Such as #2, I like the shot and I think it would actually be pretty nice if there was more light on the front end and no vignetting.