Brand new here (advice on pics pls!)

[Yelie]

Hi there! Well I am not really new at taking pictures but I am new at trying to really make them good :blushing: I finally got a camera that will take some good pictures so I wanted to advice on what I can do to make them better! I'm going to B&N tonight to check out some books but meanwhile here are a couple pictures I took today with the new camera..

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

 

[Yelie]

I reread this and figured I should be more specific. I'm really just looking for advice and what I should really concentrate on to begin with? They were taken with the Nikon D40 and unedited.

I've been looking at the galleries and looking over the critics there and thats helping a lot but would still love some on mine

 

[Stratman]

I would say you did quite well. Exposure is good on most, composition is good too. #'s 1 &2 are my favs

 

[LaFoto]

With landscape garden photos such as this one there is little you can still do to become better. The photos clearly show that you either know about composition ("rules" ... or much rather "conventions"), or you simply feel them. All five photos are pleasantly composed.

You also seem to be well familiar with the effects of aperture to your photo and know when to choose which aperture to get the effects you want (sharpness from front to back, or a detached subject against a blurred background). Exposure looks ok, the blue bridge seems to be a tad overexposed and the rose just that bit too dark (to my eyes).

Will you want to make yourself familiar with post processing software such as Photoshop, maybe? Or are you familiar with that already?

Only very minor tweaks in Photoshop would already help the Blue-Bridge-Photo and a mild push on the highlight-levels for the rose would make that one "pop", too. No need for any huge "rescue" actions here!!

 

[Yelie]

Wow! Thanks! I actually have no idea about composition, like you said I kinda "feel" the photo I guess you could say.

Also I was actually going to make a post about aperture...I'm not sure exactly what it means? I'm gathering that its how much light is in the photo is that correct?

I do have some experience in Photoshop...doing b/w with color and general editing and making things like birth announcements but I havent ever really used to it make the actual photo look better... I guess I need to figure out how to do the things you suggested for those couple photos! Thanks so much for the feedback!!

 

[drdan]

The biggest improvement I could suggest is the lighting. Most of these shots appear to be taken in the middle of the day. You will have more appealing lighting, shadows and coloration very early and very late in the day. The blue bridge pic has an overall cool bluish look. It would likely benefits from increasing reds and yellows, decreasing blues and greens slightly. Also look at using a tripod if you didn't, the focus seems a little soft and judicious use of unsharp mask in photoshop to sharpen them further.