C&C if you please

mrstravis · Jul 23, 2011

1.

2.

3.

mrstravis · Jul 23, 2011

I spy with my noobish eye (lol) that the lighting is bad in pic1 and pic 3 is out of focus. Pic 2 looks pretty good to me but you guys may see something that I missed.

Malone · Jul 23, 2011

Yes, 3 is OOF, 1 & 2 are a bit soft on the focus. The first photo, I think if you had taken a couple steps to the right and got a different angle to give the bird a different background other then the tree, it would have been a much better shot. The colors are so similar and there isn't enough separation between the two, imho.

mrstravis · Jul 23, 2011

Ok, now I haven't edited these in any way. What would you suggest for the soft focus in 1 & 2? Is it blatantly obvious that I was looking up in pic 3? And the lighting in pic 1, they are all natural light, but is the lighting in pic 1 terrible? Should I have used flash to provide more lighting in dark areas?

Virtuosos · Jul 23, 2011

Its the issue with the color. The bird looks like it took bark from the tree and made a jacket with it

Changing the angle to a less noisy background so your eyes aren't struggling to focus on the bird itself would of been better. Whether or not that is an option, I do not know... This is just my opinion!

katerolla · Jul 23, 2011

to me all the photos look like the birds are lost into the background, the background is too similar in color as the subject, try opening the apeture as wide as you can to blur the background and make the bird stand out.

mrstravis · Jul 23, 2011

katerolla said:
to me all the photos look like the birds are lost into the background, the background is too similar in color as the subject, try opening the apeture as wide as you can to blur the background and make the bird stand out.

Hmmmm, I hadn't noticed that they all looked lost in the background. I'm still getting to know my camera but I will figure out how to open the aperture. Thanks for the advice.

Malone · Jul 23, 2011

mrstravis said:
I'm still getting to know my camera but I will figure out how to open the aperture.

Aperture is referring to the f stop. What mode are you using? Manual?

Check out Aperture midway down the page -

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-exposure.htm

mrstravis · Jul 23, 2011

Virtuosos said:
Its the issue with the color. The bird looks like it took bark from the tree and made a jacket with it Changing the angle to a less noisy background so your eyes aren't struggling to focus on the bird itself would of been better. Whether or not that is an option, I do not know... This is just my opinion!

Lol, it does look like the bird has on a bark jacket. Apparently that is the birds favorite trunk, but I suppose I could have stood on the other side of him, but the background would've been water. Idk, do you think there is any way to enhance/fix the photo in photoshop to make it more appealing to the eye?

480sparky · Jul 23, 2011

They were all taken in Auto exposure.

Malone · Jul 23, 2011

Auto exposure? tsk tsk.. haha, I kid.. But really, I suggest before you start worrying about PP to save your photos, you learn to better use your camera.

Grab your camera, the manual, and pull up this website. Each topic your read through, look it up in the manual and familiarize yourself with each setting on your camera. Practice playing around with each setting, take a few shots, and see how it changes the photos.

mrstravis · Jul 23, 2011

Malone said:
Auto exposure? tsk tsk.. haha, I kid.. But really, I suggest before you start worrying about PP to save your photos, you learn to better use your camera.

Grab your camera, the manual, and pull up this website. Each topic your read through, look it up in the manual and familiarize yourself with each setting on your camera. Practice playing around with each setting, take a few shots, and see how it changes the photos.

I'm using a Nikon Coolpix L120, there isn't a choice of manual or auto, just auto. The manual is on a disk, I'm a reader, I like to be able to hold the manual. But I will definitely pop in the disk tomorrow instead of trying to wing it. Lol. I never knew there was so much involved with photography. I'm really learning a lot. Thanks guys!

Malone · Jul 23, 2011

Oooh, I see! My mistake! I assumed you had a DSLR. Sorry! :blushing:

480sparky · Jul 23, 2011

Then print your manual. Most likely it's a .pdf.

mrstravis · Jul 23, 2011

Malone said:
Oooh, I see! My mistake! I assumed you had a DSLR. Sorry! :blushing:

No, I wanted to see if photography was something I would enjoy before i popped $7-800 on a camera. I knew I liked taking pics of my son and at family functions but I wasn't sure if I would like photography as a hobby. No need to blush, I know most people on the forum have "big boy" cameras, I will upgrade one day! Lol