C&C please

mrstravis · Jul 21, 2011

Random pictures that I took with my Nikon Coolpix L120.

They haven't been cropped, edited, or anything. They were all taken with natural light on the beach.

mrstravis · Jul 21, 2011

In #2, the top of the head is cut off and screwed up the picture.. Pic #3, the leg and foot need to be cropped out of the right corner, and could perhaps be zoomed in on the bird more..pic #4 could be zoomed in on my son more.

480sparky · Jul 21, 2011

The first one appears to be taken late in the evening, well after sunset, judging by the lack of shadows and the cool, blue color case. But the EXIF data doesn't support that. Maybe you need to set the clock on your camera?

mishele · Jul 21, 2011

Overall these shots are lacking a lot of what makes a shot interesting. I would take some time and look over this link........learn the rules of composition and then learn to break them!!

10 Top Photography Composition Rules | Photography Mad
Keep shooting and keep posting!!!

JustJamie · Jul 21, 2011

I really like the water splashing off the feet in pic 2, I do agree about the head being chopped though..I would say its my favorite.

mrstravis · Jul 21, 2011

480sparky said:
The first one appears to be taken late in the evening, well after sunset, judging by the lack of shadows and the cool, blue color case. But the EXIF data doesn't support that. Maybe you need to set the clock on your camera?

It was actually taken in the morning around 10:30am. I don't have a dslr camera, will that make a difference in the EXIF?

fokker · Jul 21, 2011

Not sure about that camera but it probably doesn't offer much control over exposure or focus, so I will give you some advice pertaining to composition only.

None of your shots are from interesting angles. They all look like you were standing in one spot turning around taking photos of things you can see without moving your feet. This is not how to do it, you have to move around and get up high or low or behind something or in front of something else to get an interesting perspective, or at least an angle that is flattering to the subject. With kids, it is best to get down to their eye level, and actually have them making eye-contact with the camera (in most cases, obviously somewhat dependent on the context). You have to watch the backgrounds, which you've actually done pretty well in most of your shots there.

480sparky · Jul 21, 2011

mrstravis said:
It was actually taken in the morning around 10:30am. I don't have a dslr camera, will that make a difference in the EXIF?

It must have been a very overcast day then. The EXIF data is info about the camera, settings, etc. that is stored along with the image itself. With the right software and/or plug-ins, one can view it pretty easily.

Here's what it says about your first shot:

Camera Maker: NIKON
Camera Model: COOLPIX L120
Image Date: 2010-07-05 10:44:53 (no TZ)
Focal Length: 50mm (35mm equivalent: 278mm)
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure Time: 0.0031 s (1/320)
ISO equiv: 80
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: program (Auto)
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No (enforced)
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: sRGB
GPS Coordinate: undefined, undefined

mrstravis · Jul 21, 2011

JustJamie said:
I really like the water splashing off the feet in pic 2, I do agree about the head being chopped though..I would say its my favorite.

Thank you, of the 196 photos I took that day it was one of my favorites! If only I hadn't chopped off the top of the head. LOL

canadyken1 · Jul 21, 2011

Not bad

mrstravis · Jul 21, 2011

mishele said:
Overall these shots are lacking a lot of what makes a shot interesting. I would take some time and look over this link........learn the rules of composition and then learn to break them!!

10 Top Photography Composition Rules | Photography Mad
Keep shooting and keep posting!!!

Great read, thanks for the link. I think I'm going to subscribe to the site and read up on things that I am not clear on. I printed out the info from the article and will read over it in the morning.

mrstravis · Jul 21, 2011

fokker said:
Not sure about that camera but it probably doesn't offer much control over exposure or focus, so I will give you some advice pertaining to composition only.

None of your shots are from interesting angles. They all look like you were standing in one spot turning around taking photos of things you can see without moving your feet. This is not how to do it, you have to move around and get up high or low or behind something or in front of something else to get an interesting perspective, or at least an angle that is flattering to the subject. With kids, it is best to get down to their eye level, and actually have them making eye-contact with the camera (in most cases, obviously somewhat dependent on the context). You have to watch the backgrounds, which you've actually done pretty well in most of your shots there.

Ok, you are actually correct, I did very little moving in most of the pics. Pic #1 was taken on a different day, at a local park. The others were at the beach, were I really did stand in one of about 3 spots and take pics. Thanks for the insight. In pics 2 and 4, he wasn't posing, they were actually snapshots that I thought were really cute and natural looking. But as someone mentioned in another post, what makes the pic cute to me is the sentimental value but that is not how viewers view the pic. I will do more moving next time. Great advice!! Thank you!