C&C request for a newbie

[Babs]

Hi! I'm new to the forum and new to SLR photography. 3 weeks ago I bought myself a second-hand Canon EOS 350d and I'm loving playing around with it so far. I would really appreciate some C&C on a couple of my pics.

I'll start with what I think is my best pic taken so far:


Lens: Tamron 70-300mm
Exposure: 0.008 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 300mm
ISO Speed: 100
Autofocus
Natural daylight, no flash.

I like the compostition of the three cygnets (who were eagerly awaiting bread) and think the bokeh is nice in the background. Although there is a leaf blurring the left-most cygnet which is a bit disappointing, I like the picture overall.


Secondly, a picture taken on the Kent coast at high tide:



Lens: Canon 18-55mm kit lens
Exposure: 0.002 sec
Aperture: f/20.0
Focal Length: 21mm
ISO Speed: 200
Autofocus
Natural daylight, no flash.

I like the light on the sea and the detail of the clouds and bird in the sky and the curve of the cliffs and beach, but still think the composition could have been better. Any comments on how this could be improved?


Finally:


Lens: Canon 18-55mm kit lens
Exposure: 0.013 sec
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 55mm
ISO Speed: 400
Autofocus
Natural daylight, no flash.

I think this could be quite a nice picture but it definitely needs some post-processing and I'm not sure what. I've tried playing around with B&W and cropping, but whatever I do, the booth in the back (which has the sun bouncing off it) just gets distorted too much and drags the eye away from the dodgems. I like the angles in this picture, though, and like the subject as usually carnival pictures are at night with bright lights and lots of people and this is more the "calm before the storm". But I don't know how to get the best from it.

Many thanks for any comments or help.

 

[tirediron]

Welcome to the forum and photography! C&C per req:

1. This is a really cool image. I think it would be even stronger if it included a little more of the bill of the bird image left and the head/neck of the one image right (Understanding that may not have bene an option).

2. There's potential here, but I think a reshoot at a different time of day is required. The silhoutted land look can work, but in this case it's just a black area taking up the right 1/3 of the image. Try re-shooting when you've got a lower light coming much farther from image left. I think with more visible detail in the land, the composition would be fine.

3. This might work as a 'repeating pattern' shot, but I think you need to crop away as much of the outside, bright area as possible. That bright light has also had an effect on your exposure of the ride cars which are slightly dark. I think perhaps a lower point of view, and position farther left might have helped.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

 

[Babs]

Thanks for your comments.

1 - I see what you're saying with this. Because I've cut the neck off the bird on the right, it looks a bit like a floating head, while the one on the left is slightly incomplete. It was a bit of an instantaneous shot (and I've got a fair number from either side of this moment) but it's definitely something to watch in the future.

2 - I might try another shoot, this time in the early morning. I doubt I'll get there for sun-rise, but maybe on the next sunny day I'll try it again.

3 - Thanks for your help on this too. I'll try playing around with some cropping and see what I can come up with. It's annoying as I think there's a picture there, but I've missed it, and now the carnival has gone too! Ah well - it's all a learning experience, right?!

Thanks again.