C&C sought between two photo's

[KonaPhotographer]

I spent the afternoon taking photo's. I didn't have a goal or an idea about what I wanted to achieve and it showed.

When I got home it was these two photo's that held the most promise.



Version 1






Version 2




Both images had to be cropped & straightened and "auto enhanced" in Aperture. Photo's were taken in "Auto" mode on the camera due in large part to frustration.



Personally my preference is Version 2, I'm thinking that I may have cropped to much of the tree trunk though, and perhaps a little less ground in the foreground.


Thanks in advance for tips, opinions and pointers. Feel free to edit them as well

 

[manaheim]

If I were choosing one, I'd say #1... but I'd choose neither and go start again.

I could explain why, but you've already said you were frustrated and I don't want to upset you with a laundry list of problems. :-/

My suggestion would be to go study basic composition. You did at least one thing in here which shows me you are thinking compositionally, which is awesome, but you've made a lot of choices that don't work unfortunately.

 

[Stacylouwho]

Well.. it is pretty over exposed. I would try to bring the colors out a bit more. and take the limbs out off the ground in photoshop. Shoot in RAW so you can get all detail possible. My advice would be to really work with understanding aperature, iso and shutter so that you can use manual efficiently to get the best lighting out of your shots. Mid day is not the best time where the sun is pretty much overhead, it's too harsh. I would crop just to the edge of the tree so that the right side is not showing, but you still get a good bit of the tree in the photo. It seems it should be incorporated into the shot. I am pretty new to it too, so this is just my take on it, I hope it helps.

 

[manaheim]

ummm... I don't think it's overexposed at all, really. I think his auto correction just did some wonky things to it.

The problems with this picture have very little to do with technical details and mostly to do with composition.

 

[KmH]

I agree, neither shot is over exposed and the main issues are compostional in nature.

Humans are hard wired from birth to recognize faces.

People shots that don't include a person's face are thus inherently weakened.

 

[Stacylouwho]

Sorry for my misinterpretation of exposure. I guess I will have to brush up on it a bit myself. There is just something about the light that is not pleasing to me.. These guys have been doing it much longer than I, I apologize.

 

[KmH]

There is no escaping that mid-day direct sunlight is generally harsh and not very flattering to landscapes or people even when properly exposed.

 

[manaheim]

Sorry for my misinterpretation of exposure. I guess I will have to brush up on it a bit myself. There is just something about the light that is not pleasing to me.. These guys have been doing it much longer than I, I apologize.

No need to apologize. You're good.

 

[KonaPhotographer]

Thank you everyone for your input. It's very appreciated.

Showing friends and family my photo's I get "I like this" and "That's a very nice photo" but, well you know.......

 

[manaheim]

Thank you everyone for your input. It's very appreciated.

Showing friends and family my photo's I get "I like this" and "That's a very nice photo" but, well you know.......

Yup. Friends and family love you but aren't necessarily photographers or artists.

 

[DarkShadow]

I am new at this and still striving to get better but on top of what everyone said already, If i had to take a guess I would say the photos where taken in the mid - day area as the lighting looks harsh,not over exposed just harsh. Funny how natural sun light works,either its your best friend or your worst enemy and you can't dial it down.

 

[KonaPhotographer]

I am new at this and still striving to get better but on top of what everyone said already, If i had to take a guess I would say the photos where taken in the mid - day area as the lighting looks harsh,not over exposed just harsh. Funny how natural sun light works,either its your best friend or your worst enemy and you can't dial it down.

You're correct. These were taken at mid-day. Lesson learnt