Critque a beginner here...

[drinkav8]

Hello All,

I am fairly new to the photography world. It has long been a hobby I wanted to pick up on, and I finally took the dive last month. I have no formal education pertaining to photography, and am very inexperienced. I was hoping for some opinions & suggestions here. I use a basic D40 with kit lens, VR 200mm Nikkor, & SB 600. I appreciate your time and am hoping I can learn more about technique here on the board.

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Sideburns]

you're headed in the right direction for sure. I like the second one the best.
Just an FYI though...
Turn down your ISO when you shoot at night if you don't need it high. If you're on a tripod...ISO 100 is fine. You get way less noise, and most of your shots suffer from excess noise. Good shots, though...

 

[lordson]

with the first picture, i think the other two trees on the side as a bit of a 'side note' kinda thing are distrating

perharpsy ou ocould centre them more, or just put the one tree on

right not its distracting away from teh main tree there

 

[Iron Flatline]

I'd prefer to critique a beginner in the Galleries, where these kinds of threads belong... ;-)

The first one has the most potential for improvement. Compositionally, I'd have shot it from a slightly lower angle, thus separating the opposite shore and sky-line and visually placing it under the trees. Also, I would have cropped that tree on the far left - either in or out, but the split doesn't help tell the story here. I love the bright leaves on the grass, they have me torn because for my taste the image is over-saturated. But the hyper-saturation makes the little leaves pop. I'd guess you'd want to treat the grass and leaves differently from the trees. Finally, I prefer people in a shot, something to add some life and tension.

The second one is too noisy, lower ISO is a good suggestions. Compositionally it's good.

The others are o.k., but not my taste. It's fun to be out at night though, I know the feeling. Good work, keep shooting, keep sharing.