First Post: I would love some constructive criticism

jmbmw123 · Jun 27, 2017

Hey everyone! I have been messing around with photography for about 2 years now and mostly do automotive photography. My first dslr was a Nikon d5300 and I just recently purchased a D500. I'm loving it so far. I am self taught and have never really got any criticisms from anyone that knows what they are talking about. Don't be scared to hurt my feelings, I want to learn as much as I can. Sorry for the link I couldn't figure out how to post them in the thread. It tells me the files are too big. Any tips there would be appreciated also. Thanks I hope you like them!

DSC_3833 ps by jmbmw123, on Flickr

DSC_5344 ps by jmbmw123, on Flickr

DSC_5132 ps by jmbmw123, on Flickr

DSC_1024 ps by jmbmw123, on Flickr

DSC_4747 ps by jmbmw123, on Flickr

DSC_4739 ps by jmbmw123, on Flickr

DSC_3017 ps by jmbmw123, on Flickr

Car Pics <--- Full Album of some of my favorites

fmw · Jun 28, 2017

The last one needs to have the horizon leveled. The others need cropping.

tirediron · Jun 28, 2017

Moved to an appropriate gallery as "Beginners" is not a C&C forum.

Ysarex · Jun 28, 2017

You've got some decent captures. Always tough to have to take given circumstances "as is" when you can't intervene. So a little more attention in post can help a lot -- for example:

Crop, straighten, burn/dodge, color and contrast adjustments.

Joe

limr · Jun 28, 2017

The panning shots look pretty good. I agree that many of them need to be leveled and/or cropped.

One thing to consider when dealing with a messy background, such as in #1, is to focus on details or angles that minimize the background. If it's not possible to do that (car's moving, no access to get closer...), maybe try a wider aperture to 'blur' some of the background. Failing that, it might just be a missed shot. I can see why you took that first shot - it's a cool car, the angle is good, the tree framing the car works well...but personally, if I couldn't find a way to deal with the ugly green netting to keep it out of the frame or make it less visually distracting, I might have just let the shot go.

jmbmw123 · Jun 28, 2017

Awesome thanks guys. All of these are from car shows or track events so I don't get to pick where the cars go. I guess I usually focus on the angle of the car that looks best to me instead of the whole picture like the Mercedes it looked great with sky and the netting just happens to be there, it doesn't really bother me but in the future I'll try to pay better attention. So when you say I need to level them do I just need to make the track level or am I missing something? Like the Mustang picture he is going downhill.