First shots

[chrisscotland]

HI, Hope this works. I got my new 400d this week and these were the first i took. Im looking for help and feedback and if its really bad please tell me so i know where ive gone wrong and how i can fix it.

Cheers, Chris

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a61/gumball3000/phobucket3.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a61/gumball3000/photobucket2.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a61/gumball3000/photobucket1.jpg

 

[asfixiate]

Do you like your shots?

 

[chrisscotland]

Lol, i think theyre pretty dull and boring.

1- Dark and horrendous
2- Very close up, nothing really to see
3- No

I took the time to try and make them decent but i think i need some help

 

[asfixiate]

Now we're getting somewhere.
1. is Dark but so are a lot of landscape shots like that. have you tried lightening at all? I honestly like it the way it is...I feel it can be successful.
2. I saw a mallard this weekend and what caught my eye was how bright it was...not really showing its true beauty and colors. Not a bad shot.
3. Looks like a cool way to advertise a back yard.

 

[chrisscotland]

yeah your right on all the above.

Trouble is i dont know how to lighten it afterwards. not sure
Mallard- just the green on its head that caught my eye.
the back yard, defo lol, thats exactly what it looks like when i look at it again.

What would you do and how would you see a shot worth taking in a city if that makes sense?

 

[asfixiate]

Think of your eyes as your camera. Whatever you see yourself double taking on(don't get slapped)take a picture of.

Take a lot of pictures as well...Often you could take 200 shots and keep 20.

 

[dEARlEADER]

lol.... I've never seen a critique go down this way...

These shot aren't that great... but that's okay.... they are your "first" shots... if they came out great it would make the rest of us students look bad

For number 1- the silouette of the castle is somewhat interesting... but you really need a more dramatic sky to tie it all in. A polarizer might help with this. The photo also appears grainy/soft.

For number 2- compositional speaking... most people don't enjoy viewing the bird ass first... to keep in interesting try framing the bird on the left third of the frame when his head is facing right.... you want to show open space in the direction he is moving.. and maybe get in a litter tighter...

For number 3 - the composition is okay if you enjoy it... but the exposure is off because of lost highlights in the sky. The polarizer is your friend.. buy one..


So you have the subjects... it's just a matter of framing and exposing them properly.. and in the case of the landscapes.. .waiting for interesting dramatic skylines....

Keep shooting and your eye will develop. There are more problems with exposure and composition to these shots but this is a good start.

 

[asfixiate]

I almost spit my water all over my monitor when I read Bird ass!!! LMAO.

 

[chrisscotland]

another good couple of replies to my question lol

Who does wanna see the birds a$$? not me and im sure not anyone else.

Ive another couple here from the next day if you could see if ive got any better lol

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a61/gumball3000/IMG_0049.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a61/gumball3000/IMG_0054.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a61/gumball3000/IMG_0063.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a61/gumball3000/IMG_0104.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a61/gumball3000/IMG_0181.jpg

 

[dEARlEADER]

another good couple of replies to my question lol

Who does wanna see the birds a$$? not me and im sure not anyone else.

Ive another couple here from the next day if you could see if ive got any better lol

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a61/gumball3000/IMG_0049.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a61/gumball3000/IMG_0054.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a61/gumball3000/IMG_0063.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a61/gumball3000/IMG_0104.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a61/gumball3000/IMG_0181.jpg

Except for the last one, this series of shots are much better compositionally because of the interesting use of lines. The skyline is downer but you should be happy with these.

 

[asfixiate]

You definitely have some more interesting shots here. Only funny thing is individually they're all pretty good but grouped together its like you're obsessed with railing shots or something.

Other than that I look at shots for the shot not the person taking it. For anyone taking these shots IMO they're pretty neat. Keep shooting!!

Do you do the Gumball?

 

[chrisscotland]

thanks for your help again !!!! much appreciated. In these shots i tried to take more interesting or ptoentially DIFFERENT VIEWS to try making them better than the day before.

What can i do other than use a filter to make the sky/line better?

Theyre all of railings due to me being chained to the handrail and being able to move 200m either side

Also....how can i paste shots straight onto this page rather than links?

 

[asfixiate]

I believe you can put an HREF in here. I never did it before though.

I don't really ask for criticism much.

 

[chrisscotland]

<a href="http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a61/gumball3000/?action=view&current=IMG_0049.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a61/gumball3000/IMG_0049.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[asfixiate]

There's a thread in the beginning of beginning that explains how too.