First street shot with new camera

TimothyPeacock · Oct 25, 2011

Just got my first DSLR, and here's my first shot to upload from it.

The man was busking in a tunnel along the Southbank in London on my walk home from work. He was playing a lovely looking flute; it's a shame the flute was more beautiful than his playing!

EXIF: f/3.2 1/160sec ISO800

And here's a more talented musician, with just as beautiful an instrument!

EXIF: f/1.8 1/320sec ISO1600

I look forward to any comments and critique you have, I won't be insulted so be as honest and hard as you wish!

Many thanks for looking,

Tim

TimothyPeacock · Oct 27, 2011

Little bump

Lunarneko · Oct 27, 2011

Very nice. I like them a lot.

bazooka · Oct 27, 2011

#2 is cool, I think the tilt works. You've lost most detail in the coat. You could bring it back if you have the RAW file, and if you want to.

#3 has a plain white background which is distracting for me and really takes away from the shot. Also, you have a hot spot on his head which isn't flattering and is also distracting. Remember that bright is one of the things that attracts the eye. I think the composition is solid.

jordansgotfaith · Oct 27, 2011

Not bad at all man! Personally, I like the second shot better than the first. Can't wait to see more of your work!

imagemaker46 · Oct 27, 2011

I like these, nice shots.

TimothyPeacock · Oct 31, 2011

bazooka said:
#2 is cool, I think the tilt works. You've lost most detail in the coat. You could bring it back if you have the RAW file, and if you want to.

#3 has a plain white background which is distracting for me and really takes away from the shot. Also, you have a hot spot on his head which isn't flattering and is also distracting. Remember that bright is one of the things that attracts the eye. I think the composition is solid.

Thanks a lot for the critique.

The first one I found really difficult to expose properly as the background was some white tiles lit by horrendous floodlights in a foot tunnel. There are always buskers down there so I'll go try again and sort out the exposure a bit more on some different subjects.

Unfortunately I wasn't shooting in RAW, I've never used it before that's something for me to do once I've got to grip with the rest of the camera I think!

Thanks again

m.shalaby · Nov 2, 2011

you overly cooked these shots in post processing... my guess is to makeup for lack-luster subject material?

not feeling it

TimothyPeacock · Nov 2, 2011

m.shalaby said:
you overly cooked these shots in post processing... my guess is to makeup for lack-luster subject material?

not feeling it

Thanks for the feedback, I'll give it a little less next time!

DLF · Nov 2, 2011

Hi Timothy! I love them, especially the 2nd one! I am new to the forum, so forgive me if it is already there...but what lens were you using?

TimothyPeacock · Nov 3, 2011

DLF said:
Hi Timothy! I love them, especially the 2nd one! I am new to the forum, so forgive me if it is already there...but what lens were you using?

50mm f/1.8

On both my digital and film cameras I use 50mm. Partially because I'm still saving up for another lens for the DSLR, but I do enjoy shooting with the prime lens. Means I tend to get much more 'involved' with the people I'm shooting!

thereyougo! · Nov 3, 2011

TimothyPeacock said:
Just got my first DSLR, and here's my first shot to upload from it.

The man was busking in a tunnel along the Southbank in London on my walk home from work. He was playing a lovely looking flute; it's a shame the flute was more beautiful than his playing!

EXIF: f/3.2 1/160sec ISO800

And here's a more talented musician, with just as beautiful an instrument!

EXIF: f/1.8 1/320sec ISO1600

I look forward to any comments and critique you have, I won't be insulted so be as honest and hard as you wish!

Many thanks for looking,

Tim

I'm afraid the first looks a little odd to me. The second is better, but can I ask why you used an ISO of 1600? with a shooting speed of 1/320, you could have lowered your aperture to get a better shot (is this a 50mm f/1.8? with an aperture of 3.2/4 and an ISO around 800 you woud have achieved more contrast, and I can see a little chromatic abberration at the base of his jacket which could have been minimised had you stopped down a bit. His head is a little soft which is most likely down to using the largest aperture at high ISO. Composition wise it would have been gtreat if you had a bit of eye contact, not head on but to a say 45 degree angle.

TimothyPeacock · Nov 3, 2011

thereyougo! said:
I'm afraid the first looks a little odd to me. The second is better, but can I ask why you used an ISO of 1600? with a shooting speed of 1/320, you could have lowered your aperture to get a better shot (is this a 50mm f/1.8? with an aperture of 3.2/4 and an ISO around 800 you woud have achieved more contrast, and I can see a little chromatic abberration at the base of his jacket which could have been minimised had you stopped down a bit. His head is a little soft which is most likely down to using the largest aperture at high ISO. Composition wise it would have been gtreat if you had a bit of eye contact, not head on but to a say 45 degree angle.

Thanks for your critique, it's appreciated!

So you're saying to slow the shutter down a bit, maybe to 1/160 or 1/125 to make up for taking the aperture in to 3.2/4 and the ISO change?

Just want to double check lower larger smaller higher sometimes sends my head into some form of nuclear breakdown!

Thanks again,

I'm going to go back and try my hand with someone in that tunnel again!