First Time - C&C Please!

[clintd]

Ok guys, this is my first post…but it is also my first time out shooting. These were taken at a local park. The subjects are my beautiful wife and my 6 year old adopted sister.

I was shooting with a Canon EOS 2000 35mm SLR (non-digital) with the 28-80 mm kit lense...shooting 400 speed film. I borrowed it from my parents to use for practice. Being a film camera, the shots are a little grainy...and I should have used 200 speed film at most. I am planning to buy a DSLR in the near future. These were all shot on either fully automatic or the automatic portrait setting. I have done a little PP, but not much. Mostly just some auto color enhancer and a slight bit of dash & burn on their faces using The Gimp.

Give me your honest C&C…I am a complete Noob, but I am eager to learn.



1. I know the sky and part of the background are very blown out. It was a bright sunny day. Also, this shot could have used a shallower DOF. And, I know that I cut off my wife's foot, and due to the pose, it looks as if she has no left arm...which she does.

2. Same shot as above, just a tighter crop.

3. I know that this shot would have benefited from a shallower DOF. Also, I wish I hadn’t cut my sister’s hand off in the shot. Again, sky and background are blown out, as is my wife’s skin a bit.

4. I think this shot turned out really to be really neat…although it was an accident. Somehow, I missed the focus on them entirely. Instead the focus is on the tracks at the base of the image. But, I think it works. Again, sky is blown out.

 

[tirediron]

C&C per req:

General observations: All images seem a bit contrasty and perhaps slightly over exposed. Use fill light to achieve a more balanced exposure and avoid blown skies and highlights and as you've mentioned, shallower DoF to isolate the subjects from the background.

1. Good expressions and nice pose. A little bit too much emtpy space image left. Also, beware of cutting little bits of people off (feet). If you need to crop part of a person, do it boldly and never through a joint.

2. A better composition results from the crop I think.

3. A nice pose, and this is a case where centered subjects don't at all detract from the composition.

4. Not as fond of this; a good effort, but I feel it misses. The mono conversion is rather mid-tone rich and over-exposed.As well, while the tracks make perfect leading lines, they take the eye right past the subject and out of the frame image right. This would have worked much better IMO, had you positioned the subjects closer to the point where the rails appear to merge.

Some good ideas and clever poses - keep at it!

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

 

[lunaaa]

:thumbup: for composition,i like the poses and the general idea of the photos,cant help much with technical details but overall i like.

 

[KKJUN]

I'll second everything tirediron said, and add one thing: These shots all look somehow oversharpened. Is it possible that you've overdone the PP a little?

 

[clintd]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Again, this is my first try at...well...anything.

On the first two pics, I did several different crops just to play with the composition...but, I do think it benefits from a tighter crop.

The only image I did any sharpening to was the image in pic 1 and 2. All i did to 3 was crop, run a color enhance tool, a white balance tool, and clone out some garbage that was on the ground.

All I did to 4 was crop and convert to b&w....and again, my first attempt at any of that.

What do you mean by "too contrasty" John?

Thanks again! Keep 'em comin'!

 

[clintd]

By the way, this was all natural light....on a horribly bright sunny day....in the middle of the day. I know that a bit earlier or later would have helped a bit with the exposure.

 

[Oliver]

I will also second what Tirediron said. I agree with him about the technical side of things.

I personally do like the photos, although they may not be completely technically correct, they do show good promise. With some more practice and learning about the technical side of things, I can see you doing really well. Nice work, looking forward to seeing some more!

 

[clintd]

Thanks Oliver. By the way..I am officially addicted.

 

[tirediron]

What do you mean by "too contrasty" John?

Exactly that; there appears to be too much contrast between the hues. Each colour/hue is rather "sharper" than it should be. Not a good explanation, best thing I can suggest is open an image in your image editor, find the contrast slider and move it along it's range to see a graphic explanation.

 

[clintd]

Thanks John. Will do.

 

[clintd]

Any other opinions?