Haters welcomed here!!!!

[JCollins62]

I hate people that use the insipid and stupid term, "Haters" that is so commonly used by losers and slackers! I will just add you to my ignore list now... so I don't have to do it later....

Please hold up your "sarcasm" sign now.

 

[photonewbie23]

Ahha so I looked it up, apparently I have to pm a moderator. . .

 

[enzodm]

Ok, I do what cgipson1 would have done much better than me if not pissed off by your silly title (you lost one or more occasions).

First of all, you should start from something, and this is a start. You posted here in the beginners forum, which is not a gallery, so I presume you ask for help in individuating technical issues - nothing related to content, but how things could have be done right.

1 and 2: you wrote you spent time to be able to capture moon and clouds. And you ended up capturing only the clouds, since the moon is a overexposed blob. Actually, if you did in the night, it is very hard to have both in one shot: too much difference in lighting. An option would be shooting at the end of the day, when there is still some light (your picture may still seem taken in the night: it all depends on how you expose). Or you may take two pictures and then merge with photoshop (although the moon is moving, making things difficult). There is some good guide around the web on how to do moon photography, including some thread here (http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photography-beginners-forum/297763-moon-photography-2.html ). Sunny 16 is not the best rule for moon (it reflects less than usual objects).

3: I'm sure wasps live in a interesting world normally unnoticed, and aim of the photographer is to bring that world to attention. However, in this case the wasp is underexposed, so part of the beauty of the world is lost in the dark. Since you were shooting against the sun, you were facing the same problem of the moon: too wide lighting range. If exposing for the wasp, you overexpose the background, and vice versa (the latter was your choice, while the former was in 4). In this case you might have done something not possible with the moon: flash. Adding flash would have exposed your wasp better, by adding more light to the darker side of picture, while maintaining the overall mood of the picture. Search for fill flash on google.

4: here the lighting range problem becomes more evident again, and caused the blown sky because the small leaf in the middle is correctly exposed. Plus, apparently there is no subject, so the overall picture does not tell much.


As a point common to all 4 pictures, we typically try to compose pictures in a way that is pleasant for eyes. While it is not a strict rule, try to avoid centering of subjects, unless aimed at evidentiating some symmetry. Search for thirds rule on google as a starter, or visit this for some more basic rules: 10 Top Photography Composition Rules | Photography Mad .

Bold terms are those you could use for searching further information, assuming you already understood the exposure triangle. As a suggestion, while backlight subjects are fascinating, for the above mentioned reasons is not the easiest kind to start with (but not to avoid too: you may obtain nice effects). So, consider light position when shooting, or at least try many angles to see the difference (exercise).

Another thing you can (you have to) do is looking at others pictures: this gives you a reference of what can be done with a camera, to understand what you can aim at. Some examples (possibly not the best):
One wasp taken at random here on the forum: http://www.photoforum.com/forum/macro/29575-wasp.html .
One of my moon shots (not the best around, but I have it at hand: http://www.flickr.com/photos/enzodm/5934186496/in/set-72157625556269671 ).
And a small tutorial with exposure differences in a backlight scene: http://www.flickr.com/groups/technique/discuss/72157594149006802/

 

[photonewbie23]

Thank you for your time and input , I'll report back In a couple days with some new photos , hopefully better ones .