I am so proud of this picture...

[mostlysunny]

My New Year resolution is to learn how to use this camera. I have had it for 5-6 years... I almost always use auto on it. My Friend just bought the Canon 70D-- I have the 7D-- So we are working together.

 

[TCampbell]

It's always thrilling to push your limits and learn to do something you've never done before. Congratulations on that achievement.

Keep in mind that on any photography related website, you'll be showing images to photographers with a quite a bit of experience. When we start out, we're thrilled with our initial results. As you gain experience, you begin to raise your standard of what qualifies as "good". You fuss over smaller details. You find lots of fault in images that you previously thought as impressive.

I have a friend who is a graphics artist and he did a lot of pen & ink technical drawings (at one point he worked in the automotive industry drawing those technical diagrams you find in car owners manuals or repair manuals showing how the parts fit together, etc.) I always thought his ability to draw was amazing. But after he'd been at it for about 5 years, he pulled out some of his early work and exclaimed "Damn I sucked! I'd fire myself for doing work this bad." But to MY EYE... the hand-made drawings looked pretty good. It was enlightening to watch him nit pick over things that probably nobody else would have noticed.

But photographers do precisely the same thing... after you've been at this for years, you'll be surprised at the flaws you can spot. You won't let yourself off the hook so easily.

With that, here's a somewhat humorous diagram. We laugh at it because we know it's true. Anyway... this thing has been around the internet enough times that I have no idea who deserves the credit for it.

http://www.shuttercount.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/A-photographers-learning-curve.jpg

Anyway, the thing is... people around here are going to spot things that you probably won't be able to spot yourself... at least not initially. Don't take it personally -- instead, learn from it.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Sunny!

 

[mishele]

Sunny!

BITTER!!

 

[Designer]

My New Year resolution is to learn how to use this camera.

Congratulations, mostlysunny!

 

[The_Traveler]

The focus was on infinity ..

I was trying to get more detail on the rocks on the left upper side of the picture.. So I kept exposing it longer. This was 4 minutes maybe 4 mins 10 seconds..

I am not sure if there is a subject. This was my first time working with my camera at night. It was taken at 9:30 pm, Apeture F14, ISO 200

The focus was on infinity .. .I know the info you are asking for.. I will post when I figure out how to post the data from the picture.
I can't say there is a subject in this picture. I love how it came out. I think it is over exposed..I have one that looks more like night time, but I don't love it.
I was trying to get more detail on the rocks on the left upper side of the picture.. So I kept exposing it longer. This was 4 minutes maybe 4 mins 10 seconds..
PS, just in general.. I LOVE the look of overlook photos.. Photography is an art.. We are all artist. So if you see a picture a raf over exposed.. Just remember I like it that way!!

Disregarding the composition of this picture, you are doing things that are at odds with each other and only cause the image not to be the best it can.

In general, the goal is to shoot a picture by balancing the three legs of the exposure triangle - aperture, shutter speed and iso - while keeping each of them in the best possible zone to get the picture quality you want.

You are shooting at a very low iso - and you don't know if your camera shoots well at higher iso.
You are shooting at f14 - it is quite probable that by that aperture, you are getting some diffraction that unsharpens your image.
Your exposure is more than 4 minutes, and so you are probably getting noise from the sensor.
You are focused at infinity - and you are not aware of the dof issues and 'hyperfocal' distance.

So you could shoot at a higher iso, with a larger aperture and focused on a different spot so the result would be a sharper overall image with less noise in the shadows.

PS, just in general.. I LOVE the look of overlook photos.. Photography is an art.. We are all artist. So if you see a picture a raf over exposed.. Just remember I like it that way!!

You may indeed be an 'artist' but your appreciation of the quality of your own work is colored by the facts that this is one of the first pictures you made successfully and you really don't know much about the craft or the art yet.

Just open your mind to others' opinions, don't get so invested in your pictures that you profess your love and attachment and defend them to the death. Then others don't want to hurt your feelings by telling you honestly what they think.

Remember also that, although this may be your first successful picture of water/beach/cove/waves, this is a pretty standard subject and each of us has seen hundreds or thousands of similar pictures and we don't share your excitement and pride of ownership.

What TCampbell said about looking back at one's early work and realizing how crude it was is an experience that is common to all of us - and will be to you too.[/QUOTE]

 

[soufiej]

The focus was on infinity ...

PS, just in general.. I LOVE the look of overlook photos.. Photography is an art.. We are all artist. So if you see a picture a raf over exposed.. Just remember I like it that way!!

Well, that is the problem with asking for a critique, isn't it? Since the word itself begins with the idea of being critical, that's mostly what you get.

As in many fields of subjective opinion, there are those who will fall back on, "The only thing that matters is whether I like it." As if pornography were that simple!

If you're not trying to make money from your work, that's fine. However, there are a few basic rules which should be followed or at least acknowledged. How many articles have you read about breaking rules? Too many IMO. But rules are only guidelines to a given situation. What looks good to you is in many ways what looks good to you. As you go forward, what you like is probably going to change as you are exposed to more ideas.

As a budding photographer just learning to move the command dial off "Auto", bravo! I'd say you have every right to be proud of that shot. Remember, what you get as criticism is only what others would have seen and done - had they been there. More experience will gain you more ideas and you will eventually get to that point if you continue onward. I would definitely hang on to this one though. And in another few months of shooting look back at what you had then and what you are getting and aiming at in the future. Be critical of your own work and don't take much of what others say. They weren't there.

As to a subject being required; I tend to consider photography as the function of capturing an event. The photographer is showing us their impression of one brief moment in time and the image should indicate a story line. Even a fairly static image such as yours should have a story of sorts. So, if you had to put an event into your shot, what would you say was the event you captured?

And, looking at your shot, about the only thing I would really have wanted from you at the time, given your experience level and the reason you were on the beach, is to have moved that horizon line downward. Centering strong lines such as a horizon should be saved for those moments when you wish to direct the viewer's eye to something else in the image of greater importance. At least, that's my opinion. I would have asked you to crouch down to give us a different viewpoint.

Otherwise, very good work for your initial venture into non-Auto mode. Save it to a back up drive and play with it in your image processing.

 

[Designer]

I think you mean photography.

 

[mostlysunny]

Just taking it all in..

I talked to my friend... She DID play around with the settings... while I was just blown away.. Bitter gave me those for a reason. I was ready to go home with my one picture.. She told me she has 10 that she likes. I have 3 that I like. The moon tonight was beautiful, but I am too scared to go out in the dark alone. I will get out there more, and read more, and have my cheat sheets with me.. and get better.. I hope.. Thank you all for your input.

 

[Vtec44]

Less writing, more pictures.

 

[richardo.diniz]

Nice picture!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pdq5oh]

I'd crop the rocks at the bottom out, thus moving the horizon down from the middle. That'll also remove the oof rocks. I feel the clouds as they move up into the right, top corner pull my eye thru the photo & make me look at the whole scene. You'll get some diffraction past f8 or 11 with most lenses, but you may have no choice to get the DOF you're looking for. Don't focus on infinity. Focus appr 1/3 of the way into the scene. On your 7D you can check DOF before taking the picture. I like the photo & think you did a good job with it, in general.

 

[K_Pugh]

Just make sure you keep all of your images so you can reflect on them in years to come. It's amazing to see how far you've come and how you've developed your style. You will inevitably cringe at some of the shots you thought were great at the time (I've cringed a lot recently lol) but it does help.

Keep on shooting and keep producing those images!

 

[KmH]

A technical note:
With a point-of-focus distance at infinity f/14 is not needed for a deep depth-of-field.
Using f/14 instead of a wider lens aperture does make the near DoF a bit closer to the camera to aid foreground focus, and f/14 helps to make the shutter speed longer to help the water blur.
But the far limit of the DoF would be at infinity even if the PoF was only about 150 feet in front on the camera.

 

[otherprof90 31]

I took this last night. I can't believe I TOOK IT!! I can't wait to get out and shoot more at night.

Anyone like it, or dislike, and why? Thoughts appreciated.View attachment 92650

Thanks for reminding me of that feeling that you've just done something magical. You might want to try adjusting the image to make it look more like you saw it at the time. Turning day into night can also give a magical feeling.