Inviting criticism: Some photography, from conventional to vaguely morbid.

[TheMightyGoat]

I've been dabbling in photography for a while and am only recently getting into actually learning about it. I'm just going to throw up a few pictures I've taken and see what people say.

As I said, some of them are vaguely morbid, and in fact that's where my real interest is in photography. I like to capture things most people wouldn't look at. But I'll go easy with that today.

The older images here were taken with a Nikon 4100 and the more recent ones were taken with my FZ28.

Here are two moths captured mid-coitus.

This is a mosquito that has been caught with a tissue.

Macro of my revolver, selectively desaturated.

Shell of a bug, cropped.

Eye.

This picture I'm not really happy with. It was an effort to capture a shell exiting from my shotgun. And, it did - at 1/2000th of a second exposure - but in terms of the overall composition and especially the image's noise level I'm not happy with it. You see what I was going for though.

More conventional - shot of a waterfall. This has been edited and cropped in Camera Raw.

I'm not looking for any particular variety of criticism, I suppose. Just reactions from the photographically inclined.

 

[foned]

first i'll say post 1-4 images max, or else people tend to shy away, too much work to look at whats up with all the photos.

and since im feelling particularly lazy, i'll just say i like the revolver shot the best.

 

[TheMightyGoat]

first i'll say post 1-4 images max, or else people tend to shy away, too much work to look at whats up with all the photos.

and since im feelling particularly lazy, i'll just say i like the revolver shot the best.

I don't need people to analyze each picture. As I said, just looking for reactions.

 

[dcclark]

I don't need people to analyze each picture. As I said, just looking for reactions.

With this many photos, it's hard to give reactions -- without looking, writing, looking again, and generally taking more time than most people want to take on forums.

Also, I don't believe that "general impressions" are going to be very useful for you on such a varied set of photos as these. The most that I can say is -- the bugs made me uncomfortable, the guns were interesting, and the waterfall looked pretty standard. Do you have any particular questions?

 

[Sherman Banks]

My reaction is that I'm not gonna give a dude with a shotgun and a revolver any criticism! But seriously, they're all pretty cool, I especially like the eye. Finishing this set with a waterfall is a rather odd choice though.

 

[TheMightyGoat]

My reaction is that I'm not gonna give a dude with a shotgun and a revolver any criticism! But seriously, they're all pretty cool, I especially like the eye. Finishing this set with a waterfall is a rather odd choice though.

That's because it's less of a set and more of a random sampling.

Thanks for the responses. If you don't want to reply to a post that has more than four images then feel free to decline my invitation.

 

[Invictus]

i love how you where on the recieving end of a loaded revolver. looks like a 44. / 45. that would destroy your camera. thats my reaction. that waterfall owns though.

Edit: Nevermind, .357

 

[TheMightyGoat]

i love how you where on the recieving end of a loaded revolver. looks like a 44. / 45. that would destroy your camera. thats my reaction. that waterfall owns though.

Edit: Nevermind, .357

My camera was in greater peril for the capturing of the shotgun shell.

I'm an advocate of gun safety. But if I shoot my $300 camera it's my own concern.

 

[Sodak]

Overall, I like them.

Not big on bug picks, but they seem fairly well done; not big on the mosquito.

Is that a gas mask in the background of the gun pic? I think the picture would be more interesting if you had brought it forward more.

The waterfall itself looks good, but I'm trying to figure out if you darkened the rest of the picture. It looks like a pretty setting and I'd like to see it better.

Nice clicking with the bridge.

 

[TheMightyGoat]

Overall, I like them.

Not big on bug picks, but they seem fairly well done; not big on the mosquito.

Is that a gas mask in the background of the gun pic? I think the picture would be more interesting if you had brought it forward more.

The waterfall itself looks good, but I'm trying to figure out if you darkened the rest of the picture. It looks like a pretty setting and I'd like to see it better.

Nice clicking with the bridge.

It is a gas mask. Israeli.

I did a broad vignette on that picture but it was a bit dark to begin with. I was going for contrast between the waterfall itself and a dim surrounding.

Here's the original picture:

 

[Samanax]

These are some pretty good images taken with your Panasonic DMC-FZ28...really clean and crisp. The waterfall shot is really good...I like the editing you did to it.

 

[TheMightyGoat]

Danke. Images 1, 2 and 4 were taken with the Nikon 4100, for the record.

 

[manaheim]

Overall, my reaction is that your attitude in your responses kinda sucks.

:thumbdown:

 

[inTempus]

My camera was in greater peril for the capturing of the shotgun shell.

I'm an advocate of gun safety. But if I shoot my $300 camera it's my own concern.

If you were an advocate of gun safety, you wouldn't be playing with a loaded firearm and taking pictures of it - especially from the muzzle.

It's kind of a pet peeve of mine when I see people doing unsafe things with firearms (breaking one or more of the golden rules) then saying "I'm big into gun safety". :thumbdown:

Other than that, welcome to the forum! There are other pro-gun photogs here, but the issue of firearms on this site is somewhat taboo.

 

[TheMightyGoat]

Overall, my reaction is that your attitude in your responses kinda sucks.

:thumbdown:

Quite. I'm just not used to offering people some pictures to look at and being harangued for the trouble. I understand it may be different on a photography forum where people regularly request detailed advice, but that's what my post was, after all - an offer, not a request.

If you were an advocate of gun safety, you wouldn't be playing with a loaded firearm and taking pictures of it - especially from the muzzle.

It's kind of a pet peeve of mine when I see people doing unsafe things with firearms (breaking one or more of the golden rules) then saying "I'm big into gun safety". :thumbdown:

Other than that, welcome to the forum! There are other pro-gun photogs here, but the issue of firearms on this site is somewhat taboo.

The golden rule of firearms safety in question dictates that one never point a gun at a person he doesn't intend to shoot. The purpose of this rule is such that the handler of the weapon learns not to point a gun in unsafe directions, should a misfire occur; misfires themselves being discouraged, of course, by the rule which dictates the handler not put his finger on the trigger until preparing to fire.

I wasn't pointing a gun at anyone. I was sitting in front of it. I could have sat to the side and taken pictures with only my camera in front of it, but I didn't, because I understand that not pointing a gun at someone is more for the benefit of the person who learns to be aware of his surroundings when holding a weapon than for the off-chance that the gun might spontaneously discharge itself when laying on a photographer's mattress. Should that have happened, however - perhaps if it were struck by a bolt of lightning, igniting the powder in the cartridge - the slot in the cylinder lined up with the barrel was left empty.