Just under two months of having my first DSLR how am I doing? (Also lens issue)

mikeluis

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Currently vacationing in Cancun. Was having some trouble with humidity issues with my DSLR, but used a zip lock bag trick I read about on here. I took a couple of shots yesterday and I wanna know if my composition is any good. My family and friends like them, but I think their flawed. Here's the problem i'm having though when i'm shooting at a higher aperture i'm getting some weird marking on my photos.

non-marking shot at f/3.5 (I know this is technically wrong, but it's the only way I could take it without the marking)

Second shot was shot at f/2.8

than the other beach shot with the marking was shot at f/22
1 2 3
$LiveAquaCancun (7 of 12).jpg$LiveAquaCancun (1 of 1).jpg$LiveAquaCancunsoft (1 of 1).jpg
 
Sensor dust. It won't show up at wide aperture settings but will at tight aperture settings. Lock the mirror up in the cleaning position and blow it off WITH A BLOWER BULB AND NOT YOUR BREATH and it may go away. If not it will need to be cleaned. A 5-minute chore if you can find some sensor swabs.
 
Next time you're putting on your watermark straighten out the horizon
 
Sensor dust. It won't show up at wide aperture settings but will at tight aperture settings. Lock the mirror up in the cleaning position and blow it off WITH A BLOWER BULB AND NOT YOUR BREATH and it may go away. If not it will need to be cleaned. A 5-minute chore if you can find some sensor swabs.

Any steps I can take to prevent this from happening in the future? Wish there was a remedy I could do to clean it while i'm down here since I don't have either of those supplies.
 
Any steps I can take to prevent this from happening in the future? Wish there was a remedy I could do to clean it while i'm down here since I don't have either of those supplies.
Surely there is a halfway decent camera store somewhere around there. Blower bulbs are pretty common items and in that place there are probably a million photographs a year shot. Failing that, don't be tempted to use compressed air or a brush. You can do a lot of expensive damage pretty quickly.

About the only way to semi-prevent it from happening is to never change lenses since that's when most dust gets in there. It's not the end of the world though, it's normally an easy job to clean a sensor, and a few seconds with a clone tool will remove the spots from images.
 
I took a couple of shots yesterday and I wanna know if my composition is any good. My family and friends like them, but I think their flawed.
I agree with you.

Horizons aren't straight. Horizons are in the middle of the composition. They're missing a subject, so they don't tell a story. Third photo is a jumble of stuff, including green vegetation in the foreground that's out of focus and doesn't add to the composition in a positive way.

Here's an often recommended book on composition for photographers: Amazon.com: The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos (9780240809342): Michael Freeman: Books
 
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
All three pictures have the horizon dead center, and is consistently tilted. I would move the horizon in pics 1& 3 to the lower 3rd as the clouds/sky is the main interest, not the beach. Picture 2 has so many issues you're better deleting and trying again. The top of the tree on the right lower side is both OOF and shouldn't be there to begin with. There are just too many elements going on to have a strong subject. Basically, it would be a personal vacation snapshot. Look for simplification, and single subject ideas. The good news for you is that you're in Cancun, and I'm here, home on Long Island, about ready to go to work.
 
All three pictures have the horizon dead center, and is consistently tilted. I would move the horizon in pics 1& 3 to the lower 3rd as the clouds/sky is the main interest, not the beach. Picture 2 has so many issues you're better deleting and trying again. The top of the tree on the right lower side is both OOF and shouldn't be there to begin with. There are just too many elements going on to have a strong subject. Basically, it would be a personal vacation snapshot. Look for simplification, and single subject ideas. The good news for you is that you're in Cancun, and I'm here, home on Long Island, about ready to go to work.

Thank you a lot. The vegetation is supposed to be OOF though I must say. Maybe my personal composition isn't very good yet and I need practice since I thought that was my best picture i've ever taken. This feedback does mean a lot to me and my next shoot I will fix these issues. Also, my main focus on that picture was supposed to be the beach not the sky so would it be vice-versa than have more of the beach in the frame than the sky?
 

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