Long exposure and more C&C please

[Ajlista]

Okay, so i went hiking a bit upstate and got pictures i would like opinions on I tried long exposure shots with the water, and I feel like they should be better, so i want as much critisism as i can get so i can understand it. There are also other not long exposure pictures
1.

2.

3.

4.

This was an old boarded up church i just thought it looked cool with just the handle betweeen the boards so yeah watcha think?
5.

6.

7.

 

[Ajlista]

Btw for number 6, there was ALOT of fog comming off the lake, so yeah

 

[thebutler4]

IMO number 7 would have been AWESOME had you done a long exposed picture ...

Other than that big ass rock .. lol

 

[Ajlista]

I tried to and it kept coming over exposed
At first i thought the rock was bad, but i think it fits xD
Thanks!

 

[pgriz]

#1-4: Too busy for my taste; the high perspective takes away the three dimensional look (which you got in #7). Overall, I’d say simplify your images with a main element which draws your eye in by tone or positioning, and keep the foreground/background in check to give context but not compete with the main element.
#5 has some potential, but again the perspective is too high (everyone looks down on a doorknob), and perhaps bringing in a bit more of the surroundings would give a better context – as you have framed the image, we see a doorknob surrounded by out-of-focus worn paint. If you had a wide-angle lens, this may be one scene where it would work well to keep the doorknob in the foreground, while still showing the overall surrounding context.
#6 again has potential, but the broken dock in the foreground ruins the tranquility implied by the fog. Choosing an appropriate vantage point is a bit of an art in itself, and would serve to show what you saw, while not distracting us with miscellaneous visual brick-a-brack.
#7 has a good vantage point, good lines, a focus point in the form of a large boulder at the right 1/3 position. Here the shutter speed was too short to get the silky look for the water that you got in #1-4.

 

[Ajlista]

#1-4: Too busy for my taste; the high perspective takes away the three dimensional look (which you got in #7). Overall, I’d say simplify your images with a main element which draws your eye in by tone or positioning, and keep the foreground/background in check to give context but not compete with the main element.
#5 has some potential, but again the perspective is too high (everyone looks down on a doorknob), and perhaps bringing in a bit more of the surroundings would give a better context – as you have framed the image, we see a doorknob surrounded by out-of-focus worn paint. If you had a wide-angle lens, this may be one scene where it would work well to keep the doorknob in the foreground, while still showing the overall surrounding context.
#6 again has potential, but the broken dock in the foreground ruins the tranquility implied by the fog. Choosing an appropriate vantage point is a bit of an art in itself, and would serve to show what you saw, while not distracting us with miscellaneous visual brick-a-brack.
#7 has a good vantage point, good lines, a focus point in the form of a large boulder at the right 1/3 position. Here the shutter speed was too short to get the silky look for the water that you got in #1-4.

Thankyou so much!
I love getting C&C like this because it shows where i can improve
SO dont try to get a shot from an upper view? Just be level with it?
And the last one i was going for long exposure

 

[pgriz]

It's not so much whether the view is high or level, as it is to be selective about what to include in the frame of your image, and what to keep out. The simpler the image, (usually) the stronger it is. When we look at a scene, we tend to focus on some particular aspect, and we mentally block off the rest. However, the camera records it all, and the viewer doesn't have your context to orient themselves - so they see everything as well. As a photographer, you need to help your viewers see in the image frame what you saw in the much larger area you were standing in. And that means studying the scene, figuring out what elements in it are really important, and then finding a vantage point that emphasizes those elements. The KISS principle works well in this context.

 

[Kerbouchard]

If you are a fan of Long Exposure Photography, you should probably look into picking up a Neutral Density Filter. It will make outings like this a lot less frustrating. All of the long exposure shots seem a bit over exposed to me, and I also agree with the others who say 7 would have been great with a slower shutter speed.

 

[Ajlista]

If you are a fan of Long Exposure Photography, you should probably look into picking up a Neutral Density Filter. It will make outings like this a lot less frustrating. All of the long exposure shots seem a bit over exposed to me, and I also agree with the others who say 7 would have been great with a slower shutter speed.

Yeah i was having ltos of trouble with exposure

 

[Kerbouchard]

What do you mean you were having trouble with exposure? Were you in manual or an automatic mode? Often, when you want to do something creative, the camera doesn't understand that you are trying to do something different intentionally. If you are doing something out of the norm, you really should be in manual.

Now, if you mean you ran out of options because you were already at base ISO and your aperture was already so small that you were going to be running into diffraction issues, then it sounds like an ND filter is exactly what you need.

 

[Ajlista]

Yeah, i only use manual
My aperture was on F 40 and my shutter was only getting to like 1/4 of a second to get decent exposure and i wanted it longer
I will research an ND filter now ,thankyou!

 

[Ajlista]

A filter as such?
Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Tiffen 58mm Neutral Density 0.9 Filter

 

[Kerbouchard]

A filter as such?
Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Tiffen 58mm Neutral Density 0.9 Filter

I don't know what lens you were using, so that makes a difference, but yes, something like that. A lot of lenses have different filter sizes. If you have several lenses that you want to do this type of work with, the general opinion is to buy the one for your largest lens, and then use adapters to step it down to your smaller lenses. That way, you don't have to spend money buying a filter for every lens.

As far as manufacturers, B + W and Hoya are well regarded, but a little pricey. Part of the reason people buy the largest filter they need and adapt it down is the price of trying to outfit all of their lenses. Photography is kinda like the weakest link principle. If you have a $2000 lens and you put a $15 piece of glass in front of it, you are kind of dragging everything down to the lowest common denominator. No problem with being on a budget, but if you can stretch it, I would go with a higher quality filter.

They also make a graduated neutral density filter so that you can selectively choose which part of the picture you want to be darker. Not really pertinent in this case, but great for landscape photography where you are sometimes forced to overexpose the sky in order to properly expose your subject.

When I bought my Sigma 150 2.8, adorama offered a kit at the same price that came with a Tiffen filter set...it had a circular polarizer, neutral density filter, and a UV filter. I think it would have been around a hundred bucks or so if it wasn't for the package, but maybe you should take a look at something like that. It's always nice to have options.

 

[Ajlista]

A filter as such?
Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Tiffen 58mm Neutral Density 0.9 Filter

I don't know what lens you were using, so that makes a difference, but yes, something like that. A lot of lenses have different filter sizes. If you have several lenses that you want to do this type of work with, the general opinion is to buy the one for your largest lens, and then use adapters to step it down to your smaller lenses. That way, you don't have to spend money buying a filter for every lens.

As far as manufacturers, B + W and Hoya are well regarded.

Thankyou very much for your help

 

[Kerbouchard]

No problem. I know how frustrating it can be to have a vision in your head but not know how to achieve it. Hopefully, the ND filter works out. Look forward to seeing the next set.