Looking for a bit of C&C

[Zerg3r]

So both of these photo's have the same info, which is f/5.6, shutter speed 1/125 and an ISO of 800. I was in Tv mode I believe and it was bright out by seeing as it was under a tree there is shade. I used my Canon Rebel T3i with the Canon Zoom Lens EF 75-300 mm 1:4-5.6 III (read it off the lens because I'm a noob).

I chose these photo's out of about 7 decent ones I had. Unfortunately since I am still a noob I'm not really sure what shot I was going for here, I was on a walk and happened to the raccoon and got a few shots, I couldn't really control much else besides the camera. If I had a second chance I definitely would have made sure I focused myself on a few of them instead of autofocus because some came out a bit blurry (although that could have been user error and me not holding the camera stead enough).

After I took these shots I did edit them in lightroom because I think they were a bit dark and I also tried to add a bit of vibrancy to get some color back, Once again I am a noob so what I may think I am doing right may in fact could be very very wrong. I'm not sure what else I can add to these two so if you have any questions/ comments feel free to ask/ tell.

For the deer picture once again I stumbled upon it so to speak so I really couldn't change much besides how I took the shot. I was using the same camera and lens but the ISO was set to 200 with the shutterspeed at 100 and a f/5.6. I did do some post processing in lightroom for this picture as well.

So, I am a noob and I am still learning everything but some C&C would be greatly appreciated here. I chose what I think to be some of my strongest photo's and I tend to do a bit better with animals than with other shots. Here is my flickr and here is the link to the original deer photo (I had to redownload it because I'm not near where it is saved on my external at the moment). I may have forgotten something so if I have feel free to point it out and in general just let me know your thoughts! Thank you again.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126073823@N04/14538514919/in/photostream/ (deer)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126073823@N04/ (my flickr photostream)

Just realized, sorry I don't know how to number photo's/ separate them to make them easier to see.

 

[Designer]

In my opinion, #1 and #3 don't hold much interest, but #2 has possibilities.

I brought up the exposure, adjusted the white balance and cropped it.

The reason I did that is to illustrate what can be done with a photograph that at first doesn't look like much but after some fiddling can be improved.

 

[Zerg3r]

Okay thank you, is there something I am just overall doing wrong or not making my subjects interesting enough, etc.?

 

[Designer]

Okay thank you, is there something I am just overall doing wrong or not making my subjects interesting enough, etc.?

Photographic success often depends on being able to SEE a shot, then being able to grab it well enough to make it work. You're not "doing it wrong", so much as not doing it enough. Another thread today discussed one's success rate, among other things. Some people call a 1% success rate successful, while some pros have to be far more successful because their livelihood depends on being successful a high percentage of the time.

In your case, I think you just need to learn to recognize when you have a good one vs. the not so good ones. So relax, have fun, don't sweat the throw-aways, keep on the lookout, and practice a lot.

 

[Zerg3r]

I actually read that earlier today ^^, alright thank you again for your help; you're definitely right, I don't see the good shot vs. the bad shot and have no way to tell which is better (assuming its decently lit and clear). Thank you!

 

[sashbar]

Try to fill your frame with the subject, you could do it with your 73-300 lense. Your main mistake here is that your subjects are really small, they are tiny. Do not be afraid to close in on your subject, and after you have done it and think "now it is ok", close in more. All noobs are guilty of this mistake, I was as well.

 

[Designer]

Sorry about the double post, I thought it didn't stay.

 

[Zerg3r]

I can't remember how much I had zoomed in on my subjects but I think it was a fair amount, being that they are wild animals and would only let me get so close added to it. Like I said I can't remember but I will try to get in closer next time, thank you .

 

[Zerg3r]

I tried to copy what you did to try and learn how to do it myself but to me it seems a bit fuzzy (and I did only touch the same settings you did. I guess I could drastically improve some of my photo's by getting closer/ cropping my subjects.