Mission San Jose

Emerana · Jul 3, 2008

I took some photos at the San Antonio Mission San Jose a couple days ago. I took them purely for enjoyment, but as always I am trying to learn and grow, I would love any and all C&C. My goal was really to have fun, shooting non-living things clear my head. But I kind of wanted photos that didn't scream "historical state park". I wanted photos that were eerie but relevant. Does that make sense? I was also keeping my eye out for chances to try abstract photography.

My challenges were two fold. 1) it was BRIGHT out and in the middle of the day. I had harsh shadows but tried to embrace them, while minimizing any blown out or over dark areas. 2) I failed to bring my tripod or even a monopod and my lens wasn't IS, making it all a challenge. I did shoot in manual to try to have more control.

So please, I would be grateful for feedback.
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tirediron · Jul 3, 2008

C&C per req:
1. Have you tried adding a little fill light in post just to lessen the extremes in this on slightly?
2. Nice, are these clouds enhanced in post, or was this done with a CPOL, or ?? A levels/curves adjust might help to elimiate the very under-exposed edges on the bottom and RH side.
3. Nice, but somewhat under-exposed and appears rather desaturated. I think this one might work well as a B&W or sepia conversion. Good symmetry and composition.
4. Interesting, but rather too muddy for my taste.
5. A nice image, but one I think would have been better focused on either the top or bottom areas only, and perhaps zoomed out slightly. The flare on the UL is somewhat distracting.
6. I think this one would have been better composed by moving to your right slightly; the object in the background is rather distracting as it's hard to tell where the subject ends and it begins.
7. Very nice, just tone down the highlight on the left.
8. I really like this one, and another possibility for B&W convert.

Just my $00.02 worth - your milage may vary.
~John

Emerana · Jul 3, 2008

thanks

#2 I burnt the sky to bring out the clouds a little. Very low opacity though, maybe 7% or less. Is it too much?
#6 I was trying to capture the graffiti but I think I did fail to make it impact the photo.
I will happily try your suggestions in processing

K8-90 · Jul 3, 2008

Beautiful!
Love #1 - it looks so moody and interesting. However, I'm not sure if you were trying to go sepia or not, but the skies on 3 & 5 are somewhat yellow...?