My first few serious shot, cc please.

[WaywardShinobi]

I use a Fujifilm E550 for now, no tripod, no filters, just the camera. I'm planning on getting a Nikon D3000 as soon as I can.

This is an old church by my house, I love the look of it so I shot it. Shot in landscape mode.

This is an old abandoned residence a few miles from me, it's got a great design and I love the look at it. Shot in landscape mode.

Lake right behind my house. Taken 30 mins or so before sunset on landscape.

Bridge over a creek in the woods next to my house. Taken today on landscape with lots of cloud cover.

Shot of the board hanging under the bridge. Macro mode in aperture priority, f2.8.

Thanks for your help.

BTW, my blog: http://www.asronphotography.tumblr.com

 

[Live_free]

I recommend this, pretty good read.
Photography: The Rules of Composition – PictureCorrect

 

[AliasPros]

Love the bridge shot and old church, however what are you going for in the very last pic?

ALIAS
(Rookie)

 

[Sw1tchFX]

rant/

WAY TO BIG, dont' upload full resolution files, it takes up more space, can't see the whole image, and gets people frustrated because it just becomes a waste of time.

 

[loveDSLR]

I like the first two photos.

 

[ZEPHYR]

You need to practice and brush up on composition and the rule of thirds.
Pretty simple stuff, read up on it, practice it than it will be second nature to ya bro.
Rule of thirds, and composition is what you will need to learn.
The lake shot, put the horizon either at the top or bottom of the shot, not directly in the middle. It's visually unappealing.
Think about what you want the viewer's eye to be drawn to, think about the shot long and hard before you fire. You want to entice the viewer.
try a dutch shot, play with the lighting, angles, and blahhh blahh blahhh.
Not hard or impossible, just study what I mentioned above and you'll see *****'n results.

 

[WaywardShinobi]

Thanks for all the replies!
@Live Free: Reading that now, thank you.

@AliasPros: Thanks! For the last shot, I was just basically taking a quick shot. I was freezing in the middle of a creek, lol! So I'm not really sure.

@Sw1tchFX: I apologize and understand. I'll post smaller ones from now on.

@LoveDSLR: Thank you!

@ZEPHYR: Will do. I thought something was off with the lake shot, and your explaination definitely made it clear. Thanks. By the way what are dutch shots? Like random? lol

Thank you all for your help. I'll take all you have said and put it to use, I'm sure I'll take better photos with it.

 

[Jez]

I like the Bridge shot......

 

[WimFoto]

your 2nd one in this series is an excellent subject to explore further, close ups of peeled of paint, the old style woodwork. worthwhile revisiting that one.

you mentioned in the caption that you shot it in landscape mode, i am not familiar with your camera but if it does have a manual mode i would experiment with that to get better exposure.

 

[ClickCrazy]

Always better to shoot in manual. You have control of what the camera does. The auto settings are not always going to give you what you are going for. They tend to meter the scene and give a best judgement image. That doesn't mean it will be right .

A couple things I noticed which I will list from top to bottom of the image #'s:
1) You should be very careful about metering. If you raised your camera to the brightest area above the rooftops pressed your shutter 1/2 way, then keeping it pressed 1/2 way move the camera back into postition then continue the full click. Then you'd have your sky exposed with more colour and detail. You blew the sky by not doing so. I also think you should have compose it using one of the outer trees as an anchor to the edge of your shot.(depending what was left or right of it).
2) Same as the 1srt..But nice to see you anchored the edge with the tree.
3) not too bad on the exposure but I would have included less sky with this..to see what I mean, just scroll this page 'till the top of the furthest left tree it adds more appearance of depth/distance to the overall feel.
4) Same of the above advice- meter the lighter area.
5)This one just doesn't do anything at all for me.

Overall, be aware of your surroundings at all times. Look for anything that might be a distraction in the finished image (Move it out of frame,if possible-unless it is intended to convey something in your image-story)and most of all, your images should be well composed and well lit. These two things alone will make a world of a difference for you. practice whenever and as often as you can..Get some books on lighting. I go to my local library and pick up all sorts of books. I commend you on jumping right in and asking advice. Please do not ever think we would give advice to discourage you. It is designed to encourage you in the right direction. I do not profess to be a fabulous photograher but I was where you are at one time and I appreciated all the expert advice I got back then and now it's my turn to give back in a small way. Best of luck there my friend . :thumbsup:

 

[WaywardShinobi]

@WimFoto: That's what I thought as well. Only problem with getting closer to that house is the no trespassing signs all over. Also, thanks for the advice.

@ClickCrazy: Ok, from now on I'll shot in the manual modes. So, basically in order to expose the sky in those shots correctly, I should point at the sky, half press, frame the shot (while half-pressed), then full press? About the lake shot: I see now what is wrong with that shot, I studied the rule of thirds and composition since I've taken these. Also, do you have any tips on making something like the last shot only better? I used the macro mode on my camera but I obviously have no idea how to properly shoot a macro shot. Thank you for your help and comments.

 

[MisplacedAngler]

I like a few of them, but the sky is blown out quite a bit.

I was looking at getting a D3000 but instead opted for the D5000 for exposure bracketing and a few other features. I would like to do landscapes similar to what you've posted, and would like to do some HDR with them to capture a blue sky with a properly exposed landscape. Didn't know if you've considered this or were interested.....

 

[WaywardShinobi]

Well, the reason I haven't really considered the D5000 is because the price is over my budget right now. Well actually so is the D3000, lol. I love landscape shots but I want to do other types too. I pretty much want to do everything but studio shots. Landscapes and random people shots are probably the ones I'll focus on most. I'll look into the D5000. Anything other than bracketing that makes it really worth it?

 

[Ccauceg]

Keep it up, The longer you do it the better you get. View ALOT of other peoples work too, for that recommend this site for inspiration http://www.1x.com. "The best photos on the web" their not joking either.

Also since your new to manual modes I recommend this book http://www.google.com/products/cata...CgQrQQwAg&cid=12159470216999918688&sa=title#p

It helped me out a lot when I was learning.
http://www.google.com/products/cata...CgQrQQwAg&cid=12159470216999918688&sa=title#p

 

[MisplacedAngler]

Well, the reason I haven't really considered the D5000 is because the price is over my budget right now. Well actually so is the D3000, lol. I love landscape shots but I want to do other types too. I pretty much want to do everything but studio shots. Landscapes and random people shots are probably the ones I'll focus on most. I'll look into the D5000. Anything other than bracketing that makes it really worth it?

I know what you mean about budget. I liked the exposure bracketing, higher megapixels, and the tilt/rotating screen but don't remember any other additional features (more ISO maybe?) I thought the tilt screen thing would be good for shooting macro (something I want to try) and the bracketing for shooting HDR. The megapixels was just a bonus. These features might not matter to you and the D3000 would be great I'm sure. Just thought I'd suggest it.