My First Shots: C&C Please

beaminge36 · Sep 17, 2008

Hi, I am new to this forum. My name is Nick and I just inherited a Canon Rebel Xt with the EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 from my father. I biked to the park with the gf and took a bunch of shots. Below are the ones I liked more. I shot them in raw and did minor editing/finalizing in photoshop. Can anyone give me some C&C on the photos as far as composition and the post-production on these? Thanks in advance.

1. <17mm, f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/500>

2. <85mm, f5.6, ISO 100, 1/100>

3. <17mm, f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/800>

TAG · Sep 17, 2008

I really like the first one, the second really doesn't do much for me, I find I'm more drawn to the background and with a subject as good looking as your girlfriend that really shouldn't be the case. I'm not sure why that is in number two. I really like number 3 as well however it (and I"m not doubting it's real) looks fake haha. I would like to see the same shot with just air and the background underneath her instead of the fountain. Once again I find it distracting. I think if she did a jump like that off a park bench or even just off the ground you would have a better shot on your hands. These are just my personal opinions, and most certainly not the opinions of anyone who is any good at photography. I'm very much a beginner myself. All and all very well done, I really like them.

-TAG

joecoulsonphotography · Sep 17, 2008

I like the first one, but I would love to crop it.

TAG · Sep 17, 2008

Since it says it's ok to edit your photos I decided to crop the second one to see if it would be less distracting. I think it is a lot better but you can be the judge.

-TAG

aprileve · Sep 17, 2008

good photos. like the first one the best.

beaminge36 · Sep 17, 2008

Thanks for all the responses. I too am drawn to the first one the most. they were in no particular order.

TAG - I like the crop, you are right about the distracting background. It took me a while to figure out what was bothering me about it.

Joecoulsonphotography - how would you crop the first one to improve it? (okay to edit and post)

beaminge36 · Sep 17, 2008

How are the colors in them? My desktop LCD is not calibrated which I used for the raw processing. I notice now on my notebook less vibrant colors. Mayb its just my notebook monitor. I also just read that i'm supposed to run an unsharp mask because raw images need it but I didn't know that earlier today when I converted the pics. In my opinion they looked relatively sharp, do you guys think the usm would be overkill?

momofthing1and2 · Sep 18, 2008

great shots! I like the first one best. as someone else says number 2 just doesnt do anything for me. 3 i also think would be better if the fountain/wall wasnt underneath her. It is a great looking shot though.

Amber_Cullen · Sep 18, 2008

I also like #1 the best, I think you did great on #3, jumps can be hard to catch but if you had a different location it would have been better

beaminge36 · Sep 18, 2008

Yea, looking back I should have found a different spot for the jump shot. The wall is distracting. I've been reading everything I can about photography over the past few weeks and finally got the camera from my dad so its hard to try to take in everything I've read into my first photoshoot. There will be many more photoshoots till everything starts coming more naturally to me. Thanks for the comments.

If you have any other harsher comments, I won't be offended... I just want to improve as much as possible so shred away.