New here c&c welcome

[RedWylder]

I'm pretty new to photography. I've been shooting with a Nikon D3000 18-55 Lens. I find myself needing advice of many a more experienced photographer. Here are a few of my favorite photos thus far. Be prepared for "pet" shots as my dog and his friends are my best practice models at the moment.

 

[RedWylder]

That's fair...I am new to this afterall but perhaps more specific advice would help. What makes them look like snap shots? I have read a lot about composition and exposure but but putting it into practice is another thing. As you may know it's very difficult to see how to improve your own photos, much easier to tell someone else what they could try.

 

[DirtyDFeckers]

I would strongly suggest reading a little more about exposure. The photos are just kind of plain you know? Picture your photo before you even look through the camera. Think about what you want from the image, then get it with the camera.

 

[mkoop]

That's fair...I am new to this afterall but perhaps more specific advice would help. What makes them look like snap shots? I have read a lot about composition and exposure but but putting it into practice is another thing. As you may know it's very difficult to see how to improve your own photos, much easier to tell someone else what they could try.

Sure,

For starters when I look at photography I don't like to see things that I see in my every day life with my own eyes. That tosses out pets and other bland "daily seen things". Now I too love my pets and love to photograph them, but those are my pictures my snapshots (not my images), as I don't really consider them personally interesting if lacking that emotional attachment. YMMV.

Now don't get me wrong daily seen things can be very interesting when put into another perspective.

When I shoot photos I try to think how I can make someone stop and look at this moment that I have captured in my life from MY perspective. It is a very very powerful tool and what originally made me interested in photography.

So for your photos, I like #1 and #5 the best. #1 is made interesting from the rusted metal drum in combination with the sunset. But the exposure is off, this can be corrected after the fact with post editing software, but its best to try to get it correct to save yourself editing time. Were you using a tripod in this shot? If so you can improve your exposure by simply lowering the shutter speed allowing more light to enter since this is a still frame, when trying to capture movement you will have to increase SS and compensate elseware. I also feel this shot could be improved with a bit increased DOF to put that metal tin and the brush around it in sharp focus and the landscape slightly out of focus.
Play with your aperture settings but you must remember your aperture, shutter speed and iso are all directly linked and must balance in order to keep correct exposure. With that being said I never raise my iso from the minimum if I do not need to, I only even consider it if I am not using a tripod and have poor lighting conditions or photographing sports in low light.

A really great way to learn exposure and helped me leaps and bounds was to put my camera on a tripod and shoot massive brackets. f2.4 with a various range of shutter speeds, then stepped it up incrementally in both departments. This gave me my own personal reference to view what apertures / shutter speeds provide what results at certain distances. You can learn DOF and how to influence it this way as well. I use a program called Aperture (for mac) another one is Adobe Lightroom. I know Aperture has a feature and I assume Lightroom does as well that allows you to see all camera settings on a given image very easily. This allows you to simply scroll through your images and see the different effects.

What makes #5 work is the play from the shadows, but whats going on in the background is rather bland and unsightly out of focus construction equipment. If you could have repositioned it to include something more interesting as a focal point with those shadows I think it could have worked.



Hope this helps some.

 

[DannyInMontana]

I like koops response. #1 has a lot of potential as far as shots go. Simple way to look at a photo is ask yourself, "does this photo present an answer or a question?". Kinda like the more than what meets the eye type stuff. You're in Alaska, there is a lot on display there to photograph, enjoy!

 

[RedWylder]

Thanks for the advice Koop! And I totally agree, pet shots are only for pet owners not to show everyone else. I will say that I never considered the pet shots as fine art and to be displayed as such but more of as practicing portraiture and lighting.

The little doggie in my pictures isn't mine, took them for his owner who loved the photos (go figure, right?!)

As for the other comments:

You asked about me using a tripod and the answer is no, I wasn't. Which would have been nice on that cold (-20), windy, top of the ski hill, day...haha. Anyways I hadn't brought it with me and I was left with doing the best I could with minimal light circumstances. I would have liked to get more DOF using a smaller aperture but without the tripod it wasn't working for me. So I guess lesson learned-bring a tripod or go home! Oh and I should probably mention #5 is the ski lift and pretty much all our buildings up here in Alaska look like dumpy construction equipment which Im determined to learn how to shoot and make look interesting.

 

[LaFoto]

Well, I feel you framed the dogs all too closely, losing parts of their limbs - or ears, for that matter - through a too close crop. In pet photography, I feel that it is as important as focussing on the eyes to also include their feet and their ears! But if the owners of that cute Schnautzer like the photos, well ... then all's well, isn't it?

 

[RedWylder]

Perhaps...but then again they didn't ask me to take the photos and they certainly weren't paying me. If they had or were then maybe my close cropping would have bothered them. As it is, I took them while dogsitting for them. Maybe I should ask them..."Mam, would you prefer your dogs ears be fully focused and visible or not?" haha

 

[LaFoto]

Well, I wasn't saying you HAD to observe NOT to crop their feet or ears for anything. But when this thread was new, you were wondering why the first or second reply had the word "snapshot" in it, weren't you? And cropping too closely and cutting off limbs IS one aspect that can make a photo look more like a snapshot than like a well thought-of photo. That's what I meant to point out. As something to look out for and pay attention to in the future, see?

 

[RedWylder]

I absolutely do see and I was only being silly which is how I deal with criticism. I'm not so sure that came across. I will definitely keep your thoughts in mind although I personally like oddly cropped photos depending on how it's done but not everyone will share my opinion, that is certain.