Noob, first DSLR. Critique please!

[RPXZ]

Hello guys, my first post here!

Well I've always been just a point and shoot kind of person. But after seeing some awesome work (well to me at least) over 4th of July weekend with my friends D90 I decided to take the plunge into the DSLR world. The only thing I am a little familiar with it editing, but even then that is very basic.

So I picked up a D5000 earlier this week from bestbuy. From my brief research I concluded that was a good beginner unit, plus it was on sale and so was the AF-S DX Nikkor 55 - 300mm lens. However I didn't research this lens but was told it was ok. So after reading all about ISO, aperture, exposure, shutter speed and how to work the thing in "M" mode this is what I came up with!

Ok, enough of that, on to the pics. I was hoping I could get a little critique from you guys. All of these photos have been touched up. Some with HDR. Let me know what you think!

 

[480sparky]

The flower, cat & moon are pretty standard 'stuff' for someone shooting right out of the gate.

The close-up of the disembodied goose bothers me some.

The duckling is rather soft and the comp is off a bit.

The goose in the water is a keeper. Good white balance, focus, etc.

 

[RPXZ]

The flower, cat & moon are pretty standard 'stuff' for someone shooting right out of the gate.

The close-up of the disembodied goose bothers me some.

The duckling is rather soft and the comp is off a bit.

The goose in the water is a keeper. Good white balance, focus, etc.

Thanks for the reply! Close up of the goose disembodied goose meaning because I didn't get the entire goose? To the ducking comment: Does that mean that I didn't get the focus right?

I apologize for the rather beginner questions.

 

[480sparky]

Close up of the goose disembodied goose meaning because I didn't get the entire goose?

Yes. Just the feet and head is 'unnerving' to me, for lack of a better word.

To the ducking comment: Does that mean that I didn't get the focus right?

Although the focus is a bit soft, it's the composition that's off. Search for the Rule of Thirds.

 

[RPXZ]

Close up of the goose disembodied goose meaning because I didn't get the entire goose?

Yes. Just the feet and head is 'unnerving' to me, for lack of a better word.

To the ducking comment: Does that mean that I didn't get the focus right?

Although the focus is a bit soft, it's the composition that's off. Search for the Rule of Thirds.

Ok, I will research that some.

Thank you for your help!

 

[Aayria]

Enjoy your camera! I have used a D5000 from day one and it's been a great little camera =) Best advice I can give you starting out is don't listen to every bob and joe on the internet telling you to buy tons of gear right off the bat....Learn what you have, and learn what you like to shoot...Then you will know what YOU need and why you need it without all the conflicting advice. Looking forward to more posting from you =)

 

[CBURKE]

I like 2 and 5, the rest I am not sure. It's like there to saturated or something. Did you do any post processing to them or is this right from the camera?

 

[RPXZ]

Enjoy your camera! I have used a D5000 from day one and it's been a great little camera =) Best advice I can give you starting out is don't listen to every bob and joe on the internet telling you to buy tons of gear right off the bat....Learn what you have, and learn what you like to shoot...Then you will know what YOU need and why you need it without all the conflicting advice. Looking forward to more posting from you =)

Thank you! Right now I'm slowly learning that. I just bring the thing everywhere I go and hope to find something lol.

I like 2 and 5, the rest I am not sure. It's like there to saturated or something. Did you do any post processing to them or is this right from the camera?

Yes, I did some post processing. Slowly learning HDR efex pro and color efex pro. As you can tell, I have a long way to go.

I grabbed this today. It was hard to get a clean shot because of all the branches on the tree. I don't know if it is just me but I'm not getting the detail out of these close pictures, they end up blurry. No PP on this one.