noobshots needing critique

[Davey Jones]

hi there folks.
im new here, and also to kind of new to photography.
here is my flickr page:

http://flickr.com/photos/30747835@N07/sets/72157608645958121/

any comments would be helpfull offcourse, but there are a few shots in particular where some feedback would be helpful as they are shots of static situations wich i could go back to and try for a better shot.

A construction site close to my home, made bracing the cam on a fence.
ISO: 400 Apperture: F 4.9, Shutter: 1/1, WB: auto

and this bull statue on a clowdy day:
ISO: 80 Apperture: F 3.7 Shutter: 1/94 WB: auto

both of these were taken with a fuji S9600, i used a program called 'filtersim' to apply a filter effect to warm up the bull picture a bit.

 

[saltface]

First off, thanks for posting your EXIF and conditions.
The first one doesn't really do much for me. There's no real center of focus.
I like the second one more but having the subject darker than the background causes the eyes to wander. I'd say shoot it at a different time of day.

 

[Davey Jones]

i tried some night shots and played around with some slow shutter speeds.
im fairly happy with the result, though i did need to brighten it up a bit in an editor.

ISO: 80, Apperture: F 6.5, Shutter: 9.85" WB: (incandescent)

ISO: 80, Apperture: F 10.9, shutter: 32", WB: (incandescent)

 

[stsinner]

I'm just amazed that your ISO goes to 80

 

[Dionysus]

i like the nightshots of the bull better..whats that green light? is that a spotlight?

 

[Davey Jones]

im ashamed to say im actualy not quite sure, but i think its a neon add sign or something like that.

im just lerning what ISO is and what to do with it, but yeah these fuji models
in between the compacts and the DSLR's are amazing value for the money
if you make sure to pick the one right for you.
Fuji seems to have a strategy of making cams with particular uses in mind.
they spend the same money on less features, making for slightly less versetility
but higher quality.

this one is aimed at hobbyists who would go so far as to buy a tripod, and so it doesnt have anti vibration stuff.

 

[Dionysus]

#1 of the nightshot version is my fave, if you can reshoot it w/out that green glare, itd be a stronger photo, maybe include more of the background (as long as its not distracting or ugly), and get it a little bit away from dead center.

 

[Davey Jones]

i might do that for the practice, but in the meantime heres the pic after i converted it to sepia and i played around with the color values a bit:

 

[saltface]

Now that is definitely interesting.

 

[Davey Jones]

i took another stab at it, but im gonna have to concede that the pic isnt
going to get much better untill i get a proper tripod.

i managed to get a slightly higher angle by putting my cam on a box,
but it wasnt stable enuff to get a realy tight pic.
theres no way ill be able to get rid of the green light with anything
less then a BB gun, and i sold mine a long time ago
still, once i get a tripod id still like to see if i can improve the shot
with a higher angle so the lamp to the right falls behind the bull, and the
ones behind its back slide out of frame on top.