"Oi, Another FNG to Critique..."

Whootsinator · Jan 30, 2010

Yea, yea. Everybody knows that's what you guys say!

Well, hello everyone. I've had my Nikon D3000 w/ Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S VR for a total of two and a half days. Before Thursday I had had no experience with photography outside of a Sony Cybershot compact point-and-shoot. Keeping that in mind, I believe I'm doing alright, and believe I'm going to enjoy this hobby. I won't post just my best photos, I like seeing progression and hope to look back on this thread in a year and smile, or laugh. Not all photos will be 'artsy', with a wonderful planned composition, either (my little brother provides some great pictures to laugh at, just being himself). None of my images have gone through any post-processing outside of cropping unless noted. I'm not afraid of comments or criticism, most of you are better at this than me and I respect that. Tell me how to improve. Without further ado, here are some images!

My personal favorite to date, I think this one really turned out great. Note that under the left eye is a scar, not an error or debris.

The focus is a little 'off' on this one. I'm not sure exactly how to describe it, but I'm sure you guys can handle that part.

I wish this kid would learn to wipe his mouth.

One of his favorite past times, making forts in the center of walkways!

I found that it's incredibly hard to take pictures in the pitch black holding a DSLR with one hand and clutching a handful of 7.62x54r in the other.

Perhaps an album cover is in this image's future?

This one disappointed me terribly. Looks no better than something I would've taken with the Sony Cybershot... But, I told you I wasn't just posting my best, so here it is.

At least three more, probably five or six, are on the way. They are still on the camera and I need to look through them, select the best of each subject, and crop appropriately.

Whootsinator · Jan 30, 2010

As I see this thread being overtaken by seventeen others, I can't help but wonder why one person hasn't even bothered looking, much less posting.

Back to the top, I suppose.

javafriek · Jan 30, 2010

I like the 2nd shot of the cat, nice.

Whootsinator · Jan 30, 2010

Thanks. She didn't think it was worth waking up for, but put up with me for a few minutes at least.

jackieclayton · Jan 31, 2010

i agree... the lighting in the 2nd one is soft and nice... it's the best out of the bunch IMO.. you mentioned you didn't want to post your best so you can see your progression... please... post your best. your best will get better. dont waste time on getting critque off of pictures that you don't even think are your best... its pointless. we aren't giving feedback on your personal best shots, so how will you improve?

Repost but put the ones you think are the best! :thumbup:

AUS-10 · Jan 31, 2010

Flash is making hard shadows everywhere.

But #2 I think is the best on the group but the right side of its face is in a shadow.
Cool concept on #5 too.

Estrie · Jan 31, 2010

I think what he said, was that he wasn't going to post "only" his best.

I like the first one, maybe not such a tight crop? Read all you can on composition of photos, there are some good threads here on that.

dtzitko · Jan 31, 2010

Nice Mosin Nagant.

jackieclayton · Jan 31, 2010

Estrie said:
I think what he said, was that he wasn't going to post "only" his best.

I like the first one, maybe not such a tight crop? Read all you can on composition of photos, there are some good threads here on that.

you're right... i misread it. I thought he meant "these aren't my best" sorry OP!

Whootsinator · Jan 31, 2010

AUS-10 said:
Flash is making hard shadows everywhere.

But #2 I think is the best on the group but the right side of its face is in a shadow.
Cool concept on #5 too.

Yes, I've noticed that. I did the best I could in that regard, with only the onboard flash and terrible interior lighting. I can't wait to build a light tent/box. The concept is one I've always liked, kind of inspired by the Soviet hammer and sickle, and the Red Faction cover art. I wish the lighting had been better and the left side wasn't lost. Hard shadows fell on cartridges from more cartridges above.

dtzitko said:
Nice Mosin Nagant.

Thanks, 1935 Tula M91/30. Majority of parts are Izhevsk though, because of after-action refurbishment. An antique Finnish M39 is next on the list, hopefully with a Sestroryetsk receiver.

As far as the whole posting my best thing goes, I want to post my best, and I definitely will. I'm just including some others as well. Here are today's images. I didn't exactly focus on clarity today, as I did with others. I was running on auto and for some god awful reason it chose 1600 ISO. Major noise.

Here's the best of the day. Cropped, some noise removal, increased color saturation.

He can be pretty patient. I think he likes being a subject of photography.

Simply, Glow. Cropped, straightened, some noise removal.

The interior glowstick structure for GlowThru shot.

jackieclayton · Jan 31, 2010

those are pretty cool i like those... you see that metro neon art a lot lately, especially in music videos and stuff... very Daft Punk-ish! good job!!