Pushing up from beginner level - C&C Please

[eswarpr]

Made a recent trip to Italy with my Nikon D90. Thought I would get some expert opinion on improvements I can make.







On the above I know I made a mistake on the light. I wanted to show a general out of focus, blur to indicate the general mood of the atmosphere there (in a good way). I tried to focus on the front spiking part of the second boat, so I can get the DoF to blur out the other parts slightly. I don't think I acheived that. How would you have done it?





Many thanks

 

[EchoingWhisper]

#1 - Underexposed
#2 - Boring
#3 - Too tight, tilted
#4 - Boring
#5 - Posterised, Noisy

I may not be right though.

 

[eswarpr]

#1 - Underexposed
#2 - Boring
#3 - Too tight, tilted
#4 - Boring
#5 - Posterised, Noisy

I may not be right though.

If your intention is to make me better in my skills then you fail miserably. If your intention is to be simply offensive, then bravo! you succeeded. If your intention is to make yourself feel better by being rude, then I don't know maybe you succeeded. Why don't you try to be helpful than be horribly offensive, rude and I don't know useless?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Here we, here we, here we go again.

 

[KenC]

On the above I know I made a mistake on the light. I wanted to show a general out of focus, blur to indicate the general mood of the atmosphere there (in a good way). I tried to focus on the front spiking part of the second boat, so I can get the DoF to blur out the other parts slightly. I don't think I acheived that. How would you have done it?

The aperture you used provided too much DOF to really blur the background, especially with the boats and the background buildings not being that far apart. If there had been just one boat where the closer one was, you focused on a part of the boat closer to you, and you opened the lens aperture by at least a couple of stops, then you would have gotten something like the effect you were looking for.

Re the other comments you got, many people post very brief negative comments like this, especially when there are more than a couple of images presented. While this is not my style, it is fairly common, so if posting on here, probably best to expect some of it, and ignore it if it is not helpful. Just my thoughts ...

 

[Trever1t]

Learn to roll with the punches laddy.

I agree with echo's review. Your shots are under-exposed and the compositions lack interest (for me).

Now what you do with that critique is totally up to you. My suggestion is to look at it and learn, practice and improve.

 

[eswarpr]

On the above I know I made a mistake on the light. I wanted to show a general out of focus, blur to indicate the general mood of the atmosphere there (in a good way). I tried to focus on the front spiking part of the second boat, so I can get the DoF to blur out the other parts slightly. I don't think I acheived that. How would you have done it?

The aperture you used provided too much DOF to really blur the background, especially with the boats and the background buildings not being that far apart. If there had been just one boat where the closer one was, you focused on a part of the boat closer to you, and you opened the lens aperture by at least a couple of stops, then you would have gotten something like the effect you were looking for.

Re the other comments you got, many people post very brief negative comments like this, especially when there are more than a couple of images presented. While this is not my style, it is fairly common, so if posting on here, probably best to expect some of it, and ignore it if it is not helpful. Just my thoughts ...

Ken,

Thanks, I know that I will get negative comments, and I am not expecting BRAVO! WELL DONE! or WOW! from anyone here, because I know I make mistakes. Please tell me how will his "review" help me improve? Or is that not the intent of the poster who said "underexposed, boring, boring..." etc? What if I want the subject to be underexposed? Art is subjective, no?

 

[eswarpr]

Learn to roll with the punches laddy.

I agree with eswarpr's review. Your shots are under-exposed and the compositions lack interest (for me).

Now what you do with that critique is totally up to you. My suggestion is to look at it and learn, practice and improve.

Well, I do learn and I am eager to be taught too, but not bullied sorry.

 

[MissCream]

On the above I know I made a mistake on the light. I wanted to show a general out of focus, blur to indicate the general mood of the atmosphere there (in a good way). I tried to focus on the front spiking part of the second boat, so I can get the DoF to blur out the other parts slightly. I don't think I acheived that. How would you have done it?

The aperture you used provided too much DOF to really blur the background, especially with the boats and the background buildings not being that far apart. If there had been just one boat where the closer one was, you focused on a part of the boat closer to you, and you opened the lens aperture by at least a couple of stops, then you would have gotten something like the effect you were looking for.

Re the other comments you got, many people post very brief negative comments like this, especially when there are more than a couple of images presented. While this is not my style, it is fairly common, so if posting on here, probably best to expect some of it, and ignore it if it is not helpful. Just my thoughts ...

Ken,

Thanks, I know that I will get negative comments, and I am not expecting BRAVO! WELL DONE! or WOW! from anyone here, because I know I make mistakes. Please tell me how will his "review" help me improve? Or is that not the intent of the poster who said "underexposed, boring, boring..." etc? What if I want the subject to be underexposed? Art is subjective, no?

Most beginners say this. In these cases it doesn't work because you've lost so much detail in the subject of your picture.

 

[Trever1t]

it's all how you interpret the comments. Echo was direct and to the point. better than trying to read between the lines eh?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

What if I want the subject to be underexposed? Art is subjective, no?

If you want your subject underexposed, rather than hide behind the shield of "It's Art", you should explain to us your reasoning. Then commentary would follow along the lines of whether your intentions work or not. Critique is largely opinions, and if you are going to berate people for giving you their assesment then you might as well not post for comments.

 

[Scuba]

Ok first please number the images next time to make it easier to critique.
#1 - too underexposed - you need to be able to see the birds eye in my opinion
#2 - I agree it is really boring - What were you trying to capture in this image?
#3 - as you said underexposed and I know what you were trying to do you just need a much wider aperture.
#4 - I think you zoomed too much here - I think if more of the surroundings were shown it would give more to this picture. As it stands I don't understand it. I think where is this chain coming from? Why is it here?
#5 - Very very dark. Not enough detail to know what is going on.

 

[EchoingWhisper]

Okay. I'm sorry for being offensive. I am just stating what is wrong with your pictures so that you can find a good way to solve it, there are many ways to solve it, so it is up to you. Let's not offend the OP. I am truly sorry.

 

[Derrel]

#1 - Underexposed
#2 - Boring
#3 - Too tight, tilted
#4 - Boring
#5 - Posterised, Noisy

I may not be right though.

If your intention is to make me better in my skills then you fail miserably. If your intention is to be simply offensive, then bravo! you succeeded. If your intention is to make yourself feel better by being rude, then I don't know maybe you succeeded. Why don't you try to be helpful than be horribly offensive, rude and I don't know useless?

First off, I think it would be better if you had placed a comma after the, "I don't know", and right before the word, "useless"; I could be wrong, but I think that would have read better, and more realistically emulated a spoken put-down, an actually-uttered churlish retort. But, enough about critiquing the way you replied to EchoingWhisper. Let's move on to your photographs, which I was predisposed to think would be demonstrating the skills of a shooter who was "pushing up from beginner level"--based upon the title of the post. As a whole, these seem dark, almost as if the shutter speeds were too fast, or the lens was not opened wide enough. The shot of the gondola *is* tilted. And the foreground is badly out of focus--not a good thing in this instance. The last photo is just lacking a main subject, and then it also has all that empty space on the left hand side of the frame. The bird in the hand shot is worth two in the bush, and is dramatic lighting, kind of a back-lighting, but looks overall, slightly under-exposed. The photo of the ashtray on the table is simply horrible--it lacks a clear subject, and the camera's focal length and positioning are both poor; you need to get CLOSER, and focus on the main subject. The shot of the shackle and chain...see that awful red-and-white sign on the bottom edge of the frame??? That is a huge distraction. Simply ruins the photo. As with the ashtray photo, the background of a photo is a huge deal,and is probably the single most-neglected area of the compositions of beginners. I would say, "keep working at it!" Stay out there shooting photos, and learning about composition. And do not worry about what others say. Listen, take mental notes, and vow to do better next time.

 

[eswarpr]

OK, I think the whole thread veered to a place where I really didn't want to go and I don't blame anyone for it, but myself. Reflecting on it, I believe it was simply the "on the face" answer that I am not used to that got me all riled up. I now realise Echo had his heart in the right place, and I am sorry for not being open minded enough to his/her comments. I need to learn how to be less jumpy and sensitive, and I am sure I will learn.

I still believe art is subjective, so what one finds attractive may not be so for others. I am not hiding behind the statement, I truly believe in it. In fact I don't need to hide, because I know the pictures I took, and I took it for a reason, although it didn't come out so well as I intended to. Maybe that is where my mistake is, not relating it to an experience or explaining it well enough to the audience. I guess I am foolish to believe that the picture should speak for itself. Maybe I am not there yet on it. That said I will take everything you all said on board and see if I can improve myself on it.

Now to the photos. I deliberately took what I feel was the worst of the set and put it here solely so it can be critiqued. Thanks "Ottobergmark" for your valuable and productive comments.

I know the pigeon needs a bit more of light, but I also think it was the best I could have done, considering pigeons are so temperamental and they don't like flashes, but I also didn't want to overexpose the scene. The scene is after all the dusk part of the day and the sun was almost down, lighting the scene up would have made it look unnatural. The detail was not my intention, the mood was. However, I wanted the reactions of diverse people seeing that picture, because that is how I know how people are looking at my images.

The ash tray one: It was my intention to show loneliness that comes with old age and changing world. But someone suggested a smoking cigarette butt would have made it more interesting.

The boat: I know I messed up the light and the focus, but thanks for pointing out the better way of doing it.

The chain: This was taken in Veronna in Italy, which is supposedly the place of Romeo and Juliet. The chain in the central square of that town made me think that it is very interesting. On one hand it is the city were you talk about love and romance and on the other there is this old chain hanging in the center of the square which, probably was used to tie up people. It is empty, so it indicates freedom as well. Thought that is a good contrast to the setting.

The lock: It was a deliberate underexposure. The key subject is the lock with 2 peoples names on it. The placement of the locks are in this legend about Romeo and Juliet and how if you name you and your love and lock it up and throw the key into the river, no one can separate you (!?). So for me that focus on that lock was purely coincidence. The fact that it was in a good position to grab some natural light was why I picked it up.

I hope I have cleared the air. But thanks to all for making the effort to help me - especially "Ottobergmark" - for your comments. Will try to deal with criticism better next time.