Rivery blurryness, C&C appreciated

[Compaq]

What I want C&C on is the composition and how the shutter speed worked in the photo. Too slow or too fast. These are my favourites.

#1 This one might seem a little tilted, but I shot a little downstream
ISO-100
f/9
10 seconds

IMG_1527 by Bokehliciousness-ness, on Flickr


#2 It seems I missed the focus on the foreground rock, which bugs me!
ISO-100
f/9
5 seconds

IMG_1525 by Bokehliciousness-ness, on Flickr


#3 Notice the dragon head squirting water. Should I crop off the top part to get that rock out?
ISO-100
f/8
0.4 seconds

IMG_1474 by Bokehliciousness-ness, on Flickr


On the appropriate ones, should I crop off the small part of the trees at the top?
Thank you for watching and criticising them!
-Compaq

 

[Compaq]

I don't like to nag or seem needy, but I'd really like some feedback...

 

[tirediron]

C&C per req:

1. I think you chose a good shutter speed for this one; the water is smooth, but not so misty that you can see through it. I would level the image, and perhaps crop off the top to eliminate the little bit of far shore.

2. I think this one just misses; I would much prefer to see a much tighter composition on the rocks in the immediate foreground. All the rest of the image with the stream receding really has little to hold the eye.

3. Looks more like a seal to me, but yes, I think you should crop that rock near the top. This is a really interesting image. I'd like to see what this one would look like with a much longer, say 3-4 second shutter speed as well.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

 

[Virtuosos]

Agreed. 2nd one is blerg. The others are pretty nice...first looks like a river of liquid metal or mercury or something

 

[Big Mike]

Nice work. I'll agree with John's take on them.

Did you have a polarizer on the lens? There is a lot of glare on the water and I think they might look better without it. I'm not sure how much of that glare is from the longer shutter speeds, so it may or may not come off with a polarizer.

 

[spacefuzz]

your shutter speeds seem good for the water speed, but I would try a polarizer.

 

[Compaq]

Yeah, well, I don't own a polarizer, so that would be hard Of course, I could go all digitalrev/macgyver and tape my polarized sunglasses to the lens...
I'll try to crop them and straighten them, if that's the general preference.

I'm yearning for a wide angle lens, I had to borrow a kit lens for these. It's much harder composing with the 50mm prime, and the perspective distortions from wide angles are very nice.

 

[geraldsoh]

i like the 1st photo the most among the 3 photos. But i think the shutter speed is a little too fast. If only it is a little bit slower...then it will be AWESOME!

 

[AfroKen]

I like the first photo the most, and feel that the shutter speed of 10 seconds brought this beautiful quality to the water.

 

[Trever1t]

I think you have a handle on exposure and technique but the compositions just don't do anything for me. I'd like to see more of the river for context.

 

[Dagwood56]

Personally, I'm not overly crazy about the compositions of these. I'd prefer to see some of the shore line for a bit of perspective\depth, rather than just a view straight across the water. Just my 2 cents. And I agree with tirediron about #3 - it looks like a seal to me too.