Seattle city scape

[bdog325]

1) A normal sky scraper

2) One of Seattle's newer attractions A ferris wheel on a dock

3)At the seattle aquarium. Found out that its hard to shoot into a fish tank

4) The Argosy boat

5) Just some regular stadium lights from the Monster Energy Supercross

6) A red crane. One is color splashed. Just desaturate and then use the history brush

7) Same place but to the side. I had to add a filter to make it look somewhat good

8) A group of buildings. One with a color splash and both with a tint

 

[timor]

Way too many at once. I like #1,2 and 8.

 

[bdog325]

Oops hit the post button.

8 continued

9) walk dude

10) Just the space needle with a few effects

11) This one ain't the best but I just had to take it.

12) A few pigeons I was stalking

All photos shot with a Nikon d5000 and either a 18-55mm or 55-200mm. Suggestions and or comments are welcome.

 

[bdog325]

 

[bdog325]

Some of these go mixed up. U will know which ones. Thnx

 

[SCraig]

Word of advice: Lose the effects and sharpen your focus.

 

[bdog325]

Now I am not saying any of these are top notch. Especially the space needle. I get a few and they dont turn out nearly as good as I hoped. So then I take it, and try to turn it around with software to make it look somewhat descent.

Any other suggestions would be nice though so are compliments

 

[peter27]

Now I am not saying any of these are top notch. Especially the space needle. I get a few and they dont turn out nearly as good as I hoped. So then I take it, and try to turn it around with software to make it look somewhat descent.

Any other suggestions would be nice though so are compliments

Really no offence meant but you simply can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Concentrate more on getting things right in camera in the first place and try to rely less on fixing things with software afterwards.

At the moment your photos look like a series of snapshots, which is okay if that's what you like; however, they don't hold the attention of the viewer for very long. Instead of snapping away trying to get photos of anything and everything, whittle things down a bit and go for quality over quantity.

Perhaps you should get a book to take you through the first steps. I swear by John Hedgecoe personally.

 

[SCraig]

Now I am not saying any of these are top notch. Especially the space needle. I get a few and they dont turn out nearly as good as I hoped. So then I take it, and try to turn it around with software to make it look somewhat descent.

Any other suggestions would be nice though so are compliments

It takes time to learn the basics but, just like the foundation beneath a structure, they are the necessary building blocks of photography. Look at the pigeons in #12 and the Ferris wheel in #2. They are both underexposed because your meter picked up that expanse of sky and adjusted the exposure for that. Look at the focus in #4, #5, #6, and #7. The focus is off in all of them. These are basic elements of photography that absolutely, positively must be gotten right. Especially focus since exposure can be compensated for in post-processing up to a point.

I'm not trying to discourage you but you have to get the basics down cold. Adding a lot of effects to an otherwise dull photograph simply creates a dull photograph with a bunch of effects added. Effects are meant to enhance something, to make it better, but you have to start with a good foundation (there's that word again).

On the other hand you are getting out, taking photographs, and trying. I commend that since it is more than some people do. Some people just sit around and complain about not understanding what they are doing without ever trying. They want the instant gratification of having all the knowledge without going through the learning curve, and that isn't possible. We can learn as much or more from our mistakes as we can from our successes as long as we keep an open mind and choose to learn.

Start Here. This is an excellent series of tutorials that cover the basics of photography and I highly recommend them. As you read through them apply them to this series of photographs and the comments here will make more sense.