Simple seagulls

[scooter2044]

I took these photos of the same seagull within a few minutes of each other. I still can't figure out how the colors in the sky changed so much from one to the other, but for some reason I like them. I think it's because they are so simple and uncluttered. I thought I would post them to get someone else's thoughts. Maybe I've just been looking at them too long, lol. Any critique is appreciated.

1

seagull13 by Sheila Swindell, on Flickr

2

seagull14 by Sheila Swindell, on Flickr

3

seagull15 by Sheila Swindell, on Flickr

 

[Raj_55555]

The sky colours look okay to me, not all that changed from one pic to another. I prefer the last seagull shot, and the background of the second one, if you don't mind playing with photoshop, maybe you can see if it works out. Nice shots either way!

 

[robbins.photo]

The sky's colors didn't actually change. The reason it appears to do so is because your camera was set to spot metering. Assuming you weren't recomposing your shots, your camera was adjusting the exposure based on the light reflected off a small portion of the center of the frame.

For more consistent results shooting at a moving target in the open you can try changing to matrix metering.

 

[scooter2044]

The sky colours look okay to me, not all that changed from one pic to another. I prefer the last seagull shot, and the background of the second one, if you don't mind playing with photoshop, maybe you can see if it works out. Nice shots either way!

Thanks Raj, I like the second background best too so maybe I'll try that, after I figure out how to do it, lol. I'm just now trying to get the hang of making layers to edit different sections. I'm not liking the accuracy of the quick selections tool, grrr. Maybe it's time to take a break and try something else. Thanks for taking the time to comment. I'm not good at deciding what's wrong with my own photos so it's nice to have others' opinions.

 

[scooter2044]

The sky's colors didn't actually change. The reason it appears to do so is because your camera was set to spot metering. Assuming you weren't recomposing your shots, your camera was adjusting the exposure based on the light reflected off a small portion of the center of the frame.

For more consistent results shooting at a moving target in the open you can try changing to matrix metering.

Metering.....sigh. Every time I feel like I'm getting to know my camera, I find 10 more things I haven't even begun to look at yet. I try to sit and watch instruction videos on the computer and usually end up falling asleep. At this rate I'll be 100 before I know the basics. Thank you for the pointers. Even though I like the colors in all the pictures, a little more consistency will be nice.

 

[Jasii]

Would agree with Raj about the BG in the 2nd being the best of the lot. Was wondering if you tried exposure compensation with the above shots?
Just had a look at the Flickr album and like the shot of the bird with the coastline and the splashing waves, a nice one to include in the set me thinks.
Jasii

 

[robbins.photo]

The sky's colors didn't actually change. The reason it appears to do so is because your camera was set to spot metering. Assuming you weren't recomposing your shots, your camera was adjusting the exposure based on the light reflected off a small portion of the center of the frame.

For more consistent results shooting at a moving target in the open you can try changing to matrix metering.

Metering.....sigh. Every time I feel like I'm getting to know my camera, I find 10 more things I haven't even begun to look at yet. I try to sit and watch instruction videos on the computer and usually end up falling asleep. At this rate I'll be 100 before I know the basics. Thank you for the pointers. Even though I like the colors in all the pictures, a little more consistency will be nice.

Lol.. no worries. Best part about digital, you can take thousands of pictures and when you learn from those you can take a thousand more, and so on and so forth.

The learning curve seems steep at first, but believe me after a while you really start to pickup speed, like a snowball rolling down hill.

This is a pretty good little tutorial on metering and the sort of situations that you might want to use spot, center weighted or matrix for:

Understanding Metering and Metering Modes

 

[scooter2044]

The sky's colors didn't actually change. The reason it appears to do so is because your camera was set to spot metering. Assuming you weren't recomposing your shots, your camera was adjusting the exposure based on the light reflected off a small portion of the center of the frame.

For more consistent results shooting at a moving target in the open you can try changing to matrix metering.

Metering.....sigh. Every time I feel like I'm getting to know my camera, I find 10 more things I haven't even begun to look at yet. I try to sit and watch instruction videos on the computer and usually end up falling asleep. At this rate I'll be 100 before I know the basics. Thank you for the pointers. Even though I like the colors in all the pictures, a little more consistency will be nice.

Lol.. no worries. Best part about digital, you can take thousands of pictures and when you learn from those you can take a thousand more, and so on and so forth.

The learning curve seems steep at first, but believe me after a while you really start to pickup speed, like a snowball rolling down hill.

This is a pretty good little tutorial on metering and the sort of situations that you might want to use spot, center weighted or matrix for:

Understanding Metering and Metering Modes

Thank you!!! I'm never sure which ones are the best ones to watch. Sometimes it takes 20 minutes to sort through and choose one, only to watch 3 more later anyway. By then, I've forgotten everything else I had already learned (like remembering to change the white balance...a more common occurence that I like to admit).

 

[scooter2044]

Would agree with Raj about the BG in the 2nd being the best of the lot. Was wondering if you tried exposure compensation with the above shots?
Just had a look at the Flickr album and like the shot of the bird with the coastline and the splashing waves, a nice one to include in the set me thinks.
Jasii

Thanks Jasii. I thought about putting it in as well since it was taken the same day. I just didn't want to put too many to make sure I got some feedback but I'll post it below. I honestly don't know what the exposure was set at. I can't remember what I did last week let alone last month. The EXIF info says "Exposure Bias - 0 EV". Not sure if it's the same thing. Most of the shots I took were daytime, so it was probably set for normal exposure.

 

[scooter2044]

Jasii, is this the one you were refering to?


seagull5 by Sheila Swindell, on Flickr

 

[robbins.photo]

Love that one. I haven't seen an ocean in person in close to a decade now.

 

[scooter2044]

Love that one. I haven't seen an ocean in person in close to a decade now.

Sorry, I posted the wrong picture first and had to edit. I'm not sure which one you saw. The first one I'm going to include in the post I made in the landscape forum tonight.

 

[robbins.photo]

Love that one. I haven't seen an ocean in person in close to a decade now.

Sorry, I posted the wrong picture first and had to edit. I'm not sure which one you saw. The first one I'm going to include in the post I made in the landscape forum tonight.

Actually I may have seen them both, trolling your Flickr account at the moment.. lol

 

[scooter2044]

Love that one. I haven't seen an ocean in person in close to a decade now.

Sorry, I posted the wrong picture first and had to edit. I'm not sure which one you saw. The first one I'm going to include in the post I made in the landscape forum tonight.

Actually I may have seen them both, trolling your Flickr account at the moment.. lol

I'm trying to track my rate of improvement by posting something from everytime I go out, even if it isn't the best. Feel free to comment on any of them if there is something wrong with them. Helps me learn faster, lol. Thanks for looking.

 

[robbins.photo]

Love that one. I haven't seen an ocean in person in close to a decade now.

Sorry, I posted the wrong picture first and had to edit. I'm not sure which one you saw. The first one I'm going to include in the post I made in the landscape forum tonight.

Actually I may have seen them both, trolling your Flickr account at the moment.. lol

I'm trying to track my rate of improvement by posting something from everytime I go out, even if it isn't the best. Feel free to comment on any of them if there is something wrong with them. Helps me learn faster, lol. Thanks for looking.

No problem at all, from what I can see your off to a great start. If you want a good laugh go back and look at some of the stuff I shot when I first started out.