Stepping out of my comfort zone, be brutally honest

[MZC386]

I am brand spanking new to this forum and to photography. I bought a Nikon D5100 and would like to know what you guys think about what I consider my best 2 photos........ be brutally honest and also please don`t forget that I am here to LEARN as much as possible, thanks in advance.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/64675382@N08/5882716836/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64675382@N08/5882716126/


Sorry about the links, couldnt upload photos directly for some reason.

 

[Derrel]

Kind of boring shots of what look like jetty or shore rocks...the first picture seemed every so slightly better to me. It felt like too much top space, devoted to the water...

 

[MZC386]

Thanks for the reply, Im not really sure what Im doing wrong...... I love taking pictures but what I see does`nt always transfer into the shot that Im looking for, any advice?

 

[AverageJoe]

Time of day, go either in the morning when the sun is just coming up or early evening. The lighting in both shots is fairly flat. The other two times I mentioned will give you better shadows. Google: Magic hour

 

[SabrinaO]

Find an interesting subject and focus on that. Sorry, but a pile of boulders and a picture of the front of a church (?) is not interesting at all. Maybe you could of zoomed in to the center window of the church...it has some architectual interest/details. Just think outside the box.

 

[MZC386]

You guys are absolutely right, these shots are pretty boring........ its pretty much a picture of a church and a picture of a rock. Would you say that focusing on the quality of the shot and not the content is a mistake?

 

[SabrinaO]

You guys are absolutely right, these shots are pretty boring........ its pretty much a picture of a church and a picture of a rock. Would you say that focusing on the quality of the shot and not the content is a mistake?

Haha... did you just get your camera?

Don't worry... I think we all done it. We get our cameras and excitedly go out anything and everything... hoping to get some nice artistic amazing shots.
First though you need to find out what you are interested in. What are you interested in shooting? Because these pics don't tell me anything really. Do you like the outdoors? Landscapes and scenery?

 

[MZC386]

Yup, got it about a week ago, I told my wife it was for her but I use it 99% of the time

As for what Im interested in shooting....... so far its anything and everything (like you said), Im trying to pretty much teach myself the basics, take a lot of pictures, adjust the settings a bit and see what I get..... trial and error, i guess.

 

[SabrinaO]

Yup, got it about a week ago, I told my wife it was for her but I use it 99% of the time

As for what Im interested in shooting....... so far its anything and everything (like you said), Im trying to pretty much teach myself the basics, take a lot of pictures, adjust the settings a bit and see what I get..... trial and error, i guess.

Great... keep shooting. Teach yourself the basics. Are you shooting in manual?

 

[MZC386]

Yea, Im shooting in manual and im shooting RAW.

 

[molested_cow]

I like your crack

The cropping on the church can be a little more generous by stepping further back and show some ground.

As for the rock(crack), I understand that you are trying to show spacial relationships, but it's just not too interesting.

 

[NikonME]

Don't give up.. Keep shooting. Also, get a good book on digital exposure.

Here is a link with useful info to get you started.

 

[MZC386]

I like your crack

The cropping on the church can be a little more generous by stepping further back and show some ground.

As for the rock(crack), I understand that you are trying to show spacial relationships, but it's just not too interesting.

Thanks for the tips, I think Im going to retake this shot and see what I come up with....... I know theres a good shot there, somewhere (The church)

 

[MZC386]

Don't give up.. Keep shooting. Also, get a good book on digital exposure.

Here is a link with useful info to get you started.

Thanks a lot for the link! and giving up isn`t an option, I haven`t enjoyed something as much as Im enjoying photography in a long long time so I plan on sticking with it.

 

[pgriz]

Think of an image as telling a story. A story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The image beginning is usually a bright or sharp area that attracts our eyes, or a human face (eyes especially). From this "entry point", we start to scan the rest of the image to get an understanding of what we're seeing. Lines, diagonals, curves that lead us from the starting point to other areas of the image help us explore and guide us. Things that take away from the narrative are elements that compete with the main subject (bright blotches of light, lots of detail in the background or foreground that isn't relevant to the subject, and composition that leaves the viewer unclear on what the point of the image is. The end comes from having taken in the key elements of the image and "gotten" the reason why the image was taken.

This is why we usually tell people to make sure the eyes are sharp - because that's what we as humans tend to look at first. Areas of the image that are sharp and bright are signals for us to "LOOK HERE!". Therefore the main subject (be it a rose, a human face, or a car) should be sharp and well-exposed. The rest of the image either adds to the narrative by providing context, or takes away by being distracting. Photographers have learned to use the depth-of-field to leave the un-important areas out of focus, and therefore not competing with the main subject. Placement of the main subject on the 1/3 or 2/3 line (the rule of thirds) allows the eye to have a space to move to after identifying the main subject. Placement of subject dead-center gives us no clue as to where we should be looking next, and generally is considered a weak composition UNLESS the object is symmetry. The use of different focal lengths allows photographers to exaggerate or compress the relationship between near and far.

When you think about taking an image, pause for a moment and consider what aspect of the image caught your attention in the first place. Since we humans have selective vision, we can blank out distracting elements, but the camera will see it all, and in framing an image we need to check whether the other elements in the image (foreground, background, light direction, shadows, etc.) contribute to or detract from the vision that you had. Learning to "see" is a skill that can be learned and improved with practice. Learning to arrange elements into a pleasing composition can also be taught, but having some talent makes the process much easier.