The first week with my camera, some nature shots (EOS 7D)

[Frequency]

Hi
Images 1 &2: Wonderful opportunity; but not benefited well; the animal does not stand out of the B/G to make an enjoyable distinction.
Image3: This clearly speaks about your potential
Image 4: In spite of the lack of eye contact, there is a story there and i liked it too
Image5: Excellent; yet i prefer trimming away the tree on the right, bringing the deer out of centre and giving the animal closer look to theviewer; its eyes would speak a lot, i am sure
Image6: A great vantage point; a great image
Image7&8: Close ups would work better?
Image9: not happy with this one for lack of distinction
Image 10&11: lack points of interest; in the 11th, if there were a bird on the wood, that would have nullified the monotony

Expecting more
Regards

 

[FlightIsPossible]

Thanks for all the comments, insight and suggestions. I did not want to edit or crop any of the original pics I posted because I wanted to get a "educated" opinion on the pics before I did that. I almost feel like I am cheating if I edit pics or crop, but since everyone else seems to, I will also. I agree that alot(maybe all) of the pics do look better cropped.

I had planned on getting one of the "L" series telephoto lenses in the next month or so... something preferably below $1500. I figured I would wait and make sure I got the right lens and didn't waste money. Since I am pretty new to all of this, I am not quite sure what would be best for me yet. A little more research and I am sure I will figure it out... I just have other things on my agenda at this particular time... like learning the basics lol. Thanks for the lens suggestions tho, I will certainly check them all out and try to figure out what is best for me and my budget.

Here was my favorite photo that I took that day, it still has a pretty boring background, but I like it none-the-less.... and this one is cropped.

 

[Frequency]

Lovely shot

 

[Robin Usagani]

Yes, but the OP is just starting out and probably want more usable lenses. You really think a new photographer would want to spend so much money on a 400mm? Pretty extreme dont you think? Unless he is 100% sure he just want to take wildlife photos. What if he wants to take photo of a family member. Make the person stand so far away? It will surely crack me up if I ask somebody what lenses they have and they reply, I have a kit lens and a 400mm L.

Get a nicer lens man. Be careful with your shutter speed. The first photo you shot was at 1/50 and you have 135mm focal length. That is way too slow and more likely will give you soft image. The subject is underexposed. Personally either make sure the sun is behind you, OR just expose the subject and dont worry about blown sky unless you are trying to do a silhouette or something. Consider these:

24-105 f/4L
70-200 f/2.8L or IS
135 f/2L

For nature? Maybe 300-500 range plus some TC would work nice if nature/wildlife is your prime subject. I did not add any of the 300, 400, 500, 600 fast primes because I'm not sure if your ready to spend equal, double, triple and even more than quadruple the price of your body.

300 f4
Canon EOS 300 F4 L ULTRASONIC (77) 35MM SLR AUTO FOCUS TELEPHOTO LENS - KEH.com

400 f5.6
Canon EOS 400 F5.6 L ULTRASONIC (77) 35MM SLR AUTO FOCUS TELEPHOTO LENS - KEH.com

100-400 f4.5-5.6
Canon EOS 100-400 F4.5-5.6 L IMAGE STABILIZATION ULTRASONIC (77) 35MM SLR AUTO FOCUS ZOOM TELEPHOTO LENS - KEH.com

tokina 400 f5.6
Canon EOS 400 F5.6 TOKINA ATX SD (72) WITH CAPS 35MM SLR AUTO FOCUS TELEPHOTO LENS - KEH.com

sigma 150-500 f5-6.3
Canon EOS 150-500 F5-6.3 SIGMA APO DG OS HSM (86) WITH HOOD, CAPS, CASE, 35MM SLR AUTO FOCUS ZOOM TELEPHOTO LENS - KEH.com

tamron 200-500 f5-6.3
Canon EOS 200-500 F5-6.3 TAMRON SP DI INTERNAL FOCUS LD (86) (A08) WITH HOOD, CAPS, CASE, 35MM SLR AUTO FOCUS ZOOM TELEPHOTO LENS - KEH.com

tamron 200-400 f5.6
Canon EOS 200-400 F5.6 TAMRON LD INTERNAL FOCUS (77) (75DE) WITH HOOD, CAPS, 35MM SLR AUTO FOCUS ZOOM TELEPHOTO LENS - KEH.com

 

[FlightIsPossible]

I am 100% sure that nature/wildlife is what I will mainly be focusing on, anything below 200mm seems like it would be too small for me(at least for a zoom lens). After I took the Elk pics, I went and bought a EF 70-300 IS USM just to get a cheaper, more disposable zoom lens that I could practice with before I invested in a "L" lens. That's what I used to take the Deer photos with. I am going to research lenses quite a bit before I decide on which one to go with, but something 400mm or higher would be nice... below $1500 would be great, but I can go over that if there is something really worth the money.

Thanks again for the suggestions, wish it would stop raining so I could go out and take some pics... Good day all.