Total noob here, looking for some CC.

[slimodin]

This is my first post and thought i could use some advise. I really want to understand photography, so looking for some critique. Here are a few pics I snapped the other night at a lake here in Denver. Let me know what you think I can do to improve.

 

[bigpuddin43]

I'm new to this as well but here goes. I think the first one is successful. I get the feeling of sitting back in the trees as the sun goes down waiting for a big catfish to bite. But that's just me. The second one I feel is the least successful. It's like there is no subject to focus on the flash on the trees takes away from the setting you had in the first and the trees are just uninteresting. The last one is to dark for me.

 

[MSnowy]

I don't take many landscape pictures but one of the first things I learned was make sure your horizon is level. The first picture the horizon is tilted to the left.

 

[Civchic]

Two and three are underexposed. Do you have a tripod? A longer exposure would have helped you here, and a tripod is almost necessary for that at night.

The first one, I like the colour and exposure of the background, and I'm one of those people who really likes dark silhouettes, but I feel like this one is just a bit too broken up by solid trees. It's really nice and crisp, though - it has a lot going for it.

 

[WesternGuy]

Welcome to the forum. You will get lots of advice here, as you can already see. I would agree with the comment about underexposure and the tilted horizon. Nothing "kills" a good landscape better than an horizon that is not horizontal. My question also concerns the subject of the image. I am unclear in the first one whether the image is the sky. If it is the sky, then the trees hide too much of it. I also think it is a bit underexposed. In the second one, the image is underexposed, although I will assume the subject is the tree with the bit of light on it in the foreground. The third one is not bad as the subject, the sunset, is obvious but again, it looks underexposed to me. As Civchic has suggested, a tripod is almost a necessity when shooting these types of images. If you do use a tripod, then go with a remote shutter release and mirror lockup as this helps to remove any possibility that camera shake (doesn't have to be much) will cause blurring in your image. Hope this helps.

WesternGuy

 

[slimodin]

Thanks everyone, I truely welcome all your advise. I was using a tripod, I believe the first pic was at f18 and 30 sec shutter speed. I also was using a 2 sec shutter release. I think I see what you are saying as underexposed, so I will work on paying more attention to the light meter. The second pic was by chance, my daughter was walking by with a flashlight and that is what resulted. The third pic wasn't the sunset it was actually the city glow from Denver. I believe the settings were f22 at 30 sec exposure with iso at 800. Again thanks everyone.

I was at the lake last night again messing around, so I will get some more pics up for crituque shortly.

 

[slimodin]

Here is a shot of the city glow again, think I may have underexposed a little though. F/4.5 @ 13s iso @ 400.

Second pic f/5.6 @ 6s iso

400

And here I thought was a pretty cool plant, what do you think is better?

Again I welcome all critique, I really want to understand photography and make it a part of my everyday life.
Thanks again,
Shawn

 

[Q4kntmare]

What lake in Denver were those shot at?

I would try and take your time a bit more when shooting these pictures. Each of them seem a bit rushed. I have 2 kids of my own and it is very difficult to find the time to shoot, let alone the time to focus on one shot.

Here is a night time shot I took up near Jefferson, CO

 

[slimodin]

Wow, nice pic Q4kntmare. How do you make the focus so sharp? I've been trying to get better at making my images sharper but seem to be having trouble. I do use a tripod and a 2s delay shutter release but still don't think I'm getting it.

All of those pics were taken at Marshall Lake in Superior.

 

[CAP]

I like number 1.

 

[Q4kntmare]

Make sure your tripod is setup on the ground correctly. Some of the rocky areas can cause the tripod to still be a bit unstable and will cause slight shake from wind. Also, are you using a remote or timer to take the picture? That can also be a cause of some slight shake.