Yay or nay?

[Kanthaka]

Hello all! I'm new to the site and haven't really read anything on here yet. :blushing: BUT I would like to see "where I stand" so to speak. These photos were taken with my parents' Canon PowerShot SX50 HS. I'm posting them because I don't exactly know "where to go" with this new photography hobby of mine so I'm thinking some thoughts on photos that I took may help me out. Thanks!

 

[WesternGuy]

These are nice snapshots. I would suggest that you number your images when you post them as this will make it a lot easier for folks to refer to them when they comment on them. If you are just starting out in photography as a "new hobby", then you need to think about what is it that you like to photograph most - what gets the creative juices flowing. For me, it is flowers with birds and landscapes a close second. Then I think you might want to read up a bit on composition and exposure. I would encourage you to surf the web, but you could start with - Advanced Composition -- Part I - there are two following web sites with the links at the end of the site. As well, have a look at this one - Photography Composition Articles Library as there are a number of links to sites on composition. There are also a number of books that have been written on composition - you might want to look at one by Bryan Peterson called Learning to See Creatively - Amazon.com: Learning to See Creatively: Design, Color & Composition in Photography (Updated Edition) (9780817441814): Bryan Peterson: Books. There are lots of others.

Coming to this forum and others and asking questions and posting images for critique is also a good way to learn. I would suggest that you only post about 2 or 3 at a time as anyone reviewing your images will spend 3 to 5 minutes per image. With the six you have posted, you are asking someone to spend 20 to 30 minutes in review - that's a lot of time to expect folks to spend, however with two or three images - no problem.

Also, welcome to the forum.

WesternGuy

 

[CaptainNapalm]

You have a good eye and these are good for your first shots.

 

[CameraClicker]

img_0175.jpg: Looks like you walked almost to the stream edge, and took a photo. If you live near, try shooting from a lower position, perhaps wear boots and shoot from in the stream. Often streams with rapids or falls are shot with the camera on a tripod and ND filters so the exposure can be a second or two to get creamy water. The rocks at the bottom of your photo seem a little bright. A lot can be learned from shooting water, keep exploring it.

img_0209.jpg: This is one of those "not everyone likes the same art" things. I really dislike a big out of focus foreground object. Some think it is OK. Once again, keep exploring. Sometimes a CP filter can help flower photos. Try different angles and different compositions to see what works for you. Flowers are a great subject, patient, pretty to look at while taking photos, and they smell good too.

img_0146.jpg: This is a near miss. The subject is the deer, but the grass is in focus, not the deer's eye. Marks for trying though. Wild deer are not easy subjects, they leave when you try to get close. This is the sort of shot where a dSLR user would probably switch to manual focus because all that bright grass would drive auto-focus to fail. If you can't manual focus, you have to figure out how to get a clear view for the auto-focus area of your viewfinder.

img_0140.jpg: I think this is the winner. It needs some post production love, but the subject seems to be in focus. I would crop, square might work well, to get rid of a lot of the background, and I would carefully clone out the grass sticking out of the wing top.

img_0230.jpg: This has lots of atmosphere, but no strong subject. I usually have a shot like this, right after the bird has left the branch. That seems to happen frequently. It is another place that deserves repeat visits and lots of experimentation.

img_0222.jpg: This is kinda cool. I see a couple of heads in the rock shapes. My imagination is aided by the "eyes" which are probably the ends of holes drilled for blasting. The shot is an opportunity to recommend you look around the edges of your viewfinder before shooting. It is amazing how many garbage cans, utility poles, discarded pop cans and other unwanted stuff sneaks in. In your case it is an orange traffic cone!

I think you are off to a good start. Take your time and explore your subjects.

 

[Derrel]

You have a good eye and these are good for your first shots.

I agree with CaptainNapalm. Pretty good for first shots! In-focus, simple, one idea per shot. No, no the most "studied" compositions, but not dreadful either.

 

[Kanthaka]

These are nice snapshots. I would suggest that you number your images when you post them as this will make it a lot easier for folks to refer to them when they comment on them. If you are just starting out in photography as a "new hobby", then you need to think about what is it that you like to photograph most - what gets the creative juices flowing. For me, it is flowers with birds and landscapes a close second. Then I think you might want to read up a bit on composition and exposure. I would encourage you to surf the web, but you could start with - Advanced Composition -- Part I - there are two following web sites with the links at the end of the site. As well, have a look at this one - Photography Composition Articles Library as there are a number of links to sites on composition. There are also a number of books that have been written on composition - you might want to look at one by Bryan Peterson called Learning to See Creatively - Amazon.com: Learning to See Creatively: Design, Color & Composition in Photography (Updated Edition) (9780817441814): Bryan Peterson: Books. There are lots of others.

Coming to this forum and others and asking questions and posting images for critique is also a good way to learn. I would suggest that you only post about 2 or 3 at a time as anyone reviewing your images will spend 3 to 5 minutes per image. With the six you have posted, you are asking someone to spend 20 to 30 minutes in review - that's a lot of time to expect folks to spend, however with two or three images - no problem.

Also, welcome to the forum.

WesternGuy

Thank you for the advice! I will definitely apply them in my future posts. I just didn't realize that it might take someone that long to review my photos. :hail: I plan on reading the stuff you have linked. In fact, I already finished reading "Advanced Composition -- Part 1" and I definitely learned lots of new things. I thought it especially interesting that lines and curves could actually set the mood for photographs. Never really noticed that before but, I must say, that the first bit was a bit hard because I don't even know what ambient light and white balance mean yet. :blushing: I'm such a noob right now... but I will keep reading! :mrgreen:

img_0175.jpg: Looks like you walked almost to the stream edge, and took a photo. If you live near, try shooting from a lower position, perhaps wear boots and shoot from in the stream. Often streams with rapids or falls are shot with the camera on a tripod and ND filters so the exposure can be a second or two to get creamy water. The rocks at the bottom of your photo seem a little bright. A lot can be learned from shooting water, keep exploring it.

You mean people stick their tripods into the water in order to take a shot? Hmm... never even thought about doing that. Would you set the tripod just really low or something? And would the camera need some sort of protection from the water? I guess I can go out and buy a tripod or something but I don't have a dSLR/SLR camera... would I still be able to use a filter for it?

img_0209.jpg: This is one of those "not everyone likes the same art" things. I really dislike a big out of focus foreground object. Some think it is OK. Once again, keep exploring. Sometimes a CP filter can help flower photos. Try different angles and different compositions to see what works for you. Flowers are a great subject, patient, pretty to look at while taking photos, and they smell good too.

I honestly didn't know what to do with it. I took a picture when all of the flowers were in focus but that kinda looked boring to me so I did this... weird thing. Idk. I thought it was better but actually I think I took another shot of the flowers where the front flower is in focus and the flowers in the back are the ones that are blurred out. I'll try looking for it and I'll post it if I find it. I'm actually not even sure how I got this result. I ended up just messing around with some of the settings on my camera and got different pictures out of it but I'm still not entirely sure what I changed for each shot. >_>

img_0146.jpg: This is a near miss. The subject is the deer, but the grass is in focus, not the deer's eye. Marks for trying though. Wild deer are not easy subjects, they leave when you try to get close. This is the sort of shot where a dSLR user would probably switch to manual focus because all that bright grass would drive auto-focus to fail. If you can't manual focus, you have to figure out how to get a clear view for the auto-focus area of your viewfinder.

I took this from a moving car. :mrgreen: I'm a little confused though. Are you suggesting that I kinda do what I did for the flowers? Have the grass blurred out and the deer more focused? Or are you telling me to zoom in more so that the main part is the deer's eye?

img_0140.jpg: I think this is the winner. It needs some post production love, but the subject seems to be in focus. I would crop, square might work well, to get rid of a lot of the background, and I would carefully clone out the grass sticking out of the wing top.

I'll work on it.

img_0230.jpg: This has lots of atmosphere, but no strong subject. I usually have a shot like this, right after the bird has left the branch. That seems to happen frequently. It is another place that deserves repeat visits and lots of experimentation.

I wasn't actually going for birds. On that day, there was just this heavy fog all over the place and the place was just dead silent. You couldn't hear or see anything in this forest, including birds. So I kind of took this shot to convey vast emptiness... I guess? Like I wanted this shot to show just how alone I was at that point. How would you have added a strong subject to this?

img_0222.jpg: This is kinda cool. I see a couple of heads in the rock shapes. My imagination is aided by the "eyes" which are probably the ends of holes drilled for blasting. The shot is an opportunity to recommend you look around the edges of your viewfinder before shooting. It is amazing how many garbage cans, utility poles, discarded pop cans and other unwanted stuff sneaks in. In your case it is an orange traffic cone!

I didn't even realize that the traffic cone was there until you pointed it out. I just literally facepalmed. Oh, that is disappointing.

I think you are off to a good start. Take your time and explore your subjects.

I will! And I will put extra effort to be wary of random traffic cones.