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Another one from yesterday.
[url=http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5525/9326872191_59d1f24bbc_b.jpg]Image[/URL]

Feel free to comment. Compared to some on here I could do with the critique.

Hi - you asked for critique, so here's my humble opinion.
On the positive side, you're shooting a group of flowers on what I presume is an overcast day. This is good when you're not including the sky in the photo and you want to avoid harsh shadows as the clouds act as a diffuser for the sun, giving an even spread of light.

On the negative side, there's no real focal point to the photo. There's nothing to lead the eye anywhere and I struggled to find what you were trying to show me. There's either a couple of benches or bits of fencing at the back that are neither in nor out of the photo.

Try to decide what you want the viewer to see, then look around to see what else to include and/or exclude in the composition that will draw the eye to, but not detract from the focal point. If there's an unwanted distraction in the background which you simply can't exclude, use your aperture to throw it out of focus.
 
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'nother one from the Southwest . Monument Valley is loaded with twisted up and weathered conifers , sorta like big bonsai . The rock formations in the background are called the 3 sisters , allegedly for their resemblance to 3 nuns .
(Sister Mildred is on the left ;))

5D2 , 24-105@65 , f9.5@1/30 , ISO 100
 
thought id jump in on one of my shots from last night. Should probably be called where's wally with that shirt on mind :p (harting, southdowns walk UK)

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Great capture. Haven't really got any candids myself of people I don't know (assuming you don't know this person!). I will have to build up some confidence and just go for it.

Part of me actually wants to start a little film project whilst the sun is out and go out and take 12 pictures of strangers at a time and post them online somewhere.

Have to see if my bank balance will allow it and my nerves don't get the better of me.

Spent a little time today going through my B&W scans from my holiday so I should have some new shots to post!

As always, comments appreciated!


Katherine by AcearchieArchive, on Flickr
 

I like this. Very nice :)

Great capture. Haven't really got any candids myself of people I don't know (assuming you don't know this person!). I will have to build up some confidence and just go for it.

Part of me actually wants to start a little film project whilst the sun is out and go out and take 12 pictures of strangers at a time and post them online somewhere.

Have to see if my bank balance will allow it and my nerves don't get the better of me.

Spent a little time today going through my B&W scans from my holiday so I should have some new shots to post!

As always, comments appreciated!

[url=http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5451/9350825977_a71e3083d6_c.jpg]Image[/url]
Katherine by AcearchieArchive, on Flickr

I actually do know her, she's my niece (with my wife in the foreground) :)

Nice photo, BTW.

This is the last photo I'll post from my NYC trip. Don't usually post photos of family, but already broke that rule in this thread :) Went to NYC with my wife and niece. Was my niece's first time in NYC. Wanted to get a photo of the three of us and decided to make use of the reflective properties of the window at a smoothie bar in Times Square. Usually one reaches for a polarizer filter to get rid of reflections from glass. In this case I wanted to use the reflections as part of the composition.
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Try to decide what you want the viewer to see, then look around to see what else to include and/or exclude in the composition that will draw the eye to, but not detract from the focal point. If there's an unwanted distraction in the background which you simply can't exclude, use your aperture to throw it out of focus.

Thanks for the feed back. Always welcome. I think composition is one of the harder parts of photography to learn. I see someone else's shot, but when I go for a similar looking shot it just looks dull. Still some of you guys have been doing this years. Just a few weeks for me really.
Here is another effort from the same day, with a bit of extra focus blur added via Onone suite.
 
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Here is another effort from the same day, with a bit of extra focus blur added via Onone suite.
[url=http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2891/9354806306_f4e71eee33_b.jpg]Image[/URL]

Like you, I'm learning but I feel like I should offer you some advice here - Don't try to emulate depth of field using Onone suite as it just doesn't look good I'm afraid. Use larger apertures when shooting to get that effect. Sorry but that just looks terrible.

Keep shooting though. Practice makes perfect and all that. We all started somewhere and your skills will improve the more photos you take and the more advice you get.
 
Thanks for the feed back. Always welcome. I think composition is one of the harder parts of photography to learn. I see someone else's shot, but when I go for a similar looking shot it just looks dull. Still some of you guys have been doing this years. Just a few weeks for me really.
Here is another effort from the same day, with a bit of extra focus blur added via Onone suite.
[url=http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2891/9354806306_f4e71eee33_b.jpg]Image[/URL]

I agree with you that composition is one of the hardest things to learn in photography. Every aspect of image capture is important. Finding (or creating) the right light. Choosing the right aperture to get what matters in the photo in focus (or out-of-focus as the case may be). Choosing the right shutter speed for subjects in motion.

It's easy to spot a subject to focus on. It's much harder to teach yourself to see all the other elements in the frame and decide if they are adding to the impact of the image or detracting. Rule of thumb: if an element isn't adding something to an image then it is by default making the image weaker. Exceptions to every rule, but I think one of the big "stepping stones" in learning photography is "seeing" everything *but* the subject when you compose.

For this particular image I appreciate what you were trying to do with it in post. Honestly, it doesn't work though. There are very clear lines that separate the "blurred" part of the photo from the depth-of-field you got at the time of capture. Not subtle at all.

You seem to want to isolate the subject in this photo while throwing the background out of focus. The only ways to do this involve being close (the shorter the distance to the subject, the narrower the depth-of-field), using a longer lens (the greater the focal length of the lens, the narrower the depth-of-field), or using a larger aperture (the larger the aperture, the narrower the depth-of-field). You can't really fix this in post.

To make things a little more complicated, it also has to do with sensor size, at least indirectly. The smaller the sensor, the greater the magnification you see from a lens at a given focal length. But the depth-of-field relates to the actual focal length of the lens. As an example, phones have a tiny sensor and use lenses with a focal length of around 5mm to give a field of view equal to 35mm on a film (or full frame) camera. But it's really still a 5mm lens. Very easy to get everything in focus using a phone camera. *Very* hard to isolate a subject with a phone camera unless you get really close.

Long reply. Hope it makes sense :)
 
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Long reply. Hope it makes sense :)

Thanks for taking the time. Yes most of this makes sense. I guess I was trying to see how much of an improvement I could make to the average shot. I'm still getting to grips with my camera, and when I take it out of auto mode to A or P I'm really just learning what to do (or not to do). We are having some photography training at work in the next few weeks, so I should pick up some tips then.

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Like you, I'm learning but I feel like I should offer you some advice here - Don't try to emulate depth of field using Onone suite as it just doesn't look good I'm afraid. Use larger apertures when shooting to get that effect. Sorry but that just looks terrible.

Keep shooting though. Practice makes perfect and all that. We all started somewhere and your skills will improve the more photos you take and the more advice you get.

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm sure it's more the user than the Onone suite that is at fault! Hopefully you will see some improvement over the next few weeks. I think I'll get a tripod so I can take longer setting up the shot and settings etc.
 
I think I'll get a tripod so I can take longer setting up the shot and settings etc.

There's no need to get a tripod for the sake of spending more time contemplating your shots, although no doubt you will want one at some stage.

Have a look at some of the photos on this thread that you like, and try to work out WHY you like them.

Ask questions such as:
What is the focal point? (in the case of landscapes, the whole picture may be the focal point, though certain details may catch your eye)
Has the photographer included something in the foreground to draw your eye into the picture?
Does the background give context to the focal point, or are you left with an air of mystery about the situation?
Is there a juxtaposition of old and new, rich and poor, or any combination which would normally not be found together, but combine to produce an engaging image.

There's lots of good general rules to follow when you begin photography in earnest - for example the rule of thirds. Use these to begin with to build up your confidence, and as you practice more and more you'll find your own style and techniques that work for you.

Next time you take your camera out, photograph something like the wooden squirrel again, but take several pictures from one place, using a different aperture setting each time. Repeat the process with a different zoom setting. When you get home, look at the effect each aperture/zoom combination has on the resulting photograph, and this way you'll learn about the settings on your camera.
 
Thanks for taking the time. Yes most of this makes sense. I guess I was trying to see how much of an improvement I could make to the average shot. I'm still getting to grips with my camera, and when I take it out of auto mode to A or P I'm really just learning what to do (or not to do). We are having some photography training at work in the next few weeks, so I should pick up some tips then.

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Thanks for the encouragement. I'm sure it's more the user than the Onone suite that is at fault! Hopefully you will see some improvement over the next few weeks. I think I'll get a tripod so I can take longer setting up the shot and settings etc.

Parkin Pig's advice above is solid.

Don't stress. Don't get discouraged. Shoot more. Experiment. Ask questions. Keep posting :)
 
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I like this. Very nice :)



I actually do know her, she's my niece (with my wife in the foreground) :)

Nice photo, BTW.

This is the last photo I'll post from my NYC trip. Don't usually post photos of family, but already broke that rule in this thread :) Went to NYC with my wife and niece. Was my niece's first time in NYC. Wanted to get a photo of the three of us and decided to make use of the reflective properties of the window at a smoothie bar in Times Square. Usually one reaches for a polarizer filter to get rid of reflections from glass. In this case I wanted to use the reflections as part of the composition.
Image

Thank you for your kind words and back at ya, as they say. Very nice shot :)
 
People, places, wildlife...some great shots being posted! Really enjoying your NYC shots Kallisti.

A Baltimore Oriole:

Image

Thanks for the kind words. While I'm not a bird shooter, I like this one. And I agree with you that this has been a very productive month for several genres. I'm always a little amazed at the quality of work posted here and equally by the supportive atmosphere of this forum. Rare combo on the internet.

Also wanted to highlight this image from early in the thread:
I sure miss the days before the forced 780-pixel width. To see this one larger, just click on it...
[url=http://www.phrasikleia.com/phrasikleia/OverTheWall.jpg]Image[/URL]
Phrasikleia this is another stellar landscape. Many talented landscape photographers on this site, but you always manage to "wow" me with your images. Kudos.
 
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Testing out the converted Vivitar 400mm lens I got a while back on the 6D body today. Finally I can crank the ISO and use this bad-boy! :cool: The 60D just couldn't cope with its demands for high ISO's.

Taken in the backyard spotting spoggies that come in to eat the new pear buds in the dead of Winter. The green background is the neighbours shed above our back fence, unfortunately they perch up too high to get them with the dark of our fence all around them.

I'm loving this lens on this body! I think I need a split focus screen for the 6D though, so I get tickety-boo focus on the subject, not the branch in front of them! :eek:

Taken in the shadow of a huge pine tree at ISO 1600, 1/500, f/8, 400mm.

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Canon 6D, Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 with EF mount
 
Market place, Akka (Acre)

Slow ride on the MTR
Hong Kong


MTR by pmxperience, on Flickr

Good shot! Love the shallow dof. Wish I wasn't so shy about whipping out my camera in public!

Somehow this is comfortable...

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LOL! Nice photo, love your caption!

Thanks for taking the time. Yes most of this makes sense. I guess I was trying to see how much of an improvement I could make to the average shot. I'm still getting to grips with my camera, and when I take it out of auto mode to A or P I'm really just learning what to do (or not to do). We are having some photography training at work in the next few weeks, so I should pick up some tips then.

I agree with Kallisti. Also, there's a very good book on photography by Brian Peterson called Understanding Exposure and another by the same author called Learning to See Creatively. I would recommend both of these and they're very readable.



Mine for today. I took this in the market place in Akka (Acre) in Israel when I was there for ten days last spring.

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The female he was trying to impress seemed to be ignoring him the whole time.

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