Have only just reg'd with the site, not at all into photography but have recently used my dads canon 400D SLR. Will you kindly give your genuine feedback on the following, as i said a complete novice.
Firstly congrats on posting your pics, it does take a bit of nerve to stick your photographs up in front of other photographers and let them loose on them :). Overall I would say you have a good eye for a photograph, there are a couple of points I would note on them.
You have to get the horizon level, this will distract from the best photograph in the world. In each of your photographs you have a tendency to run the horizon down from left to right.
With regard to composition, everything in your photograph should have a purpose. Plants, trees, etc can distract from the overall image, or make an otherwise good image appear mediocre. Think about what you are photographing, frame the subject and then look for distractions in the frame. If they are there, ask yourself do they need to be? If they don't, take a few steps to one side or the other and recompose. If they have to be in the photograph, try to include them as a feature. On this vein of thought, you should look up the 'Rule of Thirds', it's a rule of composition that will really help you.
Finally, I think you have chosen some very difficult objects to photograph here due to the massive difference in contrast. Camera sensors are nowhere near as sophisticated as your eyes and the level of contrast you can see between light and dark is a lot greater than your camera can see. Therefore, when you photograph in the early morning or late evening, your camera will meter off one particular light source and darken / lighten the remaining light accordingly. Metering in difficult situations takes a lot of practice. If you are serious about photography you should probably invest in a light meter, they are relatively cheap and can go a long way to improving your photography. I wrote an article on an introduction to metering a while back, I'll see if I can dig it out for you; it might help you a bit.
To give you an idea, here's a photograph I took what needed a delicate balance between light and shade (although I'll admit not to the extent you were shooting in) as I was standing in shade but shooting into light and needed all detail visible.
These are very good, albeit a totally different subject style, macro rather than landscape. The only comment I would make is to be very careful with regard to your focus point, I personally think that the photograph of the pencils and parings would have been much better if the top of the parings were in focus as they are pointing towards the camera, rather than the centre of the top paring, as this is pointing away.
Hi Steve,
The photographs I took of the landscapes were literally the first few photographs i had taken. Since then I have been experimenting and I am enjoying using my creative side. Thank you for your comments regarding focus, as a newbie all C+C is welcome, especially on composition and lighting.
My flickr, all comments welcome.
Regards,
Simon http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarbyteef/
P.s Please excuse the couple of over edited pics, as understand these are not to everyone's taste.
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11/5/2009 (7:04 pm) by tarby
(7 Posts)
Hi all,
Have only just reg'd with the site, not at all into photography but have recently used my dads canon 400D SLR. Will you kindly give your genuine feedback on the following, as i said a complete novice.
Regards,
Simon