First camera - First pics - C&C appreciated

LionelNashe

Hi folks,

Finally got out and about last week with my new camera. Haven't taken it off Auto yet. I increased the saturation a bit on 3 of these after uploading to flickr. Would be grateful for any feedback on whatever areas offer the quickest routes to improvment.

Thecageyone

A Canon 50D ... and you have it in Auto/semi auto modes?


You should look up some tutorials on manual mode, get the best from a good camera.

CabanSail

Thecageyone wrote: »

A Canon 50D ... and you have it in Auto/semi auto modes?


You should look up some tutorials on manual mode, get the best from a good camera.

The idea of C&C is to comment on the photographs, not a discussion on the gear used. What you have offered above sounds quite arrogant and is not the help that OP requested.


As for the Photo's. I like the first & fourth in the set.

The first shot has been done many times, but it still works. Simple & clean with the corridor moving towards an intersection of a thirds. It has nice repetition with the roof texture & light on the path. It is well composed & you have handled this well.

The second & third images to me fall into the Holiday Snap category. They are really just record shots. The sky in both has problems in both shots with either a lack of saturation or burnt out. This could have been improved with Polarising Filter & maybe bringing detail back from the RAW file (I do hope you are shooting in RAW)

Lovely light in the fourth shot which gives a really nice mood. The canal boat is well positioned in the frame with a good leading line for the eye to explore the photo. The surface of the water is very nice with the reflections. Even the two branches on the left and right help to frame the boat. A very pleasing image.

Bollocks. Wrote out a long reply and Firefox crashed :mad:


Anyway. Nice start OP.


For the first photo, My biggest recommendation here would have been to take a step or two forward. The wall on the left looks fairly busy for the most part (light shining on it, doorways, etc.) but the portion closest to the camera is a tad on the plain side in my opinion.

I do like it though. As said above by Caban, the repetitive nature of the light shining in and the roof texture make it a fairly pleasing photograph.



I quite like the second photo a lot. I think it's nice, bright and a 'happy' kind of photograph. My biggest issue here is that the shadow on the grass is very dominant and takes a lot away from it. My recommendation would have been to get on your belly and frame it so the 'Keep off the grass' photo is in the top left of the image as a foreground, the grass as a middle ground and the building a a background.

That said though, you'd probably have to sacrifice the sky, which would be a shame as it's a lovely blue sky you have going there, but I reckon with the lower angle looking at it, the shadows wouldn't have been so noticeable and the lower viewpoint would make it look better overall.


For the third photo, I think a bit of a zoom out would've helped, and also framing it so the sky doesn't get seen as much. The sky looks quity unpleasant or gloomy here, so it's not a great attraction in my view.

Had you held the camera lower, hovering it over the water, you probably could've used the water as a nice foreground. Clear blue water always looks good. Again, though, if you did what i recommend then you'd have to lose the water spurting out of the top of the fountain, so... Probably not a great idea. Would be your own call to make.


The last photo looks nice. Everything seems positioned fairly nicely and the combination of the path and river both entering the frame and then sprawling into the background looks pretty good in my opinion.



Just to note; I'm still learning, myself. So take my opinion very lightly. I'd also recommend learning about aprerture priority and the likes. When you get out of auto you gain a lot more control over what you're going to end up with.


But again, it's all down to opinion, what some may love, you may hate and vice versa.


Have you been playing around with photography for long? You seem to have a fairly good eye. Sorry if my post is a bit crap by the way. after fierfox crased I got annoyed and so this post is kind of a rushed version of what I had written before.

swingking

I love the 1st and the 3rd. The fourth is too cluttered. Perhaps you should have zoomed in more to the boat;

The shadow in the 2nd is a bit distracting. I would agree with the points above about going for a lower perspective.

Just on a point about the 3rd, I'm not sure if the fountain is the main subject or the building. The red on the building is quite distrating if it's not the main subject.

Keep up the great work.

Thecageyone

CabanSail wrote: »

The idea of C&C is to comment on the photographs, not a discussion on the gear used. What you have offered above sounds quite arrogant and is not the help that OP requested.

Eh, I beg to differ, as I wasn't being arrogant at all. Seriously, someone buys a 50D, the best thing they could do is get the best from it - it's pretty easy learn the basics of manual. That is simply good advice. You jumped in a bit quick there without really thinking on my reply me thinks. Sorry OP if you think I was being arrogant, though you don't seem to have responded as if that was the case. I went to the bother of checking the pic's exif data. if i was just going to be arrogant I'd say worse. There's nothing wrong with the images at all, IMHO - apart from #4 seems over exposed ...

There's a problem around here with basic honest opinion, please read posts properly before diving in on a major offensive. There's nothing arrogant in my post whatsoever.

homer simpson

Thecageyone wrote: »

...
There's a problem around here with basic honest opinion, please read posts properly before diving in on a major offensive. There's nothing arrogant in my post whatsoever.

The same could be said about your posts on one thread in particular....


OP i like the first photo, seen it done before but i think you got it spot on, i like the light comming through the windows too.

The third photo seems to me like the angles are off on it, id also like to see the whole fountain.

Im not long taking photos myself but thought i'd add my 2 cents

Thecageyone

I simply disagreed with you in other post ... nowt malicious. In this, seriously, look at my first post - anything horrible?

2 cents is all I ever add too - just probably a little rustier :P

humberklog

Nothing wrong with them Lionel. You see a scene you take a snap. Buildings, city, country...all stuff that's a little far away though. Still good stuff for practising compositon: your straightness, the height you want and what's filling the frame. Good basic stuff, nice starting areas. Do ask yourself though: if I saw that scene on someone else's flickr page, would it do anything for me?

There's the spot where you'll need to be eventually working yourself towards: right into the exact postion to capture scenes you do like from a perspective that you want to convey. But plenty of time and as said: solid enough starting ground so far.

How about looking at things closer to yourself. Some things from about 1 metre to 10 metres away? There will always be the temptation to take a pic of clothes pegs (or sharp pencils) and think no-one else has ever done it before. Well they have but that's no reason not to do it too. All good practice for composition.

Composition is what a photo is all about. What's in the pic and how it's framed. Keep the camera in Auto, hell sure feckin' superglue it into auto. Ignore ap, ss, iso etc. as it's all a load of crap when you're starting (and indeed when you're on top of it too). That rubbish really only is for intermediary fapping about. It's useful to know but not neccessary to start and great to ignore when you do know it. But there's plenty of time for all that science. Take pics, get comfortable, do a bit of science (manual) later on and then get back taking pics again.

Good solid starting pics, well done.

Calina

Thecageyone wrote: »

There's a problem around here with basic honest opinion, please read posts properly before diving in on a major offensive. There's nothing arrogant in my post whatsoever.

Please cool it and consider for one minute how your posts are coming across. Whether you intend them as arrogant or not is of no importance to how they come across.

Your response to the OP was not constructive. If you have to explain your post subsequently don't you think it would help the OP - who is clearly a beginner - to elucidate what possible settings would be of interest to them in the photograph in question?

Please drop the attitude. It really is not endearing you to the wider community at all.

__________________________________

@community in general - please do not bring arguments from other threads into C&C or support threads; it is shockingly unfair on the OP and on the mods and on the rest of the community as a whole.

LionelNashe

Thanks for the feedback folks.

@ Caban - I hadn't been shooting in RAW, but after reading your post and googling a bit I have switched it on today

LeoB

Excellent start, well done.

My Favourite is#4 but agree that a step forward in the first might help. Enjoy the new camera.

Thecageyone

Calina wrote: »

Please cool it and consider for one minute how your posts are coming across. Whether you intend them as arrogant or not is of no importance to how they come across.

Your response to the OP was not constructive. If you have to explain your post subsequently don't you think it would help the OP - who is clearly a beginner - to elucidate what possible settings would be of interest to them in the photograph in question?

Please drop the attitude. It really is not endearing you to the wider community at all.

__________________________________

@community in general - please do not bring arguments from other threads into C&C or support threads; it is shockingly unfair on the OP and on the mods and on the rest of the community as a whole.

What is shockingly unfair is how you continuously jump on my posts. I don't have an 'attitude'

Thecageyone wrote: »

A Canon 50D ... and you have it in Auto/semi auto modes?


You should look up some tutorials on manual mode, get the best from a good camera.

There's nothing malicious in what I said whatsoever, and have since said sorry to OP if 'he' took it that way.
I shouldn't have to explain any more than that. It's pretty clear what i meant was - get that great camera into manual mode, you'll be the better for it. Simple.

You tell me to cool it every other post, even after I explain.

You forget I'm pretty much a new member here too. I come here for advice and help as much as anyone else. When I posts some I get told off.

Sorry again, OP, it isn't me side tracking your thread though. And I was not trying to be arrogant in my initial post I really do think anyone with such a camera should be looking up manual control. It's easy enough once you get into it. Good luck.

magicbastarder

lionel - if you're just starting out in photography, one piece of advice i often give is to make life hard on yourself. there's a balance to strike between rattling off shots and separating the wheat from the chaff later, and restricting yourself so you have to work harder to get a good shot; e.g. only work at a fixed focal length, or go out with a small card so you limit the number of shots you can take. you'll try harder to make each shot count, and hopefully learn more in the process.

superflyninja

I really like the lines in number one, it has a great depth to it. I would add a little contrast in the pp

ianflynn

I only started around christmas, you got off to a better start than i did anyway

pbt20

as a newbie my favorites would be one and four. i think one is a nice composition and gives a good sence of place. as said earlier the lines of the path and canal in pic four work well and i love the light on the water. keep up the good work great shots.

dudara

1 and 4 stand out as the best. I line the linearity of 1, and there is something quite appealing about 4 - despite the business of the shot.

Good luck in future - and start to get that camera out of Auto mode.