3 shots for C&C

prusselstown

Hello all,

I am just a beginner so I am looking for as much help as possible. Please let me know your views. Be brutally honest. All feedback will be gratefully accepted

LeoB

Thats a crap pitch for Hurling in #1;)

Nice shots. I like 1 and 2
#1 Its nearly always better to be able to see the face of the people in photos like # 1, to see the expression as they strike the sliother

#2. I would straighten a little but I am sure the people on the bike would like a copy of that. Maybe try and pan a little to give it some movement. Also the looking at the background . Would it be possible to shoot this without that background? Maybe on a lane with just a hedge as background.

keps

I suppose one of the basic questions to ask is-

What did you want to capture when you 'clicked' on the shot?

Photo 1

Did you want a photo of a tractor or a photo of a hurler?

Or did you want to get both a tractor and a hurler in the same photo?


I do not know what you wanted to do so therefore I'm not sure if you succeeded in what you wanted to do.

From a neutral point of view the tractor is a total distraction!

If you had moved a few feet forward and arranged a clear background--then the Hurler and sliotar would be the dominant feature in the photo.

just my 2cents:)

keps

Photo 2 is fine - I think it does exactly what you wanted it to do.



Photo 3

Is This taken in Clonmacnoise?

The Cross is photographed very well- but the Crosses there are fakes -and don't look the best.

The Photo is very well taken - to get good exposure like that against the light is not easy.

To me personally, I think #1 is poorly composed. I'm not sure what you were going for, but it looks to me like the kid is trying to smash the windows on the tractor or something with his ball. Probably a shot that could be a lot better if taken from a lower vantage point?


#2 is a nice and colourful image, but again, I'd remark on the composition. The general rule when photographing a person, car, etc. would be to give the person somehwere to look, or give the car somewhere to go, etc. (so if the person is looking left, leave a bit of space on the left). The photo looks very tightly cropped, and I don't really know if the bike is moving or not.


#3 is quite nice and I like it. A slight contrast or other such messing about to reveal the texture a little better may not be of harm, though.


Nice effort all round, though

pixbyjohn

prusselstown wrote: »

Hello all,

I am just a beginner so I am looking for as much help as possible. Please let me know your views. Be brutally honest. All feedback will be gratefully accepted

Nice shots from your beautiful D700. I agree with LeoB on first pic
Maybe on the 2nd photo you could have went for a smaller aperture, like f5.6 rather than 2.8, just an opinion.
Good luck and keep posting

prusselstown

Thanks very much for all the feedback. I will try to take it on board and hopefully make improvements.

keps

Was that Cross in Clommacnoise?

prusselstown

No it is a Cross over a grave in Old St. Michael's Cemetery in Athy in Co. Kildare. The first pic was actually taken at this years Ploughing Championships also in Athy.

keps

Ok now I see.

So the first photo was a young fella playing with a hurley and sliotar - while the plowing championships are going on in the background.

Difficult concept to capture -but I like the thinking

prusselstown

At this years Ploughing everybody seemed to be buying hurls. There were heaps of people carrying them around as walking sticks. I just wanted to capture that in some way and that was the idea for the shot.

AnCatDubh

Well, there's nothing 'brutal' about them which is the good news. They look relatively well in focus, nicely exposed - perhaps the bike a tad too saturated, but meh...., that may be down to personal opinion and the cr*p monitor that I am viewing on.

My main c&c on them is more that they aren't particularly interesting. I think it was humberklog who gave some really good advice to someone once, which I think we all could benefit from reminding ourselves about from time to time. He said (being paraphrased), go out - find something interesting - point the camera - press the button. We as photographers need to consider the composition and see the end product before you press the shutter release. Simplifying the image can be a good place to start. Forget about the scene for a moment and isolate something within the scene.

For example in #1, drop yourself onto the ground, shoot up giving a more heroic perspective on the individual, or focus on a stalk of straw in the foreground, create a narrow depth of field, and have your subject out into the bokeh'd (is that a word) region. Meh..., maybe and maybe not - but the point is to seek out opportunities to be creative with your photography, and use the technical measures at your disposal to enhance and manipulate the scene into your end vision. It also depends on what you are actually setting out to achieve.

The third is probably the most creative attempt of the 3. I like its sharpness and the angle that you are getting in at, though I would suggest you could even have got in at a narrower angle.

The subject of the second could be really interesting if you had time to explore it. To me, unfortunately what is presented is just a snap of something that passed you. There is nothing particularly wrong with that to be honest, but as you explore your photographic tendencies you will see the opportunities that the situation presents and use your evolving skills to capitalise on the opportunity.

So, well done and thanks for sharing here.

charybdis

keps wrote: »

sliotar

Is that a new Zeiss designation?

keps

charybdis wrote: »

Is that a new Zeiss designation?

Sorry - I don't understand that

Desco

How do you know it was a D700? Is the exif file available to read as in Flickr?

keps

Desco wrote: »

How do you know it was a D700? Is the exif file available to read as in Flickr?

You can run any photo through software such a OPANDA and it will give all data- as long as the person posting the photo has not hidden it