First C&C

gloobag

Hi guys, just looking for some comments/criticism/pointers on these. These were taken on my first ever photo outing (it's Cashel by the way) with my new 400D (or any camera for that matter. Complete beginner here ).

I've done some tinkering with them in Photoshop, mostly just small levels asjustments.

Be as brutally honest as you can please

AnimalRights

Another newb here....I do like the 1st one best.
3rd one too dark maybe?
Last one doesn't really look like it was taken with a 400D, not sharp etc

The real experts will be in shortly at a guess.


I am having so much fun with my dslr, esp this week when the information I glean from these forums and dedicated sites has finally started to be absorbed by my cider ridden brain.

What lens did u use btw?

run_Forrest_run

welcome to the wonderful world of photography!

My tuppence worth:
#1 The bird seems just too far away, maybe cropping it might place more attention on the bird...a nice zoom lens would be good here as it seems a tad too dangerous to venture out closer to the bird

#2 Seems a little too dark. You can solve this by upping the exposure by using aperture etc. Read up on exposure & metering and you will get it sorted.

#3 Seems nice, just a pity the girl didn't maybe pose for the shot.

#4 Lovely smile. It looks a bit out of focus or maybe suffering from camera shake (maybe because you were in the car!).

Anyway, keep it up and well done for posting

gloobag

Thanks guys,

All pics were taken with a Sigma 28-70mm DG lens.

I find metering a bit confusing right now, i.e. where to take the reading from in certain situations. Any hints/tips?

peasant

just a remark on framing:

Most of the time it is a good idea not to put the main object right into the center of the frame ..makes the picture a bit more interesting.

Compare shots 1 & 2 to 3 ...and you see what I mean.

Trojan911

I like the first one best of all. I'm a newbie as well to DSLR's, still learning the ins & outs of my 400D, but interested in comments on the images displayed, I will put up some of mine soon for comments/criticism.

Just out of curiosity, what does C&C mean? (Is it Comments/Criticisms?)

Thirdfox

I normally take C&C to mean comment and critique.

Fionn

being brutal i dont usually do this but you asked and i'm under the infulence!

only my opinion tho! others might have different viewpoints - thats whats so good about photography or imagery or whatever you call it

pic 1. yeah the bird is way too small - you probably need a telephoto lens to catch this, actually the bird looks like a dwarf bird, maybe it was really a small bird.

pic 2. you've probably guessed that the camera exposed for the bright sky behind the girl so she's in shadow. How you can get around this is
a. meter on her face, recompose 7 take the shot.
b. use the flash to fill in the light
Also the composition might be better if she was to one side of the frame drawing the eye into the scene.

pic 3 was a snapshot I think, but has appeal all the same, next time try and get the subject much nearer the camera with the focus on her and you'll find the background will be blurred somewhat giving some depth to the picture. The bright light reflecting off her coat has resulted in some over-exposure, in other words some of the highlight detail of her jacket are blown out or flat white, try and avoid this, one way is to under expose by a stop or a half stop in condditions where the sun is too harsh. the composition is ok because she's to one side - look up the concept of the rule of thirds. Remember when the sun is glaring it creates dark deep shadows too

pic 4 is a nice natural pose, but is out of focus as i'm sure you know! not really your fault, the edge of her hoodie seems to be sharp but the rest isn't so it could be poor focussing or movement blu,r this is difficult to get right, usually a higher shutter speed or higher ISO will go to some way of curing this, the angle is unusual but isn't bad and perhaps you might have zoomed in a bit more to fill the frame with her face, the only thing about using zooms and peoples faces is that they tend to be distorted somewhat which can be unflattering at times.
I'm too tired to type any more

take all this with a grain of salt