Lake Biel

Ballyman

Before ye tear me to shreds, I'd just like to point out I only got my camera a week ago so this is all new to me.:)

I'm in Biel Switzerland for a week working and headed down to the lake this morning to take a few pics before work. Weather is dreadful and it is really overcast. More interested in the composition until I understand all the camera settings than exposure and light etc although criticism and feedback of any sort is really appreciated.

Thanks for looking.

AnCatDubh

As you've pointed out the weather hasn't been kind to you at all - very grey indeed. If it were something you wanted to keep print and hang on a wall, try uping the contrast / brightness - it kind of moves it into the high key sort-of space but i think it gives some scope for improvement (all down to your personal taste - so feel free to disregard that).

Composition wise, #1 - i think there maybe too much sky, exaggerated by the bad weather to be a grey 'blob' of uninteresting space. Given the circumstance that you had I'd have opt'd to zoom in far tighter on the boat as the overall scene (to my mind) is not terribly interesting. There seems to have been land on either side - I think I'd have tried to shift your perspective to enable more of one of the headlands removing the other, perhaps with the boat in a similar position (relatively) but i also think the weather just had you snookered on the day.

The rule of thirds is a good place to start (once you've mastered it you then proceed to master how and when to break it!). In this case it would suggest that your boat would have been positioned a little higher in the frame which in turn would have reduced that grey sky.

#2 isn't a bad attempt. Again to be critical of the swiss weather - the grey has you snookered. There also appears to be a lot of noise (higher ISO used???). In this case i'd have positioned the top of the swan's head a little lower in the frame. Your focus isn't bad at all and you've consequently caught some nice detail on the feathers. The water droplet is a nice point of interest to capture and if the background had been better it would probably have been quite presentable. You could up the contrast thing and adjust the brightness upwards too which i think would improve it but changes the image significantly and i'm not sure is that what you'd intended.

Hope that's of help - its only an opinion and can be completely wrong too

Ballyman

Hmm. Just checked the ISO and it was set to 1600 so thats why it looks noisy. I keep forgetting to check something every time I take a pic. If it's not the ISO its the shutter speed or aperture. The ISO is easiest to forget as it doesn't show through the viewfinder.

Thanks for the comments.

Borderfox

Straighten the first and whack up the contrast in both of them and they shall be nice shots.
I always check ISO before shooting and inbetween especially at Weddings

Ballyman

Yea, the first is fairly crooked alright. I don't have PS though so I'll have to stick it out for another while. I've the ISO set to 100 now so if it's darker then I can change it!!

Hopefully it will teach me to take straighter shots!!

mikeanywhere

Well done for having a go and keep doing more and more....

Once you get yourself Elements or PS then you can bring up the colours more with levels etc so they wont seem so flat.

You already have dust on your sensor so make sure you change lenses as little as possible to ensure you reduce the chances of it happening again.

Keep shooting