any advice on these 2 images.....newbie here

limericklad87

Just got my first camera at christmas. Got a canon eos 550D

So far so good and have plunged myself in to it, camera and software.

These two photos are ones that i have taken recently over the new year while in galway.

Did a small bit of basic editing afterwards. Just wanted to know what ye think of them and if there was anything different i should have done at the time or afterwards. Also as i've said i'm fairly new to this

Oran17

The highlights in both images look a bit blowin out espashly the swan in the first one, if you're shooting RAW can easly be fixed afterwards.

I'd also try leaving a bit more room in the direction the bird is looking in the the second photo so it gives the feeling it has somewhere to go and so it's not completly center.

From that the images look well,nice and sharp.

jpfahy

My first impression is that the crops are too tight, the first one you have cropped too tight to the swans head and the bottom one you should leave some room on the left side as the bird is moving in that direction. It would be good to have something in the background to give a feel for the location

limericklad87

cheers lads

I'm go back to the original images again and have a look.

got any tips for reducing file size.

davyjose

limericklad87 wrote: »

cheers lads

I'm go back to the original images again and have a look.

got any tips for reducing file size.

Why do you want to reduce file size? Storage s relatively cheap these days.

AnCatDubh

Nice one and welcome to the world of photography which is one of the most brilliant, annoying, frustrating, rewarding hobbies that you may ever take up.

Re: the images.

The crops are odd - I'd stick with preset crops, ratios of 3x2, 4x5, square, etc.... Let go of the free crop tool - it should never have been invented.

Related, in the first you need a little more headroom as the crop is too tight to the swan's head and generally a bit more context might have worked better - more beach, more sea, etc...

Search out interesting compositions. These don't appear terribly interesting in terms of what's going on in them. Swans are typical. They have these wonderful alluring qualities as animals which are difficult to translate into anything unique or more interesting than bland. It can be done, but it will probably come with experience.

in #2, sometimes isolating a subject on its own will work, but in this instance I don't think it does. It is a bird and not a terribly interesting one either (imho) unless you happen to be into your birds (no sneering from the cheap seats please ). Perhaps there was something else in the overall frame/composition which would have given it context and interest. Again, it suffers from the crop I think and not having enough picture to achieve what you were intending leaving a poor quality image.

Take all advice including the above as just that - one person's opinion. If the images work for you, then they work for you and I or anyone else won't/can't/shouldn't take that away from them.

When you get comfortable with handling your camera try taking it out of automatic or programmed modes. Try manual mode, initially to see how it works (which will probably frighten the bejeebs out of you) and later when you are well started on your photographic journey, to be creative, achieve consistent results, to make the decisions with regards to the photographic parameters, etc..

Good luck on the journey!

limericklad87

cheers lads.

first time editing any photos so any bit of criticism and tips would be beneficial

must play around with it some more obviously.
I'm new to the whole thing so I'll keep throwing up a few pics now and again if ye wouldn't mind

SuperWoody101

Another Limerick photographer Welcome and be sure to post your Limerick pics.

limericklad87

newb question but how did you achieve your first photo

SuperWoody101

http://www.dslrtips.com/workshops/How_to_blur_water_photos/long_exposure_water.shtml

SuperWoody101

limericklad87 wrote: »

newb question but how did you achieve your first photo

I'm also very new to photography but you can find out a lot of photography tips on youtube plus the people on this forum are always happy to help if they can.

RUSTEDCORE

Very nice but there are billions of nic pictures of animals

You want something unique such as an animal personifying a human trait or emotion

minidazzler

limericklad87 wrote: »

cheers lads

I'm go back to the original images again and have a look.

got any tips for reducing file size.

VSO Image Resizer will give you loads of options for resizing.

Always keep the original as well though - You can set up the resizer to create a separate folder but just make sure that you resize it as a copy and don't wipe out the original!!

Resizing is handy for uploading large amounts of photos quickly to flickr/pix.ie/websites etc.

ScumLord

Buy a book. Get a good big advanced one too, the basics of photography are pretty straight forward so if you get a beginners book you'll get to the end of it and think surely there's something missing from this book because it'll tell you how to use the camera but not much else.

limericklad87

I swear i dont have a fetish for swans.......


Sunset in westfields


different perspective


not sure if b/w or colour would be better in this one





didn't crop out his head, it was just taken that way


almost feeding them by hand

humberklog

Would you hang the printed version in your own house?


It's not an exact measure but I find it a kinda helpful measure.