chasrich wrote: Flares and tilted horizons are neither good nor bad. They are just options that we have when we compose a shot. I didn't care for black and white until I did an assignment that called for it. Turns out I like B/W a lot more but only for certain occasions.
Yes well I feel like photography is that - Options .
Funny i am not a fan of black & white either - I LOVE color - my friend purchased a picture that was black & white of trees and I did not love it Liked it but...
I am not sure other that someone faces would be good in black & white
Glad that you are willing to look into our critiques with positive thoughts as we are trying to help. Shooting at dawn/dusk gives your pics more depth as does a technique called HYPERFOCAL DISTANCE- this is where the elements in the foreground are in focus as well as the elements of the background ( FOREGROUND TO INFINITY) this also gives your photos depth. It helps to use a tripod for these landscape shots and an F-Stop around 16-22-32.
These are three examples of the results of this technique
Rob pix4u2 wrote: Glad that you are willing to look into our critiques with positive thoughts as we are trying to help. Shooting at dawn/dusk gives your pics more depth as does a technique called HYPERFOCAL DISTANCE- this is where the elements in the foreground are in focus as well as the elements of the background ( FOREGROUND TO INFINITY) this also gives your photos depth. It helps to use a tripod for these landscape shots and an F-Stop around 16-22-32.
These are three examples of the results of this technique
Oh I am Always willing to learn and hear the good, bad & ugly..
I LOVE these - but ? I was told that to get one thing in focus and the rest in the back ground is Also good & makes for a great
picture?? NO????
I will try it this Sunday on my hike up a hill - and when at the Top Maybe I can get some good shots..
What OTHER things would you work on??
I am going to bring a Hood - I am meeting my friend at 9 and then walking from there - so Not at duck Or Dawn really - but going up
a to a ski area - where there is birds and stuff and then the View -
Spoke to the guys putting on the Nikon School years ago and they said the most simple thing to improve your photography is to use a lens hood. Put you hand above your eyes and shade them. It makes a difference and the effect on your lens is the same when you use a hood.
Tilted horizons are fine but the need to be tilted enough to look like it was on purpose and not by mistake. A slight tilt just looks like a mistake.
Shadowfixer1 wrote: Spoke to the guys putting on the Nikon School years ago and they said the most simple thing to improve your photography is to use a lens hood. Put you hand above your eyes and shade them. It makes a difference and the effect on your lens is the same when you use a hood.
Tilted horizons are fine but the need to be tilted enough to look like it was on purpose and not by mistake. A slight tilt just looks like a mistake.
I am going to take a few with me on Sunday when I go -
Oh So MINE Is not enough - I get it now - I was just using a Slight tilt - and maybe it does make the picture look bad - I don't see it
but ...
Rob's photos work (and that first one in particular is spectacular) because he's shooting a landscape from far away, shooting at infinity (the sideways 8 on the lens). And since he used a small aperture it gets everything in focus.
What people are probably describing to you is getting a 'portrait' type shot, where the subject is filling much of the frame and you'd want the background more out of focus. That can help bring the viewer's attention to the subject instead of the background. In Rob's photos he obviously worked to get everything in focus because the background IS what he wanted to show in his photos.
Different things work in different situations. That's what takes time and practice, it helps to understand what you're doing and how to take a well composed shot - if you can do that well then you can try different techniques (like tilting) with more success.
icepics wrote: Rob's photos work (and that first one in particular is spectacular) because he's shooting a landscape from far away, shooting at infinity (the sideways 8 on the lens). And since he used a small aperture it gets everything in focus.
What people are probably describing to you is getting a 'portrait' type shot, where the subject is filling much of the frame and you'd want the background more out of focus. That can help bring the viewer's attention to the subject instead of the background. In Rob's photos he obviously worked to get everything in focus because the background IS what he wanted to show in his photos.
Different things work in different situations. That's what takes time and practice, it helps to understand what you're doing and how to take a well composed shot - if you can do that well then you can try different techniques (like tilting) with more success.
I agree with you I really like his shots - But some that I have seen look like mine (or I think so anyways) so I don't get it -
Yes that is what I have heard - is get a subject in the frame and the blurry - which I think that I have done - But I guess NOT -
I am going to work on this on Sunday - take a few hoods, a few lenses and a note book to shoot in Manual Mode and then change the settings as with the first class that we took - to try to see which is in focus and which is not..
So here is the big quesiton do you think that I have good composed shot ? just off in other ways.
I have to say that I like the tilt and no one else really did -
I cannot wait to practice BUT I do need to take time with it - I get all excited about the shot and want to get a ton of pictures and different angles, etc..
thanks for your input again - I will continue to work on it - but like I said in the past I LIKE my pictures... Even if others don't - I DO.. So maybe I will never get it.
In many of them I'm not sure what you were trying for; in the ones that are at an angle it's hard to notice the composition because the tilt is too distracting I think. Some of your better ones are composed better, where you have a nice balance in the image. Some of the ones that I think the composition is off are the ones where you either are too far away or got in too close..Composing a shot isn't easy to explain I don't think, and takes time to get good at. I think I learned a good bit about composition taking art classes years ago.
If you posted something of yours that's a landscape we could compare it to what Rob posted and see what seems similar or what seems different.
Taking along a notebook and trying different settings and writing down what you did sounds like a good idea. That could help you learn what works and what doesn't. That and picking out some of your best and figuring out why they're good.
I was just thinking too that I have pictures I like but I know they're not good, maybe they're of something that makes me laugh, or are of a memory of something fun. I've read that there can be a difference between your favorite pictures and the ones that are your best.
icepics wrote: In many of them I'm not sure what you were trying for; in the ones that are at an angle it's hard to notice the composition because the tilt is too distracting I think. Some of your better ones are composed better, where you have a nice balance in the image. Some of the ones that I think the composition is off are the ones where you either are too far away or got in too close..Composing a shot isn't easy to explain I don't think, and takes time to get good at. I think I learned a good bit about composition taking art classes years ago.
If you posted something of yours that's a landscape we could compare it to what Rob posted and see what seems similar or what seems different.
Taking along a notebook and trying different settings and writing down what you did sounds like a good idea. That could help you learn what works and what doesn't. That and picking out some of your best and figuring out why they're good.
I was just thinking too that I have pictures I like but I know they're not good, maybe they're of something that makes me laugh, or are of a memory of something fun. I've read that there can be a difference between your favorite pictures and the ones that are your best.
Okay - I still like the ones with the angles - but I hear you and do understand - NO real story to the pictures...
See for me - I like having it be far away to GET it all in the picture -
Here are some of the ones that I REALLY Like - Please let me know what is wrong with them - AS I have seen pictures like this
on post cards etc...
I am going to re-look at Rob's As they are Great.
I hope that it will help - going with someone MIGHT not be a good idea as I am going to busy do my own thing BUT I can always go out again
alone...
Oh I agree some are much better than others - BUT I LIKE ALL OF Mine - Not Love LIKE !!
Here are some of the ones that I REALLY Like - Please let me know what is wrong with them - AS I have seen pictures like this
on post cards etc...
Top one has too much clutter in the foreground. Of course in some cases there is not a lot you can do about that without swinging a chainsaw . On the other hand, if that mass of leafless branches was what you were wanting to show off, then some steps can be made in that direction. Such as really kicking the contrast up.
The bottom one is quite good, much better than most of the others you have posted. Still not quite level (sorry). The woodsey mass on the right side could use a little more contrast. This adjustment is tricky, as it's important to not blow out (brighten) the sky any more than it already is. Making such adjustments to selected areas within a picture is where Post Processing comes into play. You cannot do that with just the camera controls. But the basic capture is really quite sound. Just needs tweaking in PP. Good job on that one.
Here are some of the ones that I REALLY Like - Please let me know what is wrong with them - AS I have seen pictures like this
on post cards etc...
Top one has too much clutter in the foreground. Of course in some cases there is not a lot you can do about that without swinging a chainsaw . On the other hand, if that mass of leafless branches was what you were wanting to show off, then some steps can be made in that direction. Such as really kicking the contrast up.
The bottom one is quite good, much better than most of the others you have posted. Still not quite level (sorry). The woodsey mass on the right side could use a little more contrast. This adjustment is tricky, as it's important to not blow out (brighten) the sky any more than it already is. Making such adjustments to selected areas within a picture is where Post Processing comes into play. You cannot do that with just the camera controls. But the basic capture is really quite sound. Just needs tweaking in PP. Good job on that one.
Kelly
The top one I liked that all around was dead and that there was a Hint of color - I Liked it - kicking up the contrast would change the color, right? I like that it has only a hint of color -
maybe in my thinking of a good shot is not a good shot -
I liked the top one for the following -
The hint of yellow in the tree, the dead stuff around it and you can just see the walking path -
Thank you for the second - I will work in keeping stuff straight - but what do you look for for a straight picture - the water or the landscape??
Tweaking in PP? what is that?? I guess I like what the camera seems in the color and stuff - and Maybe I don't know good from bad -
Changing contrast may, or may not, change color tones. Depends on the situation. In any event this would best be done in PP (Post Processing), not in the camera.
For any shot with a quiet body of water (not a babbling brook), that water is automatically our eye's guide to whether the shot is level or not. Some of the newest cameras do have a leveling gauge shown in the viewfinder! Wish my old 50D had that feature. Shots that are slightly off level can be adjusted in PP. I do that all the time.
PP is simply what you do with a photo editor. Not a camera adjustment. Many novices think camera control is the entire story. Perfect camera settings results in perfect picture with no need for editing. Pros (mostly) know better. Your editor is your friend.
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. On the other hand, if that mass of leafless branches was what you were wanting to show off, then some steps can be made in that direction. Such as really kicking the contrast up.
