Photo Critique Thread

[Trail X]

True... it could be even better if the break in the clouds wasn't there at all, with a more muted sky. Thanks for the feedback.

[NC_IslandRunner]

Fire away!

[Trail X]

Nice scenic shot. My eyes are for some reason focusing on the foreground rocks, and the way the water is flowing around them. I don't think that was the intent though. Might be stronger if you cropped that out? To me, the intended subject is really the secluded beach right?

Overall good color depth. I might try bringing out the greens a bit more to bring a bit of a punch to the grass. Sky is a bit blown out... not sure how to fix that, but maybe a graduated ND could help?

Anyways, here's a quick chop and color:

rory-critique.jpg (94.42 KiB) Viewed 16700 times

[NC_IslandRunner]

While I love the rocks I agree the foreground rocks draw the eyes too much and look better cropped out, the sky is blown out cause the sun was over there and nothing but ocean so it just reflects the light, a better camera may be able to filter that out.

[RICHIET]

... the sky is blown out cause the sun was over there and nothing but ocean so it just reflects the light, a better camera may be able to filter that out.

I assume this was a sunny day which could be tough to get a good picture. The human eye can distinguish about 12 stops of light at once, but even a good DSL can only distinguish about 6 stops. A scene that looks good to you live might wind up with the highlights overexposed 2 or 3 stops and shadows underexposed 2 or 3 stops since the camera exposes for midtones. Taking pictures early or late in the day might help. You should also try to shoot with the sun at your back, which could help lower the overall contrast. You could also underexpose your shot 1 or 2 stops, since in post production you can recover details in shadow, but details in blown out highlights are lost forever. If available, As James said, you could use a split grad ND filter, or you could try HDR with this view.
A cloudy day tends to cast a softer, diffused light and the shadows are not as deep or well defined as on a sunny day. The contrast range also tends to falls within the cameras' range more often. Hope this helps.

[Trail X]

Here are a couple from this weekend that I'm really happy with. Very minimal editing on these. I actually went out to try to photograph some birds, but ended up finding these shots much more attractive... mainly due to the nice light from the setting sun.

[wootown22]

I love this shot; the colors are rich, it is bright but not blown out; and I like the depth you get from the blurred foreground and background. Good shot



This one has more of a point and shoot look; grass is blown out, not much color; seems kind of pixelated, Im assuming its from the camera trying to get detail in the bright light. However, I do like the different tones and colors in the background.

[Trail X]

Thanks for the opinions! I do agree that the lower shot should have been been shot with a faster shutter. Might have helped. I also think I went with a bit too large of an aperture. It would have been nice to get more of the grass in focus.

Here are a few recent ones that I'm pretty happy with:

[NC_IslandRunner]

Photo 1 - tall but it works, leaves me wondering what is off to the sides. Love the cloud shadows on the hillside

2 - Very cool, Kinda creepy. I always have liked angles that run with the long lines of objects,even better is it doesn't overly dominate the photo. bridges are always cool even better when you get two in one shot, that's hard to do without it looking stupid.

3 - looks good, I've got some similar

4 - Security, Death, Beauty... All in one clean simple shot. Maybe it's the B&W but it's surprisingly calming for a gun photo.

[RICHIET]

Thanks for the opinions! I do agree that the lower shot should have been been shot with a faster shutter. Might have helped. I also think I went with a bit too large of an aperture. It would have been nice to get more of the grass in focus.

Here are a few recent ones that I'm pretty happy with:

Nice pictures!!! Lot of sky in the first one but it works with all the details in the sky. You really nailed the exposure on this,too. Almost looks hdr, did you use a split ND on this?

I like the starburst thru the trees in the third one. If you close down the aperture some more it would increase the sunburst effect and cut down the glare from the sun.

Good use of DOF on the gun, keeping the focus on the shell works really well.

[Trail X]

Thanks Richie. I did not use a filter on the first shot, but it was an in-camera HDR shot with some added processing. My camera does HDR well, but it tends to grey everything out too much, so it requires some good post processing to get it looking right.

I didn't know that closing the aperture increased sunburst. Good to know! I was actually thinking that one of those sunburst filters could have been nice in that shot.

[wootown22]

Here are a few recent ones that I'm pretty happy with:

Very nice images. I love the second one; very different feel to it. The first one is better then your previous landscapes, its more balanced and not over exposed.

[Dirtyd]

What do you guys think of these? My other car..

[Trail X]

The second one looks like no thought was put into the photo, except for the post processing... which is nice. The high contrast is good, and brings out the wheels. Otherwise lousy composition, the background is what kills it.

The first one is quite a nice setting and composition - but seems to be lacking some needed drama.

I attached a color edit I did, see what you think... just made the colors pop a little more and clipped some of the white and black levels:

[Dirtyd]

yeah that looks a ton better, way cleaner. Thanks!

[Dirtyd]

Did these not to long ago of my buddies cars. What you guys think?

[Trail X]

Some nice shots, and some nice cars! Personally I think they all need a little sharpening.

The corvette shot is a bit boring though. You need a better backdrop if you're going to do a side shot with a normal aspect ratio. Crop that sucker down and place the car at a 1/3 and you'll probably find some added interest. I'd also try to clone out your reflection in the door for a cleaner look.

The headlight image is good because you've eliminated everything except for the lights, so the minimalism is there. But the composition doesn't do anything for me. I think maybe more black to the left could work, just to add some interest. As is, it looks like it's almost centered, but not exactly, so it kinda throws you off.

The last image is probably my favorite due to the lighting. I'd correct for level, maybe try shooting it at F22 next time, so you get a nice sunburst from the lights (you'll need to tripod it). Otherwise a good shot, nice contrast between the curve of the roof and the horizontal paneling. Bring up the red and yellow levels too, to bring out the only colors of the shot. Also maybe crop off some of the road, as it doesn't add much.

Again, I'm no pro, I just try to call it as I see it.

[Dirtyd]

Thanks for the tips and suggestions. I am no professional either.

I wasn't planning on taking photos at the time but had the camera in the car. These pics were taken with no tripod and very little post processing knowledge. I try!

[Wahugg]

Last night I was a bit bored so I got out the my D60 and started to experiment with it to try and get some really good photos of the night sky and stars.Needless to say most of them failed but towards the end quite a few of them started to turn out really nice!

Here is my best one, I know it's has a lot of noise in it, and is possibly a tad out of focus, but what do you guys think?



My next goal is to homebrew some intervalometer software and take a wack at time lapse video.

Thanks!
-Wahugg

[Trail X]

Not a bad shot, what were your settings? Looks like you could potentially go a bit longer on the exposure.