New photos from a newbie

[Syldorian]

I got an A80 a few weeks ago and have been taking pictures and skulking around these boards ever since <g> (great forum, btw). I finally got my webserver up and going, such as it is, and I wanted to see what you guys/girls think of some of my better photos. None of them are great, and I haven't done much post-processing on them at all. I just wanted to get some feedback from some of you folks if you have the time. I really appreciate any responses.

Here they are:

This is the best picture I've managed to get of my cat...about the only time she sat still long enough (in decent lighting) to get a shot:
http://www.kratz.no-ip.com/IMG_0090web.jpg


This is a candid of a couple of my friends.....it's obviously not very good technically, but I really like it for some reason. Might just be because I know them, though:
http://www.kratz.no-ip.com/IMG_0231web.jpg


Last one....this is an old railroad bridge near where I live (Little Rock, AR):
http://www.kratz.no-ip.com/IMG_0289web.jpg



If anyone has any criticisms or comments or just whatever, I'd really appreciate it.

[c0ntr0lz]

Syldorian Welcome to the forum
and the a80 is a great camera
the pix are kool
but here is a ques for ya
who are the 2 friends of your's?
the male looks like to be an ol friend of mine, what's his name?

[Syldorian]

Hey c0ntr0lz, thanks for the compliment. The guy's name is Nolan. I see that you're from Dallas, which is only a few hours from here, so you may well know him.

[c0ntr0lz]

nah i don't know anyone named that
it looks like a friend of mine named bryan and the girl looks like his friend Heather.

[Syldorian]

Aah....nope, that's neither one's name.

[Syldorian]

Here's a couple more:

http://www.kratz.no-ip.com/IMG_0052web.jpg


http://www.kratz.no-ip.com/IMG_0198web.jpg



...and with that I've pretty much exhausted my supply of publicly-showable photos. Ah well.

[Big_B]

Nice pictures. My fav's were the candid and the bridge. The girl in the candid has a really interesting expression on her face and the shadow accentuates it.

The bridge is a really pretty picture. Nice work!

.... oh and welcome to the forum. :D

[Syldorian]

Thanks for the compliments. I really like the candid too. I just wish the lighting had been a little better or something. The colors are kind of dull, and it's a bit noisy. I've tried changing it to B&W to see if that made a difference, but I'm not sure if I like it better or not.

http://www.kratz.no-ip.com/IMG_0231web.jpg

http://www.kratz.no-ip.com/IMG_0231bwweb.jpg


Anyone have any opinions one way or the other?

[Nolz]

[quote="Syldorian"] The guy's name is Nolan. Iquote]

how about that! i thought i was about the only person in the world named Nolan :lol:

nice photos :)

[monsieurhappy]

Anyone have any opinions one way or the other?

Nice cat, would have looked better without the clutter! But, it's your cat, so probrably boring for anyone else to see.
The candid of your friends - I think the girl on her own would make an excellent subject - try to keep the look she has.
The bridge is a strong subject, but you need to capture it from a different angle. Don't ask me where, it's your town!
The pic. of the weed!! Did your camera slip??

You asked for opinions! Sorry for being too critical, your pics. remind me of my own. monsieurhappy :lol: :lol:

[HKMonkey]

The pic. of the weed!! Did your camera slip??

Well, if it did slip, it was amazing that the weed happened to be right in focus! I actually like the weed shot. It may be a better photograph from a different angle, but the idea is good. That "life will find a way" feeling of the plant growing in an area of brick, concrete, and metal. Often unconventional photos are the most thought provoking. Keep it up!

[nighthawk]

Thanks for the compliments. I really like the candid too. I just wish the lighting had been a little better or something. The colors are kind of dull, and it's a bit noisy. I've tried changing it to B&W to see if that made a difference, but I'm not sure if I like it better or not.

Anyone have any opinions one way or the other?

I think the dull color accentuates the mood well. It's intimate and candid. Her expression, pose and the soda cup express a casual familiarity. I like it in color. The B&W spoils the mood by accenting the dark circles under her eyes. I would lower the saturation just a bit actually to remove some of the intense redness of her face and arm. Other than that, It's a beautifule capture!

[Syldorian]

Thanks for the critiques, everyone....it's nice getting more opinions as to what's good and bad about the photos.

Nice cat, would have looked better without the clutter!

I actually kinda like the clutter. :) I make no claims of having planned for it to be in the frame...it was mostly a matter of the cat deciding to move if I got close enough to her to move all that out of the way. :-D But I kinda like the way it frames her....'course, I'm probably just rationalizing.

The bridge is a strong subject, but you need to capture it from a different angle.

This one I had no idea would turn out as well as it did....it was basically just point-and-shoot, although I do remember debating whether or not to leave the branches in the upper right (I'm glad I did now). The problem with getting it from a different angle is that it's closed off so you can't really get much closer to it. I was about as close to the water as I could get. It might look good from the other side of the river, though....I'll have to go check into that soon.


I actually like the weed shot. It may be a better photograph from a different angle, but the idea is good.

Thanks....I was sitting outside my apartment and just saw it there and thought it'd make an unusual subject. I actually got it from 3 different angles, but this was the best one in my opinion. I'll see if I can get the other two posted when I get home tonight...you guys' opinions may differ from mine. :)

Nighthawk, I didn't even think about the candid quite like that. I'm glad you said something. :D I was actually playing with the photo in GIMP trying to get the colors *more* saturated. But I'm gonna try your idea and bring them down to see what that looks like. It sounds interesting. And I agree with the B&W stuff....I don't really like it that much either.


Thanks very much for everyone's opinions. This forum is great....there's no way I would have gotten this much feedback anywhere else. I'll have to start trying to help other people out the way you guys have helped me when I get to where I kinda know what I'm talking about. :D

[Syldorian]

Here are the two other pictures of the weed:

http://www.kratz.no-ip.com/IMG_0196web.jpg

http://www.kratz.no-ip.com/IMG_0197web.jpg


They just don't seem as strong to me as the first one I posted.