Couple photos to share.......

[Moltenice]

I am new to photography as a hobby.. I really have always enjoyed taking photos but now I am trying to learn different techniques and what it all means and how to tie it together.SO here are two of my recent photos that I thought enjoyed. Please advise.BTW equipment is S5.......Ventura Beach Pier, Ca 1 hour prior to sunsethttp://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg273/I_Own_2008/pier.jpgNot sure what I was doing here :) I was shooting a rider and got bored. I looked back to see this horse looking at me with a glare through a fence 70 or so ft away. So I turned color accent on, picked the fence, and focused on his forehead for the shot.Cold, grey day in WA.http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg273/I_Own_2008/random.jpg

[Advisor]

In #1 I like the overall picture, but the stitching is pretty harsh as it doesn't match up and you can see where they merge together. I'm not sure how you could improve that unless you get a calm day on the water (probably unlikely). Maybe try a single shot instead of stitching from a diffent point of view. #2 I like the colors but wouldn't care for so much fence - I'd crop some of it out and then hang it on the wall!

[Robert_Lay]

I guess I don't have a critical eye for stitching artifacts - it looks quite good to me.
Very nice shot!

[LeuceDeuce]

Great ideas for both images.

I would have to agree that the stitching artifacts in the first image are quite strong. Not only the seam that appears in the surf, but also the seam in the sand. I first noticed the seams in the sky, and my first impression was that the individual images were taken with a polarizer (which doesn't work well for pano's at all). It looks like colour saturation was applied before you stitched the images together.

The horses are very nice. I would probably do a little PP on them in order to clean up the red hue from everything but the foreground fence. It doesn't look right, to me, to have small patches of red on the horses or the metal fence post.

[Moltenice]

thanks for the comments.

I didnt even notice the artifacts until I really looked after I read the comments haha.. Yeah, I was working without a tripod and with unsteady hands. If it wasnt for the software, it would be the first Step style pier :)

The second one was more of a test of the S5's ability to focus from a distance and the color accent in tandum. I would have liked less fence, especially the one across the face, but it was the angle I had to take.

[Moltenice]

I know it's strict with the photo postings around here but I am wanted to get info on how to capture a better shot when shooting right at the sun. I think they came out OK for my first time, you can still see some detail with the surroundings but I wonder how to make them better....
I shot this of the sunset at the beach with the lifeguard watching and people out walking in the water... Kinda had a good Socal feel.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg273/I_Own_2008/Sunset2222.jpg

This one was just of the surfer out having a good time.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg273/I_Own_2008/Surfer.jpg


Let me know what I can do to make them better.. and if you have any direction on how to adjust the camera to take in light with the manual settings, that would be great (I'm not to good with aperture and shutter speed setups)....

thanks guys.


Edit: BTW there is no editing on them, they are just as they came off the camera..

[Advisor]

I haven't shot too many pictures directly at the sun myself, but I sure like #2! Very cool effect with the surfer right in the middle of it... I would think with shooting into the sun and to get an effective shot, you would have to use another setting like Aperture priority if you want to do any better with these. I really don't think they're bad at all, and you have to remember how strong of contrast that sun is going to be creating shadows behind everything shooting directly at it... I'd experiment with Ae priority setting and use a larger aperture, but then your sun and sky are going to likely turn out too white... Only other option is photoshop...

[chauncey]

Handholding for panos is not a problem contrary to accepted wisdom. But subject movement is a problem, witness your surf.

One way to help with your image would have been to take more images to give your software more information to work with. Had you have done that it would have turned out better.

Do like #'s 3&4

[Robert_Lay]

I know it's strict with the photo postings around here but I am wanted to get info on how to capture a better shot when shooting right at the sun. I think they came out OK for my first time, you can still see some detail with the surroundings but I wonder how to make them better....
I shot this of the sunset at the beach with the lifeguard watching and people out walking in the water... Kinda had a good Socal feel.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg273/I_Own_2008/Sunset2222.jpg

This one was just of the surfer out having a good time.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg273/I_Own_2008/Surfer.jpg


Let me know what I can do to make them better.. and if you have any direction on how to adjust the camera to take in light with the manual settings, that would be great (I'm not to good with aperture and shutter speed setups)....

thanks guys.


Edit: BTW there is no editing on them, they are just as they came off the camera..

One way to depress the brightness of the sun without affecting the lower portion of the picture is to use a gradient filter. This can be purchased and used on the camera when taking the picture, or you can do the Photoshop equivalent with their gradient filter tools.

Another way is to use any of the several methods of HDR by shooting 2 or more frames in quick succession using the same aperture setting but with different shutter speeds. It is important to not have any movement while shooting, so a tripod is nedessary.