Please Critique These Images

[skidzam]

Hi all
I'm a newbie in the DSLR world, trying out my new Rebel XS. I'm preparing for a trip to Africa in Sept 2009 and want to get the best shots I can. 310790

310791
Thanks.

[Robert_Lay]

Your Rebel XSi is working quite well.

[Bill Boehme]

I think that you have achieved good exposure in both of the images, especially the second one. The first image shows something that is the bane of macro and close-up shooters ... shallow depth of field. Although the flower can be identified in the shot, in order to make it more interesting, it would be desirable to have much greater depth of field. That could be achieved by using a much smaller aperture which, of course, means that the exposure time will be much longer and make the use of a tripod necessary. The second image uses narrow depth of field to good advantage in achieving isolation between the subject and background. The only problem that I see has to do with composition. Although it is not a cardinal rule, having the subject dead center and splitting the frame in half tends to leave the overall composition a bit stark.

[skidzam]

Thank you both very much. I'm just starting to learn about composition, ie. rule of thirds, and this was my first attempt at images without using one of the pictures on the camera. There's so much to do! Choosing shutter speed, aperture, iso , etc...OMG!! Just gonna keep on trying.

[Menelaus]

Can you link to a full sized version of either of these? For some reason, they almost look too "soft", i.e. not quite focused.

[skidzam]

Hi, Johnny,
I doubt I can link to the full size image. It took me about 2 hours just to shrink them in photobucket. Computer genius I'm not.

[Preita]

I thought the same thing, mostly with the first picture. It's hard to tell if it's the photo or my screen though.

Skidzam- flickr is your friend :) I use it solely because I don't have to resize (yes I'm that lazy lol)

[rkriel]

Hi there

If you are coming to South Africa then you are welcome to PM me for advice on simple stuff like how to play dead while a lion chews on your arm.

Serious, if you need any advice then please give me a shout.