went to the market and...

[chopper5654]

downtown st louis. soulard market. great place to watch people and glance into the past through the present...

1..a busy day..
http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/9494/img2784amedium.jpg

2..the way it used to be..
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/8751/img2777amedium.jpg

3..gramma buys some cherries and samples a grapefuit..
http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/7351/img2779amedium.jpg

4..more money changing hands..
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/8256/img2762amedium.jpg

5..and, my daughter gets to play the banjo..
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6161/img2766amedium.jpg

CC welcomed. i am always trying to get better. thanks for looking.

[chopper5654]

65 views and not a constructive comment? i try to leave some when i can, but i know from experience that no comments means "nothing special either good or bad."

i can handle mediocre for now, but would like to know what to improve. other than "avoid such sunny days." lol.

[vroom_skies]

You've got some nice shots there.
Just watch out for low shutter speeds. Also, some shots are a little off with in regards to the balance with SS/ ISO/ APP.

Happy shooting.

[chopper5654]

any tips for balancing? i usually shoot in Av mode.

[Trainboy]

They're pretty boring, drab, and just generally snap-shotty.

[chopper5654]

They're pretty boring, drab, and just generally snap-shotty.

any chance you would provide some suggestions? a bland comment doesnt do much to help w/o some detail as to WHY they are drab.

i appreciate the feedback, but i am asking for help. maybe these need to go over to the critique corner?? mods, care to move??

[Andres14]

Chopper:

I feel that your photos are just practice shots but everyone does them and here's what I can suggest.

Pic #1 has no subject to focus on and it's a bit blurry. I would suggest you try that again but this time, use less people and more of the fruit stands. Use the leading lines rule to make our eyes follow the stands into the photo

Pic#2 Seems to be the most creative of all, however, a bit soft, so try to adjust for max parture in this case. Also, ensure you have a decent shutter speed to avoid shaky hand blur. I would do that shot again, but I would use a more colorful fruit stand. The potatoes and onions take away from the old man, who seems to be the subject here.

Pic#3 and 4 are snapshots, and I have no suggestions there.

Pic # 5 I would have closed up onto the the subjects more, and perhaps tried to emphasize the instruments more, as I can see the background in this will offer nothing to the picture. Or, I would have had the girl move back slightly away from the fellow smiling there, and maybe posed her as if dancing to their music.

Keep trying.

[chopper5654]

thank you, andres, that is more of what i am looking for. i can use those critiques. i appreciate your time a lot.

[Trainboy]

Sorry for the brief reply earlier, I didn't have time to write anything in depth.
First of all, the light on many of these is very flat and hard to work with, there's nothing to really pop the subject from the background. Of course, I'd recommend getting a 50mm F/1.8, that's another way of doing that.
Second, there's a lot of dead space and unrelated things in the pictures in general. Try to focus more on a single subject with a little bit of context instead of one that is lost (Look at photo #2 especially)
Photo specifically, I don't find anything interesting in #1. It's a roof and a bunch of people walking, mostly away from you. Try to compose with a person facing towards you, and something that lets the viewer know where they are, what they're looking at.
#2 would be better with an angle that shows more of the man, as well as a tighter crop.
#3, probably try to frame her more with the fruit, it's too busy.
#4 is just to much of a snapshot to be good, sorry.
#5 is a good recording of a moment, but nothing artistic from that angle. Try to get closer and show her face.
Also, try some different processing techniques to make the pictures look less flat!

[chopper5654]

can you guys explain "snapshotty?" i use that term, too, but i didnt think my photos took on that generic point and shoot w/o thinking look to them. is that what these look like to you?? sort of unplanned and just point the camera at something and pull the trigger? if so, i need to read a lot more about composition or something.

processing techniques are very, very raw for me right now. and, it seemed that giving these shots more contrast (pop) would destroy the pics because of the bright sun. such sunny days tend to blow everything out anyway. do we just go with that and let that stuff blow out, or is there a way to expose better and keep some of the extreme brights and darks both?

thanks for the advice. the only way i learn is to keep asking questions. so, please bear with me. this is helping a lot.