need advice

so i was very eagar to get out and start shooting with my 500D that came in today. I read through the manual and after i felt i had a good idea, ventured off. Im reasonably sure i have West Nile now (tons of mosquitoes down at the beach and didnt wana break focus to swat them.)...anyway, I like the shots, but realize they could be much better. Any advice and critique will be greatly appreciated.

1.

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Purely based on composition, your first shot is the strongest. A really great way to improve your photography would be to look a bit more into the rule of thirds, experimenting with angles and not putting objects right in the middle of your frame. Having your subject in the middle can sometimes be a very strong composition, but more often than not, setting your subject to one side or the other is stronger.

Even just getting closer to the subject and filling more of the frame with said subject should result in stronger photos. For instance, in your last photo, if you have gotten much closer to the sign and put it on the left side of the frame, you would have a very different shot.

Congratulations on the new equipment. Get out there and keep shooting! Keep that excitement going on try experimenting a lot!

thanks for the information. I did get a close up shot of the sign, but it is more centered. Usually im a fan of being off center but i just wanted to get a bunch of shots to see what worked best. Given the fact that lighting wasnt all that great im happy with how they came out (mainly the first) Ill do a little editing tonight when i get a chance and see what happens.

Yes, #1 is the only one that seems right to me. Exposure seems right, too. Content is quite uninteresting, though.

PhotoCupcake wrote in post #10390268
Yes, #1 is the only one that seems right to me. Exposure seems right, too. Content is quite uninteresting, though.

ya, i was just running out of light and figured the beach would be a good spot to try out my first few shots.

i didnt think it was completely uninteresting though. maybe a preference thing?