Two more from a newbie!

Hi guys, I'm back again and would very much appreciate some criticism of my next two photos! haha! I'm still learning how to use each setting but I think I'm getting a little better with each passing day and hour spent learning!

First one I was learning about shutter speeds and wondered if I should have went a little faster? How do you find the picture overall?

Ok...these are just my own personal opinions as always. I realize you're just learning so please understand I'm not being rude here...just trying to be informative.

First and foremost, I wouldn't worry to much about learning all the settings on the camera. It's been my experience that a lot of people get hung up on the hardware often to the point of not really paying attention to the image and composition. In the case of your first image there for example. I understand that you were trying to get that "sense of motion" by using a bit slower shutter speed but what you ended up with is a pretty boring shot regardless. You have -a lot- of space around the central subject that really doesn't add anything to the image and your central subject is...well...a pair of feet kicking a soccer ball (although the folks at Nike may like it! LOL!). Again I'm not trying to be rude at all here but to me this looks like the kind of shot someone would get walking around and having their camera fire a shot by accident (like you bumped the shutter button while you were walking).

From a compositional view, the second shot is much stronger and has a lot of interest. I do find the car in the background as well as the bucket on the far right side to be rather distracting...I think I would have cropped this in a bit more. As far as the lighting goes, sometimes you just can't do too much with natural light when you're shooting in strong sun/daylight...that's a fact. In this case you could perhaps have used a good, strong off camera flash...or even a reflector or two to fill in some of the shadows and make the lighting look a little less harsh, but on camera with just the camera itself, there really isn't too much you could do here either manual or with any auto settings. In harsh daylight you're going to have strong contrast either way without some fill light to even things out.

Again this is just my opinion but my biggest rule when it comes to photography is good composition. You can take the time to learn every last nuance of your camera's controls and you can get the most expensive lenses out there and get images that are perfectly exposed with perfect color that are razor tack sharp but if the image itself doesn't hold the interest of the viewer, then none of that other stuff matters at all. Personally when I'm shooting, unless I'm in some sort of unusual circumstance (such as dark stage lighting or something), 90% of the time I'm shooting with my camera set to Aperture Priority mode. I -can- shoot manual...I grew up with a Canon FTb 35mm where EVERYTHING was manual but to be honest, modern cameras are a true miracle of technology. I'd much rather concentrate on the subject and the composition rather than fiddle with the camera controls. If it's a good strong picture, most folks (at least non-photographers) don't really care what camera you used, what settings you used, etc., they just know whether they like the shot or not.

So with all of that I would simply reiterate that in my opinion, try spending less time farting with the camera and more time composing your shots. Think about exactly what it is you wish to convey with your image(s). Learn the rules of composition...isolate your subject, use the rule of thirds, etc., etc.. Using the controls of the camera is academic...it will come in good time, but again if the shot doesn't keep people's attention, the rest is completely irrelevant.

Again, just my own opinions,
Jim

Congrats on you 1000th post, Walczak Photo

And it's good some of POTN users actually take the time to explain at length, I've learned quite a few things here, even if theses are not my pictures

I like the first, I think you captured what you wanted, I think if both legs were frozen in the picture It wouldnt give the same sence of movement!

Walczak Photo wrote in post #10527023
Ok...these are just my own personal opinions as always. I realize you're just learning so please understand I'm not being rude here...just trying to be informative.

First and foremost, I wouldn't worry to much about learning all the settings on the camera. It's been my experience that a lot of people get hung up on the hardware often to the point of not really paying attention to the image and composition. In the case of your first image there for example. I understand that you were trying to get that "sense of motion" by using a bit slower shutter speed but what you ended up with is a pretty boring shot regardless. You have -a lot- of space around the central subject that really doesn't add anything to the image and your central subject is...well...a pair of feet kicking a soccer ball (although the folks at Nike may like it! LOL!). Again I'm not trying to be rude at all here but to me this looks like the kind of shot someone would get walking around and having their camera fire a shot by accident (like you bumped the shutter button while you were walking).

From a compositional view, the second shot is much stronger and has a lot of interest. I do find the car in the background as well as the bucket on the far right side to be rather distracting...I think I would have cropped this in a bit more. As far as the lighting goes, sometimes you just can't do too much with natural light when you're shooting in strong sun/daylight...that's a fact. In this case you could perhaps have used a good, strong off camera flash...or even a reflector or two to fill in some of the shadows and make the lighting look a little less harsh, but on camera with just the camera itself, there really isn't too much you could do here either manual or with any auto settings. In harsh daylight you're going to have strong contrast either way without some fill light to even things out.

Again this is just my opinion but my biggest rule when it comes to photography is good composition. You can take the time to learn every last nuance of your camera's controls and you can get the most expensive lenses out there and get images that are perfectly exposed with perfect color that are razor tack sharp but if the image itself doesn't hold the interest of the viewer, then none of that other stuff matters at all. Personally when I'm shooting, unless I'm in some sort of unusual circumstance (such as dark stage lighting or something), 90% of the time I'm shooting with my camera set to Aperture Priority mode. I -can- shoot manual...I grew up with a Canon FTb 35mm where EVERYTHING was manual but to be honest, modern cameras are a true miracle of technology. I'd much rather concentrate on the subject and the composition rather than fiddle with the camera controls. If it's a good strong picture, most folks (at least non-photographers) don't really care what camera you used, what settings you used, etc., they just know whether they like the shot or not.

So with all of that I would simply reiterate that in my opinion, try spending less time farting with the camera and more time composing your shots. Think about exactly what it is you wish to convey with your image(s). Learn the rules of composition...isolate your subject, use the rule of thirds, etc., etc.. Using the controls of the camera is academic...it will come in good time, but again if the shot doesn't keep people's attention, the rest is completely irrelevant.

Again, just my own opinions,
Jim

Wow, thank you so very much for that advice! It's much appreciated! I'll take what you say on board!

is that in korea? songtan or kunsan?

jeppoy wrote in post #10532801
is that in korea? songtan or kunsan?

Daegu

nüborn wrote in post #10531198
Congrats on you 1000th post, Walczak Photo

And it's good some of POTN users actually take the time to explain at length, I've learned quite a few things here, even if theses are not my pictures

Thanks! Wow...I hadn't realized that I actually hit 1000 here...I don't even have that many on the Fender guitar forums! LOL!!!

As far as my lengthy replies...I guess it just irks the crap out of me when folks post those useless 1 sentence replies that really don't help anyone. "I like it" or "It sucks". Why do you like it? Why does it suck? How could it be improved? I try to review and respond to people's work the way I want people to respond to mine. If all I really wanted was a pat on the back and a hardy "Good Job!", I can get that from my friends and family and/or others who really don't know ANYTHING about photography. But that really doesn't help me to improve my work at all.

I dunno...I guess part of it is just an internet thing really. With sites such as "Twitter" being so popular, it seems that a lot of people seem to be unable to think or write more than one sentence at a time without their poor little brains exploding. I write the way I talk...and yea, I tend to talk -A LOT- (makes ya feel sorry for my wife huh?), LOL!!! Either way when someone asks for something like feedback or a critique, I feel the more details you can provide, the more it can help them (assuming they're willing to be open minded about it of course). Again I respond to other people's work the way I expect others to respond to mine and when I ask for someone's opinion, I like honest details...to me that's one of the very best ways to learn. I may not always agree with those details...I do tend to have my own rather unique approach to this thing we call photography, and I may not always be able to implement those details, but you can bet they do lodge in the old brain case somewhere for future reference.

Anyways, thanks for the kind words!
Jim