Newbie

[dailydanny]

Hello everyone,

So I recently got my first dslr (600D), and have accumulated a few lenses in the past couple months that have allowed me to further my creativity. I know not all of them are landscape. I did not see a general section for introductions like other forums.

Ive stopped using my 18-55 kit lens. I do have a 75-300 canon, but rarely use that due to not doing much landscape photog. But Just this past week I bought the canon 10-22mm ultra wide, and the canon 24mm pancake lens. Its still fairly cold here in NJ. Im fairly new, and still learning. I do stay in manual mode to learn the camera. Please give me any critics you may have for me to improve.

Here are my favored shots:

(10-22mm):

(24mm):

(18-55mm):

 

[rwmson]

The dog on the bed would have been a *great* shot if it wasn't for the TV being on in the background. Good advise is to always look beyond the subject when composing a shot. I think you have a decent enough sense of composition but some of the shots seem a little crooked. Still, you clearly understand how to set your exposure and are willing to experiment (long-exposure night shot). Nicely done and keep on shooting!

 

[fragilesi]

The dog on the bed would have been a *great* shot if it wasn't for the TV being on in the background. Good advise is to always look beyond the subject when composing a shot. I think you have a decent enough sense of composition but some of the shots seem a little crooked. Still, you clearly understand how to set your exposure and are willing to experiment (long-exposure night shot). Nicely done and keep on shooting!

It's funny. If we're talking about a straight picture of a dog you're right of course.

I liked it because for whatever reason I leapt to the interpretation of the dog being bored and fed up while his owner watched TV rather than taking him out for a walk or playing with him. For that reason as a picture it kept my attention more than it otherwise would have done. Not sure if that was the intention of course!

But to Danny, it looks to my eye like you're making a really good start . . . whatever else you do or advice you get don't stop taking pictures!

 

[AcutancePhotography]

Welcome to the forum!

I liked the picture of the dog! I did notice that in some of your other photographs that the horizon was just a bit tilted. Getting your horizons horizontal can be a tricky thing about landscape photography.

I liked a lot of your compositions.

 

[Sporgon]

I like the picture of the dog too. As others have said, the tv behind could be distracting, but I would say it is a strong enough image to get away with it. A sort of 'street' shot but in your bedroom. Well done.

 

[procentje20]

Welcome to the forum.

The trick I use to get horisons straigt is by searching for vertical lines. Like lamp posts of door frames. Those are straigt enough most of the time to use to set the right angle in a picture. Pictures where that trick works are 0605 and 0638.

You could try to darken the TV in the picture with the dog to see if its less destracting, but still tells the story you had in mind.

 

[AcutancePhotography]

You could try to darken the TV in the picture with the dog to see if its less destracting, but still tells the story you had in mind.

Good point. The eye is often directed to the brightest part of the photograph.

 

[verysimplejason]

For your landscape pictures, I'd suggest to straighten the horizon and correct the distortion in the post.

 

[tolusina]

I rather like the dog shot.
TV makes it kind of homey, sort of like a fireplace in the background could do.
That's a pretty intent expression on dog's face, what is being watched? Kids playing? Playing what? Cat? A photo that inspires imagination is generally a good thing, this one does that for me.

Car shots are tough, rarely good at wide angles. Plus, this car, the right front fender color shows as a bit off from the rest of the car, not a very good automotive model.

Landscape horizons have already been mentioned.

 

[Besisika]

Welcome to CR!

I am not a landscape photographer so I might not be the right one to give you photocritique.

Generally, the purpose of a photograph is the story behind a subject.
If you noticed many likes the dog. My opinion, that is because the subject is clear. All the other photos have too much info.
As a general indication, a subject is whether the brightest, the biggest, the sharpest, the most colorful or the most contrasty. Advanced photographers try to incorporate many of the above even not all.

Looking at the car and its surrounding, I am not sure what is your main subject. Is it the bridge (the biggest), the sky and the water (the brightest), the car (the most colorful) or everything (the sharpest).
In an environmental portrait like this, everything else that attracts the eye supports the subject in order to accentuate its feature or balance it within your composition. They cannot compete with your subject.

My first suggestion to all newbies is: learn to photocritique your work, there is nothing worse than having very similar photos and not knowing which one is the best, or better yet, not knowing why is it better than the others. This cause repetition, like you have here, where you have the photo of the car with the bridge few times and all seem good to you.
If you are serious about photography, buy some books. I can suggest the one from Roberto Valenzuela. He is one of the top in composition which is the weakness of these photos.

I see potential in your works, now that you have the gear, learn!

 

[tolusina]

........ not knowing why is it better than the others....

When one gets to this point, stop.
All one needs know is that one is better or feels better, whatever. The choosing, culling of that set is done right there.
One needn't know why at all, it's subjective according to taste. Go with your gut, trust your instinct, save what you like best, dump the rest.

A bit different when working for a client, leave the final choice to the client's gut and instinct, subjective tastes differ.

 

[dailydanny]

Thank you all for replying. I appreciate the criticism on my work. I do see myself wondering about some of the things you guys have pointed out. As I've mentioned, I've only been out for a handful of sessions.

The hardest part for me that I've found in my shots, is getting the subject to "pop" or stand out. In the picture of my dog, I see how it is an interesting photo. I am close up, and there is lots of background blur. But when I shoot with my ultra-wide angle, I have a hard time getting my specific subject to pop out. Maybe its because the lens just soaks up all of its surroundings. I was able to get close with the very first car picture I posted (imo). And when I get too close to my subject, you get the classic distortion in the corners.

For the person who pointed out the front passenger fender, good eye. I did not notice that myself. I had that fender repainted, and it was done by a better painter than the original person who did the car. Therefore, it pops out from the rest of the car. Light plays a huge roll in the paints color, and that is one flaw with having certain independent panels/parts painted.

 

[JoeKerslake]

As mentioned before, careful with your horizons. What can happen, especially if you're not used photography, is pulling the camera to the right when you press the shutter. Sure up that grip on the left, and be a little lighter on the shutter and it'll sort itself out!

 

[tolusina]

I'm liking the dog photo even more.
The intensity of the stare, whatever is being looked at, it's like tunnel vision, really focused.
As I'm looking at the photo, obviously from camera/photographer's view, I really want to 'snick', finger pop, whistle, call the dog or something, see it's ears perk up as it's head snaps right. I almost expect to see this action from this still.
So, there's not only curiosity about what the dog is watching, there's anticipation of the very next instant. And this is no way trying to say that I think the dog should be looking at the camera in this photo, dog's pose speaks (barks?) eloquently candid as is.
---
Newbie's lenses; got a 35, 40 or 50? If so, mount it up, see how long you can work with just that, you'll learn lots.
Often you'll not be able to get 'enough' of a scene in the viewfinder, you'll have to decide on the spot what's most important to include, what parts are forgettable. Not to mention the zoom with your feet thing which includes sideways, up and down as much as fore and aft.