DSLRUsers.com

For critique please .... but be gentle with me as a) I've not had my pics judged before (am very new to this) and b) these were taken on a Canon Powershot G2 (so I had minium manual control).

They've been photoshopped, just sharpened and cropped and reduced.

Oh.... and there was (gulp) a smudge on my lens. That's the problem with not having an SLR. Hopefully my D70s arrives this week.













Fiona

I haven't cropped any of them. Just played around with frames.

Fiona

To be honest the pictures of the boats and harbour bridge don't do that much for me, it might be because they are slightly busy (for my eye anyway).

However the final shot is a pearler, especially the non-conformative angle and the B&W, really does it justice

Just my 2c worth.

Ed.

Well shot 2 & 5 I prefer. I also prefer the slimmer frames rather than the chunky ones. You'll love your D70 when it arrives, enjoy.

Mark

edneeves wrote:To be honest the pictures of the boats and harbour bridge don't do that much for me, it might be because they are slightly busy (for my eye anyway).

However the final shot is a pearler, especially the non-conformative angle and the B&W, really does it justice

Just my 2c worth.

Ed.

Taken the words out of my mouth!

Welcome Fiona to the forum

Let me start of by saying you have a keen eye for detail, most of your shots are composed with many elements in the image aligning with each other, most evident in image 4. I can see the fence lining up with the right pylon of the bridge, I would just add that this shot is quite busy. A suggestion is to move closer to the boat on the left, take the shot from there, and blur the background(when you get your DSLR) this will give more importance to 1 subject, the boat

Your first shot of the bridge and ferris wheel is great, thoughtfully composed with only two main subjects and cropped neatly. The image also has an interesting ants view perspective which gives the scene a dramatic impression. The colour and concept contrast of the
the grey structural monotony of a monumental bridge(still beautiful) in the background with the dainty colourful ferris wheel in the foreground, backdropped with a wonderful blue sky is a prime touch!

The last image has excellent contrast, the B&W improves the shot, allowing the viewer to ponder on the composition, tone and meaning.
I would only suggest not tilting the view too much and aligning at least 1 line in the image to at least 1 corner of the frame, see example:
http://www.zeduce.org/images/experimental/15_7_05__2.jpg

Very well done.

The first shot was great. Although, I might be tempted to crop the top of the opera house out since it doesnt add to the picture. I especially like the colours off the ferris wheel.

Well done!

-->famish

First photo is interesting. Nice relation between curves. Just only if the Bridge tower would be hidden...and clean up things below bridge.

I dont like second and third shots. It doesn't help this one to go b&w. Maybe crop just below far shore line? At the moment it shares sililar problem with the third - a bit too mess in frame.

Fourth one is better. I can see difficulty, just this bay is too busy. Maybe it would be worth to come back there an evening/night, so low light will help to select a subject?

Fifth shot is ok, but just ok. Clean, but too ordinary. However, i know its is difficult ot make something new with this subject

Sixth is better. Good use of b&w to suggest the subject. However I am not sure about the angle. No, I dont like the angle

I dont think you should be afraid of cropping if it would help composition and subject. Our cameras have certain format, but it doesnt mean that we have to be its slaves.

Sorry if my critique is too strong, it was long day today

Regards,

K.Polak

good shots fiona but i would forget the frames. the last is great it just needs a little more midtone contrast, essentially the monos are great the colour are a bit too busy maybe a crop is needed!

jethro

Not bad Fiona, I too like the last one the best. Your boat shots IMHO are lacking DOF (hopefully the D70 will fix this). I much prefer the shot of the boat at an angle rather than the shot looking at the stern straight on.

Firstly, thank you all SO much for taking the time to give me feedback. As much as I thought I wouldn't mind if no one answered, I find that I minded a lot - and therefore appreciate it even more.

Wendell, thank you for your welcome and great encouragement. i love your example shot. That last shot of mine was taken on pure whimsy. I barely even looked through the vf. It kind of brought a "Gothic City" image to mind. I like the result, but will take your comments on board and put a bit more effort into lining up the next one.

Hudo & Jethro, I agree about the frames. Got a bit carried away with experimenting!. Jethro, thanks for the colour info - that's the kind of stuff i really need to learn.

Marcus - I shot them all in "Landscape" auto mode - knowing there would be no DOF and hoping they would be good comparison shots for when I have my D70s.

K.Polak - no, your critique was not too strong at all. I really appreciate your input, and hope you have a better day tomorrow.

Nito - I cropped the Opera House out of a printed version adn it looks much better. Thanks.

Thanks again everyone. Can't wait to show you how much better I can do with the d70s!

Fiona

Famish - from reading these posts I would agree with most of what has been said. My 2 favourites are 2 and 5 and I am sure with the imminent arrival of the D70s we will all see many more pics from you