One leg seagull ...

[spada]

Hi
Just got my 50 1:4 off ebay about 2 weeks ago, on the way to central to pick up friends on the train, I arrived station too early so I go around and by the way take some pictures. All shots using Fuji S2, Jpeg mode.


Darling Habour , Front of the museum




Central Station on the way out
This Seagull has only one leg


The cat at home, this one is with my friend 80-200 AF-D @ max Apeture 2.8 and max focal length @200mm




Thank Stubbsy to encourage me to post pictures in this forum (as I am still a newbie to SLR.)

Thank
Hien

[yeocsa]

Hi Hien

I encourage you to post your pictures too. You have very good potential. Excellent sharp handheld pictures there. I like in particular the first one and the 3rd picture.

The cat picture is particularly sharp. Welll done.
regards,

Arthur

[spada]

Hello Arthur

Thankyou for the good comment, This is my new hobby, and I like it very much. Hope I will have better pictures next.

Regard
Hien

[stubbsy]

Hien

Good to see you drummed up the courage to post - wasn't hard was it?

The first image is a particularly good capture, but the buildings in the background distract a little. Likewise for the background behind the seagull.

There are a couple of things I'd suggest you look at when taking shots like these. The anchors (and the seagull) are what you wanted the viewer to focus on so you want to remove other distractions. The depth of field in these shots is such that both foreground and background are easily discerned. To make the background less clear you could use a bigger aperture and a fast shutter speed (eg shoot at F 1.4 in Aperture priority mode). If you look at the cat shot this is exactly what you got by shooting at F2.8 - the head is in focus and the body is OOF.

If this is not technically possible (eg it may be just too bright) then you could try composing the shot from a different angle where the background was less distracting or so distant that it was out of focus (eg shoot the bird against the sky or the anchors from the other side - hopefully NOT in the harbour ). Failing all of that, photoshop is your friend. You could use it to add a gaussian blur to the background to simulate the OOF effect you want.

Remember, too, that this doesn't mean these shots are no good. They are good shots, but they could be made even better by thinking about the shot a little before you take it. Much of this comes from experience and you are heading in the right direction since you went for a wander with your camera when you had time to kill.

Keep practicing and keep posting the results. I look forward to seeing more from you.

[spada]

Hi Peter

Thank for these advices, I will think about it before compose any picture in the future, well and.. keep on practicing .
Your help is highly apriciated.

Thank
Hien

[Matt. K]

Spada
Nice to see you posting some images. Peter has given you some excellent advice....but for newcomers it can be confusing to put into action. I would suggest you concentrate on one single composition element for the nex 300 shots. Before you take your photo ask yourself..."what's in the background"? Then make a choice of f/stop that will throw it out of focus...or bring it into focus, depending on the effect you are after. If you are not sure then take 2 pics...one with your biggest f/stop and 1 with your smallest...or a smaller f/stop. The purpose of the exercise is to get you into the habit of being aware of the background as second nature. Many photographers have not taken the time to learn this and their imagery lacks impact because of it.
Look forward to seeing more of your pics.

[spada]

Hi Matt
Thank, Iwill remeber it every time I am about to take a picture , I hope I will have more to post.

Hien