New to photography- C&C desired

[JakeN488]

As the title states I am new to digital photography (well photography in any sense really ). I recently purchased a Nikon D60 and have been using the kit 18-55mm lens. What I've noticed is that out of the hundreds of photos I've taken I'm only happy with a handful of them. I'm looking for some C&C/Advice.

All images are clickable.

For the most part I haven't experimented with staging and setting up frames, rather I've been shooting what I'm encountering.
I also just started playing with Apple's Aperture. (as you could prob tell)

Thanks!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaken7/

 

[CrackedButter]

I like them for what they are as snapshots. Keep shooting is my advice, it is what all photographers should be doing all the time, I shoot the same thing everyday in order to get to understand my subject matter better.

 

[HBOC]

i like them. They have a nice "feel" to them. Keep shooting!

 

[telecomm]

I'm pretty far from a expert on these things, but I think your photos look pretty good. There are a few areas where the highlights are blown on the last two (in the clouds), but other than that I think they came out pretty well!

 

[Acsom]

What I've noticed is that out of the hundreds of photos I've taken I'm only happy with a handful of them.

Welcome to the world of photography. That is one of the great things about shooting digital; your mistakes are free. I remember seeing an old friend of mine shooting surfing competitions; he would fire at 10 frames per second on his Canon EOS-1RS, process several dozen rolls of film, and get maybe a dozen keepers.

The better you get, the higher your keeper rate. That will be the product of a combination of better composition and better camera handling (exposure, focus, etc).

 

[jexzy]

welcome to the world of digital photography well 'i'm not an expert but looking at your photos i'll say you're on the right path of being a good photographer just keep it up

 

[JakeN488]

I'm pretty far from a expert on these things, but I think your photos look pretty good. There are a few areas where the highlights are blown on the last two (in the clouds), but other than that I think they came out pretty well!

Can you elaborate a little more on the blown highlights? Is there a way to avoid this or fix this in post production?


Thanks for all the comments guys, much appreciated.

 

[telecomm]

Can you elaborate a little more on the blown highlights? Is there a way to avoid this or fix this in post production?

Because there's such a wide dynamic range in the scene (lots of really bright cloud areas, then the darker areas in the land masses), it's hard to get the right exposure: a short exposure/small aperture and the sky is properly exposed but the land is too dark, and a long exposure/wide aperture and the land is properly exposed by the sky is too bright. These photos are very slightly of the latter sort. Some areas of the clouds are "pure white", so they don't contain any info about the shape of the clouds.

I'm still waiting for Aperture 3 before jumping getting into more serious RAW processing, but shooting in RAW is good for, among other things, recording more info about the image, which would allow you to "pull back" some of the detail in the cloud areas (you may already be shooting RAW, in which case you can give this a shot). I think Aperture is like iPhoto in that you get a Recovery Slider, which allows you to regain this info in the image.

Of course, there are limits to how much info you'll get back, but that's the idea.

 

[Pikemann Urge]

The 'American Spirit' shot is nice. The others are not.

You need to pay more attention to composition most of all. You'll get there eventually. My advice is to look at as many photos as you can. You'll eventually be able to know whether you've taken a good shot or not.

Those above saying that your shots are good are not helping. I wish your shots were good but they aren't. But keep LOOKING and keep TAKING and you'll get there!

 

[JakeN488]

The 'American Spirit' shot is nice. The others are not.

You need to pay more attention to composition most of all. You'll get there eventually. My advice is to look at as many photos as you can. You'll eventually be able to know whether you've taken a good shot or not.

Those above saying that your shots are good are not helping. I wish your shots were good but they aren't. But keep LOOKING and keep TAKING and you'll get there!

I appreciate your honesty, I know composition is hard to define and pinpoint, but any advice would be excellent. I'm planning on taking a photography course next semester as an elective, and I hope to go into it with a decent understanding of the basics. Thanks

 

[Phrasikleia]

You haven't gotten much in the way of constructive criticism here, so I'll do what I can to be helpful. You've posted a lot of photos, probably too many, which can be off-putting to those of us who like to help. (It's just too much work to comment on them all!) In the future, try to be really selective and post the ones that you think are most successful.

I'll comment on the first three:

This one is all subject and no setting. I see only a dog and get no sense of place or of any reason why I should be looking at this dog. Also, the goo around his eye is really unpleasant to look at.

Here we have a nice setting for the dog, but his face is right in the center of the frame, and--worse yet--the light is all behind him, leaving the most important aspect of any creature, the eyes, in darkness. Remember that as a photographer you are a capturer and translator of light; it will make or break your photos.

The shadow is interesting, the eyes are at least partially lit, and the focus is on the eyes: all good. However, the blacks are crushed; there is no detail in those shadows at all. A B&W image needs contrast, but it also needs some rich tonality or texture to go with it; this one is far too contrasty. Also, I feel as though the framing is too tight; it feels claustrophobic. I'd like to see a bit more of the dog so that his paws aren't cut or up against the edge of the frame. We need a little breathing room here.

Someone mentioned that you should work on composition, and I agree. Learning the "rule of thirds" is a good place to start; it's neither science nor gospel and won't work all of the time, but practicing with it in mind can do a lot for your understanding of composition. So try that out and, most importantly, try to find some nice light to capture while you're at it. Oh yeah, and have fun!

 

[Pikemann Urge]

I appreciate your honesty, I know composition is hard to define and pinpoint, but any advice would be excellent. I'm planning on taking a photography course next semester as an elective, and I hope to go into it with a decent understanding of the basics. Thanks

Hope you have fun doing the course, but I would advise against getting a photography degree. It's a waste of your university/tertiary time (no, I'm not being snobbish or anti-education). Get a real degree/diploma. The best way to get good at photography is to look and act (to repeat what I said above) and of course get feedback from the internetz. A photography (or basket weaving) degree is sort of like vanity publishing to me. YMMV. Do what you know is right for YOU.

Composition is interesting precisely because, as you point out, it's hard to define. What I'll do is try to find examples of good compositions and get you to look at those. If you like them, you'll know why.

Oh, and by the way, centering the subject is okay if it works. There is nothing by default that precludes a central composition. Try to avoid centralized horizons, though.

You've posted a lot of photos, probably too many, which can be off-putting to those of us who like to help. (It's just too much work to comment on them all!) In the future, try to be really selective and post the ones that you think are most successful.

Nah, man, I say bring 'em on!

This one is all subject and no setting. I see only a dog and get no sense of place or of any reason why I should be looking at this dog. Also, the goo around his eye is really unpleasant to look at.

Ah, but there is one more thing: the background is too fussy/messy. And for some reason it looks like the image has been cropped rather than composed.

Okay, I said I'd try to find some good compositions. Let's have a go, here...

http://www.geocities.com/minoltapho...e-smith-waiting-for-the-andrea-dorea-1953.jpg

http://media.photobucket.com/image/horst p horst/tistj/photo_horst03.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-7mafTO3Z...AGo/sWP78F1bmvA/s1600-h/chanel+beauty,+87.jpg

http://www.divasthesite.com/images/...otographers/Norma_Shearer_Cecil_Beaton_02.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2333/2082677346_1bde4e5860.jpg

Well that's a bit of a limited selection in terms of subject matter but that will do I guess for now. Get some old stock photo catalogues from The Image Bank etc. Lots of top examples there, even if it is commercial and not artistic.