Critique Thread

[f6fhellcat13]

Originally Posted by johnnynumfiv

Here's a couple of mine. The B&W shot was in a showroom. The 355 was on the top of Mount Washington, NH. Have at them.

PS, great thread idea!

The b&W is pretty awesome, no improvement needed.
The second one seems a bit off to me. I think that the rocks on the ground screw with the eye and somehow detrct from the shape of the car. Maybe blurring or turning down the contrast on the rocks would help.
I have next-to no photograhpic expereience, so take this with a grain of salt.
My 2¢

[#1 Mustang Fan]

Originally Posted by f6fhellcat13

The b&W is pretty awesome, no improvement needed.
The second one seems a bit off to me. I think that the rocks on the ground screw with the eye and somehow detrct from the shape of the car. Maybe blurring or turning down the contrast on the rocks would help.
I have next-to no photograhpic expereience, so take this with a grain of salt.
My 2¢

I think you should've open up the aperture to blur the background and foreground (the rocks on the ground) making the car the obvious focal, do you have the . And get a bit more of the car in the photo. Turn it around?

Do you have ISO, f settings, exposure available?

[f6fhellcat13]

Great thread idea
As I'm sure some of you know, parts of LA are on fire right now, and the haze it causes in the air make sunsets and -rises more spectcular. I attempted to take a few pictures of the sun and here's what I got. The sun has now set so retakes cannot happen til tommorrow. I did not put much effort into these pics, because the sun was alread past what I think would have been the ideal point to take the pic. If I do try this again I will get a more clear view of the sun.
These are completly unedited.
They were taken with a FujiFilm FinePix 3800; a cheap digital unit for the technologically impaired (my parents).
I know nothing about photography or the camera, so I can't say much about the specs.
BTW what is ISO?
Enjoy

[#1 Mustang Fan]

In a digital camera its how sensitive the image sensor is to light.

In a film camera its what the speed of the film is, you used to have to change a roll of film to get different ISO settings now in digital they are easily changed with the sensor so you can get a range of different ISOs on a single card etc.

I was wondering as my dad mentioned ISO having something to do with ASA? anyone know what this is?

[Rockefella]

Originally Posted by #1 Mustang Fan

In a digital camera its how sensitive the image sensor is to light.

In a film camera its what the speed of the film is, you used to have to change a roll of film to get different ISO settings now in digital they are easily changed with the sensor so you can get a range of different ISOs on a single card etc.

I was wondering as my dad mentioned ISO having something to do with ASA? anyone know what this is?

IIRC ASA is a measurement for the speed of film as you mentioned with iso. Probably the same thing just determined by a different measure. Not sure about the details.

[superwaxer]

Originally Posted by f6fhellcat13

Great thread idea
As I'm sure some of you know, parts of LA are on fire right now, and the haze it causes in the air make sunsets and -rises more spectcular. I attempted to take a few pictures of the sun and here's what I got. The sun has now set so retakes cannot happen til tommorrow. I did not put much effort into these pics, because the sun was alread past what I think would have been the ideal point to take the pic. If I do try this again I will get a more clear view of the sun.
These are completly unedited.
They were taken with a FujiFilm FinePix 3800; a cheap digital unit for the technologically impaired (my parents).
I know nothing about photography or the camera, so I can't say much about the specs.
BTW what is ISO?
Enjoy

The sunset is really nice and I like the hazyness to it. However, you might want to try a different spot to take the picture from. The trees in the foreground is very distracting and doesnt support the photographs in any way. If you can step back a little maybe and try to get a the foreground more interesting (or appealing) it will create a much nicer effect. Also, if possible offcourse, you can try to create a silhouette of a bird in the trees with the bright sun in the background or do something similar. Play around with it and let us know what you got!

Remember, the sun enhances the feel of the photograph, but its not necessarily the main point of focus in the photograph.

[superwaxer]

Originally Posted by johnnynumfiv

Here's a couple of mine. The B&W shot was in a showroom. The 355 was on the top of Mount Washington, NH. Have at them.

PS, great thread idea!

Hi johnnynumfiv. I like the first B&W photograph. Its really nice on the eyes and looks professional. The like the second picture as well. In my opinion, theres nothing wrong with the composition or DOF (Depth of Field), however, it was the wrong time of the day. The sky makes the whole image look dull and uninteresting. If you took the same picture at dusk it would have made a huge difference.

Good work though!

[Rockefella]

Originally Posted by superwaxer

The sunset is really nice and I like the hazyness to it. However, you might want to try a different spot to take the picture from. The trees in the foreground is very distracting and doesnt support the photographs in any way. If you can step back a little maybe and try to get a the foreground more interesting (or appealing) it will create a much nicer effect. Also, if possible offcourse, you can try to create a silhouette of a bird in the trees with the bright sun in the background or do something similar. Play around with it and let us know what you got!

Remember, the sun enhances the feel of the photograph, but its not necessarily the main point of focus in the photograph.

Pretty much what was said. It's probably difficult to get a different spot to shoot the photo from but if you could back up or shoot from a higher altitude it would make a difference. If lack of equipment is your problem the best substitute is creativity. If you can come up with a picture that is different and compositionally interesting, the result will be far better. Play around with the camera's settings and see what you can come up with.

[NSXType-R]

This is an awesome thread. I will be visiting it more often once I get more photos that I like.

Can a mod sticky this by the way?

[Rockefella]

Originally Posted by NSXType-R

Can a mod sticky this by the way?

I have no problem with it. I'll wait for W's thoughts.

[#1 Mustang Fan]

Hmm, while we're slightly off topic. I think a sub-forum would be more appropriate, as people can throughly address each photograph rather than get a whole lot of photos piling up in one thread and maybe one gets missed out.

[superwaxer]

Originally Posted by #1 Mustang Fan

Hmm, while we're slightly off topic. I think a sub-forum would be more appropriate, as people can throughly address each photograph rather than get a whole lot of photos piling up in one thread and maybe one gets missed out.

I dont know, everyone seems to like it this way. But I can see where you are coming from though

[John Thawley]

Originally Posted by kvisser

Last question, what is the best way to set white balance in such a dark atmosphere with over enthusiastic sodium lights supplying light?

regards

ken

Well.... it can be an easier fix later... but if you know it's going to be awful, it's best to try and get it in the ball park.

You can set custom white balance with most cameras. This is typically done by moving the setting to Custom (what were the chances?) and then pointing the camera at something you know to be white and taking a shot. The camera will now use that for it's reference and set the WB accordingly. Of course this is shot at the scene in as close proximity to your subject as possible. You can also keep a white coffee filter with you... place it over the lens and shoot at the light source.

Again, this might bring you closer to null.

JT

[John Thawley]

Originally Posted by johnnynumfiv

Here's a couple of mine. The B&W shot was in a showroom. The 355 was on the top of Mount Washington, NH. Have at them.

PS, great thread idea!

Not sure of your experience or background... but if I may be blunt, you appear to be "reaching" with these. I know the look your after.... but, you're not quite reaching it. Maybe some more information... what were the shots for? Where are they going? I mean, if there for the owner of the car(s), they don't do the car much justice. The B&W seems to be going for the silhouette and curves idea... but the reflections are exposing a lot of bits and pieces... so it's a bit confusing.

The offset idea of the yellow spyder doesn't really play well with the scenery. Again, I think I know where you're going... but this is a look that usually works better with a stark isometrically backdrop... modern architecture... something that will be an abrupt contrast to the lines of the car and that will push the color of the car more in your face.

JT

[John Thawley]

Originally Posted by #1 Mustang Fan

In a digital camera its how sensitive the image sensor is to light.

In a film camera its what the speed of the film is, you used to have to change a roll of film to get different ISO settings now in digital they are easily changed with the sensor so you can get a range of different ISOs on a single card etc.

I was wondering as my dad mentioned ISO having something to do with ASA? anyone know what this is?

ISO and ASA are standardizations that refer to how sensitive either the film or the sensor is to light.

Remember, what we are really photographing is light. It is the science of light. So, while you might THINK you are photographing your car, you are actually photographing the LIGHT reflecting OFF the car.

What happens next is that reflected light BURNS into the film or the sensor. If we have the option of letting it burn slow... it will be deeper and richer in detail. If we burn it quick it will be thinner and we inherit weaker detail. On film, the image is buring into particles within the chemistry of the film.. so when it can't burn as deep and into as many particles, we get grain. In digital,it's a matter of amplification. The more charged the sensor is to capture the light quickly, the more NOISE we pick up. Noise unfortunately, isn't as romantic as grain.

The steps of speed of ISO or ASA are similar to keys in music. All of your cameras settings step up equally with you go up in ISO. So, if you shoot a perfect exposure at f/4.0 and 1/250 sec in 100 ISO, the same shot will be f/5.6 and 1/250 in ISO 200. We'll have bought ourselves one more "stop" of light by going up to 200 ISO.. but we'll inherit a little bit or noise or grain. At 400 ISO, we can keep the same shutter speed of 1/250 but stop down to f/8.0.

We use these choices to effect the shot the way we want to interpret and record the scene and how we see it.

There's perfect example at the beginning of this thread. Kvisser shot at 400 ISO and f/16 @ 30 sec. exposure. He mentioned background came up a little to strong. At f/8 his background would have been softer. So, had he dropped down to ISO 100, we would have had to open up the lens (f/8.0) to allow more light in at the slower film/sensor speed.

Hope that makes sense.

JT