Critique Thread

[John Thawley]

a little more.

That's some pretty impressive post work.

JT

[johnnynumfiv]

LOL - I realized after I posted the Ferrari... it's the downhill before the last turn. It sometimes freaks me out that you get to recognize these locations... hell, Mid-Ohio I can tell you what hole you were in.

Shooting loose is a scale thing. Try to do it without the camera first. As you walk around or even drive around. Stop and look... take the whole scope of the view... then pick a lens and try to sort it out. It'll come.

Honestly, I first got the hang of it by force. We shot Utah (Miller) for the inaugural race. There was absolutely no way you could find enough glass for that track. You know, one of the downsides of owning a 500mm is you get 500mm syndrome. Fill the frame... in your face... a whole lot of cheap thrills. But at Miller... everyone was freaking out... because you couldn't get tight ANYWHERE. Finally, I gave up and started playing around and to this day, it was one of my best races with some of the most "outside the box"stuff I'd done.

Still some of my favorites:

JT

I have yet to deal with choosing lenses as all I've used is a point and shoot.
Just like anything, experience means everything. Hopefully I have some time to get back to taking some pictures, as all these pictures I'm posting are all old.

I think the shooting wide on your pictures shows the scale and size of the track quite well.

ps, any input on the pictures I posted?

[John Thawley]

I have yet to deal with choosing lenses as all I've used is a point and shoot.
Just like anything, experience means everything. Hopefully I have some time to get back to taking some pictures, as all these pictures I'm posting are all old.

I think the shooting wide on your pictures shows the scale and size of the track quite well.

ps, any input on the pictures I posted?

The Challenger shot is nice... but way to much contrast. I'd work on the processing.

The Ferrari (I think) is a bit soft... and I'm not wild about the forced angle. Just seems a bit gratuitous.

The car on the skid pad does nothing for me.

JT

[Ferrari330P4]

Here is a recent shot of mine- (It is in the General Photo Comp. #169)
Nikon D80 and 50mm f/1.8
f/8, ISO 100, 10"
Adjusted contrast, sharpened, increased saturation. No crop.



What do you guys think?

[Kitdy]

I am no expert but I think it looks good - higher res would be nice as some htigns looka bit odd. The colours are very nice.

What city is it?

[#1 Mustang Fan]

Is it just me or is the horizon not straight?

[f6fhellcat13]

The yellowish lights in the bottom left are a bit ugly and distracting, but otherwise great shot.
I tried to soften the yellow lights a little bit.
Not toatally satisfied, but here you go.

[John Thawley]

First and foremost, I think I would have under exposed it a bit. The sky is a touch too light for my taste.... at least for this type of shot. If you notice the highlights are blown on the top of the one building and the sign that's at ground level.

It would have been better had you exposed for the highlights. In a case like this, try and "bracket" your shots. Take one at you think is the correct exposure, then one over and one under.

This would have also blackened the water a bit and created more "dancing" colors in the reflection.... or at least brought more attention to them.

I would have shifted the camera's position away from that lamp post in the foreground bottom left. It's pretty ugly down there.

Straighten the horizon.

That said.... it's a pretty cool shot and good for you for getting out there and working on a shot that requires setting up. We all tend to walk around and grab shots. Going out and taking the time to set up ... all for one or a handful of frames seems to be a lot of work and discouraging. I try to do it more because I think it teaches us the importance of thinking about composition and looking through the viewfinder. It's more about "making" pictures than "taking" pictures.

Good job.

JT

[John Thawley]

The yellowish lights in the bottom left are a bit ugly and distracting, but otherwise great shot.
I tried to soften the yellow lights a little bit.
Not toatally satisfied, but here you go.

BTW... it appears you're running adjusted setting IN CAMERA. You've bumped up the contrast, saturation, and sharpness.

Too be honest, I'd strongly urge you to move those back to default.

Consider this; These settings are effecting the software that converts your "RAW" image into a JPEG. When you camera is doing the conversion, it is running a software application... similar to Photoshop (but not nearly as good) making adjustments to the image. So, Nikon engineers have already established settings that they feel are going to produce the best JPEG from the camera's file. All you are doing is overriding and adding to their recipe.

Since these settings are now "baked-in" to your JPEG, if they're too much, you're screwed. If you set them back to default, you can always adjust to suit your taste in post processing and using a program with MUCH MORE control and finesse than the firmware in the camera.

Also, in the future, for this type of shot, you should shoot RAW anyway. Then you'd have MUCH more information to control after the fact.

Think of this way.... if it were a meal, shooting RAW is like buying the best fresh ingredients from the market. Shooting JPEG is like cooking a packaged meal. Adjusting the camera's default settings is like burning it in the micorwave.

JT

[Ferrari330P4]

Thanks for all of the responses!
@Kitdy It is my home, Philadelphia
Here is a link to something that looks more like the original (Without using UCP system) I don't like giving out full sized images of mine. http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u..._1135-Edit.jpg
@#1 Mustang Fan Doesn't seem off to me.
@f6hellcat13 I liked the lights, I thought they added much needed depth to the image.
@John Thawley Yes, I do realize that they are overexposed. I adjusted in Lightroom to have a sky that wasn't too dark- like my first try of the Philadelphia skyline. No time for bracketing in the first place. I was only able to get 4 shots off before my assistant- Mom had enough of the cars flying by. I understand everything that you are all saying, but I had to do this under pressure. I shot in RAW, so the in camera settings like saturation and sharpening didn't do anything.

Thank you guys for your insight and compliments!

[#1 Mustang Fan]

Thanks for all of the responses!
@Kitdy It is my home, Philadelphia
Here is a link to something that looks more like the original (Without using UCP system) I don't like giving out full sized images of mine. http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u..._1135-Edit.jpg
@#1 Mustang Fan Doesn't seem off to me.
@f6hellcat13 I liked the lights, I thought they added much needed depth to the image.
@John Thawley Yes, I do realize that they are overexposed. I adjusted in Lightroom to have a sky that wasn't too dark- like my first try of the Philadelphia skyline. No time for bracketing in the first place. I was only able to get 4 shots off before my assistant- Mom had enough of the cars flying by. I understand everything that you are all saying, but I had to do this under pressure. I shot in RAW, so the in camera settings like saturation and sharpening didn't do anything.

Thank you guys for your insight and compliments!

Yeah, I look at it again and I don't think its the horizon.

Its a very nice photo bar the first light on the bottom right it also looks a little too sharp in spots and as JT said a little under exposure may have brought out the contrast, highlights and some of the post processing may have not been needed. But that said something still bugs me about the angle.

[John Thawley]

Thanks for all of the responses!
@Kitdy It is my home, Philadelphia
Here is a link to something that looks more like the original (Without using UCP system) I don't like giving out full sized images of mine. http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u..._1135-Edit.jpg
@#1 Mustang Fan Doesn't seem off to me.
@f6hellcat13 I liked the lights, I thought they added much needed depth to the image.
@John Thawley Yes, I do realize that they are overexposed. I adjusted in Lightroom to have a sky that wasn't too dark- like my first try of the Philadelphia skyline. No time for bracketing in the first place. I was only able to get 4 shots off before my assistant- Mom had enough of the cars flying by. I understand everything that you are all saying, but I had to do this under pressure. I shot in RAW, so the in camera settings like saturation and sharpening didn't do anything.

Thank you guys for your insight and compliments!

The horizon is not straight. Put a vertical guide next to the buildings. That's the only way you'll get it right.

JT

[superwaxer]

Hey folks,

Since Im not really an expert at taking automotive pictures as such, I thought it might be a good idea to get your guys opinion on my newest automotive comp entry.

Here goes:

superwaxer
Rumbling Rotor
12/12/2008
Canon 400D | f/5.6 | 1/30th sec | ISO 200 | 75mm
Adjusted Levels

Thanks!

[f6fhellcat13]

I quite like it, that's why I voted for it.
The only advice I would give would to make the car a little less centered in the pic. That would give it an increased feeling of motion.

[John Thawley]

Hey folks,

Since Im not really an expert at taking automotive pictures as such, I thought it might be a good idea to get your guys opinion on my newest automotive comp entry.

Here goes:



Thanks!

Very tough to get a sharp shot of a car without graphics. Autofocus likes contrast. And... 1/30th sec. is fairly ambitious.

All in all, good job capturing the shot. Unfortunately, the angle is rather bland... and I'm not sure if the red car has something to do with the photo or RX3, but... it's kind of hanging there with no explanation.

And... the pan is a bit soft.

But, you should be pleased for the most part. It's an excellent effort and your execution isn't all that bad. It's a cool car... just not an interesting shot... beyond the interest you brought to it by recording the movement.

JT