Critique please

[Zaxxon]

Went out to Virginia Water today, took a few phots, wish I could have spent more time there but had to go after an hour. Images are nothing amazing but I'm more interested in tips or advice, if you have any please?

Got a few images that aren't too bad. I am still rank amateur and would welcome any advice please.

My kit isn't too bad, it's my ability that lets me down.

Here are 3 of the better images (about 60-70 taken), please feel free to rip them apart, I can take it and I am eager to learn.

EOS550, 17-55 F2.8 Lens
f22, 30 secs, ISO100, focal length 17mm (ND 9stop filter)



EOS550, 17-55 F2.8 Lens
f22, 120 secs, ISO100, focal length 24mm (ND 9stop filter)



EOS550, 100-400 Lens
f10, 1/250, ISO400, focal length 370mm



Thanks in advance.

[PlaneFan]

Love the duck and the waterfall. We were there as well today, walked round the whole lake with a black labrador and a tennis ball. Between 11am and 1pm. Beautiful day.

Edited by PlaneFan on Sunday 13th February 00:23

[andy-xr]

Nothing really about #1 or #3 so #2 is to me the most interesting.

It's fighting itself though, loads of stuff going on and nothing really outside of the blurred water to see what the deal is. Consider a crop in, dump the top third and the right third, see what that looks like.

[Gemm]

Both 1 and 2 are lacking good focal points. Blurred water may be pretty but there's absolutely nothing else in the picture. Perhaps something in the foreground may have helped in both images or wait (or go back) for better lighting/colour? 3rd is ok but again there's nothing special. You could try to experiment with angle (maybe go a bit lower?) or wait till the duck does something interesting! You could also walk around or wait for the changes of light as it looks pretty dull. Hope this helps!

[Fordo]

I like it at Virginia Water, was there a few weeks ago. Did you see the roman ruins?

1 and 2 look slightly over exposed to me- number 1 possibly could benefit from a grad ND to stop the sky burning out, or blend 2 photos of differing exposures, or just expose for the clouds and then lift the mids a bit.

Time of day - looks like midday perhaps? Not the best time of landscape shots, the lights all flat and uninteresting.

I was there too late in the day, and got this just after golden hour



bit of a rubbish snap really, polarizers vignetted, and theres nothing of interest really in the frame.


I'd echo what others have said about focal points. When I was there trying to snap the waterfall, i got down really low to get this:



I'm always trying to find a shot that no-one else has taken, a fresh perspective. Shame i was there so late, the light is very subdued, and i hate the foam on the rock, it looks a bit grim.

[GetCarter]

OP

I don't 'get' the first one. It looks like the subject has left the frame just prior to shutter release. I'm not looking at the foreground, nor the background - just the empty blue in the middle. If you had used a polarizer, the lake bed would at least have added some interest.

IMHO of course.

Edited by GetCarter on Sunday 13th February 15:47

[Zaxxon]

Excellent, That's what I was looking for, with your comments, thankyou very much guys.

I'll print this out and try again.


Again, thankyou very much. Great hobby.

[Zaxxon]

I was wondering why my images always looked a bit bland, they never jumped out at me and made me think mmmmm nice.

Then I bought the latest copy of Digital Phot o magazine and realised that it's all about RAW. What a massive improvement IMO anyway. I'm having a lot of fun playing with the sliders

[Crafty_]

looks much warmer but to my eye the slabs of rock in the centre look a bit out of focus now ?

[14-7]

Zaxxon said:

Then I bought the latest copy of Digital Phot o magazine and realised that it's all about RAW. What a massive improvement IMO anyway. I'm having a lot of fun playing with the sliders

Shooting in RAW has many advantages but like everything else, if you over do it you can spoil the image. Getting it right in camera first is always the best idea.