Only the Brave - Honest Photography Feedback

[irocfan]

Part of a series of pictures I shot whilst on our cruise. Totally un-edited (as you cn see from at least one of the pics) just curious about what's good and what's not...

[Kneedragger95]

Your 3rd pic could do with a little rotation so that the horizon is level, to my amateur eyes everything else looks ok.

Criticism for my photo, anyone? I bought myself a Fujifilm XT100 mirrorless camera a month ago, and I am slowly getting to grips with the functions and things like focal lengths, aperture etc. and so far this is probably the best I have come up with.
there has been a little post processing in Lightroom, such as reducing the highlights and upping the blue saturation slightly for the sky, as well as a little cropping to hide some horrible graffiti on the far right-hand side pillar of the viaduct.

Please don't hold back on the criticism

[Nigel_O]

Kneedragger95 said:

Criticism for my photo, anyone? I bought myself a Fujifilm XT100 mirrorless camera a month ago, and I am slowly getting to grips with the functions and things like focal lengths, aperture etc. and so far this is probably the best I have come up with.
there has been a little post processing in Lightroom, such as reducing the highlights and upping the blue saturation slightly for the sky, as well as a little cropping to hide some horrible graffiti on the far right-hand side pillar of the viaduct.

Please don't hold back on the criticism

I always like perpective shots - my only criticism for this one is a bit insignificant - clone out the birds, as they are a bit distracting - some of them are far enough away to look like dust specs on the sensor

I haven't tried, but I'm wondering if a bit or gradient filter into the sky would help

[irocfan]

Kneedragger95 said:

Your 3rd pic could do with a little rotation so that the horizon is level, to my amateur eyes everything else looks ok.

thanks for that - it's my first venture onto this part of the forum and I hadn't even thought about something as simple as the horizon

[Kneedragger95]

Nigel_O said:

I always like perpective shots - my only criticism for this one is a bit insignificant - clone out the birds, as they are a bit distracting - some of them are far enough away to look like dust specs on the sensor

I haven't tried, but I'm wondering if a bit or gradient filter into the sky would help

I was thinking about cloning out the birds but decided against it as its something I'm not too experienced in doing.
Maybe I'll give it some practice over the weekend.
Thanks for the input.

[singlecoil]

irocfan said:

Part of a series of pictures I shot whilst on our cruise. Totally un-edited (as you cn see from at least one of the pics) just curious about what's good and what's not...

A well grasped opportunity, chances like that don't come every day. So as reportage they'e very good.

The problem is focus. I presume you were using autofocus and in the first picture (for example) the camera has chosen the nearest object to focus on, which was the side pod containing the undercarriage. Ideally the focus would have been on the person.

If your camera gives you the choice it's a good idea to use single point focus and make sure the indicator in the viewfinder is pointed right where you want it.

Kneedragger95 said:

I was thinking about cloning out the birds but decided against it as its something I'm not too experienced in doing.
Maybe I'll give it some practice over the weekend.
Thanks for the input.

If you are going to shoot landscapes and you want to get good pictures then learning how to remove distracting elements in post is absolutely bleeding vital. With landscapes you can't control the scene so you need to be able to remove stuff in post.

Whatever software you are using get on YouTube and watch some of the many videos on the subject, then practice until you can do it without leaving any evidence of it in your pictures.

If that was my picture I would clone out one of the sheep as well as the birds. And the sign on the gate as well.

[MikeGoodwin]

DSCF9014 by Michael Goodwin, on Flickr


interested...

[singlecoil]

Something like this-

[pteron]

Not sure how I'd modify anything here as it was a bit of a lucky grab, but interested in feedback! I had just bought a new lens for my camera and saw a pelican sitting on a post on the pier. Thought I'd try to take a pic but the focussing preflash disturbed him and he took off. I hit the shutter reflexively as he flew past...

[DibblyDobbler]

I like it Andy! Maybe just clone out the orange light in front of the beak as it's a wee bit distracting?

[irocfan]

singlecoil said:

irocfan said:

Part of a series of pictures I shot whilst on our cruise. Totally un-edited (as you cn see from at least one of the pics) just curious about what's good and what's not...

A well grasped opportunity, chances like that don't come every day. So as reportage they'e very good.

The problem is focus. I presume you were using autofocus and in the first picture (for example) the camera has chosen the nearest object to focus on, which was the side pod containing the undercarriage. Ideally the focus would have been on the person.

If your camera gives you the choice it's a good idea to use single point focus and make sure the indicator in the viewfinder is pointed right where you want it.

cheers for that - you are correct about the autofocus. I was using a bridge camera and I've already noticed that the autofocus is on some occasions a total PITA.... Loads to learn!!

[noell35]

singlecoil said:

Something like this-

I think it looked better with 2 sheep. 2 or none would be best surely? Why just one?
How did you pick which one to clone out?

Didn't even notice the gate, never mind the sign on it but I was on my phone not a massive screen so maybe that explains that. What did it say?

[singlecoil]

noell35 said:

singlecoil said:

Something like this-

I think it looked better with 2 sheep. 2 or none would be best surely? Why just one?
How did you pick which one to clone out?

Didn't even notice the gate, never mind the sign on it but I was on my phone not a massive screen so maybe that explains that. What did it say?

AIUI, it's traditional to have some foreground interest in landscape photos, after that it was purely an opinion as to how many sheep there should be. I was looking at the full size version (obtained by clicking on the photo in the PH post, then clicking on the Thumbsnap picture), on a 27" QHD screen.

The sign couldn't be read but it was a light area and these tend to 'draw the eye'. The main reason for doing it was to show what could be done with editing software. The sheep was done by drawing around it with the Lasso tool in PS 2019 and using content aware fill.

For myself I have virtually no interest in landscape photography, I prefer to construct and create pictures rather than just go and point a camera at something that is already there.

Edited by singlecoil on Saturday 3rd August 06:03

[pteron]

DibblyDobbler said:

I like it Andy! Maybe just clone out the orange light in front of the beak as it's a wee bit distracting?

I'll give it a try - thanks for the feedback!