Some vacation pics from around SF.
Joined: Feb 2005
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From: As far away from Florida as I can get.
Some vacation pics from around SF.
I finally got a chance to use my camera outside and spontaneously. Being on vacation gave me a chance to experiment with some settings and see if I have any creative talents. I came back with about 4GB worth of photos that need to be sorted and edited. And sometimes discarded. But here are a few that I thought came out pretty good. Of course any critique is more than welcome as this is my first foray into the art of photography.
By the way, the SFMOMA had an exhibit of late 19th and early 20th century photographs that was simply amazing.
First are some shots from Alcatraz. I thought the place really gives itself to some black and white photography. But the color shots also seem to stand on their own.
Pic 1.
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4.
The prerequisite shot of SF fog:
Pic5
Some pics from the SFMOMA. I thought the light was very interesting, but had difficulty framing the shot. Really wished for a wide angle, or a fisheye lens.
Pic6.
Pic 7.
Pic 8.
And finally some shots from the botanical gardens.
Pic 9.
Pic 10.
So lets hear it. What did I do wrong? What did I do right? Just so I can try and do it again.
By the way, the SFMOMA had an exhibit of late 19th and early 20th century photographs that was simply amazing.
First are some shots from Alcatraz. I thought the place really gives itself to some black and white photography. But the color shots also seem to stand on their own.
Pic 1.
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4.
The prerequisite shot of SF fog:
Pic5
Some pics from the SFMOMA. I thought the light was very interesting, but had difficulty framing the shot. Really wished for a wide angle, or a fisheye lens.
Pic6.
Pic 7.
Pic 8.
And finally some shots from the botanical gardens.
Pic 9.
Pic 10.
So lets hear it. What did I do wrong? What did I do right? Just so I can try and do it again.
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,054
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From: As far away from Florida as I can get.
Thank you. I am going to try to process the rest of the pics in the next week or so and throw them up on my website. I will let every one know when that happens.
3rd Gear
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 204
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From: Atlanta, GA
What did you do wrong? Here's my "gloves off" critique of them.
1) Straighten the lines and get rid of the piece of door frame on the right side of the shot and it's a keeper.
2) It appears that something is in front of the lens causing some nasty white ghosting,and it ruins the shot.
3) Fairly uninteresting subject, and very muddy (all midtones)
4) Also very muddy and I'd like to see some open sky above the top of the tower.
5) Again, all midtones (got to have some contrast in black and white shots)
6) I like the idea but the blown out portions on the left side of the frame are very distracting.
7) Same muddy problem as the black and whites from above, except the black hole in the bottom corner draws all my attention to it.
8) With a slight rotation and a little tighter crop around the hole I think this one could be very nice.
9) Again, muddy.
10) Too much of the frame is out of focus, really distracting and annoying to look at.
OK, now that I'm done with that, what did you do right?
A lot of the pictures have potential, you've got a good eye for composition but it seems that your post processing skills need some polishing, and I promise you this is much easier to do than learning how to shoot right! I'm guessing for your black and white shots you converted them using a program on your computer? If they had more contrast I'd like them a whole lot more.
You're certainly off to a good start, keep shooting!
1) Straighten the lines and get rid of the piece of door frame on the right side of the shot and it's a keeper.
2) It appears that something is in front of the lens causing some nasty white ghosting,and it ruins the shot.
3) Fairly uninteresting subject, and very muddy (all midtones)
4) Also very muddy and I'd like to see some open sky above the top of the tower.
5) Again, all midtones (got to have some contrast in black and white shots)
6) I like the idea but the blown out portions on the left side of the frame are very distracting.
7) Same muddy problem as the black and whites from above, except the black hole in the bottom corner draws all my attention to it.
8) With a slight rotation and a little tighter crop around the hole I think this one could be very nice.
9) Again, muddy.
10) Too much of the frame is out of focus, really distracting and annoying to look at.
OK, now that I'm done with that, what did you do right?
A lot of the pictures have potential, you've got a good eye for composition but it seems that your post processing skills need some polishing, and I promise you this is much easier to do than learning how to shoot right! I'm guessing for your black and white shots you converted them using a program on your computer? If they had more contrast I'd like them a whole lot more.
You're certainly off to a good start, keep shooting!
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,054
Likes: 0
From: As far away from Florida as I can get.
Originally Posted by Kyle
What did you do wrong? Here's my "gloves off" critique of them.
1) Straighten the lines and get rid of the piece of door frame on the right side of the shot and it's a keeper.
2) It appears that something is in front of the lens causing some nasty white ghosting,and it ruins the shot.
3) Fairly uninteresting subject, and very muddy (all midtones)
4) Also very muddy and I'd like to see some open sky above the top of the tower.
5) Again, all midtones (got to have some contrast in black and white shots)
6) I like the idea but the blown out portions on the left side of the frame are very distracting.
7) Same muddy problem as the black and whites from above, except the black hole in the bottom corner draws all my attention to it.
8) With a slight rotation and a little tighter crop around the hole I think this one could be very nice.
9) Again, muddy.
10) Too much of the frame is out of focus, really distracting and annoying to look at.
OK, now that I'm done with that, what did you do right?
A lot of the pictures have potential, you've got a good eye for composition but it seems that your post processing skills need some polishing, and I promise you this is much easier to do than learning how to shoot right! I'm guessing for your black and white shots you converted them using a program on your computer? If they had more contrast I'd like them a whole lot more.
You're certainly off to a good start, keep shooting!
1) Straighten the lines and get rid of the piece of door frame on the right side of the shot and it's a keeper.
2) It appears that something is in front of the lens causing some nasty white ghosting,and it ruins the shot.
3) Fairly uninteresting subject, and very muddy (all midtones)
4) Also very muddy and I'd like to see some open sky above the top of the tower.
5) Again, all midtones (got to have some contrast in black and white shots)
6) I like the idea but the blown out portions on the left side of the frame are very distracting.
7) Same muddy problem as the black and whites from above, except the black hole in the bottom corner draws all my attention to it.
8) With a slight rotation and a little tighter crop around the hole I think this one could be very nice.
9) Again, muddy.
10) Too much of the frame is out of focus, really distracting and annoying to look at.
OK, now that I'm done with that, what did you do right?
A lot of the pictures have potential, you've got a good eye for composition but it seems that your post processing skills need some polishing, and I promise you this is much easier to do than learning how to shoot right! I'm guessing for your black and white shots you converted them using a program on your computer? If they had more contrast I'd like them a whole lot more.
You're certainly off to a good start, keep shooting!
Some of the pictures, such as the tower and the ones from SFMOMA were very hard to frame due to space constraints and other people.
Pic 2 was shot throug chain link fence and I left the ghost there on purprose. In Pic 8 I tried to preserve the architects intent. That wall is actually much bigger that I was able to capture and has a much more drastic effect. Pic 10 was intended that way as I thought the eye would be drawn towards the subject that is in focus. Hope that at least clarified the "artistic intent"
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,054
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From: As far away from Florida as I can get.
Originally Posted by Kyle
Here's a quick levels adjustment of your "fog" shot to show you what I'm talking about. Hope you don't mind.
6th Gear
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,802
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From: SF Bay Area
Originally Posted by Kyle
Here's a quick levels adjustment of your "fog" shot to show you what I'm talking about. Hope you don't mind.
3rd Gear
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 204
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta, GA
Originally Posted by goaljnky
Good input. Sounds like a lot of the stuff can be corrected. Just have to find time to do it. Black and white shots were actually shot that way and I acutally did very minimal PS on those. All except for the fog. That was a color shot.
Some of the pictures, such as the tower and the ones from SFMOMA were very hard to frame due to space constraints and other people.
Pic 2 was shot throug chain link fence and I left the ghost there on purprose. In Pic 8 I tried to preserve the architects intent. That wall is actually much bigger that I was able to capture and has a much more drastic effect. Pic 10 was intended that way as I thought the eye would be drawn towards the subject that is in focus. Hope that at least clarified the "artistic intent"
Some of the pictures, such as the tower and the ones from SFMOMA were very hard to frame due to space constraints and other people.
Pic 2 was shot throug chain link fence and I left the ghost there on purprose. In Pic 8 I tried to preserve the architects intent. That wall is actually much bigger that I was able to capture and has a much more drastic effect. Pic 10 was intended that way as I thought the eye would be drawn towards the subject that is in focus. Hope that at least clarified the "artistic intent"
I can also definately see what you were trying to do with the shots, just my opinion that they could have been better off the way I described them. That being said, it's just my opinion so take it worth a grain of salt.
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,054
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From: As far away from Florida as I can get.
Originally Posted by hafid
good start! what camera were you using?
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