How are my pics?

[xxaquanutxx]

Hey all,

I had taken some pics on one of my vacations this year and I was just curious on how good they are.

I didn't take too much time on then... most of them were at the aquarium and I had other people's kids butting infront, and there were smudges and scratches on the glass. But I think they look pretty good and just wanted some other photo hobbiest opinions. Thanks!

 

[xxaquanutxx]

oh i forgot to mention that I was using my canon digital rebel. Manual mode ofcourse!

 

[zmovegolf]

Looking good!!!!

 

[xxaquanutxx]

ANY CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISISM?

 

[astrogazer]

I think you have the beginnings of a sharpshooter, need to hone in on the subject, sharpen and crop for effect.

 

[xxaquanutxx]

Thanks! I had a photography class back in highschool, but the teacher never taught. Just had us go out there every day on campus and take pictures. He did put a lot of emphasis on technique in the dark room and when we were printing the pictures (black and white). He told me I had an eye for photography but for some reason I never pursued a career in photography. Now I am regretting it, but am starting to get back into it with nature and wildlife shots.

When I was little (about 9 or 10) I took my moms old SLR one day and started pretending I was a photographer. I had my little brother pose on furniture and in the back yard and I took pictures of some really wierd pieces. One I remember was the toilette full of coins that we dropped inside ( for the sake of the picture of course).

What I didn't know was that the camera had film in it. So sure enough when my mom developed the roll there were all these pictures that she didnt remember taking. Surprisingly they were all in focus and some were descent enough that my mom some how remembered she took them and took credit on it from my dad and her friends!! I never told her I played with the camera, but I guess she kinda figured it out!!!

 

[coralite]

I have a little destructive criticism for you, it's my opinion and you make of it what you want.

img #1 interesting subject, could have been better centered. A soft diffused flash would have brought out more detail in the scales.

img#2. Centering is still an issue, it means everything to how your shot will look overall. This image is just a little blurry, if you are using a digital rebel you definitely have room for improvement.

img #3 much better centering, I assume you used flah to stop the motion of the fish. I also assume that you could actually crop the original image and get the fish to fill more of your frame.

img #4. Best image yet, the only thing to adjust would be to use P'shop to remove a little of the yellow hue of the image.

img#5. Nice detail on the spiny lobster, well framed but perhaps a wee bit too close. I liek to have the eyes of my subjects just a little closer to center.

I think all the images are decent overall but perhaps they could use a little post-processing to adjust brightness and contrast.

 

[maroun.c]

Hi,
Your pics are not bad but there area some areas for improvement,
1 nice subject, and unusual angle of shoot. would have loved to se his eyes or jaw Though.
2 Very soft probably because it's out of focus, or maybe some dirst on the glass causing the haziness.
3 & 5 seem to be the best of the series however it would be better to still zoom in on the subjects a bit more.
4 is Ok technique wise however it bothers me to see someone hand in the tank or touching the inhabitants just for the pleasure of touching them (maybe it's only me)
All your pics could benefit from some pp try to add some pop to them, also to crop them tighter. Also adding teir sharpness would be very beneficial. Try to work a bit more on have the camera really stable while shooting especially in aquarium display where most of hte time lighting is not that strong and yes it's a struggle with dirty glass and scratches on it.
here's a link to my last 2 aquarium display visits.

http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k156/maroun_chahine/Denmark Aquarium 17 june 2006/?start=all

http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k...Life Helsinki finland 23 june 2006/?start=all

 

[xxaquanutxx]

Thanks for all the input. Non of it was offensive.
#1 was actually the first shot I took of the gator. I didn't pay too much attention to it as we were only in the aquarium waiting to be called on standby at the cruise port so we kind of ran through there.

#2 I blew that image up because there were shadows and other fish in the background against an ugle blue and barren tank.

#3 I think I was really lucky to catch. The tank was full of Anthias and they were all swimming around really fast.

#4 That was not me touching the starfish. I was taking some pics of the petting tank with the water rippling across when I was the hand and figured what the hey!

#5 I just really liked that pose. I can definitely see about the color though!

I need to really learn more about the rebel too. Unfortunately my box never came with a manual for the camera. I purchased a book online but it really doesn't have everything in it.

The laptop I have (my boyfriends) does not have Photoshop so I know I would have to purchase the program. From what I have heard and read a lot of people do Post picture editing so I should probably educate myself on that aswell.

The criticism is greatly appreciated! I cant wait until I get to shoot more and see how I improve over time! Thanks guys!

 

[xxaquanutxx]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8676182#post8676182 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coralite
I assume you used flah to stop the motion of the fish.

I dont think I did. I adjusted the setting on the camera to motion shots and prayed. That was the better one out of 3. Luck I guess!

 

[coralite]

If you are looking for lower costs alternative to Adobe Photoshop may recommend a couple options. The GIMP is open source freeware which I use on my linux box. It is OS independent and it can handle most of the common image adjustments one would make with Photoshop. The Pixel Image Editor is another option which is also OS independent but it isnt free. It costs a whopping $32 as it is still in development stages. I have yet to use it but I hear that it gives Pshop a run for its money, a few hundred dollars worth that is.

 

[xxaquanutxx]

That's great thanks!

My dad has one of the older photoshop programs back in the US. Plus he also has that bohemouth size Photoshop manual. I'll see if I can upload that for now. I used to play around with it in the late 90's so hopefuly it is still in my head.!

Are there any books you recommend? I have seen a load of Digital SLR books in the bookstore but I never know which one to pick. And some of them are preeettty expensive.

 

[coralite]

whadyamean "back in the US"? Did Miami secede without me knowing about it?

I wouldnt worry about a manual, that's only if you really want to get into image manipulation. For post-processing images there's only a handful of functions you really need, most of which can be found under
Image-->Adjustments--> and then either auto or manually adjust the hue, saturation, lightness, brightness, contrast, etc.

 

[MCary]

I often have people disagree with me, so this is just my opinion.

You have interesting subjects, but your subjects aren't interesting. I would say that the pictures need better composition. The pictures themselves are nice. They just remind me of snapshots. 1 and 2 are the best composition wise.

Mike