Art and Photography

Critique my pics...

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Jan 5, 2006
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Toronto
Sl300 wrote: Im on the way out so im going to get straight to the point sorry if I sound harsh

1. lose the borders, its just silly
2. you dont need an IS lens, learn how to 'breath and hold your camera against your body
3. work on composition
4. you want our eyes to jump to the 'interestingness of your photo
5. lay off the heavy pp

other wise great pics, keep it up :)
No problem; thanks for the honest advice. I am a newbie to dSLR or even modern cameras; so I definately have alot to learn.
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Oct 1, 2003
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In my opinion, your first post of photos aren't very good based on bad composition. It looks like you were trying but I don't think any of the photos are bang on.

In many of your photos the horizon line is slanted, and it doesn't seem like it's enough of a slant to be a style thing with the exception of the breakdancer image. I can tell that some of the photos with the docking bays in the background, that the actual road surface slants so that photo is technically straight but still it doesn't look straight. You need to be aware of stuff like this when taking the photo.

Also, your subject matter - I suggest trying to try and do it in an interesting way. You can try taking tight close ups, which you have done with some of the G35 photos. But go further, take close ups of the details of the car, try being more abstract with the shaps and lines of the cars. Find more interesting clean backgrounds, which it looks like you are trying to do, but trying to make a G35 look sexy with townhomes in the backgound doesn't really work for me. Try taking photos of the cars in motion, that could give you some interesting results. Also, try playing with light and reflection. Try and be more creative with your subject matter - play with it and have fun with it. Don't just take a flat picture of it.

Try and think what is the purpose of my photo and who am I taking it for?

Take a look at http://www.topgear.com/ for some inspiration maybe, see what works in terms of framing cars, what backgrounds work, what angles work.
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Nov 17, 2003
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First, and most importantly - thanks for posting your pictures for comments and criticism. This is what this forum is SUPPOSED to be for! Seeing the first page packed with the exact same "I'm too lazy to read a single review so what camera should I buy for $300" thread over and over again is giving me a headache.

Second, your pictures:

Always use the tripod. Also, don't fire the camera with the shutter. Use the timer or a remote to activate the shutter.

Try shooting in A mode. Set your aperture to f6-f8. Most lenses are sharpest around f8 or so. A bit of trial and error here is good.

Make sure the horizon is level in your pictures, unless you're going for a dramatic angle.

Keep shooting in the underground lot! It's a nice location. Lose the suburban/big box hell type locations - they're as unappealing as can possibly be.

Change up your eye level now and then. Try bringing a tarp and a small ladder with you next time, and take a few shots lying down or from the top of the ladder

Change up the lighting at night - pick up a couple of those big emergency 12v floodlights from crappy tire and "paint' the cars with light.


Most important - keep practicing! As long as you're having fun with it it's worth doing.
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jb22 wrote: In my opinion, your first post of photos aren't very good based on bad composition. It looks like you were trying but I don't think any of the photos are bang on.

In many of your photos the horizon line is slanted, and it doesn't seem like it's enough of a slant to be a style thing with the exception of the breakdancer image. I can tell that some of the photos with the docking bays in the background, that the actual road surface slants so that photo is technically straight but still it doesn't look straight. You need to be aware of stuff like this when taking the photo.

Also, your subject matter - I suggest trying to try and do it in an interesting way. You can try taking tight close ups, which you have done with some of the G35 photos. But go further, take close ups of the details of the car, try being more abstract with the shaps and lines of the cars. Find more interesting clean backgrounds, which it looks like you are trying to do, but trying to make a G35 look sexy with townhomes in the backgound doesn't really work for me. Try taking photos of the cars in motion, that could give you some interesting results. Also, try playing with light and reflection. Try and be more creative with your subject matter - play with it and have fun with it. Don't just take a flat picture of it.

Try and think what is the purpose of my photo and who am I taking it for?

Take a look at http://www.topgear.com/ for some inspiration maybe, see what works in terms of framing cars, what backgrounds work, what angles work.
Thanks for the advice; noted. I am going to be doing a photoshoot this weekend and will tryo to emphasize your points.
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rubberband wrote: First, and most importantly - thanks for posting your pictures for comments and criticism. This is what this forum is SUPPOSED to be for! Seeing the first page packed with the exact same "I'm too lazy to read a single review so what camera should I buy for $300" thread over and over again is giving me a headache.

Second, your pictures:

Always use the tripod. Also, don't fire the camera with the shutter. Use the timer or a remote to activate the shutter.

Try shooting in A mode. Set your aperture to f6-f8. Most lenses are sharpest around f8 or so. A bit of trial and error here is good.

Make sure the horizon is level in your pictures, unless you're going for a dramatic angle.

Keep shooting in the underground lot! It's a nice location. Lose the suburban/big box hell type locations - they're as unappealing as can possibly be.

Change up your eye level now and then. Try bringing a tarp and a small ladder with you next time, and take a few shots lying down or from the top of the ladder

Change up the lighting at night - pick up a couple of those big emergency 12v floodlights from crappy tire and "paint' the cars with light.


Most important - keep practicing! As long as you're having fun with it it's worth doing.
No problem. I really appreciate the feedback. Up until now most of my friends have thought the pictures were great; but I think it is probably because they think a dSLR = great pictures. I realize I have alot of work ahead of me and am starting to understand why my pictures were subpar. Best way to learn instead of me continuing my pictures like this; haha.

I will go for a quick drive tommorow and try to take some more pics. I thought this one looked alright; but is it still too busy?

[IMG]http://imusion.net/asad/Canon/Photoshoot/4.jpg[/IMG]

The houses kinda pulls my focus along with the stores; guess I will be buying the 50mm this weekend :cheesygri .
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The angle on the new one is better. Good idea. I'd still prefer it in a location without the houses/store/etc. THe parking garage is money.

Another advantage to the garage is how plain it is - it's a shame to have your car (nicely, btw!) detailed and have a loading dock reflected in the paint. :)
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May 27, 2007
288 posts
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New Westminster
I'm just a beginner, but what I found is that what's in the background is just as important as your subject.
For example, in the picture above, if you had the ocean, a city night view, or trees instead of houses and a green dumpster, it would be much more appealing.
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Dec 3, 2004
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The set of 6 photos, that preceded the one you just posted has way too many distracting elements.

The one with the red pole is in the foreground while your car is in the background. Its color is red and distracts away from the photo.

I think the problem here that needs to be learned is to eliminate distracting elements from your photo.

When shooting a subject, you have to think about how you can best emphasize your subject... Through blurring it out in the background via your lens, or cropping it out entirely. Also color. Your car is grey, a very subtle color shade. You need to find a setting where there are very little hard contrasting colors so the grey will stand out.
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Aug 17, 2005
289 posts
what aperature are you using on these pics? it seems like your straddling the middle, so your not getting the bokeh effect with a shallow DOF, but you're also not getting the entire subject in focus with a deeper DOF.

the last pic you posted is evidence of it. you have the car in both the foreground and it carries deeper into the photo, but it doesn't seem the full subject is in focus. try using a smaller aperature and make sure to use a tripod. if you have a remote trigger, use that, else use the timer mode to let your camera set off the picture for you. sometimes you can move the camera as you depress the shutter.
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Mar 1, 2004
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Pickering
If you are still using a kit lens, but like the focal length, investigate the Tamron AF17-50mm F/2.8 Di-II LD Aspherical. The 18-55 is not going to help your bokeh very much. The nifty fifty will require more work, but it can be used and it kicks @$$ with indoor low lighting situations. You will need to learn at which aperature the 50mm 1.8 will blur what amount of the shot and in what pattern. Most people that get this lens have difficulty because they attempt to shoot everything at f 1.8 and the lens is usable from f 2.0 -2.8 and up for what you are doing.

For example shooting a fish in a tank at 1.8 if the fish is turning away from you will yield a picture where only the middle of the fish (which is closest to you ) is in focus, while the rest is blurry and dark. Change the aperture to 2.8 at the same distance and now the whole fish is in focus and not blurry. Increase the size of the fish to cover the width of the frame and now you need f 4.0 to get the whole fish into focus again.
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rubberband wrote: The angle on the new one is better. Good idea. I'd still prefer it in a location without the houses/store/etc. THe parking garage is money.

Another advantage to the garage is how plain it is - it's a shame to have your car (nicely, btw!) detailed and have a loading dock reflected in the paint. :)
Thanks! At least I can detail my car properly :cheesygri .
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xilinx wrote: what aperature are you using on these pics? it seems like your straddling the middle, so your not getting the bokeh effect with a shallow DOF, but you're also not getting the entire subject in focus with a deeper DOF.

the last pic you posted is evidence of it. you have the car in both the foreground and it carries deeper into the photo, but it doesn't seem the full subject is in focus. try using a smaller aperature and make sure to use a tripod. if you have a remote trigger, use that, else use the timer mode to let your camera set off the picture for you. sometimes you can move the camera as you depress the shutter.
Thanks for the advice; I have started to do the timer one so I don't shake the camera. I am going to read the manual a bit more so I understand how to create the bokeh effect.
CSAgent wrote: The set of 6 photos, that preceded the one you just posted has way too many distracting elements.

The one with the red pole is in the foreground while your car is in the background. Its color is red and distracts away from the photo.

I think the problem here that needs to be learned is to eliminate distracting elements from your photo.

When shooting a subject, you have to think about how you can best emphasize your subject... Through blurring it out in the background via your lens, or cropping it out entirely. Also color. Your car is grey, a very subtle color shade. You need to find a setting where there are very little hard contrasting colors so the grey will stand out.
Any suggestions for a good place to do a shoot with a color of car like mine?
AudiDude wrote: If you are still using a kit lens, but like the focal length, investigate the Tamron AF17-50mm F/2.8 Di-II LD Aspherical. The 18-55 is not going to help your bokeh very much. The nifty fifty will require more work, but it can be used and it kicks @$$ with indoor low lighting situations. You will need to learn at which aperature the 50mm 1.8 will blur what amount of the shot and in what pattern. Most people that get this lens have difficulty because they attempt to shoot everything at f 1.8 and the lens is usable from f 2.0 -2.8 and up for what you are doing.

For example shooting a fish in a tank at 1.8 if the fish is turning away from you will yield a picture where only the middle of the fish (which is closest to you ) is in focus, while the rest is blurry and dark. Change the aperture to 2.8 at the same distance and now the whole fish is in focus and not blurry. Increase the size of the fish to cover the width of the frame and now you need f 4.0 to get the whole fish into focus again.
This went over my head; how do I change my apperature? I thought you adjust it by going into manual and pressing AV and scrolling the wheel. Mine only goes to 5.6 but that doesn't make any sense... Owner's manual for me :cheesygri .
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Asad_A203 wrote: This went over my head; how do I change my apperature? I thought you adjust it by going into manual and pressing AV and scrolling the wheel. Mine only goes to 5.6 but that doesn't make any sense... Owner's manual for me :cheesygri .
Yes, that is correct. If you are using a kit lens, the maximum aperture is 3.5 when you are at 18mm and 5.6 when you are at 55mm. The maximum values change as you zoom in, so if you set your camera to 3.5 @ 18mm and zoom to 55mm, you will find the camera changed the aperture to 5.6 all by itself and will not change back until you return to 18mm or close to it anyway.

The 50mm 1.8 is a prime lens that does not zoom and it has a constant aperture which means only you can change it when in manual mode. f/1.8 will let a lot of light in and you can snap the shutter faster in low light situations giving you clearer shots. The caveat is the area that is in focus decreases with an increase in f-stop. So f/1.8 will really de-focus the background, but the in focus area will be small. f/22 will put the entire frame into focus, but since it lets less light in, the shutter will have to remain open longer to properly expose the shot and you'd better have a tripod.

Also the distance between you and the subject, and the subject to the background affects the amount of bokeh (blur) you can achieve. So if you are really far away from the subject, and the backgound is close to the subject, you will have almost no bokeh. If you are close to the subject and the background is far away, you will have good bokeh. Add to that a large aperture of 2.0 and the background will be completely out of focus (OOF).

If you want a zoom that has a constant aperture thoughout the zoom range, you will pay more. My 24-70 2.8 was $1300, but it will do what you want. The 17-50 2.8 Tamron's price will probably be closer to acceptable.

I only shoot manual because I find that sometimes the camera tries to "help" by changing parameters I don't want changed. The camera's meter is guessing, just like the autofocus. Autofocus cannot possibly know that you want to focus more on the left than the right, so you need to manually put the focus where you want it. With most of the shots you are trying to take, manual is the only way to achieve perfection.
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Asad_A203 wrote:


Any suggestions for a good place to do a shoot with a color of car like mine?



.
I am not too familiar with Winnipeg and its surroundings so I have no idea what you have to work with in the city.

Try to find a place where there's a wide open space. A parking lot at a park with green trees set against a lake. (Are there any lakes in and around Winnipeg?) Even a simple industrial building without any thing sticking out would be good. Keep the background simple. If you can find an empty warehouse/hangar, it would be excellent. Look at car brochures for inspiration.
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Sep 11, 2006
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KELOWNA
Just jumping in if that's okay (since I don't usually on this forum). I agree with the comments so far but wanted to add that you might want to get in the habit of looking in all four corners of your viewfinder before you click. That helps you to start really seeing what is in the background and around the subject vs getting so totally into your main subject that you miss the distracting things. By training your eye to travel over the entire scene you will also start to see what is reflecting in the car (there are some odd lights etc. reflecting on the shot where it's parked by a loading bay for instance which are distracting and don't add to the sleekness of the car), distracting backgrounds (note how many people end up with trees etc. growing out of their heads because someone didn't check the backgrounds close enough). I didn't notice this happening in your shots, but pet peeve of mine is when the photographer or flash are reflecting in a shot. You won't see that in pro shots.

Also, get the car out on a rainy evening when the roads are still wet, you'll see that a lot in ads because extra reflection ads to the 'shiny, new' idea of the car. Your car is grey so the more black the road looks (or anything but grey.. being sand or grass or whatever you can find) will help feature the car. Same with the background. So far you have a lot of shots on and around cement which is very much like your car so it doesn't stand out the way it will against grass and trees or beach and water.

When you look at ads and such, notice the angles of the car and the eye level of the shot. Usually they keep the lens level with the top of the hood or lower to give a feeling of more power and size.

Most of all play around and try different exposures with each shot, it's not like you are going through film, so you can shoot all you want. Try all the angles, different levels, various methods of focusing etc. and really study what you did to see what you did that you like. Pretty soon you will realize what works and will see it's almost like a formula sometimes to always get the shot you want.

When you can, get and figure out photoshop and you can knock out the backgrounds or anything else you don't like, crop, and play as much as you like and go as far as you want.
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Asad_A203 wrote: This went over my head; how do I change my apperature? I thought you adjust it by going into manual and pressing AV and scrolling the wheel. Mine only goes to 5.6 but that doesn't make any sense... Owner's manual for me :cheesygri .
The aperture is the size of the opening in the lens that will let light into the camera. A larger aperture = smaller f-stop number. So f3.5 means more light and faster shooting than f5.6. The numbers on your kit lens mean that at 18mm it can open up to f3.5 at best, and at 55mm, f5.6 is all you get. You can close up the aperture to say f10 for shooting a landscape and getting everything in focus.

The trade-off is that the larger the aperture, the more shallow your depth of field. This is nice if you want to blur out the background. Not so good for a landscape shot.

Bigger apertures require more, bigger, and nicer glass to produce good, sharp images (the 50/1.8 is an exception since it's optically a relatively simple lens to make). That's why say, a Nikon 18-55mm/f3.5-5.6 lens is worth under $100 used, and a new Nikon 17-55/f2.8 will cost over $1k used.

You'll have no problem taking great shots with the kit lens, but large aperture (and the ability to shoot fast in low light and/or blur out the background almost completely) is one of the areas of photography where you have to pay to play.
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CSAgent wrote: I am not too familiar with Winnipeg and its surroundings so I have no idea what you have to work with in the city.

Try to find a place where there's a wide open space. A parking lot at a park with green trees set against a lake. (Are there any lakes in and around Winnipeg?) Even a simple industrial building without any thing sticking out would be good. Keep the background simple. If you can find an empty warehouse/hangar, it would be excellent. Look at car brochures for inspiration.
Will do! I think rubberband suggestion of the underground parking is good. Here is a park I like with a dock that goes into the water (I just hope my car doesn't go afloat...

Here is the main parking area but there is area where you can dock boats that downslopes and faces this:

[IMG]http://imusion.net/asad/Canon/IMG_0349%20(Medium).JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://imusion.net/asad/Canon/IMG_0428%20(Medium).JPG[/IMG]
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rubberband wrote: The aperture is the size of the opening in the lens that will let light into the camera. A larger aperture = smaller f-stop number. So f3.5 means more light and faster shooting than f5.6. The numbers on your kit lens mean that at 18mm it can open up to f3.5 at best, and at 55mm, f5.6 is all you get. You can close up the aperture to say f10 for shooting a landscape and getting everything in focus.

The trade-off is that the larger the aperture, the more shallow your depth of field. This is nice if you want to blur out the background. Not so good for a landscape shot.

Bigger apertures require more, bigger, and nicer glass to produce good, sharp images (the 50/1.8 is an exception since it's optically a relatively simple lens to make). That's why say, a Nikon 18-55mm/f3.5-5.6 lens is worth under $100 used, and a new Nikon 17-55/f2.8 will cost over $1k used.

You'll have no problem taking great shots with the kit lens, but large aperture (and the ability to shoot fast in low light and/or blur out the background almost completely) is one of the areas of photography where you have to pay to play.
Hmm so the 50mm should serve my purpose; especially since my main photography will be vehicle based? A little off topic but I found a Sigma lens (85-200mm) that people said was optically a good, cheap lens that is highly underrated (most recommend the APO version though). It cost like $150 but I have been unable to locate the lens at home after several searches. Anyone know what this lens was?
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Dustbunny wrote: Just jumping in if that's okay (since I don't usually on this forum). I agree with the comments so far but wanted to add that you might want to get in the habit of looking in all four corners of your viewfinder before you click. That helps you to start really seeing what is in the background and around the subject vs getting so totally into your main subject that you miss the distracting things. By training your eye to travel over the entire scene you will also start to see what is reflecting in the car (there are some odd lights etc. reflecting on the shot where it's parked by a loading bay for instance which are distracting and don't add to the sleekness of the car), distracting backgrounds (note how many people end up with trees etc. growing out of their heads because someone didn't check the backgrounds close enough). I didn't notice this happening in your shots, but pet peeve of mine is when the photographer or flash are reflecting in a shot. You won't see that in pro shots.

Also, get the car out on a rainy evening when the roads are still wet, you'll see that a lot in ads because extra reflection ads to the 'shiny, new' idea of the car. Your car is grey so the more black the road looks (or anything but grey.. being sand or grass or whatever you can find) will help feature the car. Same with the background. So far you have a lot of shots on and around cement which is very much like your car so it doesn't stand out the way it will against grass and trees or beach and water.

When you look at ads and such, notice the angles of the car and the eye level of the shot. Usually they keep the lens level with the top of the hood or lower to give a feeling of more power and size.

Most of all play around and try different exposures with each shot, it's not like you are going through film, so you can shoot all you want. Try all the angles, different levels, various methods of focusing etc. and really study what you did to see what you did that you like. Pretty soon you will realize what works and will see it's almost like a formula sometimes to always get the shot you want.

When you can, get and figure out photoshop and you can knock out the backgrounds or anything else you don't like, crop, and play as much as you like and go as far as you want.
Noted and will try to do. Thanks for the rain thing; any precautions for the Camera for rain/snow shots?

I also am pretty proficient in PS but I would prefer to have the lens do the bokeh instead of me (looks more natural to me).
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1) As many have mentioned, it's mainly your composition that you need to work on. When I picked up photography, the first thing I picked up was a book on composition, this one specifically:

http://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye ... 882&sr=8-1

Amazing book and taught me many things that I didn't already know.

2) For the pics where you are close up to your car, increase your aperture to blur out the background so that focus is purely on the car.

3) If you want some cool effects, try taking pics like this:

Image

If I can remember correctly, that was taken with a 1.6s shutter speed and f/2.8.

4) Weird how it's still blurry even with a tripod. 30s exposure is a bit overkill for those types of shots. What tripod is it? Don't cheap out on your tripod especially when taking shots with wind.

5) I personally don't like photoshopped photos. The best pics are the ones that are straight from the camera with perfect composition and exposure. Any noticeable photoshopping ruins any picture for me, but that's just me.
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