Fire In the Sky... kinda

[mambastic]

Hi everybody,

This is my first time requesting a critique so please be kind But honestly, I am open to any critique, so bring your worst. Besides, you guys can't see the tears I'll shed when I read your critiques.

Anyways, I just recently got into photography after spending a day with my dad's Canon Powershot A630 and also fooling around with my friend's Canon Rebel XTi on a couple occasions. So, I decided to get a camera of my own. After perusing several 100's of photographs online and remembering my experience with my friend's dSLR, I am already growing dissatisfied with my camera (SLR envy you can call it I guess). However, I don't think I can justify buying a dSLR at this moment because I don't think that my photography skills warrant such a purchase. That and I don't have the money for one (and lenses) yet.

So, I've come here for honest feedback on my photography. Here, I present to you a photo of some clouds in the setting sun that I took last Thursday. Sorry for writing so much, and thank you for your guys' feedback and time. *Edit* Oh yeah, I didn't have a tripod or stable surface to place my camera on, so I took this picture in Program Mode with White Balance set to Daylight. EXIF data should be intact.

[clockdoc]

You did well for hand-holding the camera at 1/40 sec. Nice sky. My only comment is that it needs a little more base. Perhaps the foreground was not suitable or you just cropped it a little too tight. Don't be in a rush to buy a dSLR, especially if you are new to photography. I have seen lots of superb shots with point and shoot cameras and an equal share of tack-sharp subjectless photos taken on the high end digital SLR's. It is you, the photographer, who really makes the picture. The camera is just a tool. Keep shooting. I'll be happy to help where I can.

[mambastic]

Thanks for the critique, clockdoc. Yeah, I figured that I should've added a little more base onto the bottom of the picture. When I first framed the shot, I had the base fill up the bottom third of the picture. Then I decided to get more of the clouds in the picture instead. I should've taken 2 shots instead. Well, live and learn, right? Again, I appreciate your feedback.

[Robin Sarac]

Ditto to Doc.

[Nicole]

Originally Posted by mambastic

Sorry for writing so much, and thank you for your guys' feedback and time.

Personally, I'd like to see more writing about the photos that people request critique for, but maybe I'm just strange lol So yay for you writing stuff to go with your critique. It helps give context and an idea of where we can help

As far as your photo goes, I agree with what ClockDoc said about needing more foreground. The sunset isn't quite dramatic enough to give it that amount of space in the photo. When you get those really dramatic sunsets is when you can play more with giving the space to the sky. What if you tried cropping it slightly differently, maybe a widescreen aspect ratio like 16:9 or something that would take a bit away from the extra sky. Plus, if you're good with editing, you could always match the colour of the foreground and add a little bit more to the bottom of the picture and fill it in to match so that it looks like it was already there. Might be cheating a bit, but it may also work and give a bit more weight to the ground.

[mambastic]

Thanks for the feedback Nicole and Robin.

Hrmm... I think I see what you're saying Nicole. Yeah, it shouldn't be too hard to add that extra base to the bottom since the foreground is pretty much pitch black. I never thought about a 16:9 ratio cropping. I'll give these suggestions a try when I have the time. Thanks again.