Elmer the horse

[Cowboytf]

I've been away for a bit...my computer had problems, funeral, yadda-yadda-yadda!
Anyways, here's Elmer. He's one of our favorite horses. Just thought I'd get some feedback. I'm still learning the iso and all that crap.

[Ovidiu]

Pity I cant see an EXIF for this shot but it looks like you used a big aperture. 8 or 11. It would have been nice to have the foreground and the background more blurred( this could have been achieved with a small aperture. The details in the foreground leaves are taking away from the main compositional point; The Horse. Also the ground line is not straight. Few things I thought I would mention but nevertheless a nice composition and a gorgeous horse . Merry Xmas

[Cowboytf]

Wow...I don't know what any of that means..lol. I do understand ground line--No, it's not straight and I wouldn't have been able to get that from where I was either. I actually didn't want the picture to be just of the horse. I wanted the century plant in front of him because I think it adds interest. Hmmm, I guess my eyes see different things.

Thanks for the feedback...I'm headin' over to learn what you told me means.

Here's the info:
Camera: Nikon D70s
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 70 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV
ISO Speed: 200

Orientation: Horizontal (normal)
X-Resolution: 300 dpi
Y-Resolution: 300 dpi
Software: Paint.NET v3.10
Date and Time: 2007:12:13 04:32:26
YCbCr Positioning: Co-Sited
Date and Time (Original): 2007:12:13 04:32:26
Date and Time (Digitized): 2007:12:13 04:32:26
Compressed Bits per Pixel: 4 bits
Maximum Lens Aperture: 40/10
Metering Mode: Pattern
Sub-Second Time: 00
Sub-Second Time (Original): 00
Sub-Second Time (Digitized): 00
Color Space: sRGB
Sensing Method: One-chip colour area sensor
CFA Pattern: BLUE GREEN GREEN RED
Digital Zoom Ratio: 1/1
Focal Length In 35mm Film: 105
Compression: JPEG
Quality: FINE
White Balance: AUTO
Sharpening: AUTO
Focus Mode: AF-S
Flash Setting: NORMAL
Thumbnail IFD Offset: 1430
ISO Speed Requested: 200 (May be different to Speed Used when Auto ISO is on)
Photo corner coordinates: 0, 0, 3008, 2000
AE Bracket Compensation Applied: 0/1
Tone Compensation (Contrast): AUTO
Lens Type: 2
Lens Min/Max Focal Length, Min/Max Aperture: 700/10, 3000/10, 40/10, 56/10
Bracketing & Shooting Mode: Shooting Mode: Continuous AE/Flash Bracketing Off White Balance Bracketing Off
Colour Mode: MODE1a
Lighting Type: NATURAL
Noise Reduction: OFF
Tag::Nikon Type 3::0x009A: 78/10, 78/10
Tag::Nikon Type 3::0x00A0: NO= 20064549
Tag::Nikon Type 3::0x00A2: 2563037
Total Number of Shutter Releases for Camera: 6411
Saturation: NORMAL
Digital Vari-Program: AUTO
Image Width: 3008 pixels
Image Height: 2000 pixels

[Digidave]

I like the idea behind this shot, but it could have been done a little better. Next time, when you want to take a shot like this, think about what exactly the main focus should be on. In this case it's the horse, so the horse should be more in focus, & the century plant should be less in focus.

[snapdragon]

I liked your photo,beautiful horse , I hope you don't mind ,since you did not understand what the others ment , I think seeing is easier to understand , I am only learning ,but this is what I think they ment I did soft focus in picasa,just enough so that the horse was more in focus than the fore ground or the back ground & straightened it just a a tad .

[Ovidiu]

Cowboytf
Snapdragon did a good job and explained in a visual way, what i meant in technical words. Basically the aperture will control the depth of field. The depth of field (DOF) is the distance in front of and beyond the subject that appears to be in focus.A small number will have your subject in focus while the rest of the image ( foreground and background) will be in blur. This blur is called a bokeh. A bokeh is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens. Usually the small aperture is used for the portraits.
A bigger aperture number will result in a big depth of field ( Your entire image will be in focus) This is generally used for landscapes. Dont forget that a big aperture will limit the amount of light that is hitting the digital sensor/ film thus will have an impact on the shutter speed.
You should put the camera on manual and shot the same object with different aperture sizes. Check then the result and compare the effect of the different aperture values.
Do not be afraid to experiment. After all...digital photography is cost free

[Cowboytf]

Oh, I love the visual..that really helps me understand!! And I appreciate the explanation on aperture. Wow...so much techical info involved. WAAAY more than I ever imagined. I have only put the camera on P and autofocus so I'm still figuring out the settings, but I'll remember that for next time. Thanks soooo much for the critiques

I ordered some photography books that teach how to, ect...but they're not here yet