Having Trouble with "Less Is More"

[cheguthamrin]

Hey Chip!
Just remember you're not alone there learning this stuff.

Ever since I got my D40, I'm kinda struggling too; we're sharing the same problems, but all these takes time - lots of it - and patience; but for the sake of passion; its another learning curve for us!

Its good that there are avenues like forums for us to get some feedback for us to learn and share as we go along. Thanks to all; for ppl like Chip and I!

[PhotoNewt]

Originally Posted by cheguthamrin

...Thanks to all; for ppl like Chip and I!

Everyone here was once a new photographer with lots of questions just as yourselves. Feel free to ask anytime.

[ditch_azeroth]

i consider myself to be a noob photographer now until lord knows who. that way, i am a sponge to absorb as much knowledge as i can; humble enough to learn from mistakes and open-minded enough to try anything ^_^

[corry]

Originally Posted by ditch_azeroth

i consider myself to be a noob photographer now until lord knows who. that way, i am a sponge to absorb as much knowledge as i can; humble enough to learn from mistakes and open-minded enough to try anything ^_^

ditto that...........and remember that snapshots are still WORTH having (this comes from 8 + years as a scrapbooker and cherishing those moments whether the pics were stunning or not, they are still worthy of capture)

[muddy250]

Chip,
In addition, try to think about the depth of field as a tool for composition. With a wide aperture either the roses or tree could have been made the subject without moving position. Tree, would have the roses as a blurred foreground and roses , the tree would be blurred out and probably a distraction unless you took a vertical shot and centred the blurred tree? Don't get too hung up on the rule of thirds, it works 90% of the time but rules are made to be broken!

Tip I was given recently is to sweep your eye side to side in the viewfinder and remove anything that doesn't contribute something to the image, easier said than done but it's all good practice.

Here's very quick tweak, removed some of the extras that distract, and blurred out the foreground to show you what the depth of field can do. By no means perfect but you can see the pic has a focal point now. Feel free to ask me to remove this if you'd rather not have folks play around like this! ;-)

[wulf]

Yes, a blurred foreground could work (nice mock-up). I am not 100% convinced with this range of subjects though - the roses are vividly coloured with dark pink and green; the tree is grey and green and yellow; the sky is grey and white and blue.

In fact, that is probably one of the disharmonies of the original - lots of competing colours rather than a harmonious scheme.

Wulf

[Chip]

Again, thanks to everyone for their time, insight and teaching. It is very helpful and very much appreciated. I value the feedback. Having a site like this has helped more and has been more entertaining than I ever expected.

Just to be clear: I'm not at all frustrated or disenchanted by any part of photography. I love the challenge and the learning. It's a blast.

Muddy250 - thanks for taking the time to edit my photo. I like what you did. It helps to see how others re-compose something that I've done.

Cheguthamrin - look forward to being on the learning curve with you!

[corry]

i'm on the learning curve with you too but its a fun one and i just keep thinking of all the memories i'm capturing along the way........

[muddy250]

Originally Posted by Chip

Muddy250 - thanks for taking the time to edit my photo. I like what you did. It helps to see how others re-compose something that I've done.

No problem, I also learn from playing around like this! Seemed likethe easiest way to show you what I meant.

Chris

[neilwood]

My opinion is that the scene has nothing to define the depth or scale. If you shot at the level of the roses and got some depth to the border it would give a better idea of the scale of the tree and its distance from the flowers.

A thing to try next time your at this location is to do various different photos of the same scene but with different settings.

Use different focal points/aperture settings/viewpoints.

Then come back and look at them impassionately and see which one you feel is strongest.

I try (and i mean try) to do that to my shots but I tend not to see my faults.