Walk around town

[pentahedron]

I just started photographing and I plan on getting a Nikon later this year, but the other day I went around town with my friends d40 and took a couple shots to get used to using a dslr and I read some stuff on composition and exposure before going out so I could apply what I was learning to my shots

I don't think I did that well, but any criticisms would be helpful so I know what I need to work on, what I did good,etc...

[windrider86]

Dont forget to include information asked for in the guidelines. Thank you!

That includes a photo for us to see!!

[pentahedron]

Alright. Sorry. I'll do an image and thread every couple of days until I get my own camera, but lets start with this one since it's gotten some views..



There was a sign in the way as you can see, how do you guys usually get past obstacles to take a frontal without sacrificing frame space? What about my exposure needs improvement? I was using a friends camera so I didn't get to play around with manual all the way so it was on the priority modes.I can't remember which.

Nikon d40
Shutter speed: 1/10.0s
Aperture: f/5.6
Iso: 1600
focal length: 44mm

[pentahedron]

Looking back at this now I feel like I could have improved the light a little, but not too much since the dull light gives the picture a somber feeling.

[RecurrentNerve]

It's not so much 'dull light' as slightly underexposed! I think this would work better in B&W as you'll be able to really work the contrast.

[Sterling]

You could get around the sign problem by cropping the top 50% of this photo. There's really not much of interest up there. Then if the bottom half of the shot was properly exposed you might be able to put the colors of the floor, plant, and paint to good use.

[Michael_2010]

There are a lot of nice elements about this photograph. A few adjustments would definitely enhance the overall image. The fact that all the verticals are skewed bothers me for some reason and I can't get very far past that. Simple fix though......

[pentahedron]

Originally Posted by RecurrentNerve

It's not so much 'dull light' as slightly underexposed! I think this would work better in B&W as you'll be able to really work the contrast.

I see, I imagine I should edit it in a way so that it's not apparent that it's just a color>B&W conversion?

Originally Posted by Sterling

You could get around the sign problem by cropping the top 50% of this photo. There's really not much of interest up there. Then if the bottom half of the shot was properly exposed you might be able to put the colors of the floor, plant, and paint to good use.

Thanks, I didn't think about that since I thought that light at the top was a good addition to the photo.

Originally Posted by Michael_2010

There are a lot of nice elements about this photograph. A few adjustments would definitely enhance the overall image. The fact that all the verticals are skewed bothers me for some reason and I can't get very far past that. Simple fix though......

When you say vertical are you talking about the slant of the doorway?

[Michael_2010]

Yeah, the doorway, etc. are not plumb. Too subtle to be done for effect, such as, Dutch Angle, so it just looks out of kilter.

[DeanClash]

I agree with the plumbing the doorway. Also, dialing down the ISO, maybe to 800, reducing some noise but not all (some noise works well here) and up the shutter speed. It might give it a bit more blur (assuming no tripod was used) but would add to the effect.

A polarized lens would have eliminated the reflection (distractions) on the glass.

In terms of the sign getting in the way of the frame, I think if you were able, it would have been a good anchor at the top right corner, making it less of a obstacle.

My humble two cents. Thanks for reading.