Critique please - A view of the dormitories from the park inside my campus

[iamdaddybenj]

I am a newbie. This is one of the first few pics taken using my Nikon D5000. Sorry, can't remember the aperture and shutterspeed settings. Would appreciate any comments on composition, brightness, etc. would be appreciated.

[S_Sanyal]

Its an interesting scene, but the picture has major issues. Light looks harsh to the extent that it hurts! And somehow you have "smack in your face" colours and very little gradation plus harsh shadows, which makes the image look flat overall.

Composition is well attempted, but the bench is way too close to the bottom edge (rule of thirds?) and the sky on top a flat blue space.so somewhere its bottom heavy and out of balance.

If you post your exposure information (Speed, aperture, camera, lens etc.) and in this case the time of the day too,it will significantly help us help you better...thanks.

[iamdaddybenj]

Thank you sir. I believe this shot was taken an hour or so before noon. Will try to get the other information and post again...

[curelightwounds]

Far too bright. Buy a circular polarizer for shooting outdoors, it's a must. You can find pretty decent ones for ~$20-30. Polarizers will selectively filter out half the light hitting your... just... just google polarizer; it'd take me forever to explain the physics.

Your subject should never been tucked away in a corner. It's awkward. Put it in the center or one of the "thirds" lines.

[abhivg]

Maybe try out a new viewpoint. Use a wide angle and shoot with the park bench close to the camera...

[S_Sanyal]

Buy a circular polarizer for shooting outdoors, it's a must.

Brilliant advice. 95% of what i shoot outdoor which is not at night, after sunset, or before sunrise is shot with CPL filter.
Its a great investment worth in gold and you'll certainly find yourself enjoying using it. In this instance, my apologies for forgetting to add that a polarizing filter would have keyed down all the tones significantly (since i know now that you shot late in the morning), thus reducing the harshness.

[iamdaddybenj]

Here are the details for the pic:
Nikon D5000
VR 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6G
18mm-ISO 200
1/400s - F/6.3

Thanks again for all your input. It's very nice to know that you guys take time to critique pictures of newbies like me and help improve our technique.

I've been reading most of the articles during the day and i wish my next post shows a significant improvement.

Note to self: "rule of thirds" and "polarizer"

[curelightwounds]

Circular polarizer! That's key. A polarizer and circular polarizer are two different things. The Ritz Camera near where I live sells good ones for ~$30.

Using a CP on a zoom lens is a little tricky because rotating the polarizer will sometimes cause your focus ring to turn as well. Here's a work around for that:
1) Focus your image first
2) Switch your lens to autofocus mode (this will lock your focus ring)
3) rotate the polarizer until you get it where you want it
4) Switch your lens back to manual
5) Shoot

I keep my CP on my 35mm prime so I don't have to deal with that.

[arakattack]

Wrong time on shoting without filter. Based on rule of third, the bench was miss placed on your scene.

[Krusty79]

I think you have too much plain blue sky in your shot, plus shooting in the middle of the day produces the harshest light.

You have to be careful using a polarizer on a wide angle lens because it can produce the gradient effect in the sky.