Lil Loghouse

[jjbacoomba]

Hi all. I am a very new beginner and new to this forum.I just got my Pentax K100D about a month and a half ago.I have been doing alot of reading online and especially in this forum. So much info at my fingertips.I took this photo after some reading and went out to try to apply what I've learned. I am still learning my camera and the f stop and shutter speed and ISO havent quite sunk in yet. I would like to know how my composition looks? I tried to make use of the winding walkway.I brightened the shot some using Paintshop ProX2.

EXIF:
Pentax K100D
Shutter Speed: 1/60
Aperture: f 16.0
ISO : 200
Aperture Priority
Auto white Balance
Focal Length: 18 mm
Brightened with PaintShop Pro X2

[EOBeav]

Compositionally, it is fine, although it's not an overly interesting subject (for me, anyway). You might want to remember the rule of thirds in a shot like this. I think the one thing that you could do to improve this shot would be to come back and shoot it either just at sunrise or just at sunset to take advantage of better lighting conditions. Bring your tripod.

Oh, one other thing, bright sunlight and shade don't play nicely on a camera sensor, so this really wasn't a good time to take this shot. Even a cloudy day with filtered light might improve things. Maybe do a b/w shot while you're at it? Just a few thoughts that came to my mind. Keep shooting!

[jjbacoomba]

Hi EO. Thanks for your critique. I wasnt going to post but now I am glad I did. I also agree that the subject wasnt overly interesting. Out of the approx. 40 photos that I took, I felt that only 10 were actually worth keeping. The ones that I did delete were either over or under exposed. I kept changing my settings,trying to get a feel for it. I do see where the rule of thirds would make a difference. I think I should have kept the house more to the left or right instead of centered. I was trying to use the winding walkway to lead the viewer to the house. Dont know if I accomplished this or not.
I plan on going back tomorrow after work and taking my tripod with me. I will try to get shots from different angles also. I will also try B&W. once again thanks for your critique .I will try to post the new shots soon. Joe

[windrider86]

What might have made this a bit more interesting would be to try photographing it at a different angle. Looks like you were standing to take this. Get lower and take it from a lower angle. See what it looks like with more of the sidewalk showing from the lower angle.
I learned a long time ago that when you first walk up to a scene and you have that initial wow that looks like a great photo that chances are a million other people have had that same feeling. So, go ahead and dare to be different. Walk around and shoot from different perspective and angles

[SwissJon]

I totally agree with Windrider.. You don't have to pay for film development any more, so while you're learning about your camera, composition, and photography in general, click the picture that initially made you go "Ah.. I'll photograph this" and then think about the environment you're in and try to find something interesting to do, take a different angle. Perhaps really low with a snail in the foreground so close that it's the size of the shed.. Maybe use a different angle, rather than the standard portrait or landscape. Maybe go close to the fountain and click a bird taking a bath. Go inside the shed and take a picture of the garden through the window. Climb a ladder to get a different point of view.

Keep clicking until you've done everything interesting you can think of, and then go back and look at your pictures.. Decide what works and what doesn't, what looks good, to you, and what's crazy, and what's just rubbish.

This way you'll learn much quicker about composition than reading.. Photography isn't about reading, it's about doing.. Reading is for when you're stuck on the train or left your camera at home Of course you need to learn, but you should be wading through batteries and memory cards while you do it..

Oh... And really, don't be tempted to keep every photo.. At your level (and mine) you should be dumping between 80% and 99% of your photos, unless they contain precious memories that you can't repeat, like the birth of a child, or a wedding.

[jjbacoomba]

Thanks for your critiques Windrider and Jon. I went back after work and took somemore shots. This time I did shoot from different angles also. I also used my tripod. However, I did notice when I wrote down all the info ( settings) of my pics, that I used Aperture Priority mode only and forgot to change my ISO's at the different f stops. My ISO for all my shots were 200 and I used auto white balance.All my shots were taken with no flash. I experimented and tried different angles with f stops of 11, 5, and 8. I think I should have tried to use the smallest numbers too, but didnt think to.I did find that on some shots I will more than likely have to use a cable release next time. Some of my shots were a little blurry. Might go back out tomorrow and try again. Different subjects, angles.I will try to post a shot from today in another thread. Thanks once again. Joe

[jjbacoomba]

I posted a shot from today in the SYS section.