Where am I at/What should I focus on to improve?

[HalcyonPhotography]

*EDIT*

I messed up and posted in here instead of in share your shots, my apologies.

While it's here though, I'm wondering what you guys think of this shot, which is one of my favourites in the short time I've had my camera, in terms of composition, general quality and whether I should have layed off the polarising filter a little (I like it, but I'd like a little general opinion).

Model:NIKON D3100
Shutter Speed:10/3200 second
Aperture:F/3.8
Focal Length:20 mm
ISO Speed:100
Polarising filter used, taken in Mojave Preserve, CA

I'll be retouching the overhead-line out when I get the chance.

[photocist]

It looks really soft, and like you said that power line HAS to go.

Seems to be a bit over exposed too. Id like to see less sky, more ground.

Get that f stop up to 8-11, maybe even 16 to get a higher DOF and sharper image.

[zona5101]

you should resize it for posting here to make it easier to see (it gets cut off by ad banners)
Agree it is too soft and the power line needs to be edited out...but beyond that...I find it really uninteresting. There is a whole bunch of open sky that isn't adding to the shot and the point of view is dead straight on making me wonder what is it I am supposed to be looking at. There are no visual markers that lead me into or out of the frame and no center point of interest inside the shed itself. If it is the old shed itself that you want to show...maybe the weathered wood..get up on it and take the shot that shows me that. Take a unique angle maybe from close to ground level, maybe from close to one corner that then distorts the perspective a bit... maybe from from the other side of the fence to the right where the fence adds a framing element...

[faeriegodess612]

As well as the above mentioned replies,....The way I'd make this work,... get closer to the makeshift fence to the left. Shoot something of the mountains in the background using the fence as a frame. Shoot at an angle from the fence itself if you have to. Or, get closer to the shack and take some shots that show contrasting textures. If you get close and look more closely at the details, and observe different angles, sometimes you can come away with some interesting shots. Look up, look down, crouch down and look around you. You never know what you may find.

[BCampbell]

I'm going to disagree with the above and say that I think you're on your way to something that might be interesting. But I don't think following the "rules" more will get you there.

This sort of reminds me of the New Topographics, which might be something you want to research a bit more. I disagree that there is too much sky; the rest of the color palette is very much brown/rust earth tones, which makes a pretty dramatic contrast with that blue sky. I think you're right on the edge of oversaturation, maybe dial it back a notch. That is probably from the polarizing filter, try ditching it. The key with something like this is to use as few tricks as possible. Basically I would like to see your influence on the scene to be as neutral as possible.

The power line is not a problem as long as it contributes to the photo, which it can. I think what you're missing here is some kind of context. I like this shack and run down fence. But what would really make this stand out is if we knew something about the context of this scene. What was this shack for, or who used it. Make this as subtle as possible.

Composition-wise, the main problem I have is that the fence obscures the mountains too much. Either find a lower section of fence or get a higher point of view. You should also try centering the shack, and using a more "standard" focal length, closer to 50mm. I can't imagine you don't have as much space as you need behind you. A longer focal length will "pull" the mountains in a bit more, which I think would help.

I like it, I can definitely see this as a strong image as part of a series. Keep going.

[Krusty79]

It always helps others to critique your shot if you tell us what you were going for. What did you want to show in this image? If you don't tell us, we can only guess or critique the image according to the way we would have composed it.

[Sterling]

Curious what lens you used for this? At first glance, based on the softness at the edges, I thought this might've been shot from a car window. Getting the aperture up to 5.6 or more will probably fix a lot of that softness.

[HalcyonPhotography]

Cheers guys.

@photocist
Thanks, it's (aperture and DoF) something I've been keeping in mind more recently (I'd only been taking photos for a couple weeks when I went to Mojave and had only just gotten to grips with the simple technical stuff, so wasn't able to make the most of the opportunities there).

@BCampbell
I've had a look at some of them, and something like this is similar to what I was trying to do, but more natural (and interesting).



I like the way it's a stark, dusty desert sort of place and how contrasting the earth/wood against the sky can be made more vivid. Surreal isn't the word, but I wasn't going for a natural look. If I had the opportunity to take it again I would make it more natural, and would Zona/FaerieGoddess suggested. If I shopped out the powerline, I think that perhaps there would be too much sky, so if i did I'd probably crop the top off just above the highest point of where the powerline is now.

@Sterling
The lens was the Nikkor 18-55mm kit lens that came with the D3100. In fairness, I'm pretty sure it's not the gear; I don't have a tripod yet and don't like taking my ISO above 400, so I've made a fair few mistakes having too wide an aperture to keep my shutter speed high enough. That said, I've got no idea why I didn't stop it down since it was shot at 1/320.

(Random question: I've read the rule of thumb is to keep (the inverse of) your shutter speed higher than your focal length; is that absolute focal length, or FX/35mm equivalent? ie with a 50mm lens on my DX camera, do I need to keep it above 1/50s or 1/80s?)

[BCampbell]

RE: shutter speed "rule", it's "apparent" focal length, as it has a lot do with with angular movement and arc-seconds. Basically the longer your apparent focal length, the more of an effect on the image in your viewfinder you'll have from the same amount of movement.

But for this kind of work, I would highly suggest getting a tripod and cable release. You're not doing anything that you need to be quick about, and I know that when I slow myself down it puts me in a different mental state and I get better images of this type. That will also let you use low ISO and high aperture without worrying about shake (try f/11 or f/13 for this, narrower and you'll start getting some diffraction).

I would still ditch the polarizer, but that shack isn't going anywhere, so you have time to experiment. Go back, spend an hour in that area and take photos from different spots, different POVs, with different settings, with and without your filter, etc. Take your time, you have a lot of it. I think it would be really promising to try to expand this image into a series.

[HalcyonPhotography]

Originally Posted by BCampbell

RE: shutter speed "rule", it's "apparent" focal length, as it has a lot do with with angular movement and arc-seconds. Basically the longer your apparent focal length, the more of an effect on the image in your viewfinder you'll have from the same amount of movement.

I would still ditch the polarizer, but that shack isn't going anywhere, so you have time to experiment. Go back, spend an hour in that area and take photos from different spots, different POVs, with different settings, with and without your filter, etc. Take your time, you have a lot of it. I think it would be really promising to try to expand this image into a series.

By apparent length do you mean 35mm equivalent length? (Sorry if i'm being thick) I understand that it obviously depends on where your hands are between The Waeco Kid and Michael J Fox, but as far as the "rule" goes, I'd like to know for reference.

And unfortunately, the shack may not have moved, but I'm the better part of 20,000kms away back home in Australia (I was on holiday and decided that between the price-gouging in Australia and the fact that I always regret not having pics of where I go, it'd be a good time for me to get into photography).