What’s Your Preference?

Art · #1 (**permalink**) 03-28-2011, 04:04 AM

Hi all, this is the way Amsterdam people live using massively the bycile, here a parking lot.

Can you please critic composition?

Thanks, Art

Exif Version=0221
Maker=Canon
Model=Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS
Color Space=sRGB
Scene Capture Type=Standard
Exposure Mode=Auto Exposure
Shutter Speed Value=1/30 Second
Aperture Value=4.00
Flash=Off
ISO Speed Rating=ISO200

SwissJon · #2 (**permalink**) 03-28-2011, 08:28 AM

To be honest with you Art, it's an out of focus snapshot of a basket of fake flowers on the back of a bike. You haven't considered any of the basic rules of composition and you haven't taken the time to focus the camera.

I would put this in your "Snapshots from my holiday" folder and not consider it again. Not everything that's interesting or pretty can be made into a decent photograph, and I think the room you had to work with here, there was no angle at which you could have turned this from a snapshot into a great shot. Sorry.

That sounds really harsh, but it's my honest opinion. When pointing your camera, consider the basic rules for composition. Consider the rule of thirds. Consider focal point. Consider ISO/Speed/Aperture, consider lighting. Consider framing. Consider the story you want to tell. Consider whether it's really possible to implement all these things in a way that will make a good photograph, and if you can't.. Don't bother. (Or at least, just take the picture as a holiday snapshot, not a piece of art.) It's not possible to make a bad photo into a good photo in Post Processing. It's only really possible to make a good photo into a better one.

Zad · #3 (**permalink**) 03-28-2011, 06:04 PM

I wouldn’t say, "Don't bother." Any photo, no matter how good or bad, can be a learning experience at a bare minimum, so keep snapping!

Here is what I think you can learn from this photo:
1. If you want the flowers to be the focal point of the image, make sure they are in focus.
2. Consider the rule of thirds - the flowers are 1/3 from the bottom, but they could have been placed 1/3 from the left as well, which would have included more of the flowers on the front of the bike. There are other possibilities as well, try them all and study them later, and delete the ones you don't like. You can also crop the photo you have to move the focal point to where you want it. Play around with it, and you will learn.
3. If you go to the smallest f/# (use aperture priority, and set the aperture as low as it will go, adjust your ISO setting if you have to), then you will get a narrower depth of field, and only the flowers will be in focus. This helps bring more attention to the focal point.

I think these tips would help improve the photo. Perhaps it still won't be a masterpiece, but practicing these techniques will help you achieve better results with all of your shots. Then when that opportunity comes for a great photo, you will have the skills to capture the moment the way you want.

Krusty79 · #4 (**permalink**) 03-28-2011, 08:41 PM

The focus looks soft here also, so I wonder if this was hand-held. Nothing looks really sharp. I also wonder if your subject is supposed to be the flowers or the bikes. Your viewers should not have to guess what you wanted to show as the subject. If it was the flowers, you'll have to find some way to isolate them so they don't blend into the rest of the image. So, I think you have to decide on a subject, then decide on the best composition to display it. Like Jon says, it doesn't give me the impression of a thought-out composition - it looks more impulsive.

chicagojohn · #5 (**permalink**) 03-28-2011, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art

Hi all, this is the way Amsterdam people live using massively the bycile, here a parking lot.

Can you please critic composition?

Thanks, Art

Exif Version=0221
Maker=Canon
Model=Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS
Color Space=sRGB
Scene Capture Type=Standard
Exposure Mode=Auto Exposure
Shutter Speed Value=1/30 Second
Aperture Value=4.00
Flash=Off
ISO Speed Rating=ISO200

Hi Arturo,

I wanted to take a look at this because I was in Amsterdam once and was impressed by all the bicycles. People seem to live near their work and the various businesses are full of bicycles. My visit there was a long time ago, but my hosts told me that people there have to play like $13,000 a year in tax just to own a car, and then the price of gasoline/petrol on top of that really made it expensive -- more tax. We could probably use more of that in the USA. It would make us all a lot more fit.

I have to say that I found Swiss Jon's comments pretty much dead on as well as some of the other comments. And, I think it's a good thing to be direct, actually. He certainly was that, and if I were you, I guess I'd be happy that he and the others took the time to give me that advice.

The thing is, when I went onto your blog site, I found many images I'd put in the excellent category, and putting this one along side them creates a level of what psychologists call "cognitive dissonance"

All of that said, I do notice in your EXIF data what may be a fundamental part of the focus problem, which, had it been perfect would have improved the image considerably. I notice you are shooting at f/4.0 in aperture priority and that the shutter speed is therefore 1/30 s. I took a look at your image in high crops in PSE, and I think there may be two independent sources of focus problems. The first and more general one is that 1/30 s is hard to do hand held. If you have an antishake feature on your camera system, that is doable, though. But I think the softness in the bikes may be partly do to that.

The flowers seem significantly more out of focus, I I'm thinking there is also a depth of field issue here. It must have been a pretty dark, maybe overcast day, for this set of parameters to yield a decent exposure. And at this set of conditions, it may not have been possible to get it all in sharp focus.

But I think that you might have gone from f/4.0 to f/8.0, -2EV, and compensated for that by going +2EV in ISO, from 200 to 800. At 800, I doubt you would have introduced much noticible noise, and you would have gained quite a lot in depth of field, perhaps allowing you to get more of the frame in focus.

The one comment I personally would disagree with that Swiss Jon made, and this is simply because we are all at different levels of ability and can therefore benefit from differing criteria, as one of the others said, I think that a shot like this is worth taking, if, that is, one does a thorough analysis of it and learns from that analysis. I'm quite sure that Swiss Jon would agree with me on that point.

The other thing that I think is useful about posting an image such as this here in Digital Photography School is that it gives other students an opportunity to analyze and comment upon aspects of an image that can be improved, and by taking the time to think that through, they may also learn thereby and benefit their own efforts in the future. So on that basis, Art, thank you for giving me the chance to comment. I will hopefully recall your image and what I saw in it next time I'm out trying to compose street shots. So thank you for sharing it.

Also, Arturo, I hope others visit your blog site. Some very nice shots there.

Peggyjom · #6 (**permalink**) 03-29-2011, 12:01 AM

First of all, I read through the comments and when I arrived at the blog site as suggested, WOW you have some great shots!
I am in no way qualified to comment on your photo, I looked and it noticed yes it is soft and out of focus. Why, I didn't know where to start! Thats why i am here and I read and read every day and hope that maybe a shot will get as much input as your has. You really extracted a lot of info. Thanks for sharing your blog site with us very nice!
Keep shooting!!, and posting please!