Sunset silhouette

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Originally Posted by Krusty79

Wow, thanks Jon, it's good to hear that my critiques are accurate. I thought at this point you were going to say, "except this time."

Usually, I like sunsets that have clouds to capture the reddish/pinkish color, but I would not want that in this shot because that would disrupt the flow from the shack down to the sun. But I would be curious to see what this would look like shot 15-30 minutes later. The tradeoff would be losing the sun as a focal point, though.

Thank you both once again for your comments. You've now got me curious too to take some photos in the "blue hour" Usually it wouldn't be a problem as these are taken in the park below our house so I have easy access. But I'm away for the next 10 days and I'm afraid winter has arrived with vengeance so the "good' days will be fewer by the time I return. I'll definitely be trying though.

Originally Posted by SwissJon

Oh, and another thing, I'm not sure if I should mention it, but I will.. Something struck me about your approach here.. It may be just the way you are, but 'veI înterpreted some of the posts you made to mean that you're not really sure what you're looking for in a photo. I think you need to take a close look at your work and self critique a little, see if you can predict what kind of comments peopel are going to make, it's a ery important part of the learning process. You're actually showing us some quite good photos, I think you've got an eye for this, you just need to perhaps develop some confidence in your work and see if you can improve the photos at the time you take them.

Thank you for an honest opinion SwissJon and you've just about hit the nail on the head. I did have a whole heap of confidence before finding this site(I'll come back to that later). I'm well recognised amongst family and friends as taking some great shots, I'm the family/friend/function photographer. I'm a hobbyist photographer, I thoroughly enjoy taking photos and my husband would say I'm obsessed. I would have taken over 20,000 photos with my "Point & Shoot" cameras over the last 5-6 years(we travel a lot through business), They are all categorized and safe on an external hard drive, I regularly view and shuffle, change, and slideshow them- to myself . I purchased my DSLR about a year ago, I had no time to learn anything in great detail and kept it on Auto for about 9 months. Truth be told I was scared of it and all the functions I did not understand. After doing my "bird" shot and getting invited to submit some photos to an exhibition I thought I had better learn a whole lot more. I have done two introductory level DSLR photography courses at a local business and I'm doing a Project365 and a Project52 at the moment for the fun of it and to increase my skills. I jumped in with both feet and purchased Photoshop Elements9 too, so I'm on a steep learning curve with that. I joined this site and another and have found them to be exceptionally good which brings me back to the confidence issue.

Now that I can see how fantastic some photos can look and how much I still have to learn(I know, I know, they've had years and years of experience) I've now started to wonder if my shots "cut the mustard" I suppose I'm just looking for reassurance that I'm on the right track and it's not just family and friends that think my photos are OK. I've also found that in the short time that I have been enjoying this site I've picked up so much that when I'm out taking photos now I'm putting those things more into practice than I was doing before. And you're right I will try and predict what the critique will be, the next time I post. But honestly up until now most of things pointed out to me I wouldn't have thought about.

I'm also learning not too take so many shots and hoping to get a good one in there, now I'm taking my time and checking the settings etc and planning my shot- not always easy to juggle when it's a quick passing scene though. But I'm getting there.

Thanks again for your honest approach.

[Krusty79]

I think your shots do "cut the mustard." I also sometimes wonder how my images stack up against the other DPS members. My opinion of my shots fluctuates. I think most of us experience that. That's why it's good to get positive feedback periodically.

I think it's a lot easier to go from Auto to Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority instead of all the way to Manual when learning to use your DSLR. I usually just use Aperture Priority since I shoot landscapes and they tend not to move.

I know some folks say you should be taking shots of almost everything you think might turn out well and delete 80-90% of the ones that don't come out well, but I will discard many shooting locations beforehand because I know there is no foreground interest, there is no focal point, there are tree branches in the way, etc. When I do reach a spot I think might work out well, then I'll get my camera out and see how it looks in the viewfinder. If it looks good there, I'll bracket some shots and experiment with different compositions and focal lengths. I don't know if this is the "right" way, but I only delete about 10-15% of my images from my memory cards.

I saw your comment about winter approaching, then realized you're in the Southern Hemisphere. We've had a very wet winter here, so I'm ready for summer! And a vacation! Good luck!

[danbaileyphoto]

Your first shot is very nice. It actually has a great feel and sense of flow to it. I like the way it's balanced, and the colors and exposure are very dramatic! I like the cropping, and the only thing I'd like to see is the rock a bit over to the right so that it sits alone in the water. However, I realize that you might have lost the placement of the sun, but perhaps it could be gained back by waiting or working with your vantage point.

[Hussein Moussa]

First of all i would like to tell you that this shot is very nice, I like the reflections.The smaller aperture made the shot better.that's all what i have