Barbed Wire

[Optikal iLLusion]

Just want thoughts on composition here. All I did in the shot was crop it a bit in PP. I was pretty happy with the shot overall really. Thought it was neat looking so here we are . As always I'm happy to read other critique other than what you all think of composition.


BarbedWire by ~Prjct86 on deviantART

Shutter Speed:1/1328 second
Aperture:F/2.2
Focal Length:50 mm
ISO Speed:400

[Weird Girl]

I feel it is a little underexposed and not as sharp as I would like to see. I do like the blur in the background and seeing the one little spike of barbed wire. Do you have any other shots of this? I would try adding some fill light or playing with the exposure first to see if you can get more detail on that little- not sure what kind of bur or plant that is...

[Optikal iLLusion]

Originally Posted by Weird Girl

I feel it is a little underexposed and not as sharp as I would like to see. I do like the blur in the background and seeing the one little spike of barbed wire. Do you have any other shots of this? I would try adding some fill light or playing with the exposure first to see if you can get more detail on that little- not sure what kind of bur or plant that is...

Thanks for the feedback.. Although im gonna have to disagree with you on the underexposed part. My camera said i had it right on the money. What part of it isnt sharp enough for you?

[Optikal iLLusion]

im working on playing with sharpness in this photo and maybe adjust lighting just to post up and see what i (and the rest of you think).. Does anyone else have any opinions to throw out there??

[NgaiHill]

My comment is on composition;
Have you tried to flip this horizontally? The seedhead on the wire (which I love BTW) draws my eye first to that then the wire leads my eye away into the distance. I find I am fighting it a bit as I read from left to right but the composition is making my eyes go right to left. Just a thought

[Optikal iLLusion]

Originally Posted by NgaiHill

My comment is on composition;
Have you tried to flip this horizontally? The seedhead on the wire (which I love BTW) draws my eye first to that then the wire leads my eye away into the distance. I find I am fighting it a bit as I read from left to right but the composition is making my eyes go right to left. Just a thought

That's a good way to think about it. I kinda like the idea . I've been reading about comp on other peoples' shots and in various places. It would make sense that many people would look left to right in a shot like this.

Anyone else feel that would add to the shot?

Also, again regarding sharpness. I did do some selective sharpening to the subject. It doesnt look all that different I feel. Ill get it reposted asap. However, as I said before, I feel that the original is pretty dang sharp lol. Some parts are out of focus obviously, but I chalked that up to the aperture being wide open at 1.8.

[RobSPhotoNut]

I'm learning too, but I would have set the ASA to 200, increased f stop to maybe f8 for somewhat more dof, maybe focused just ahead of the gumball to keep the bokeh. Looking at the wire not much in focus. The blurred wire after the gumball looks ok to me. The gumball I feel needs to be sharper. Also, maybe a little light on the backside to light up those spines? I also feel the stick coming out of it needs to be sharp also. In reading some books, I am learning that just because the camera says the exposure is correct, doesn't mean it is. I do however, like the composition- Neat thing about photography, everybody sees differently.

[Weird Girl]

Thanks for the feedback.. Although im gonna have to disagree with you on the underexposed part. My camera said i had it right on the money. What part of it isnt sharp enough for you?


I guess for me, the bur just needs to be brighter- it has some nice highlights on it but the center is very dark and that's where I assume you focused? I am having trouble finding a spot that is completely in focus so I was thinking maybe it is hidden in the center of the bur. I really like the composition of the photo and don't have trouble with the "reading left to right" part but play with it, post some more examples, and practice makes perfect!

[RobSPhotoNut]

Maybe to help with the exposure thing. Do a little test with your camera. Find a white area of a wall, poster board, etc. Fill the frame. No reflections or shadows on the color. Blur the focus and take a picture. Do the same thing with something black, no reflections, blur focus. Take a picture. Make sure your camera says correct exposure in both instances. Now look at the LCD viewer. Both pictures will be about the same color grey. I didn't believe it either until I took a photo class (kinda beginner type) a few years back and it was done on my first digital camera that I still use. Needed to learn stuff. Still don't know a lot! A film camera will produce about the same results. That is why a picture with a lot of snow in it will be grey not white, even though the camera said it was correct, it is not. Sometimes dithering with the exposure can be a good thing. There are books available to help with this and show you how to obtain your desired results and capture black as black or white as white. I still like the picture, I just would have liked to see the gumball completely sharp and a little lighter. Good luck. There is a steep learning process and I am nowhere near the top, not sure it is even visible actually! Have fun!

Completely off topic, cheese is one of my favorites too!!!!

[Optikal iLLusion]

Originally Posted by RobSPhotoNut

Maybe to help with the exposure thing. Do a little test with your camera. Find a white area of a wall, poster board, etc. Fill the frame. No reflections or shadows on the color. Blur the focus and take a picture. Do the same thing with something black, no reflections, blur focus. Take a picture. Make sure your camera says correct exposure in both instances. Now look at the LCD viewer. Both pictures will be about the same color grey. I didn't believe it either until I took a photo class (kinda beginner type) a few years back and it was done on my first digital camera that I still use. Needed to learn stuff. Still don't know a lot! A film camera will produce about the same results. That is why a picture with a lot of snow in it will be grey not white, even though the camera said it was correct, it is not. Sometimes dithering with the exposure can be a good thing. There are books available to help with this and show you how to obtain your desired results and capture black as black or white as white. I still like the picture, I just would have liked to see the gumball completely sharp and a little lighter. Good luck. There is a steep learning process and I am nowhere near the top, not sure it is even visible actually! Have fun!

Completely off topic, cheese is one of my favorites too!!!!

I appreciate this kind of technical advice. Lol just when i think i have a good grasp on something and BOOM! But anyway Ill give that a shot and ill continue to play with exposure. I did sharpen the image a bit. Ill see if i can get it resized and post it. The center of the bur actually isnt in focus.. its more of the outside middle i guess you could say.