Results always dissapointing

[jiminyClickit]

jsanders,

It's why we recommend a lot of practice. You get better.

[Seltzer]

The cropping is exactly what I would recommend.. but yes, won't be a great picture without the full mast.
As it is, just start shooting, see what you like and such. Maybe try doing some of that on purpose where you don't have the full subject in the frame just so you know you are doing it (hey, new assignment?).
Otherwise, this is one of the joys of digital. You can just frame it in different ways, take a few angles of one shot and don't have to worry about how much film it's using or how much it's going to cost to develop.

[irene67]

I often do the same thing. I think we have a tendency to look at the most interesting part of a scene and shoot. It looks great until we get home and realize we did something dumb - like cut off part of the subject.

I have done that many times. But the more shots I take, the more I remember to analyze all corners and the top and bottom of the frame - not just what happens to be catching my eye at the moment.

I did a similar thing with my daughter's photos a few days ago. The first shots, I thought were great, but then later I realized I cut off her feet. Luckily, I took a ton of shots and got her whole body in the rest.

[zetson]

I have recently read a great book called "The Photographer's Eye" (amazon link) It's dedicated to how to "design" your photos better, that is composition, how to use shapes and colors, etcetc. Highly recommended. It's a no-nonsense book with great examples. Highly recommended

[AnneWynne]

Practice, practice, practice. That is what I do...with digital you can take literally hundreds of shots of the same subject (although reviewing hundreds of shots becomes overkill.) But do take several shots of your subject.

Change the focal length. Zoom in on a detail. Zoom out and give yourself room to crop. Cropping has saved most of my photos. I can see better on the computer screen than on the lcd screen on the camera.

Walk around and change locations if you can. Get further away to capture more of the background (give you more to crop also). Look down on your subject if you can (not a pertinant critique of the ship shot...it is likely there was no way to get higher than the ship.) Crouch down and look up.

Also, try holding your camera in different positions while shooting the same subject. Portrait and landscape, even on the diagonal will give you different results.

Once you have your shots, look at them on your computer monitor as soon as you can. That way you will remember what you did when you captured the image.

Keep it up.
Anne

[LensScape]

I thought I'd try my hand at altering the photo using just Picasa. When I miss something in a photo, such as lopping off the top, I'll try cropping it more to make it at least look like it was intentional.

Others on this thread have already given good advice. The best of which is "practice, practice, practice."

BTW, I used the first photo for this. I find that underexposed photos are slightly easier to manipulate.

[OsmosisStudios]

During a recent 12 day trip to Ireland, I took almost 900 pictures. Often I had 5-6 different versions of things, because they're all subtely different. One is vertical, another horizontal, one crops one thing out, another cuts another, etc.

Your best bet is to shoot CONSTANTLY. Even if you only have a few minutes (as was the case on our trip), try to move around as much as you can and take different views. You'll be tired, but you'll be much happier with your results and, after some time, you won't have to run around as much: you'll instinctively know where to go.

One thing I was originally taught (when I was doing 3D work) was to visualize the scene as much as I can as a 3D scene, and see if I could move around it in my head before shooting. You should also spend more time looking normally than through your viewfinder. Find something that catches your eye, then look through the viewfinder and see if you can catch it the way you want from your current position. If you can't, move.

You've got some fairly wide glass (even with the D80's cropped sensor), so capturing the scene shouldnt be too hard if you just move around. Keep in mind what you see, not just the subject youre interested in. What's in front of it, behind it, beside it, ON it. You may find yourself re-framing your image once you see that there's a bench in front of you, or a tree behind the subject.

After looking at your shots, I have 2 suggestions. In the first shot, the people are distracting and the ship is too small in the frame. Waiting a second or two more would likely have yielded a better view of the ship, and the people would have moved on. Of course, your best bet is to shoot several shots and see what happens. For the second shot, that ship on the left is distracting, as is the walkway in the foreground. Your best bet may have been to take a step back and go vertical, or zoom in a bit to crop those things out a bit more.

Just my 2 cents

[mfeenstra]

This video talks about story telling, but it is quite relevant for anyone dealing with what's sometimes called the creative gap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hidvElQ0xE

Rather than me trying to paraphrase Ira Glass, just watch the first 2 minutes at least!

[LensScape]

mfeenstra, thanks for the video click reference as it's well worth the few minutes to watch. There's hope that someday I won't feel so frustrated with the quality of what I do that I want to just quit, seeing how large the gap is between where I'm at and where I'd like to be.

[Deb]

Hi Lens,
I am very, very new to photography. My brain still goes into a tizzy when I start thinking things like f-stops, etc. I am almost never happy with my photos.
(side note-please keep in mind this is just my humble opinion and observation...)
Then the other day, I was looking thru my daughters cell phone, at the photos she has clicked. I was pretty amazed! She sees a shot and takes it! Doesn't stop to second guess...the pictures, for a cell phone, were better then alot of photos I see over at Flickr!
What I learned by her (she is a freshly turned 18 with no interest in real photography) is I over think my shots too much. I get stuck on apeture priority and seem to forget that there are alot of others things to consider!
So, I think I will try and shoot with my eyes, and not my brain so much.
Like I said, I am so new at this, I am surprised I am even putting my opinion here!
But, take it for what it is worth.
I love your boat photos! I do agree the whole boat would be better.
Keep on clicking!
Debbie