Photos Outer Banks Trip

[Thacrudd]

Took these while out at OBX last week. I didn't run them through PS, just straight from the camera. I'm sure they could use a bit of touching up. Hope you enjoy.

1 (POTM)


2


3


4


5


6


7


8


9


I'm slowly getting better at photography. Right now I have a Fujifilm Finepix E900 9.0mp that's serving me well as a learner until I sink a ton of cash into a nicer one.

[Thacrudd]

82 views in 4 days and not a single comment? Are they that bad or just boring?

[OleJ]

As you mention yourself a tiny bit of post processing should do something for a couple of them. Just to trim contrast, brightness etc.

For a starter you're doing fairly well. I see you have clear intentions of what you wish to portray.
Your sunset shots show great promise. It's a shame with the little piece of fence in the foreground but apart from that I think you've composed them well.
I like the first one (POTM) and I see why you chose it for the POTM. I do think though that the wood thing is way too large in the composition. It's too dominant. The background (stones) should be larger and the wooden thing smaller. This you can achieve by moving further away from the subject(s) and then zoom in to bring them close together if you wanted less depth between them. Apart from that I think it's a good go.
In general I'd say that you may want to consider how much you want to portray in your shots.
To clarify:
In #2 you could for instance have created a lot more drama by moving in real close and focusing near on a stone (I'm thinking you found the texture of those stone interesting) and letting it dominate the composition and then have the line and water disappear in an increasing blur.

In #1 You probably wanted to show both the beautiful scene and the sea gulls. Doing this requires an intricate balance and it may have been easier to have the gulls and the top of the wood thing being the main focus and then letting the background explain itself.

#3 You had a play with apex and it's well done but the surroundings don't really add to it. It's more a display of effect than having the effect add to the surroundings. No criticism towards playing. It's good to see that you try it out. The shot just don't tell me anything.

#4 Interesting shark thing but the background and very tight crop just don't do it... Remember things need a little space to breathe or decide that you want to go close and compose a crop of the figure while still retaining what describes it.

Sunset shots: straighten the horizon?

#9... Now this is well spotted. But again I'm lacking compositional focus. Was it the three fences repeated and the pattern of that you wanted to highlight? Or was it them against the ocean? Or was it their wear and tear in the harsh environment?
I would again have moved in on them to get more detail or otherwise moved back to have them as an element in the landscape.

Again I'll say: It's clear you have ideas. You just need to learn to get them through to the viewer a bit stronger.

If you can - try shooting in RAW and then convert to jpeg later. This will let you save a tonne of image data that is otherwise just binned when shooting straight to jpg.
If you can't shoot in RAW then use Adobe RGB if possible and then convert to sRGB once you want to share them on the internet.
Don't be afraid of post processing. It is your friend. Even the slightest touch-ups can sometimes lift a picture huge amounts.

Using a "simpler" (P&S) camera to learn about basic photography is fine. But you'll have to know what you will be able to work best with.
Composition is one of those things where your camera doesn't matter much. This you can work greatly with. Your limiting factor in this respect is your zoom range. If you've got approximately 20-60 mm covered then you have lots and lots of room to learn and play (yes even stuck at 50mm you have lot's of play room) but having this basic zoom range means you'll be able to try out wide, normal and tele (albeit rather short tele).

With your camera you are shooting in 4:3 format whereas most DSLRs use 3:2. This just means your compositional training is based on a less wide format. Not something alarming but worth being aware of. Consider it like you could crop away an equal part of the top and bottom of your shots (or get more on the sides) if using 3:2 (standard 35mm format).

[Cthippo]

#3 is my definatle favorite, followed by #7.

#8 is great, but the sailboat just doesn't fit the composition.

This is more personal taste, but by and large I prefer my sunset shots without the sun. You did a great job catching it right at the horizon, but it does tend ot overpower the subtle tones in the rest of the shot.

[Thacrudd]

Wow thanks OleJ! I appreciate the info, just what I was looking for. I hope I didn't sound too eager for comments. Yes, my camera does shoot in RAW mode so I'll change it over and give it a go. It also has a full manual mode where I can edit things like aperature (F2.8 - F8), exposure, bracketing and other things I still have to read up on. I also have the option of choosing what MP to shoot in and to have a 3:2 format. You hit it right on the head when you said I knew what I wanted, I just needed to work on executing it better. Thanks

Thanks Cthippo, I'm glad you liked them.

[ssR]

funny, heading into this thread i thought i already posted here
anyway i like 1, 3, 6, 8 with my favorite being #8. a great composition
i think #2 would come out better if you could take a wider angle. the beach photos and too bright and dull for my taste and the sunset shots could use some saturation adjustments. but thats just me, i like rich colors