These are the first few photos I've taken with my new S3IS. I'm definitely an amateur, so any suggestions/comments would be much appreciated. FYI: Most of the photos were taken in AV mode, and a few with the "color accent" feature.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54496108@N00/

 

Nothing? Bad/good/indifferent?

 

This forum section can be a bit slow at times, so it may take a couple hours for the heavies to come out and comment.

I'm no expert of flower photography, but they look pretty good to me

 

You took them this morning before 6am??? You have a lot of sunlight at that time, how close to the Arctic Circle are you?

I like them, you have a good eye!

 

Umm, no... apparently my camera info is off... is that where you're seeing time/date? Most were taken last weekend, some yesterday afternoon, in overcast conditions. If I was doing ANYTHING before 6AM this morning, it was sleepwalking!! hahaha

thanks...

 

^^^ I seeing the time information in the exif and at flickr.

 

Ah, yeah... hmmm, that must have been off since my initial camera set-up. Ooops... good eye! Now I'll have to read the damn manual to find out how to fix it! hehehe

 

Really great shots, especially if you like flowers.

 

OK, so now that we know. If can try taking flower pictures in the morning (or above an hour before sundown), so you have cool light ( in the morning). If you can try the same images. Just something we went over in film class.

 

I'll have to try that. Again, I'm not much of a morning person, but I could certainly try to get some of the early morning sun to get some better shots.

 

I agree with jupitersolo's comment about the light. Not that you can't take a decent photo without good light, but I feel like it's one of the easiest ways to add interest.

Continue to explore different angles and compositions. I'm not speaking from anything but my own experience, but I would suggest that you challenge yourself to find 10 different ways to photograph the same flower. When you get home and look at them on your monitor, think about what appeals to you about each shot (or doesn't appeal, as the case may be), and carry that with you next time you shoot. Have fun!

 

Don't forget there's a "magic hour" at the end of the day, as well!

 

I tried to say that in my post, but it came out as above instead about. :troutslap

 

So you did!

 

The #1 mantra for any form of nature photography

"It's all about the light."

 

Okay, this is all just my opinion:

Lupines is a mess. Depth of field shots do not work at all if the background colors are the same as the foreground colors. It just blends together and is nasty.
A tight depth of field shot of just the pink flower on the right would have been fantastic though.

I see people who do the B&W background thing - it's interesting, but not my style.
I'm definitely a photojournalist type of photographer, however, where I want my photos to not look edited as much as possible.

I think pinklupine would have more 'pop' if you make the blacks deeper (raise the black level). Right now it's a little bland due to a lack of contrast.

I think Lily is a little cramped. I don't mind pictures where you cut off an object to add focus, but I don't like leaving only a sliver of margin on the edges. Another good reason to not cramp the edges is that if you decide to print out, you will print at a different aspect ratio, which means you wll have to chop off edges a bit, which can potentially worsen the problem.

I would consider chopping off part of the left side of forgetmenot3. Especially for online pictures, you don't need to stick to standard aspect ratios.

In forgetmenot2, the flower is in focus, and the leaf below it approaches being in focus. Depending on what you want, it might be better to crop the leaf out.

Anyway, overall very nice. Just throwing out some nitpicks for you to keep in mind.

 

You definitely should find a time of day on a day with more dramatic lighting. The after sunrise and before sunset suggestions are right on.

 

Thanks all for your suggestions. I'll definitely try to get out more and work these into my next shoot. Right now I'm working two full-time jobs, so finding time for a shoot is frustrating in itself, let alone a time with good/dramatic lighting. But thanks again for the comments.

 

Just remember to go out and shoot - it's infinitely better to shoot at a non-ideal time
than not shoot at all!

In the end, the most important thing is to try shooting things differently and
decide what you like and don't like. Shoot things from different distances, zooms,
angles, lighting, backgrounds, etc. You can shoot one object a zillion different
ways, and it's amazing how totally different they can look.

 

I really like that suggestion! Personally, I don't think I've ever taken more than 3 shots of the same subject (besides people).

Thanks!

 

I also suggest taking multiple pictures of the same shot. Sometimes things get out of focus or blurry. This will allow you to choose the best one.

Take tons, I mean tons of pictures! When I go out shooting, I usually almost fill up my SD card (4gb). I sort out the bad ones and just keep the good ones. Each photo only takes up space on your card. Doesn't cost you anything!

 

 

I take tons of photos. It is a major change from when I was working with film, where you would only take 3 or so pictures because to develop them cost a fotrune.

Like this shot.



I think I took 50 shots and this one was the one I kept