Photos, I need constructve criticism

Both insects are about in one of the rule of thirds intersection points, but not quite. Their being off-centered is usally for a reason, normally to show the lead-out or lead-in of something, to show where someone just was is is going, or just to be interesting.

Maybe you should have turned the camer so that the spider was pointing into one corner like the bottom right for example instead of having all the lines in the background going so straight across. It would break things up a little and would show a little more interest on the spider.

With the bee I like it already. Too bad that the bee wasn't facing either directly to the right like he was going to take-off, or at you like an attack about to happen. The leaf and stem work very nicely, but a little patience until the subject was in a more interesting position would have paid off big time!

Overall, good job, keep shooting and practicing Mr PD. You've got a good eye for composure, just keep honing those skills.

actually, on the second one you probably focused on the leaves. you may have wanted to either back up or move forward to get the wasp / yellow jacket in focus.

the first one is ruined by the wires not being on a level plane. the lighting ruins it. perhaps an overcast day may have worked better or the sun hitting the web at a better angle.

btw, i hate insects.

methinks that there's a wealth of subjects around your house; like a rusting tin can, a bicycle leaning against a tree, an unused tire on a rope, a garden spade with your wife's gloves near by, etc.

start looking for lighting first. refrain from snapping a shot. when you start kicking yourself for not taking a snapshot, you're there.

This is an easy one....

SK,

that's a good trick. look at the straight line & dark background on the original.


Mr. P.D.,

keep them coming.

You wouldn't believe some of the insects I've seen in my invertebrate zoology class...

As for the Canon S30's macro ability... well, there are camera's out there with much better macro quality. I have the old Canon elph precursor, an A50 Powershot, and it really sucks at macro. The feature might not as well even have been included, because I can't get within 5 ft. of an object without it getting fuzzy.

For some reason, most of the Canon cameras tend to have poor macro abilities. I'd love one of the new Canon Elph digital cams myself, but I also love my macro shots too much to sacrifice for the portability. I don't have a whole lot of experience with other cameras, but some of the digital Nikon line (which my family members own) have had pretty good macro results.

Doug, very well said. I agree completely with your comments.

Mr PD,

The last spider shot is right on the money for me. Lots of nice diagonal lines and lead-in lines galore from the web itself and the fence behind it. Everything in the web draws your attention from outside the photo towards the spider at its center. Very well done. I don't even mind that the spider is centered, it's not static to me because of all the other elements of the photo. Looks like it might jump off at you at any moment. Creepy.



Sovkiller,

Good job taking the bee photo and making it work a whole lot better. I think that chnane makes it work. It is simpler, yet more impactful at the same time. Very well done. It looks like the bee is now right on the verge of taking off out of the frame now.

Re: Photos, I need constructve criticism

These would have to me my favorites.



What makes this photo interesting is how the lights on the train contrast with the darkness all around. Yet, by keeping your distance, you have made the train even more of a focus. All in all, this is a very good study of light, especially how you captured the light shimmer of the tracks. In addition, your focal point is strong.



You have good angles in this photo which clearly define a focal point. The details of the train aren't all revealed because of the darkness and this adds to the solitary feeling evoked by the concentration of artificial light. The photo grabs you and makes you want to explore further down the walkway.



The shimmer of light on the tracks and the inclusion of the sky help give this photo a very soothing feeling. Here, only the tracks are presented as the inclusion of man-made objects. They provide a starck, focused contrast to the overall nature scene, yet tell a story of the day's end, when all is calm. When studying the photo more, I realize you made a smart choice in not centering the tracks in the composition. Keeping things a little off center aways seems to keep the eyes from darting right to the center (and not seeing the rest of the compostion).

Overall, you have a strong gasp of light, and how you can use it to your advantage in a composition. A possible next step might be to study focus and depth, much like you did in your closeup photo of the tracks. Shadows can also be quite interesting, but are always difficult to capture.

Good work!

Hey, I was just going to write some comments on those photos. Where'd they go PD? I really liked that second one if I remember correctly, but can't remember. Put them back up and I'll take a look and post some thoughts if you'd like.

using digi cam to take pictures is just whee too easy.

hahaha. i did like a couple of the shots, mainly the night shots.