Learning

The first two pictures of the tomatoes are pretty good. The second one is a little clearer but they both could do with a couple of things.

1. Firstly, Framing. The leaves on both of the pictures on the right of the frame is very distracting to the eye. They draw my attention away from the what you are trying to show us which is obviously water droplets on the tomatoes. I would try wetting the tomatoes and just try getting good pictures of water beads on one of them. Rather than water raining down on them. Focus on one tomato so it is clear. Place this one tomato in either corner of your shot. Not knowing your lens, set the aperture to it's largest (lowest F-stop number) and get as close as you can to your subject tomato and get into an angle where the background is as far away from you as possible. Even if it means leaning one of your tomato plants out a bit, remember you are creating an illusion with your pictures and no one will see how you set the shot up but just the finished product.


The second shot, most boys don't like their photos being taken. I personally prefer random photos of children. They generally have more life in them and when they don't know you are taking a photo you won't get those awkward shots. My daughter below is always smiling in her photos, not that this is a bad thing as we generally ask people to smile in photos but she "over smiles" in them and it tends to look forced or pushed. Again, I pulled out my camera at the BBQ, set the camera to the conditions outside, seeing as there were children and animals around I had the camera set to fairly quick shutter speed. Although not the best picture in the world, it's a great shot for a photo album and the wife and both Grandma's absolutely love it.




The third shot of the Lego truck. I would have personally liked to see this taken outside in a sandbox myself or some dirt and for you to actually place you camera as low as possible to the ground (even rest it on the ground) to try and give it that "real" effect.


The forth shot. I know I mentioned in your other post regarding taking a higher shot of the smoke. Haze filled shots can just end up looking like dull pictures. I personally would keep an eye on the sun, as this haze lifts and eventually it will you will get an awesome effect of a bright orange sun trying to push through the haze. Start looking for a few good spots to take a picture of this now. When I say a few, think of a morning shot, midday and afternoon to late evening. Think of framing the shot. Maybe a silhouette shot. The point is you will only get one chance at this so the research you do now on locations will be invaluable when the time comes.


The fifth shot. Keep your horizons straight bud. This is a good rule to start getting used to when setting up a shot, how does the horizon look? The front of the porch is very distracting to the eye. I can see where you were going with this and really like how you got down low and and have a really good bokah (depth of field) effect but the placement of your subject is just a little off. Go back and try this shot but with just one item, the level.

1. Have the decking beams running at about a 35 degree angle in your photo.

2. Get down low again.

3. Place the level in it's normal position, as you would to check the decking if you were making it.

4. Focus on the closest part of it.

5. If you want the other tools in this shot, place them a lot further back so they are not so distracting to the eye.




After all that, you do have some cool idea's but obviously you need to focus a little more on what you are trying to show in you pictures. Set up on any good picture is always going to take a fair amount of time.

Keep going bud

It's good see you trying new things. Just don't crop your pictures into a subject too much. In fact it is a good lesson to learn to set up your shot properly so you don't need to crop. The bokah you have in these shots is great, well done.

Do you know what the "rule of thirds is" Richard?

If not, google it.

It is basically the same as when you would player tic tac toe, or if you never did, imagine to vertical lines and two horizontal lines in your picture. This would make six squares. There would be four points where you have two lines crossing, you want you subject in one of these positions. It creates a more aesthetically pleasing photo to look at.

Most cameras have a grid in the view finder for you to use as a set up tool.

Good luck and keep snapping away.

That level shot is heaps better bud in composition.

It is lots to learn but it does all sink in eventually.

Keep it up

Awesome idea, good to see you have your own creative juices flowing bud.

Maybe try propping your clock up at one end of a dinning table and placing your camera on a couple of books to get it to the right height?

I love the concept of seeing the ticking second hand.

hmmm constructive you say. Clean your clock.

How about some settings for each shot and what lens you are using. If it is a zoom lens, roughly what focal length you had it at.

This may seem like a bit of work but in fact will teach you to know how you are setting up your camera for each shot.

I think your doing an awesome job good on ya.