Street 22

[johndoe161]

Hello all, this is my first post for critique and hopefully there will be more in the future.

Background
This picture was taken from a street in my neighbourhood (I live down the street). I have been living here for a long time and I wanted to take a few snapshots before it changes drastically. The bend on this road is quite 'sharp' but luckily no accidents (that I know of) has happened despite cars doing the F1 corner,the cyclists and all the jaywalkers (the elderly,kids, etc).

Settings
Mode: Program, P (@18mm focal length)
Shutter: 1/200s WB:Auto
Aperture: F7.1 EV: 0
ISO: 500 Flash: None

Equipment
Cam: Nikon D5000
Lens: Nikkor 18-55mm AFS DX (no filter attached)
VR- On
Focus- Auto
Tripod: None

Post-process
S/W: Windows (XP) Paint ;p
1.Picture reduced to 25% from original jpeg

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
I am looking for the technical aspects of the picture ie sharpness, focus, colour etc. Of course, other comments are also welcome.

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
I hope to learn more about achieving the correct (basic) settings for a picture and hopefully get some idea about composition.

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken?
Weather was overcast, taken in the afternoon, no direct sunlight.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
I think it is a decent picture, pretty much in focus but lacks some contrast. Since it was overcast, it looks a bit grey and dull.


Thank you all for viewing. Cheers!

 

[adamis]

is this AMK? in front of blk 226?

 

[johndoe161]

is this AMK? in front of blk 226?

yup

 

[JohnZee]

erm, just my 2cents worth.

if the subject in discussion is the corner, you might want to make it more obvious, B&W everything else, except the road for instance?

i see noise in your photo, might be due to an ISO too high, cause i notice quite sufficient light peeking thru the top of your photo.

consider using a tripod? if you set to long exposure, you might get more interesting graphics, say a car leaving it's trail behind.

cheers

 

[allenleonhart]

since u mentioned that u only wanna hear abt the technical stuff, so shall it be

first things first, u might wanna check out regarding color balance via google. cloudy days may require certain compensation. cameras usually have inbuilt modes for this. lazy me will just switch over to cloudy mode lor. seems like ur using a relatively fast shutter speed. perhaps could slow it to maybe 1/60 where is still able to hand held, while also improving sharpness by upping the aperture. it will give u the right exposure if u adjust this way

apart from that. shld be all bah.

 

[johndoe161]

erm, just my 2cents worth.

if the subject in discussion is the corner, you might want to make it more obvious, B&W everything else, except the road for instance?

i see noise in your photo, might be due to an ISO too high, cause i notice quite sufficient light peeking thru the top of your photo.

consider using a tripod? if you set to long exposure, you might get more interesting graphics, say a car leaving it's trail behind.

cheers

I dont know how to do that (B&W), is there a S/W for it?

I will check my RAW file again. May be due to the size reduction from Paint.

I dont use/have a tripod at the moment coz most of time I am on walkabout shoots but yes I will get one soon.

since u mentioned that u only wanna hear abt the technical stuff, so shall it be

first things first, u might wanna check out regarding color balance via google. cloudy days may require certain compensation. cameras usually have inbuilt modes for this. lazy me will just switch over to cloudy mode lor. seems like ur using a relatively fast shutter speed. perhaps could slow it to maybe 1/60 where is still able to hand held, while also improving sharpness by upping the aperture. it will give u the right exposure if u adjust this way

apart from that. shld be all bah.

I will check my D5000 for such a mode you mentioned, maybe in one of the default "Scene" modes that is in the cam. I was using P mode and I let the camera choose the settings. I am going more to M modes these days or the A or S priority. Thanks for tip. :thumbsup:

 

[anxilign]

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
I hope to learn more about achieving the correct (basic) settings for a picture and hopefully get some idea about composition.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
I think it is a decent picture, pretty much in focus but lacks some contrast. Since it was overcast, it looks a bit grey and dull.

Regarding your 2nd question about composition, i felt that this picture is rather very flat. There's no distinct subject. I felt that you could take from a higher ground down at the street, may suits more of what u want to describe of your neighbourhood.

If grey and dull is what u wanna achieve, then you could like what allenleonhart had stated, uses cloudy mode. You stated that it lacks contrast because everything is dull and grey. Your picture description seems like you wanna show the vibrant life of the neighbourhood. So, you may wanna take a shot on a sunny day instead.

 

[johndoe161]

Regarding your 2nd question about composition, i felt that this picture is rather very flat. There's no distinct subject. I felt that you could take from a higher ground down at the street, may suits more of what u want to describe of your neighbourhood.

If grey and dull is what u wanna achieve, then you could like what allenleonhart had stated, uses cloudy mode. You stated that it lacks contrast because everything is dull and grey. Your picture description seems like you wanna show the vibrant life of the neighbourhood. So, you may wanna take a shot on a sunny day instead.

Have not thought of higher ground since that means I have to take my shot from one of the blocks, assuming they are facing the street and the view is not blocked. I will check the area and see if it is viable.

I was not trying to achieve dull and grey. The weather was overcast and my settings were not up to it. But, yah, will take the picture again on a sunny day, should not be a problem these days coz its so hot and sunny;p

Thanks for the tip and comments:thumbsup:, cheers!

 

[Octarine]

I will check my D5000 for such a mode you mentioned, maybe in one of the default "Scene" modes that is in the cam. I was using P mode and I let the camera choose the settings. I am going more to M modes these days or the A or S priority. Thanks for tip. :thumbsup:

Check you manual regarding White Balance. That's the point where 'Cloudy' and 'Sunny' comes in. Even if you use P mode it doesn't mean the camera does everything right - simply because the camera cannot read your mind so it cannot detect what is 'right' according your intention. Still you can / have to review the suggested settings and you can shift the settings, e.g. stop down aperture. The camera will then adjust shutter speed / ISO accordingly.
P, A, S and M are independent from White Balance.

 

[johndoe161]

Check you manual regarding White Balance. That's the point where 'Cloudy' and 'Sunny' comes in. Even if you use P mode it doesn't mean the camera does everything right - simply because the camera cannot read your mind so it cannot detect what is 'right' according your intention. Still you can / have to review the suggested settings and you can shift the settings, e.g. stop down aperture. The camera will then adjust shutter speed / ISO accordingly.
P, A, S and M are independent from White Balance.

I agree that @P mode the camera 'chooses' the setting based on what it 'receives' and adjust accordingly but not to what the user may want. I was @P mode coz I was still unsure about exposures. However, now I am more the wiser . I will also see how to adjust the WB; currently its set at Auto.
Thanks for the tips!