Sunset shots at Changi + Mosque at Bishan

[zuldevil]

Hello everybody...

My first sharing of my photographs over here... Was a bit hesitant at first, 'cause I had browsed through the

forum and read how a lot of n00bs kena blasted... Hahaha. I am quite new to photography... I am a Panasonic

Lumix FZ-5 user, and I Photoshop my images to Unsharp Mask, correct colour-levels and such. I am relatively

thick-skinned, so as long as the criticisms are constructive, I'm all ears! Thanks!

Went to Changi beach for a sunset shoot...

#1

This picture was shot using these settings :
F/8.0
1/2000 secs
ISO 200

#2

This picture was shot using these settings :
F/4.0
1/800 secs
ISO 200

Went to Bishan to shoot an interesting looking mosque, An-Nahdhah mosque, for a design project of mine...

#3

This picture was shot using these settings :
F/7.1
1/100 secs
ISO 80

#4

Erm... This last image... I stitched up using Photoshop... Made of 3 different photographs that I shot, without

using a tripod... I "panorama"ed this image because I had actually just wanted a simple head-on shot of the

mosque for my design, but there were a lot of trees blocking the view... So I did this instead...

Comments and criticisms are welcome.

 

[wainism]

for me its the 2nd shot that has potential. would prefer more of the beach in the foreground too. seems abit too red also.

#1
nothing much in terms of composition

#3 and #4 are snap shots to me.


keep shooting, dont get discouraged

 

[zuldevil]

for me its the 2nd shot that has potential. would prefer more of the beach in the foreground too. seems abit too red also.

#1
nothing much in terms of composition

#3 and #4 are snap shots to me.


keep shooting, dont get discouraged

Thanks wainism.

 

[Cap_Dingo]

Maybe number 2 can have the reflection on diagonal. Think the composition may be better.

 

[biggmalique]

pic #2 gets two thumbs up.
take more shots, its the digital age, then skim through your shots and pick out the best.
some 'accidental' shots might come out superb then the rest intended shots.

also try to get the rule of thirds in action. its a simple method to compose that picture perfect shot. You just divide your frame into thirds both horizontally and vertically.Google is your friend, and so is wikipedia.

A few quick tips:
-digital zoom is a no-no
-and sometimes a tripod helps.

 

[elfvin]

#2 is really nice.

i feel there's quite a bit of noise in the first 2 pictures. ISO 200 is rather high, maybe you can lower it to 80? it's better for shots that has dark areas. and probably a slower aperture. (not sure if its fully manual in fz5)

alternatively, you can use noise removal software. or a plugin in PS CS2, imagenomic.

in #3, i see you are trying to potray the sun reflection, can be improved. maybe a bigger or closer shot of the sun. me also noob, cant say much. say liao later say wrong. haha.

#4 is just a snapshot of the mosque. you can try different angles to make it like a artistic architectural shot.

but me really very noob. hope it helps or correct me if im wrong. :dunno:

 

[zuldevil]

Cap_Dingo : Diagonal? Erm... I dunno... Doesn't sound nice to me... Haha.

bigg : Thanks for posting! For others, bigg and me are friends irl. Hahah.

elfvin : I also don't remember why I used ISO 200... And yes, Lumix FZ5 has full manual controls.

I did use Photoshop's noise reduction tool on my #1 image... But I didn't think it was that necessary on #2...

Actually #4 was just my first trial on making a panoramic image and I wanted to use a simple head-on shot of the mosque for a greeting card design... My defense on why it's not in anyway artistic. Haha.

Thanks for the input, guys!

 

[DT_]

for me its the 2nd shot that has potential. would prefer more of the beach in the foreground too. seems abit too red also.

#1
nothing much in terms of composition

#3 and #4 are snap shots to me.


keep shooting, dont get discouraged

#1 is bit interesting cos u manage to catch the sun like this.. though pic is simple but it grab pple attention looking more in-depth into it..

#2 overall nice.. though i would like the left and bottom to be crop off alittle..

#3 know it's not a snapshot, it sure takes you awhile to eye on the reflection of the sun.. but sad overall it's dull.. plus the sky is too artificially white..

#4 again the white sky.. since it's stitch might as well stitch a few more and let more space into the picture.. would be nicer i think.. my 2 cents..

 

[zuldevil]

DT_ : Thanks for your comments & critiques!

About #2... Hahaha. Hard to please everybody yah... You'd prefer "the left and bottom to be crop off alittle.." while wainism would "prefer more of the beach in the foreground too". Hahaha.

Thanks for the rest of your input!

 

[waileong]

My comments:

1. Boring. Could be improved with a grad-ND filter, but still it's just a small golden disc in the sky no matter what you do. If you had a longer zoom lens to make a larger disc, and if there was a bird flying across the sun, that would have been more engaging.

2. Not bad for a Wed. In fact, damn good for a newbie. Highlights burning out, but that's the price to pay for digital.

3/4. I find nothing interesting about the mosque architecture. However, from a photographic point of view, the lighting is very flat, and there's no centre of interest to the picture.

 

[zuldevil]

waileong : Thanks for your critiques!

Erm, I don't have any filters... At all. Haha. I figured, better I learn all that I can from what I have now... Before adding on stuff, when I haven't even so-called "mastered" the equipment that I have. Which is just a Panasonic Lumix FZ-5. Hahaha.

Thanks for the rest of the comments.

 

[Zaknafein]

i hope u do not mind me being frank here...

i feel that #2 is a great shot. has a nice composition. however, i 2nd wainism's opinion. replace the sea with a bit more shore at the bottom.

i do not see anything interesting in the rest of the shots. sorry to say this.

cheers.

 

[zuldevil]

i hope u do not mind me being frank here...

i feel that #2 is a great shot. has a nice composition. however, i 2nd wainism's opinion. replace the sea with a bit more shore at the bottom.

i do not see anything interesting in the rest of the shots. sorry to say this.

cheers.

Danke, danke... :sweatsm:

 

[kyo]

can shoot sun rise or sun set from lens ah? eyes wont blind meh?
fx01, nikon s9 can produce such nice images mah?

 

[compro_1975]

well compose, did not felt that it was a stitched up work.

btw how did you put in your signiture??? wanna learn from you:dunno: ;p

 

[jbma]

To me only #2 has potential.

 

[zuldevil]

can shoot sun rise or sun set from lens ah? eyes wont blind meh?
fx01, nikon s9 can produce such nice images mah?

Erm... I read that it's actually not good to keep pointing your digital camera straight at the sun... If pointed for a long time, especially at mid-day sun, might damage your sensor. But for just a sec or so while you snap the sun, it should be no problem. My Lumix FZ-5 is still working fine. And to think I pointed it towards the setting sun for over a few hours... :bigeyes:

I didn't view through the Viewfinder, so no... Didn't blind my eyes. Haha.

I never played with Lumix FX01 and Nikon S9... But no reason why cannot... Nowadays simple Point & Shoot cameras can take spectacular pictures.

 

[kyo]

hmm... which models damm zai till can see e sun core? hahaha

 

[Zaknafein]

during sunrise/sunset, the sun's rays is way way less powerful than a midday sun... so its alright. i wouldnt suggest to point ur cam towards the sun during other times tho, esp at the telephoto range

 

[zuldevil]

well compose, did not felt that it was a stitched up work.

btw how did you put in your signiture??? wanna learn from you:dunno: ;p

Thanks compro_1975!

Oh, I took a picture of my signature, and edited it in Photoshop.

1) Sign many times on a piece of clean white paper using a fine-tip marker.

2) Take a good shot of it using your digital camera... Or you can scan it... I don't have a scanner, so... Haha.

3) Open up the image of your signatures in Photoshop, and choose the nicest signature you got and crop it up.

4) Adjust the levels of your signature to get a nice clean black signature on top of a nice clean white background.

5) Ta-daaa! Haha. You can use it on any picture you like. Place your signature layer on top of any image, and set the Blending Mode to Multiply. For my image, I inverted the colours, so that it's white signature over a black background. Then I set the Blending Mode to Screen.

I hope you were seriously asking on how I did it... Otherwise, I had just wasted my time explaining. Hahaha. Thanks for commenting!