The girlfriend and the 30D newbie...


Status
Not open for further replies.

nikolaiski

New Member
Nov 13, 2006
253
0
0
It was a normal evening on the beach. This photo was taken with my 30D + kit lens only, which I have just gotten only 2 days ago.
I know this photo is bad, compared to all you pros in the forum.

The main focus of this picture is probably the bag, water bottle and slippers, followed by the girl, while i tried to make the background as "whitewashed" as possible to induce that "girl facing into the light" feel.

Constructive comments please...and please resassure me that my kit lens (18-55mm) can do more than what I can muster out of it right now as I am such a newbie..haha!

Pic052Cropped.jpg
 

and your theme is ............:dunno:
 

i think u remove all the extra thing ... those bad and slipper...i can even see ur lens cap.... then concentre on ur gf and the beach.... and the two guys behind is pretty extra also....

i *think* will be better.... just my 0.000000000000002 cents.. :D
 

i think u remove all the extra thing ... those bad and slipper...i can even see ur lens cap.... then concentre on ur gf and the beach.... and the two guys behind is pretty extra also....

i *think* will be better.... just my 0.000000000000002 cents.. :D

ya, esp the one covered in sand, super extra...

my 2 cents... your 'island' look pretty much fake, and from a saying, more is less, less is more... or more or less u get my idea... should remove most of the insignificant subjects, position her in a way we only see her, nothing else... only the sky, the sand, the babe.
 

Hi nikoliaski,

perhaps it would have been better if you had used the opportunity to do a portrait shoot.

Wide aperture, focus more on the model and the sands. This would have thrown the background out of focus. Agree with the others that the background is simply too distracting, and the island looks artificial. Looks like Tanjong Rhu beach at Sentosa....

Don't give up......we all have to start somewhere.

Happy shooting.


Bernard
 

It was a normal evening on the beach. This photo was taken with my 30D + kit lens only, which I have just gotten only 2 days ago.
I know this photo is bad, compared to all you pros in the forum.

The main focus of this picture is probably the bag, water bottle and slippers, followed by the girl, while i tried to make the background as "whitewashed" as possible to induce that "girl facing into the light" feel.

Constructive comments please...and please resassure me that my kit lens (18-55mm) can do more than what I can muster out of it right now as I am such a newbie..haha!

Pic052Cropped.jpg

My take on this is. You need to understand why you are shooting this, your pre idea focus. eg your gf, the bag or slippers. Then envision the look you wanna achieve. Bearing in mind the surroundings do affect your picture. Then try various angles from left to right and top to bottom and see how it affects your image.

In this, i realised you chose to include in the bg which is like others said, very distracting. This however can be solved if you shot shallower DOFs and chose a more precise objective.
Shifting your angle to the right a little can also help. This lessens the bg image of the island and the 2 guys. Re arrange the stuff on the ground to make it more tasteful too.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
 

althought lighting is moderate, technically isnt impressive and the composition is out, but still the picture is nice to look at... well, subject is crucial..

btw, just hope that the camera cap (one on the slipper) didnt get you sand in the sensor...
 

Thanks guys, for all the comments!!!!!

It definitely helped! hehe

One thing though, for those who were telling me about making the aperture wide....it was already at its widest (3.5/3.6 at 18mm with the kit lens) ISO was 800 and Shutter speed 1/5000. Are these even the so called "proper" settings for taking such a shot in this kind of lighting/condition? The only thing I can think off is that my ISO was too high and I could have lowered it in conjunction with a slower shutter speed (was trying to capture the flowing hair lah) I wasn't using a polariser as the camera is only 2-3 days old..haha

Where shallower DOF is concerned, can something still be done? or do i already need to change the lens? Thinking of getting the 50mm 1.8 II lens...:sticktong
 

Thanks guys, for all the comments!!!!!

It definitely helped! hehe

One thing though, for those who were telling me about making the aperture wide....it was already at its widest (3.5/3.6 at 18mm with the kit lens) ISO was 800 and Shutter speed 1/5000. Are these even the so called "proper" settings for taking such a shot in this kind of lighting/condition? The only thing I can think off is that my ISO was too high and I could have lowered it in conjunction with a slower shutter speed (was trying to capture the flowing hair lah) I wasn't using a polariser as the camera is only 2-3 days old..haha

Where shallower DOF is concerned, can something still be done? or do i already need to change the lens? Thinking of getting the 50mm 1.8 II lens...:sticktong

??? You wanted a washed out background yet still want to use polariser? Ya think your ISO is on high side. For me ISO400 max for daytime.
 

beautiful girlfriend....maybe u can try to make e background more blue and get rid of the bag. u got beach,sun,sea,hot babe and 30d ur one lucky b%^&$d lol.:devil:
 

beautiful girlfriend....maybe u can try to make e background more blue and get rid of the bag. u got beach,sun,sea,hot babe and 30d ur one lucky b%^&$d lol.:devil:

Should say nice figure girlfriend. Can you see her face?..ha ha..Joking lah brother..
 

It was a normal evening on the beach. This photo was taken with my 30D + kit lens only, which I have just gotten only 2 days ago.
I know this photo is bad, compared to all you pros in the forum.

The main focus of this picture is probably the bag, water bottle and slippers, followed by the girl, while i tried to make the background as "whitewashed" as possible to induce that "girl facing into the light" feel.

Constructive comments please...and please resassure me that my kit lens (18-55mm) can do more than what I can muster out of it right now as I am such a newbie..haha!

Pic052Cropped.jpg

the subject has a very nice figure.. maybe u can use a polar to make the sky blue. ;)
 

Should say nice figure girlfriend. Can you see her face?..ha ha..Joking lah brother..

OI!
@#$%#$%^@#$$%@

you die now :kiss: :kiss: hahaha

damn sian, been trying to hit the beach again, but no luck with the rain :(
 

Perhaps, reorientate the camera. Try to get as little clutter as you can. But I like the "looking into the light" idea you have - though generally to do that, you ought to blast the exposure.

Some nitpicks:

ISO800 - way too high. For a beach scene with generally more-than-ample sun, say, round 4pm, ISO100 should get you good speeds on a regular day. Boosting the ISO tends to over-exaggerate certain colours, eg. red (well, depending on your camera - I presume the 30D is much better at handling high ISOs)

1/5000 - way too fast, dude. At 18mm wide (whatever the crop factor is), 1/250 generally stops motion. 1/500 slows down a run. 1/1000 freezes water. 1/2000 catches a bug in midflight. 1/4000 frames a relatively speeding car.
To catch hair lolling about in strong wind, you probably only need no more than 1/500. Anything faster will be compensation for exposure.
 

Really sound advice bro....thank you so much! I guess these are the guidelines I should experiment around with.....

Honestly I don't have any "preset" settings to experiment around with other than the camera's default settings..haha
 

haha.. you're welcome! honestly, i'm just nitpicking.. in your photo, those two didn't do anything against you at all! it only starts to show if you do prints
 

Try to tell a story. If you want the bag and sandles to be in. I give you a scenario.
Go to the wetter part of the sand, near the shore line.
Plece the bag in a drop down fashion, place the sandals in two-steps towards the sea,
followed by your gf heading into the water.

It would be like you are telling the viewers that she has dropped the bag, slipped out of her sandals as she walks towards the sea. You may want to lower the viewpoint so that ppl will be forced to start the story with the bag.
 

Its a pity that you have such a nice subject but you are not making the full potential of her.

See how others compose and Keep shooting!
 

Try to tell a story. If you want the bag and sandles to be in. I give you a scenario.
Go to the wetter part of the sand, near the shore line.
Plece the bag in a drop down fashion, place the sandals in two-steps towards the sea,
followed by your gf heading into the water.

It would be like you are telling the viewers that she has dropped the bag, slipped out of her sandals as she walks towards the sea. You may want to lower the viewpoint so that ppl will be forced to start the story with the bag.

**** la...i don't know why this kind of thing never cross my mind b4..ok i shall continue experimenting...;)
 

Status
Not open for further replies.