Help out an aspiring photographer...

[My_Car_Goes_Rar]

Sooo... I need to work on:

A) My locations

B) My subjects

C) My angles

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll go out and get some pics this week/weekend and post back up as I go.

[Dark-Hawk]

Definitely keep on posting your work though, the criticism will certainly aide you in becoming a better photographer. It's all about perfecting the shots, and overtime you will get them down much better!

[My_Car_Goes_Rar]

Originally Posted by Dark-Hawk

Definitely keep on posting your work though, the criticism will certainly aide you in becoming a better photographer. It's all about perfecting the shots, and overtime you will get them down much better!

I'm gonna set up some photo-ops with a few of my friends and see what I can come up with. One of my ranches is only like 10 minutes away from my house, so I could go take some pics of the horses/wildlife as well. I'm brainstorming like hell at the moment.

[DBLerman]

Originally Posted by My_Car_Goes_Rar

I'm gonna set up some photo-ops with a few of my friends and see what I can come up with. One of my ranches is only like 10 minutes away from my house, so I could go take some pics of the horses/wildlife as well. I'm brainstorming like hell at the moment.

IMHO, for practicing and learning about good composition, you would probably be better off shooting stationary subjects. It gives you MUCH more freedom in how your photos will turn out. With horses and wildlife you will constantly be adjusting and most likely you will only like maybe 1 out of 100 shots. Live subjects are not an easy thing for beginners to learn on (even more experienced photographers have trouble with live subjects sometimes).

[James92TSi]

Agree with Macky's assessment.

To me, the one shot (of those you posted) that shows some promise is the first one of the Jeep. But somehow, it needed to be shot differently to really become a pleasing photograph. Next time take a few steps back... look through the viewfinder... and if you don't like what you see, don't be afraid to move again! Perhaps a higher vantage point would have worked well for this photo... looking over the hood/fender of the Jeep and down into the terrain it is about to go conquer. I'm just throwing ideas out at you... these are things you might try and like, or try and not like. Try it several different ways next time and review the results on the PC later. This gets your own creativitiy flowing... while reviewing your photos, you may think of new things you want to try next time. It snowballs from there.

Can't really do anything with the second pic since the focus is off. Interesting sky, but the camera underexposed, so the terrain features can't be made out. If that was intentional, a better angle or location should be used to get those distracting features out of the shot.

The third one... is a shot of nothing. Unless that is special dirt and weeds!

The shots of the 3000GTs are random at best... cars in parking lots, apartment complexes, dumpsters, halves of cars in front of stores... these are snapshots and not very good ones.

If you want to shoot cars, you have to be willing to move the car to an interesting location, or at the very least a location which provides no interference to your shot. Something like a parking lot, store, etc. is a distracting background at best, and at worst can obscure part of the subject or make the photo confusing.

Shooting cars at meets is particularly difficult for this reason. Very rarely are the coolest cars parked all by themselves with noone looking at them and a pleasing background.

Definitely agree with the others that for right now, the camera is not your limiting factor. Buying a more complex camera would only hinder your creativity at this point. I think the best you can do is push the button - A LOT - and review the results. And don't be afraid to move your feet and/or move the subject.

[My_Car_Goes_Rar]

Got the lift and tires tossed on the jeep today (I want more lift!). Took a few quick pics before it got dark at the ranch. Opinions please!

[Doulos85]

Read this: Rule of thirds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

All your compositions are center frame. Makes for kinda boring shots.

But Definitely Improving. Keep Taking Pictures. Make sure you pay attention to your subject getting cut off, it looks awkward and makes your picture seem incomplete.

[boardFreak5]

These are a lot better than the picture of the white 3000gt.

I think I like 4 and 6 the best out of these.

Also, the jeep is centered in your picture for most of these shots, so to me they get repetitive. Try putting the jeep in the bottom corner of the photo, and having a nice backround filling out the rest, Or something like this as to not have the same picture over and over.

I liked 4 because of the sun shining through the bushes, also the jeep looks really good in this shot. The 1st photo isn't as repetitive as the focal point(jeep) is sitting towards the right side of the photo, however the back is cut off a little bit.

These are better than your last set though imo, and it shows that you were thinking about your surroundings more. Next time out try to get a little unique with how you are shooting. The normal(focus point in the middle) picture look, although this looks great sometimes, gets boring with the same subject matter over and over.

Nice photos.
David

[GTOGIRL3000]

I think learning the rule of thirds will help you a bit. I did notice that you seem to be shooting cars at the right time of day.

Some examples of the rule of thirds:








Now I do agree that buying a SLR won't make you a better photographer, however I do feel that my SLR brought out more of my creativity.

[Maverick Hunter]

If buying an expensive camera does anything, it will make you more focused in becoming a better photographer because you have invested in it. But if you don't know how to utilize it, there wont be a large difference in the results. You will, however, be more determined to learn.