Critique Little walk today.

[Jordon Brooker]

Had a walk today with the mrs' in the baking hot sun as we both strolled around and took some photos..

It was quite windy so I struggled with focus on some of the shots, any tips for that?

IMG_2731 by Jordon "ForceGhost" Brooker, on Flickr

IMG_2733 by Jordon "ForceGhost" Brooker, on Flickr

IMG_2737 by Jordon "ForceGhost" Brooker, on Flickr

IMG_2757 by Jordon "ForceGhost" Brooker, on Flickr

IMG_2763 by Jordon "ForceGhost" Brooker, on Flickr

IMG_2775 by Jordon "ForceGhost" Brooker, on Flickr

IMG_2777 by Jordon "ForceGhost" Brooker, on Flickr

 

[Elines]

I came on TP the other day to respond to the oldest unanswered thread and this was it - but I chickened out of commenting - so I have sought it out and am having a go now.

Of the six that I can see, the one with the snail has the most promise (of a good picture) for me. But I think it needs cropping so that the snail is clearly the focus and with much less green around it to distract. Maybe a use of thirds with the snail on the bottom LH intersection (at least that's what I thought when I used my L-shaped bits of card).

The pink and white flowers would be my next two choices - but again (in my view) they need cropping. ?maybe you need to be less restricted by the format in which your camera happens to produce images? Both - in my view - would be better in a square frame, but the pink flower doesn't have enough space around it to allow that.

Next would be the leaf, but in addition to cropping I think you would need to remove the distraction of the ?blown highlights.

The remaining two - grass and holes - hold no interest for me at all. Maybe you saw something that hasn't quite translated into the posted images?

You mention that it was a baking hot day - so maybe you would have been better off trying to capture that in some way. Sticking with your close up theme maybe a drop of sweat? Or damp hair? (I'm not saying that I could have produced a good image of these - I'm just trying to go with your flow.)

As regards getting focus on a windy day - maybe you just decide not to try to photograph things that will inevitably be moving a lot eg individual leaves (photo 1) or flowers at the end of a narrow stem (photo 3). Maybe an alternative approach would be to try and capture an image showing just how windy it was?

One tip that I was told at the TP megameet that may help in some windy circumstances is to create a tripod with string, two sticks and the stem (being the third leg of the tripod) to help give some stability to the stem and what is on it. I haven't tried this myself but it should work. You obviously need to keep the two bits of stick out of the image, or at least be able to clone then out afterwards. (Can't remember the bloke's name but it was the chap who brought the reptiles)

So .... hope this helps. And as always - I wouldn't want you or anyone else to think that I don't post images for which equally valid comments could be made - I know that I do because like all of us - I am still learning

 

[Carlh]

I like all of those, except the 4th one, not showing up in tp, flickr is saying its unavailable

Favourite is the first one, with the sunlight hitting the leaf. Very nice!

next favourite is the last image, reminds me of the matrix when they do a zoom in on the phone microphone end.

For focussing, I would hold my breath for a few seconds while rocking forward and backwards to get the bits in focus while looking for that sweet-spot through the viewfinder and rattle a few shots off. That will get better with practice. You can always close the aperture more but you'll need more light, that will give you your bigger dof, if thats what you wanted to do, of course.

Never tried the stem thing as Chris posted, would be interesting to have a go, though Im not sure when space is restricted how the tripod tip would work, but anything is worth a try!