Your photos (152) |
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 Hints and tips by Philip Grosset If you'd like to submit photos for criticism, click here. |
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with comments from Philip Grosset "My name is Rod Gray and my new camera is a Canon EOS 30. I use a 28/90 usm zoom and 75/300 USM zoom for most of my pictures. I have recently purchased some extension tubes which I have been experimenting with for close up photography. The first photo was taken with the 75/300 zoom at 150 focal length from a tripod using Kodak Royal 200 ISO film. f5.6 to blur the background. The second photo was taken on the same day with the same film but using the 28/90 zoom with a 50mm extension tube at f11 to try and widen the depth of field a little. I don't have a ring flash yet and had to rely on the natural light. The third photo was an experiment. I used centre spot metering and took the reading off the lighter cloud to set the exposure then reframed the shot. Again tripod mounted. No filters were used and the image has not been doctored on the PC. The final photo is a shot of my daughter. She was sitting with her back to me and I had the 75/300 zoom lens on. I focused on her back and then called out her name. She turned round and i clicked. The photo was taken in colour but i used Paint shop pro to turn it to greyscale which I think provides a more atmospheric photo. I have found your sight very informative and I would appreciate your comments." (Rod Gray) |
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| This is a fine close-up you've got on the left, although the background hasn't so much blurred as almost entirely disappeared! But the result is highly effective. On the right, I've tried cropping away the sides so that even more attention is concentrated on the symmetrical pattern made by the flower. |
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| This too is fine and sharp, although it isn't immediately obvious what it is, so it lacks the immediate appeal of the photo above. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| On the left: an interesting experiment in exposure, but, despite the attractive coloring, it doesn't quite work as a photo in its own right. Generally speaking, it's better to avoid telephone poles in landscapes, but, if you remove these from this picture, there's not really much left. So, in my version on the right, I've tried going to the other extreme and featuring the poles more strongly. I've had to rearrange the clouds in the process! |
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| I like this picture very much. You've captured a very natural looking and amusing shot of your daughter. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Reply from Rod Gray: "Thanks for the feedback it is much appreciated. Unfortunately the marshes near the Wash in Kings Lynn are fairly featureless so it was telephone poles or sky only ! I am pleased you liked the shot of my daughter, which essentially was just a snap, it just goes to show that sometimes you just get lucky. Thanks again." "Hello, My name is Laura Gormley and I am an amateur photographer in Australia, I have attached two photographs that I have taken in hopes that you could help me gain some sort of direction in my photography. The first one is photo of one of my pet frogs "Bonnie" it was taken at two in the morning (they are nocturnal), I had to use the flash and take it through the glass of their enclosure I am quite happy with the way it turned out, but personally I think something may be a little off about it. (this one was taken with my new camera its a fully auto SLR but because of the low light I had to manually focus it) The second is a photo of my son taken with one of my older cameras (a fully manual SLR) I was using a 135mm lens and an aperture of 2.8 with a fast shutter speed so that the background wouldn't be in focus. I have also used two cokin filters The gradual Tobacco (T1) and Star 16, the tobacco to give the slight orange tinge and the star filter to give the halo. Both were taken on 400 ISO colour negative film. I think that should be all of the info you'll need if there is anything else you need to know feel free to email me. Thank you for your time." (Laura Gormley) |
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| Your photo on the left has worked very well, and there's no trace of flash being used through glass (not usually a recommended procedure!). It might be even more arresting, though, if you cropped it as shown on the right. Now the frog's head is nearer an intersection of thirds - so often a more effective position than leaving it dead central. |
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| On the left: another attractive picture of yours. However, as your son looks a bit overwhelmed by all that dark background, I've tried coming in closer on the right. This would be better without the streak of light just above his eyes, and, ideally, it might have been better still to have caught him when he was looking up at the flower he is holding so that we could have seen more of his face. Of course, if you wanted to communicate a sense of isolation, you would stick with your original version. But either way, even though you're aiming for a soft focus effect, I think he could have been a little sharper. Your coloring is very pleasing and this is certainly a very imaginative and effective use of filters. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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