[fastpitchdad]

I have been taking photos for a little while. Mostly of nature and sports... My camera is a pentax k50 with a pentax 55-300 & 18-50 kit lens. I think soame of my photos are good majority are not sharp as I think they could be. I know 90% falls on me will better glass or dslr upgrade improve my photos. Your thoughts, thank you.

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[Bruce Clark]

Hi

Some brief comments in order.

#1 Dog in field. Composition is too centred in my opinion. The dog which is the main subject, indeed the only subject, is overwhelmed by the clutter of twigs and leaves. Zoom right in or crop.
#2 Daffodils. Very nice light and sharp focus. However I in my opinion this should be a vertical orientation.
#3 Sport 1. Just about perfect for an action shot. Focus is good. The action is stopped. I like this one.
#4 Sport 2. Could have been good except for the accidental intrusion by the player in the foreground. This person adds nothing to the image in my opinion.

In general your exposures seem to be good, I would work on framing the shots in camera and later in processing.

[fastpitchdad]

Hi

Some brief comments in order.

#1 Dog in field. Composition is too centred in my opinion. The dog which is the main subject, indeed the only subject, is overwhelmed by the clutter of twigs and leaves. Zoom right in or crop.
#2 Daffodils. Very nice light and sharp focus. However I in my opinion this should be a vertical orientation.
#3 Sport 1. Just about perfect for an action shot. Focus is good. The action is stopped. I like this one.
#4 Sport 2. Could have been good except for the accidental intrusion by the player in the foreground. This person adds nothing to the image in my opinion.

In general your exposures seem to be good, I would work on framing the shots in camera and later in processing.

Thank you for the honest feed back. I do appreciate it and I will try to implement your suggestions.

[ccc_]

better glass doesn't necessarily mean better images
I personally find the 55-300 to be one of the most useful lenses I own (I have 3 in three kits)

when I look at your shots I suspect you shoot them wide open to get more speed
try stopping down and upping your ISO

as far a composition goes...I use spot AF, center what I want in focus and shoot it that way
I compose in post processing
I find it more accurate and efficient (meaning I don't miss as many shots)

good luck

I grabbed you pup's picture
as handsome as the dog is I was ok with your picture as shot
usually photographers would expect one the rule of thirds lines to grab the eye or the shoulder
non-photographers would say "beautiful dog"!

so in this edit the eye is at the 1/3 mark
a bit more tension not necessarily a better image

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Last edited by ccc_; 04-23-2017 at 03:44 PM.

[fastpitchdad]

Thanks for the reply and the recommendations and suggestions. I typically shoot the "action" shots in the TAv mode, with the shutter speeds around 1250 to 1600 you want me to try taking my f-stop from 4.5 & 5 & try f8 f10 115? I see the photo looks alot better in thirds. Thanks again really appreciate your time.

[ccc_]

Thanks for the reply and the recommendations and suggestions. I typically shoot the "action" shots in the TAv mode, with the shutter speeds around 1250 to 1600 you want me to try taking my f-stop from 4.5 & 5 & try f8 f10 115? I see the photo looks alot better in thirds. Thanks again really appreciate your time.

generally I shoot in aperture priority and let everything else sort itself

about the only time I set shutter speed is when i'm chasing hummingbirds or butterflies

whichever mode you use...
take a couple of shots
take a look at them
are they what you wanted?
yes...you're good to go
no...change a setting until you get it

NOTE: change only ONE setting at a time...otherwise you'll drown in confusion

another thing while i'm pontificating...
depth of field can make up for a missed focus...deeper DOF, a bigger slice of the scene will be in focus

one more....
my biggest weakness in catching moving objects is stopping my pan and not following through on the "swing"
that abrupt stop has lost me several nice shots
I have found that using the highest burst rate compensates for my incompetence

all that said, you're doing fine and my guess is that, like most of us, you will get where you want to go

[fastpitchdad]

generally I shoot in aperture priority and let everything else sort itself

about the only time I set shutter speed is when i'm chasing hummingbirds or butterflies

whichever mode you use...
take a couple of shots
take a look at them
are they what you wanted?
yes...you're good to go
no...change a setting until you get it

NOTE: change only ONE setting at a time...otherwise you'll drown in confusion

another thing while i'm pontificating...
depth of field can make up for a missed focus...deeper DOF, a bigger slice of the scene will be in focus

one more....
my biggest weakness in catching moving objects is stopping my pan and not following through on the "swing"
that abrupt stop has lost me several nice shots
I have found that using the highest burst rate compensates for my incompetence

all that said, you're doing fine and my guess is that, like most of us, you will get where you want to go

Got it. Thanks again, really do appreciate your suggestions. I will give it a try this afternoon game day! Thanks

[OldGeaser]

You received many good suggestions but I would like to remind you that a small investment in PP Software will improve or "save" many of your shots. The picture of the dog, for example, only took a few minutes and produced a better picture (IMHO).

[Uluru]

Within any situation, I find a simple rule — centre plus thirds — helps me get the various outcomes that work well.
That means, for any subject,

1. focus on it like it is going to be in dead centre, then move camera slightly towards the source of light. Subject is slightly off centre but the composition reaches towards the light. It is a subtle thing, but noticeable.

A. If the subject faces right:
2. focus on subject in dead centre and recompose, fitting the subject at the edge of first vertical third of the visual frame.
3. take several shots positioning subject along that vertical line, finding balance between how much earth and how much sky you wish to use.

B. If the subject faces left:
2. focus on subject in dead centre and recompose, fitting the subject at the inner edge of the third vertical third of the visual frame.
3. take several shots positioning subject along that vertical line, finding balance between how much earth and how much sky you wish to use.

If your lens can't reach enough to achieve rule of thirds, take wide enough shots that resemble it, so you may or may not crop later and the relationship should be preserved.

Subjects in photography are secondary. Primaries are light, and subject's attention, that makes subjects look left of right.

So in the picture of a dog, if you zoom in too tight, or crop too heavy on the right, you lose all narrative. Zoom out enough to have an interesting storyline, and respect that what subject is interested in — it reveals the mind and soul, so to speak, of the subject.

With dogs, it is good too to get as low as possible angle towards the ground, to see the world close to dog's visual perspective.

[mee]

1) Dog butt is.. dog butt. And that is a busy scene. It would have worked better with a very tight closeup of the dog's head and neck. I like the framing of ccc's rework but still think a simple closeup of the dog itself would be more powerful.


2) Boring snap of some flowers with another busy background (especially the bottom, right corner). Try a different angle.. either lower or much higher and zoomed in.


3) Butt on back. That's awkward.

4) This shot is suffering from lack of a purpose. You are trying to cover too much ground by getting everyone in the frame. Either zoom in on the baseman, the runner, or the (??) pitcher. Really that girl in the foreground (what I'm calling the pitcher) is in the way and a tighter shot on the back two would be more interesting. Maybe also a larger aperture (say f/4 or f/2.8) and focused on the baseman would be nice... reduce the focus (literally) of the scene onto less subjects.


When you really get into a photo mood.. don't immediately start taking pictures. Instead, I'd just look at the subject and imagine some interesting angles and framing. Start with something static (such as those flowers) and give it a try framing in many different ways. You'll find different angles and different positioning in the frame of your subject can give a totally different feel for what you are portraying. And get closer (and maybe lower).