# Hello, I am just starting...



## bogdan.m (Nov 5, 2016)

Hello, i am just starting with this hobby, and i would like to get some tips for better photography. I will post some photos i did and i will wait for you to criticize them, good and bad ideas are all welcome 
link


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## photo1x1.com (Nov 5, 2016)

Hi there, welcome to the forum. 
It´s hard to give any tips when you are just starting out. One thing looking at the images you posted would be: from a series of images, only publish your very best pictures. That will quickly make you a better photographer in the eyes of the people that look at your portfolio. Having one or two sunset shots sure would be enough to begin with.
Two of the sunset shots are nice. Did you know that you get that star effect on the sun, by closing the aperture? That brings us to one of the key components of photography, the aperture. Learn the basics how aperture, shutter speed and focal length can change the look of your images. That way you will learn how to take sharp images whether your object is moving or not, how to blur the background in shots with people like your kids, etc. etc..
To chose one image to critic: autumn leaves:

nice perspective - to create interesting images, it is always great to shoot from angles that are not so common, well done.
try to get the horizon level whenever you can, OR get it extremely out of the level to not make it look as if it was done by accident (you probably looked at the (church?) tower to the left, but shooting up on a building results in distorted perspectives - always try to look at the horizon instead).

When you have rather dominant objects like the church tower, that draw the viewers attention: try to not crop it off but rather have it completely in the frame. While this is not always possible, it is something to take care when framing an image. Walking back a few steps might have done wonders in this shot.
I hope this helps. Looking forward to more of your images


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## bogdan.m (Nov 5, 2016)

photo1x1.com said:


> ...Walking back a few steps might have done wonders in this shot.
> I hope this helps. Looking forward to more of your images


yeah, the street kinda ended there so not possible, but thank you very much for the tips, the thing with closed aperture for the star like effect i didn't knew, so will try it next time. And for the "holy trinity of the photography" iso aperture and shutter speed, i looked at those videos on youtube more than i would like to admit, so i know how they work, i just have to use them a lot so i get familiar with them. And yes, these are just the photos that i think are the best from my shooting session. Again, thank you for the tips, every little one counts.


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## photo1x1.com (Nov 5, 2016)

bogdan.m said:


> photo1x1.com said:
> 
> 
> > ...Walking back a few steps might have done wonders in this shot.
> ...


That´s what I thought - unfortunately streets are not endless .
I would have skipped the first two imags and have decided to keep either the third or the fourth, but not both. They are just too similar to show them all. The best photographers shoot many similar and/or mediocre images, they just don´t show them to the public. So everybody who goes to their portfolio drops his jaw, looking at only a very few selected, great images. Same when showing your vacation shots to family and friends. Limiting them to the best few will make them praise you for your talent. Showing too much will make them fall asleep and bury the treasure images . It´s always best to stop while they still want to see more, rather being happy that it finally ended.


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## bogdan.m (Nov 5, 2016)

i see, ok i deleted those which are similar, and kept only the ones i like


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## photo1x1.com (Nov 5, 2016)

bogdan.m said:


> i see, ok i deleted those which are similar, and kept only the ones i like



Sounds weird, but it looks much better already!


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## bogdan.m (Nov 5, 2016)

Ty for the tips and for boosting my confidence


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## bogdan.m (Nov 11, 2016)

i have managed to get another photo that i like, any critique, good or bad is welcomed 
Link


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## Derrel (Nov 11, 2016)

Yes, I agree: fewer, better image makes you look, well, "better". The strong graphical elements of the power transmission lines towers makes a good image, so, look for other things that can form graphic,strong lines. Keep your eyes open, and your camera near by!


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## photo1x1.com (Nov 11, 2016)

Hey, those transmission lines are really very well shot. You took ultimate care to have them symmetrical (I don´t think it was coincident as symmetric as they are), so you thought about your image before you took it. I like it.
The moon is slightly underexposed (I guess you can fix that in your raw processor), and a moon as spectacular as it looks photographyically isn´t that difficult, even though many people don´t know how to shoot it. Usually it is overexposed rather than underexposed.


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## bogdan.m (Nov 11, 2016)

) of course i took care of the symmetry of the lines, i climed on my car while the wind was blowing like a madman, and i have stopped before @ 3 times to see how my shot will be, but the lighting was too poor, it's bad weather this time of the year. The thing with the moon, yes i can correct it, i learned to shoot raw, and i must say it helps a lot since i discovered lightroom, but at the same time i want my photos as original as they can be, so i just level them up a bit and correct a few colour correction, and that is it.


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## photo1x1.com (Nov 11, 2016)

bogdan.m said:


> ) of course i took care of the symmetry of the lines, i climed on my car while the wind was blowing like a madman, and i have stopped before @ 3 times to see how my shot will be, but the lighting was too poor, it's bad weather this time of the year. The thing with the moon, yes i can correct it, i learned to shoot raw, and i must say it helps a lot since i discovered lightroom, but at the same time i want my photos as original as they can be, so i just level them up a bit and correct a few colour correction, and that is it.


Cool, lightroom is awesome. In regard to the moon, you could increase the exposure a bit and also the clarity. Don't worry, camera sensors are much inferior to our eyes/brain and therefore a little work in lightroom will only bring the image closer to what our eyes see.


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## bogdan.m (Nov 11, 2016)

I am happy to give you the raw file in exchange of the metadatafile so i can learn a few things


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## photo1x1.com (Nov 11, 2016)

sure, why not. With the metadata file you mean the lightroom settings, right?


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## robbins.photo (Nov 11, 2016)

bogdan.m said:


> Hello, i am just starting with this hobby, and i would like to get some tips for better photography. I will post some photos i did and i will wait for you to criticize them, good and bad ideas are all welcome
> link



I think at first your best bet is to focus on composition and exposure, and then build on that foundation from there.

5 Easy Composition Guidelines from Nikon


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## bogdan.m (Nov 11, 2016)

yes, i mean the ligtroom settings.
le: i seem to have deleted the one with the moon,if u want to play with my other photos, here are the rest of the raw files
link
i hope the link works.


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## photo1x1.com (Nov 12, 2016)

OK, here we go.
First of all: you should get familiar with what makes up the brightness of your image. ISO is the last value you want to rise, because that introduces noise and overall decreases the image quality. You need to learn the effects of shutter speed and aperture (shutterspeed can freeze or blur motion), aperture can create shallow focus or big depth of field. You need to know what you need in which situation. 
Here are my edits and a few words:
Camera data: 1/160 | f18 | ISO800 | 18mm

you don´t need f18, I´d rather blur a little of the foreground and use f8 that would have reduced your ISO to 160.
you don´t need a shutter speed of 1/160: 1/100th would have been enoug unless you were shaking because of the cold. That would have reduced your ISO to 100 - perfect
The image doesn´t have a clear point of interest, so I didn´t really know what to emphasize while editing, so I gave it an overall retouch to give you an idea what is possible





Camera data: 1/400 | f22 | ISO400 | 18mm

The star effect is created by closing the aperture - so f22 was a good choice, otherwise the sun would have merely created a blurry mass
you don´t need to freeze any motion, so lowering your shutter speed to 1/100th would have given you ISO100 and therefore the best possible image quality. Especially when doing quite some brightening in the shadows, you introduce noise while editing. The lower the ISO, the lower that noise will be
I might have gone a little overboard with this edit, but I wanted to show what is possible in Lightroom, without using photoshop


 

Camera data: 1/400 | f5.6 | 400 | 55mm

Same as the first image: no action to freeze here, so 1/100th would have been fine to get the best possible ISO
editing this one was similar to the first too. It doesn´t have a clear point of interest, so I gave it an overall retouch, trying to get back some information in the sky and give it a little pop.




Camera data: 1/400 | f22 | ISO400 | 200mm

1/400th is fine if you are afraid of blur due to camera shake at this long focal length (zoom)
f22 is way over board, so not needed at all. f10 would have been more than enough and again would have given you the best possible image quality at ISO100
This is something where I felt the editing was really worth it and changed the look pretty dramatically - again all in lightroom
you can increase the effect of the big sun by placing somebody or something beside it i the far distance.


 

Camera data: 1/125 | f18 | ISO400 | 200mm 

1/125 is pretty much the limit to not introduce camera shake even with better stabilized cameras/lenses. Did you use a tripod?
it is difficult to judge on the f-stop f18 seems a little much, but since you probably wanted the foreground and the background as sharp as possible, I´d say it is OK.

your edit was quite good on that one, I don´t think I could contribute anything, other than introduce noise  but anyway here is my try.




And finally here are my lightroom edits: www.photo1x1.com/thePhotoForum/lightroomBogdanM.zip 
Take a close look at the local adjustments gradients and brush. They are right on top below the histogram. Usually they are hidden. Click on one of them and press "H" to hide and show the anchor point of these. If you click on the anchor point you can see the settings or delete the adjustment all together.


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## bogdan.m (Nov 12, 2016)

Thank you very much, i own my camera for a month now, this is very helpful for me. So the main thing i have to correct is getting low iso, think about my composition a bit better and to learn some more things about aperture, it seemed now that i missed some important info about it. I didn't use a tripod for the last one, i just kinda stop breathing when i am taking the shoots


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## photo1x1.com (Nov 12, 2016)

bogdan.m said:


> Thank you very much, i own my camera for a month now, this is very helpful for me. So the main thing i have to correct is getting low iso, think about my composition a bit better and to learn some more things about aperture, it seemed now that i missed some important info about it. I didn't use a tripod for the last one, i just kinda stop breathing when i am taking the shoots



Glad I could help. Don´t hold yor breath for too long  . 
In fact it is a mix. You can´t change the brightness of the scene unless you use flash (which doesn´t do much in landscape photography), so what you have to do is set aperture, shutter speed and ISO to get the best possible image quality. When you understand what aperture and shutter speed really do to your image, you can instinctively decide what is the best setting. Sounds complicated, but in fact it is not. Understanding is the key.

And as you say - composition is probably the most important part of photography because from a distance (or small in the web), even slightly blurred images or images with a lot of noise look great if they have good composition.


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## bogdan.m (Nov 12, 2016)

I have just watched a video where they say the moon will be closest to the earth in 68 years on Monday, so i might redo the one with the moon  It's going to appear 14%larger and 30% brighter, so i might get some good detail. I know it's just the moon, but i love astronomy so...


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## photo1x1.com (Nov 12, 2016)

bogdan.m said:


> I have just watched a video where they say the moon will be closest to the earth in 68 years on Monday, so i might redo the one with the moon  It's going to appear 14%larger and 30% brighter, so i might get some good detail. I know it's just the moon, but i love astronomy so...



Funny, I just heard that too today. Let´s hope for some good weather - the moon is definitely something for everybodys portfolio  
Four your reference: 
this was shot 1/50 | f11 | ISO100 
but the camera sat on a tripod, so if you want to shoot it handeld with your 200mm lens, I´d start with the follwing settings: 1/200 | f5.6 | ISO100 my image was taken in the desert (so very good visibility and clear skies), maybe you need to rise your ISO a bit if your sky isn´t as clear. But then again it should be 30% brighter these days so maybe you don´t need to. 

The reason why I used f11 btw is because I had no other choice. I used a 2x extender that doubles your minimum aperture value, which was f5.6.

Play a little with the settings and check on your monitor - and later in lightroom what you like best. Use a wall, a table or something to rest your lens on and reduce the shutter speed a bit. Remember - when you reduce one of the three (aperture, shutter speed, ISO), you need to rise another one by the exact same number if you want to keep the brightness at the same level.
Shooting the moon is actually a pretty good way to practice manual (!!!) exposure settings. It hardly moves and as long as you don´t freeze, you have a lot of time.


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## bogdan.m (Nov 12, 2016)

Well, i got myself a tripod, since that one was next on my wishlist, it arrived yesterday, i messed a bit with it and i got these effects from my keyboard, and i will definitely use it for the moon Monday  i like this photography stuff, it's fun to do, very flexible and hoping to meet some nice people along the way


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## photo1x1.com (Nov 12, 2016)

That looks very cool! Great idea! If anything I´d cover that glowing dragon and on the led that´s probably right beside the F15 key. They stand out a little too much.


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## Causapscal (Nov 12, 2016)

Very good beginning  

Just a little advice, begins by mastering the different aperture. You take a picture at each aperture and you will see what it gives. Then you do the same at different speeds and ISO. It is the basis, the rest, a cherry on sunday...


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## bogdan.m (Nov 15, 2016)

My topic for today was bokeh, since everyone is doing it, i thought i would give it a try, here are my last photos


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## photo1x1.com (Nov 15, 2016)

Sorry to say that, my friend . 
The bench seems to have some camera shake (don´t know why though, because 1/125th @55mm is usually fast enough - but things happen  ). It´s also not really interesting to be honest. 
While the first one is good in regard to sharpness, it is a little overexposed for my taste, and also not particularely interesting. 
I like the third one best - it has the best out of focus effect, but you could have even increased that by zooming all the way in and stepping back a bit (still using the same framing). Try to compare these two shots for your next shooting day. Moss is a really nice photo motive, but it takes some time to find really great moss. 
At the moment the northern hemisphere of the world isn´t too picturesque, it is much more difficult to find great things to shoot in nature, than in spring or summer - but don´t give up  .


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## bogdan.m (Nov 15, 2016)

I'm not giving up. I am aware that not all of my photos will be great, although i will struggle to make them great. You are right about the weather tho, it is always misty and the clouds are always grey this time of the year, and i missed the super moon, nevertheless, i will always try again and come back with more


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## KmH (Nov 15, 2016)

A blurred background results from making exposure setting, point of focus and subject framing choices that control depth-of-field.
Bokeh is an inherent aesthetic property of each make/model lens _that is not adjustable_.
The more a background is blurred by controlling the depth-of-field, the more apparent the aesthetic quality of the blur, the bokeh, becomes.
But the bokeh is constant regardless how blurred the background is.
Understanding Depth of Field in Photography


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## photo1x1.com (Nov 15, 2016)

bogdan.m said:


> I'm not giving up. I am aware that not all of my photos will be great, although i will struggle to make them great. You are right about the weather tho, it is always misty and the clouds are always grey this time of the year, and i missed the super moon, nevertheless, i will always try again and come back with more


I had more luck with the moon yesterday, bright sky, but really, really cold . However, compared to the last example I´ve uploaded in a previous post, it was not really that spectacular. If you don´t see it side by side, you wouldn´t even realize the difference. BTW: I do like the moon more if it is not full, because then you see the shadows of the surface where it fades to dark. So as soon as your weather gets better, you can give it a next try without ever realizing that you missed the supermoon .


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## bogdan.m (Nov 18, 2016)

So, it's been a while now since i am watching lightroom tutorials, and i spent a lot of time fiddling with all the options and see what everything does, and since i had a little more spare time on my hands, i decided to redo all my photos and spend some time on editing, not changing the photo too much, but putting out what is nice in that photo. I honestly played with 5 options before xD. Here is my album in which i added one or two more photos. I know that some of them are not too great but i like how they turned out, everyone's opinion is welcomed.


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## beagle100 (Nov 18, 2016)

bogdan.m said:


> So, it's been a while now since i am watching lightroom tutorials, and i spent a lot of time fiddling with all the options and see what everything does, and since i had a little more spare time on my hands, i decided to redo all my photos and spend some time on editing, not changing the photo too much, but putting out what is nice in that photo. I honestly played with 5 options before xD.is my album in which i added one or two more photos. I know that some of them are not too great but i like how they turned out, everyone's opinion is welcomed.



OK,  good luck on your bokeh quest


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## bogdan.m (Nov 23, 2016)

Help me decide between these two photos, please tell me your thoughts, pros, and cons in each.


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## photo1x1.com (Nov 28, 2016)

bogdan.m said:


> Help me decide between these two photos, please tell me your thoughts, pros, and cons in each.


Definitely the first one. the grass is better lit, the power lines not as prominent and the sun is not so far out on the side of the image. Also I prefer to look at images from left to right if that does make sense . 
To my eyes flipping your second image does make a huge difference. Plus: there is even a flock of birds far back in the first image.


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## lance70 (Nov 28, 2016)

Pics look really good to me!


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## bogdan.m (Mar 24, 2017)

Well, i've played with my camera a bit more, it's been a few months now since i have it. Here you can see the photos, and as always awaiting critique


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## limr (Mar 24, 2017)

bogdan.m said:


> Well, i've played with my camera a bit more, it's been a few months now since i have it. Here you can see the photos, and as always awaiting critique



Please post a new thread in one of the Photo Galleries if you want critique on the image. Also, you should be embedding just a few of the images in the post instead of providing a link.
Photography Forum


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## bogdan.m (Mar 24, 2017)

limr said:


> bogdan.m said:
> 
> 
> > Well, i've played with my camera a bit more, it's been a few months now since i have it. Here you can see the photos, and as always awaiting critique
> ...



But but, these guys already know me


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## photo1x1.com (Mar 24, 2017)

Hey Bogdan, that fire is awesome. One of the best I´ve ever seen - what exactly is it? 
I also like the banner image - is that yours too?
I like the river image with the sun much more than the one against the sun. Did you use a polarizer filter, or was the air that clear?
And there are a little too many sunset imges .


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## Derrel (Mar 24, 2017)

Yeah--I really like the fire image too!

Keep on shooting, keep on working at refining and honing your camera craft. This is a life-long sport!


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## limr (Mar 24, 2017)

bogdan.m said:


> limr said:
> 
> 
> > bogdan.m said:
> ...



The same people will still see the posts, and if they are commenting here, they will comment on your other threads. If you'd like feedback from other people as well, they are more likely to comment.

The Beginner's Forum is not intended for critique. From the sticky post that explains the purpose of this forum: _"Just a friendly reminder that the Beginners Forum is not supposed to have photo threads. If you wish to post photos for critique, feedback and to show off then please head down to the Galleries. 

We've a range of subjects, including a General section that accepts anything and also the Just for Fun gallery (which is for anything that you don't want critique on). All the galleries (barring the Just for Fun) are open to critique and are populated by the majority of our members. If you want skilled feedback no matter your level of skill then to the galleries you should head ."_
Beginners forum - Moderator Notice


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## bogdan.m (Mar 24, 2017)

that fire was a burning tire, i have lots of picture of that, but this one seems to me the best  i don't know what u mean by banner, i have a filter, but i don't use it, and yes the air was very clear that day, spring is coming, my bike is out, and my camera always in the bag so i don't miss the opportunity, 

@limr ok, i will post my photos from now on in the gallery section, thank you


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## photo1x1.com (Mar 25, 2017)

Very well done - many pictures of the burning tire and yet you resisted the temptation and only posted one 
However - don´t tell too many people it was a burning tire, otherwise I´d guess we are going to see a new photography genre of burning tires. The smell probably isn´t that great


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