Sunset and dragonfly photo

[Shadow]

Taking couples of photo around my HDB block
Please comment how to make it better? Need to improve my skill before end of the month

By the way, can direct link the photo from flickr?


Don't know how, so I'm using photo bucket

[CK Yeo]

Dragonfly: background too messy, a lot of lines all over the place that take attention away from the subject. Also the white part of branch that it is perching on is distracting. Colour is muddy. More importantly, subject buay (not) sharp. The direction of the subject is also a bit erm....
Some basics to read up on
and there are tonnes of photos to refer to on flickr.

Sunset: It is a snapshot. No interesting clouds, no interesting foreground, no interesting colours and the subject is 2% of the whole photo. The clouds in the middle of the photo sort of divided the photo into 3 parts, but again nothing very interesting in all 3 parts. Perhaps it might will have more impact if you wait a bit more for the sun to go down a bit more and the sky will light up with colours. Bonus if there are some nice clouds formations.

My 2cents.

ck

[Simon]

Since CK has pointed out the photo aspect, then I start with the technical aspect
looking at the EXIF data, you shot the dragonfly at 300mm, f5.6 ISO 100 at 1/200s.

I will prefer to increase ISO to 400 to allow at least a f8 and above for more depth of field (DOF). For insect, most important area that must be sharp are the eyes, so next time focus on the eye. Another way to counter the drawback of a shallow DOF is taking it from the top. To blur the background, using a smaller f-stop will help with a messy background, however it will depend greater on availability of light and also the distance of the subject to the background.

As for your sunset shot, it is about the proportion of the subject in mind and the surrounding. There is too much sky in your shot, try a 2/3 sky to 1/3 land or the other way around. You could probably frame the setting sun better with a longer focal length

anyway keep practising.

[Shadow]

Thanks CK_Yeo and Simon thanks for the comment, so many thing to consider . Never think of all those when I took the photo I hope it will become natural the more you practice

OK now I know what it is lack of and how to make it better, will try to do better next time.

Focus wise I guess I have to set it to single focus point instead of multiple

is color quality depend on the lens? I'm using sigma 70-300mm...macro, not pure macro lense or not enough light? because I'm using on board flash

By the way thanks for good link

[Simon]

don't worry, it will come to you as a second nature in time to come. You just need more practise, do play with the settings and see the differences as you change them.

yes, the lens play an important part on color rendition, as you go deeper into photography you will understand why photographers will pay more for a better lens.

I will usually use the centre focal point and manual focus for macro.

the sigma 70-300's macro ability is 1:2, where a dedicated macro except for the canon 50mm f2.8 macro is 1:1, as for using the inbuilt flash, you need to adjust your settings again to give a more balance and well exposed subject and background. Like I always mention, my rule of the thumb is a well litted subject against a darker background always creates an impression that the lighting on the subject is too harsh, thus you will need to make sure the background is equally lit.

if you want, you can join us in the macro outing next sunday.

[CK Yeo]

Go grab a book on composition. There are many many out there. It will be more useful then blindly practicing. You might end up practicing the wrong thing you know?

Read read read!!! The more you see, the more you will absorb. Examine what works for others and what don't. Insect macro is a very well explored subject.

ck
p.s. I have that lens too. Used it 3 times. Have been sitting in the dry box ever since. Anyone wants?

[trident]

Robert,
Good effort. Yes why don't you join us on Sunday.

[Simon]

to tell you the truth, I also started out with that lens, using it together with the canon 500D for macro

[Shadow]

will join this sunday, unless something happen

[Goondoo]

to tell you the truth, I also started out with that lens, using it together with the canon 500D for macro

Ouch.... Hope it didn't remind you of the pain...

[valice]

Dragonfly: background too messy, a lot of lines all over the place that take attention away from the subject. Also the white part of branch that it is perching on is distracting. Colour is muddy. More importantly, subject buay (not) sharp. The direction of the subject is also a bit erm....
Some basics to read up on
and there are tonnes of photos to refer to on flickr.

Very good link you have there.

[Simon]

Ouch.... Hope it didn't remind you of the pain...

already over with that lost.

[luenny]

Robert,
Finally get to see your bug photos. Ok, I wouldn't comment much on the sunset shots, I think the experts here have done enough.

For dragonfly shot, other than what's been mentioned here, I feel the focus is not there. I really do not know what message you are trying to create with the photo. Putting the dragonfly right in the middle of the picture does not really make a good pictures but then again composition is always an iffy issue.

I feel for macro, most important is to get your subject focus. This means, if you intend to take this insect, get it as sharp as possible in the lens first. Unlike other form of photography, this may require some practice - especially in low light condition. Good thing about it is you can practice this at home too with just anything.

After that, when you are really shooting on your trip, think about the photo as a whole. To me there are certain rules of compositions but good photographers break the rules as much as they follow them. Don't just focus on one thing and forget the picture. For example, don't just keep trying to get your dragonfly in focus and forget about the surrounding. After you get things focused, look in your viewfinder. Does what you see pleases you? If not, maybe you want to change your viewing angle or something to make it look nicer. Of course, you can crop a bit to make it a better photo too but too much cropping and you probably lose the resolution. For example, your dragonfly photo can be crop a bit to the lighter colored box as shown in the attachment. That way it clears up a lot of those unwanted background space - or what we call dead space.

I don't really agree that dark background makes lighting looks harsh, it's just me but I try to take the environment into account. If the environment where I took the photo is dark, and I purposely make it look bright in my photo, it looks unrealistic for me. But everybody has a different preference. You just have to find your own style. Angle of the subject is also another controversial thing. Here are some of my shots from flickr on dragonfly from different angle. Some people prefer first angle, some second and some third. So it's really your call. Of if you have the opportunity, take from different angle to see the results yourself. I made a link on these photos back to my flickr so that you can click on them and see my other dragonfly shots if you want to.

First angle:


Second angle:


Third angle:


Or you can ask budak to show you his dragonfly shots. He's got quite an impressive collection in his flickr too.

As for your question about linking back from flickr, just click on your photo to view, click on the all sizes icon and view it in the size that you want attach the image. And in the same page at the bottom, you will see some links to teach you how to link. Easy way, just copy the url and link it here. Hope this helps.

[Simon]

don't get me wrong, I say it gives an impression, not readily is harsh. A dark background can be nice, but it depends on the intend and how you control the lighting on the subject (see benny's initial fish photography with black background, exposure on the subject is well balanced and not overly done)

[luenny]

Oh yeah. It gives the impression because of higher contrast between subject and background.

By the way, just for an example for newbies, harsh lighting would be the first and third dragonfly picture I posted. Although the background is bright and no flash is used. But the midday sun was just bad and I have to manually reduce the reflection of the eyes of the dragonfly. I find that having too harsh lighting, subtle shapes such as the delicate structure of the compound eyes cannot be shown correctly. I have seen some people who got it right and it looks impressive. Budak has a very nice one on his flickr too. Someday, when I got it right, maybe I'll stop taking closeup of dragonflies.

See, I'm improving already. Initially, I used to take pictures without knowing what my mistakes ar. I know it doesn't look right but I don't know why. And as a result I use to pester everybody to give me response so that I can improve. Now, I know roughly what I did wrong so next time I shoot I'll try to consider all those information and hopefully get it right.

[Simon]

it is not that obivious under the sun. So viewer tend to ignore it, unless the white is too blown out. You will be surprise what flash does to the subject even with the midday sun shinning down from above.

care to post budak's pic here?

[luenny]

Here you go. I hope Budak won't mind.

[Shadow]

wow look scary