Some shots from my recent vacation (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

I'm just fulfilling my post as unofficial HTF Photo Thread killer.

 

[DavidJ]

Well, let's keep this thread going. There are some really good shots here worthy of discussion. I think my favorite is actually the first one and it is hard to believe a shot like that came from someone fairly new to photography. I was also wondering if anyone read my earlier comments about the fourth shot and if they agreed, disagreed or had any other comment.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I just returned from a week-long trip, so I'll try to get this back on topic. I love the composition of your shots, Jon. I do agree that #4 is a little tight, but understand there are times when you are limited by the area and cannot "zoom with your feet". Where were the outdoor photos taken?

I am currently sorting through 1,200 photos from last week's trip to coastal Maine and Boston. Once I have a few favorites, I'll post them in a new thread. Unfortunately, it was dreary and rainy in Acadia, so I didn't have much good light to work with and I'm a little disappointed in my landscape shots from there as a result.

 

[Jon_Are]

My family made fun of me for taking 300 shots.

Jon

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Since switching to digital and not having to pay to develop film, I will sometimes experiment with multiple takes of the same shot at different exposure settings or slightly different compositions. Also, we went whale watching twice, and I used the continuous drive feature of my dSLR when a whale would surface. You'd be surprised how many shots you end up with when firing away at 6.5 frames per second.

So, I have a couple hundred whale photos to sort through to find a few gems.

 

[Jon_Are]

Nope, didn't go to Cape Breton. We only had six hours to see Halifax and Peggy's cove.


Yep, that's what got me in trouble for holding up the group. I got comments such as, "Got enough pictures of that yellow house yet?", "Hey, Jon, maybe we'll see another yellow house and you can take another hundred pictures!" (see photo #5).

Jon

 

[DavidJ]

I just realized that in my comments about the tight framing I said it was #4 when it was actually #5 (the one with the house).

Yeah, it is hard to take what I would call meaningful photos when traveling with family and friends. They seldom understand just how much time it takes. So it tends to require a lot of patience on their part. Fortunately, my wife is great about it. It works out best when hiking is involved since she loves to hike. I can stop and take all the time I want and she can hike around.

(Although she wasn't a big fan when I took my gear on our honeymoon many years ago.

her idea of a romantic honeymoon was not to carry my tripod across Vienna. I don't know why. I mean how often do you get to Europe? I haven't been back since. :frowning: Of course her point and it is valid-- how often do you have a honeymoon?. I was probably still smarting from a few years earlier when I was living in Vienna for a semester and my SLR broke the second week of the trip. I eventually got a point and shoot for the last month or so, but it is just not the same.)

 

[Scott Merryfield]

My wife is very patient, too, which makes it a lot easier for me to take my time. She'll even play the role of "photographer's assistant" and hold a lens for me while I'm changing them. We hike a lot on vacation, too, so she's enjoying herself outdoors, which is probably part of the reason she's so tolerant.

 

[JohnRice]

OK, here is some critique. I don't see anything to possibly do differently on the first two. I especially like the first one. It is very The Third Man. The second shot has a backward "9" going on, which is a good basic compositional tool.

As far as the rowboats, I have to completely disagree with the other comments. I feel having the entire close boat in the shot would ruin it. It works so much better with it running out of the shot. You might have tried shooting lower, just to see if reducing the visual space from foreground to background was an improvement. There is a lot of crawling around in the dirt with this kind of photography. Actually, there is an abstract backward "9" here as well. Am I seeing a trend?

I also absolutely do NOT think the yellow house is too close to the edge of the shot. I don't see it working better anywhere else. You might have tried moving a bit to the right, but keeping the house in the same place, to move the rock formation a bit out of the center of the shot. Just an idea, because I don't know how it would have changed other aspects of the composition.

 

[Jon_Are]

Hmm..never looked at that one as being too tight; might have to re-consider (although I didn't do much of a crop, don't think there's much more to work with). I'm actually pretty happy with that one how it is (maybe a little less saturation, though).

Looking forward to seeing your Maine shots, Scott.

Jon

 

[Jon_Are]

Wow, quite the compliment. Thanks.

Jon

 

[DavidJ]

I was talking to my wife about this today and when we are not hiking she will often bring along a book to read while I'm shooting. It is nice having an "assistant." I don't think she even minded it that much on our honeymoon, but she does enjoy reminding me about it. Turns out my business partner's wife had a very similar experience on their honeymoon. Neither one of them will let us forget it.

 

[JohnRice]

Just one thing I need to point out. I have been through hundreds of critiques involving thousands of photos. This doesn't mean I am more "right" than anyone else, just that all those crits lead to a more comfortable approach to options regarding composition, and pretty much everything else about photography. When you have spends hours in a room with 20 or 30 other people critiquing images, it really opens your mind to options.