Question about angles

ccpickre

So, I'm slowly getting the hang of exposure. But I seem to have trouble with my angles. When I try to get creative and vary them, they don't turn out sometimes. I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong.

For example...

This one I got low and shot upward, but it doesn't feel like it worked.


Where as this one, I got low and it seemed to work pretty well.

pathfinder

I think you are talking about composition, rather than just angles here.

Your first shot is underexposed for detail in the statue, and you have a large area at the top of the image that is empty to my eye. I think that is the problem here, rather than the 'angle' per se. I feel like I am missing something by seeing the face only as a silhouette.

Your second image is better as your exposure is much better, your driver is centered, and your color of blue sky and orange car are complementary as well. I like the L comp as a frame.

Good composition is something that takes a great deal of time for some folks to learn ( I, myself, am one of those slow learners regarding composition )

Some folks eye's just seems to grab great comps quickly, but a lot of us learn it more slowly, by looking at other great artists work and emulating it. It is a skill that can be learned.

Call home, your mom misses you, too

wxwax

In addition to what PF said... you cut off the feet in the first one, and the statue is too far away for the effect you want. Plus, you have extraneous stuff in the frame, like that picture frame.

I think that shot would work with a wide angle, camera close to the base of the statue.

The second one's great. And a big reason why is because you have a wide angle that's close to the subject. the car grows out of the frame dramatically. Plus you composed it so the car's on the left third, and the right side of the shot is balanced by the other cars and the structure.

I agree with PF, some folks are born with an eye, the rest of us have to learn it. I find it too hard to think of the golden ratio when I compose. But I find it easy to think of the rule of thirds.

If you ever get your hands on Lightroom, there's a cool tool that gives you a great idea of what a good composition looks like. Under View/Crop Guide Overlay, they have two different versions of the Golden Ratio, as well as the Thirds, and a couple of other options. It's a great tool for visualizing what a good composition might look like.

LiquidAir

I am just guessing here, but it looks to me like you have a little bit of auto-focus disease. Your focus point in both these shots is pretty close to the center of the frame. Practicing focus and recompose is the best way I know to learn framing. If you regularly Focus, Frame, Fire, it will force you to conciously think about how you want to frame the shot when you are shooting. In particular, after you focus, examine the edges of the frame. When shooting that statue, did you really want the edge of that picture frame in the shot? Think about what the shot would look like if you stepped a few feet to the left, framed a bit tighter, and put the statue's head closer to the top. You can both eliminate that picture frame and place the beige background squarely behind the statue giving its head some extra pop against the lighter colored background.

schmoo

pathfinder wrote:

Call home, your mom misses you, too

That's advice I've not yet seen given on Dgrin! But I'm sure we can all still benefit from it.

ccpickre

LiquidAir wrote:

I am just guessing here, but it looks to me like you have a little bit of auto-focus disease. Your focus point in both these shots is pretty close to the center of the frame. Practicing focus and recompose is the best way I know to learn framing. If you regularly Focus, Frame, Fire, it will force you to conciously think about how you want to frame the shot when you are shooting. In particular, after you focus, examine the edges of the frame. When shooting that statue, did you really want the edge of that picture frame in the shot? Think about what the shot would look like if you stepped a few feet to the left, framed a bit tighter, and put the statue's head closer to the top. You can both eliminate that picture frame and place the beige background squarely behind the statue giving its head some extra pop against the lighter colored background.

Well, the Statue was one of my first photos taken with my camera for my class in the spring. The cars was MUCH later, probably in early August. So yeah, I probably was thinking a lot more about the car one than the Statue one. But I wasn't trying to get that car perfectly cropped. I just chose to center the guy probably not the way to think about it though.

Yeah, I do rely on auto focus, I don't trust myself with Manual. But I've always done the focus, frame, fire process. I don't know the other ways to set autofocus or metering. I only know the F*F*F method.

That's advice I've not yet seen given on Dgrin! But I'm sure we can all still benefit from it.
Very true. But in my defense, when I called home, dad was out riding his Harley