Critique my pics?

[H@rry]

I just got a D40 and I took it with me on my morning walk around the 'hood and shot what I saw. All the pics were taken with the kit lens. The flowers were make with Macro setting and the rest was with Aperture priority. I posted them on another forum and somebody told me the bokeh in my flowers is too well defined (but didn't say what bokeh was or what to do about it).

I'm a newbie to DSLR so I welcome all comments and help. Don't worry about hurting my feelings, I need to learn.

Thanx
H@rry

 

[H@rry]

 

[H@rry]

 

[roshi719]

Looks like you could use a little work on your focusing. make sure you brace the camera against yourself or something, and hold as still as possible. Other than that they look pretty decent. Since you are digital my only other suggestion is to shoot one shot on as many different settings as possible to learn what they all do. take as many shots as you can, you'll always come up with at least a few that are worth keeping. Plus, the more you shoot the better you will get.

 

[roshi719]

Also learn to use the rule of thirds in composing your shots and they will become much more interesting. I.E. they will draw in the viewer.

 

[H@rry]

I understand the rule of thirds, but would that apply to macro shots of flowers?

 

[iani]

Also it looks like in post processing you are over saturating/over sharpening the pictures.

 

[JuniorMC8704]

The rule of thirds applies to all photography with the exception of say wedding photography, and item stock photography.

There are also several other rules that can used in its place.

The golden triangle, and the golden spiral for example. Ill try and get a shot in the next few days that represents these rules.

I understand the rule of thirds, but would that apply to macro shots of flowers?

 

[H@rry]

Also it looks like in post processing you are over saturating/over sharpening the pictures.

How can you tell that? Which picture shows an example of that?

 

[cparka23]

So you are using post processing? The one in my eyes that was the most over-sharpened was dsc_1398_2.jpg. I'm guessing it's a closeup of crape myrtle.

Some of the pictures are out of focus as roshi719 pointed out. In the picture I mentioned above, the flower stamens on the left are actually in better focus than those in the center of the picture. Likely due to movement when taking the photo. Another example, the picture above it is focused on the leaf on the left edge rather than the fruit in the center.

I saw a demo by Ken Rockwell in which he showed his shooting posture for situations where a tripod isn't an option. It felt very uncomfortable when I first tried it, but the pictures got better. Basically, you pull your shoulder close to your chin and tuck your elbow into your chest/side, letting the camera rest lightly on your shoulder (just touching, really) and bringing your eye to the viewfinder. Don't know if it's as comfortable on a D40 as for larger camera bodies, but you might give it a try. It's a good one-handed shooting technique, too.

 

[Ibn]

How can you tell that? Which picture shows an example of that?

There's a few in there. You can tell just by looking.

I pulled one for you. If you take a look at the levels, you can see clipping on all three channels.