Critique Me Please -- Long Time Listener, First Time Caller

RattleThatLock · Mon Mar 29, 2021 2:50 am

I've been browsing this image database for years, but this is the first time I've bothered signing up for the forums.

I know, going into this post, these photos aren't great. I had a miscommunication with my camera settings -- I asked it for "good photos" and it gave me what I dialed in and ignored me otherwise. So I know they're not great images. I'm not expecting these to get in the db, but I would appreciate some good, useful suggestions from you veterans, screeners, veteran screeners, et al.

Let the shredding commence.

Kaphias · Mon Mar 29, 2021 3:51 am

What camera/lens are you using?

My standard advice: sun at your back in the morning or evening, slow moving or still subject that is close to you.

RattleThatLock · Mon Mar 29, 2021 1:16 pm

Thanks, Kaphias.
I'm using a Canon 550D with a Tamron 70-210 f/4 DI VC USD.
I did have the sun at my back, but that's good advice. The previous day, I'd taken several photos of a C-130 doing touch and goes. I was shooting on Aperture Priority and the shutter speed was way too fast (I wasn't thinking about it, shooting aircraft isn't what I usually do). This day, I shot with a slower shutter speed -- but it was too slow, and most of the images were garbage, unusable. These seemed the best of a bad lot, but I'm still getting my feet wet with this. So who better to ask than the gurus behind the lenses here at airliners.net?

I mean, in poking around the forums, there seem to be a few conflicting criteria/a lot of subjectivity among the screeners about cropping, lighting, etc. But overall, I'm hoping to pick the brains of those more skilled than I.

Thanks for your time!

dutchspotter1 · Mon Mar 29, 2021 2:21 pm

I'm sorry but what exactly is your question? If you've been looking at the photos on this website for years it shouldn't be too hard to notice the difference between the photos on this website and yours. First I would suggest to read the manual of your camera and lens and make sure your settings are right. Then try to pick a good (time of) day as mentioned above and just try to take photos with a fast shutter speed (1/800 or faster). Sharpness is one of the key elements in photography and the above photos are quite blurry. Once you get the sharpness right you can focus on composition, getting the a/c large enough and in the center of the frame. And once you get that right you can look at photo editing (adjusting lighting, cropping, etc).
Hope this helps!

RattleThatLock · Mon Mar 29, 2021 2:45 pm

Hiya, dutchspotter1,
I don't really have a specific question, per se. I'm mostly saying "hullo" and looking for some general tips on improvement. I've been coming here for years to look at photos, but it's not a daily ritual or anything like that (I haven't visited in while). I had some photos I took, wasn't thrilled with them/knew they're not great, and figured this would be a good place to get some pointers. I'm not looking to submit these examples.

As a rule, are panning shots discouraged?

I know the shutter setting was too slow. As I mentioned above, I was looking to counter the frozen prop effect and overcompensated. Any suggestions for getting sharp images overall but retaining prop movement?

dutchspotter1 · Mon Mar 29, 2021 6:19 pm

I'd suggest to start with the basic skills of aviation photography first and not bother with panning shots and prop blur at this point.

JakTrax · Wed Mar 31, 2021 10:15 pm

Panning shots aren't discouraged; in fact probably more encouraged.

The problem with forums such as this is that you'll get a broad range of opinions — many of them not incorrect per se but rather too specific to be of any real use to a beginner. 'What settings should I use?' is a subjective question and it really depends on your personal preferences, available light and what and when you want to shoot. There's also the false claim that you should always shoot in RAW, and while RAW gives you more control over the ultimate image it isn't always the best format to use.

Reading your camera's manual is good advice — learn how photography works and you'll have a far better understanding of why your images aren't coming out exactly how you want them. You won't actually learn much by taking a lot of the advice here, like 'use f/8 and shoot at over 1/640th of a second'. Decent enough general advice but you could follow that rule for 10 years without even beginning to understand the photographic process. And for something like a sunset shot that advice goes totally out the window...

Just to add, you're far better off having a ridiculously fast shutter speed than one that's too slow, causing blurry images. It's often cited that a super-fast shutter has a degrading effect on image quality but that's largely nonsense — the only issue with extremely fast speeds is that exposure becomes harder to precisely nail.

Karl

RattleThatLock · Thu Apr 01, 2021 1:10 am

I appreciate the feedback, JakTrax. I recognize these are not great photos, I would rather have something interesting in the picture, like panning. Thanks for clarifying that for me. I didn't see a way to search the DB for panning shots specifically. You are right about forums as well... I am not surprised the responses have been been overwhelmingly helpful. It's a huge topic

It's clear I've contributed to the confusion here -- I'm not asking for settings advice. I mentioned settings because the day before I took these, I had been shooting a C-130 in Aperture Priority (this is how I usually shoot). When I checked out the images, I realized I'd goofed: super-quick shutter speed froze the props in the images. So when I went out the following day, I set my camera to shutter priority and just happened to set it too low. Another goof. I just have to dial it in -- I'm quite familiar with my camera and how to use it. But shooting airplanes is a new endeavour. I figured picking the collective minds here would be a good place to start. I'm not surprised the responses are geared toward the "newbie just bought a camera" -- that's forums. I leave my Feeling in my other jeans so it doesn't get hurt; but given I'd asked too broad a question to elicit as much advice as possible, I'd considered asking for this post to be removed/locked.

It's my fault for not being specific about what I want to know -- but I'm still working out what I need to know to ask. The biggest problem with communication is the illusion it has occurred.

Vielen Dank, all.

Critique Me Please -- Long Time Listener, First Time Caller

Critique Me Please -- Long Time Listener, First Time Caller

Re: Critique Me Please -- Long Time Listener, First Time Caller

Re: Critique Me Please -- Long Time Listener, First Time Caller

Re: Critique Me Please -- Long Time Listener, First Time Caller

Re: Critique Me Please -- Long Time Listener, First Time Caller

Re: Critique Me Please -- Long Time Listener, First Time Caller

Re: Critique Me Please -- Long Time Listener, First Time Caller

Re: Critique Me Please -- Long Time Listener, First Time Caller

Who is online

Popular Searches On Airliners.net