Critique some pictures

[996GT2]

We went to Baltimore's inner harbor for JHU orientation yesterday, and I took a ton of pictures at the aquarium, science museum, and WTC Baltimore.

Please give a newcomer to photography some comments and advice on the pictures below:

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2
3
4
5
6
7
8

 

[Brainonska511]

Hm... I almost went to JHU but chose the University of Chicago instead.

The pictures look pretty good, though the night shot looks like there is some reflection off a window you shot it through.

 

[ghostman]

Those night shots look rather grainy. I take it that you were hand-holding and bumped up the ISO (or let the camera decide). If you had a tripod or could rest the camera somewhere sturdy, you can take the shot with lower ISO but longer shutter speed. The first shot might actually benefit from a long shutter speed, as the water would smooth out.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: ghostman
Those night shots look rather grainy. I take it that you were hand-holding and bumped up the ISO (or let the camera decide). If you had a tripod or could rest the camera somewhere sturdy, you can take the shot with lower ISO but longer shutter speed. The first shot might actually benefit from a long shutter speed, as the water would smooth out.

I had to use 800-1250 ISO because I couldn't use a flash inside the aquarium and the fish were moving so I couldn't use a tripod with a really slow shutter...I guess that's the compromise though

 

[GoSharks]

Do they still do the Playfair thing for orientation? Thats all I remember from mine lol. That and a failed "club night."

 

[996GT2]

Yeah they have the playfair thing...I have no clue why they need everyone to take off their shoes (ew), but they do.

No club night anymore, presumably because of the reason you listed above lol

 

[Markbnj]

Yeah, other than the high-ISO noise in the first shot I think you did really well. Some of the aquarium shots are great. Btw, that's pretty much my favorite aquarium, and one of my favorite parts of it doesn't have anything to do with fish.

 

[Funyuns101]

Originally posted by: 996GT2
Yeah they have the playfair thing...I have no clue why they need everyone to take off their shoes (ew), but they do.

No club night anymore, presumably because of the reason you listed above lol

yeah, I graduated in 06... the 07 class had a lot of "issues" at club night and it was scratched since then. Playfair is just stupid, silly icebreakers.
Have fun, there isn't terribly much to do in Baltimore.

Btw, I think I saw your other post about not getting into the Photography class... you probably won't be able to get into until at least sophomore or junior year as it fills pretty quickly. Seniors pick classes first and frosh last.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: Funyuns101

Originally posted by: 996GT2
Yeah they have the playfair thing...I have no clue why they need everyone to take off their shoes (ew), but they do.

No club night anymore, presumably because of the reason you listed above lol

yeah, I graduated in 06... the 07 class had a lot of "issues" at club night and it was scratched since then. Playfair is just stupid, silly icebreakers.
Have fun, there isn't terribly much to do in Baltimore.

Btw, I think I saw your other post about not getting into the Photography class... you probably won't be able to get into until at least sophomore or junior year as it fills pretty quickly. Seniors pick classes first and frosh last.

Actually, I did manage to get in...a spot opened up and I dropped my expository writing class (I'll take that next semester) to take it this semester. I had to buy a D70 at the last minute since I already sold my XTi thinking I didn't want to let it sit and get obsolete in a year, but it was worth it.

The rest of my schedule is science and math classes, so I think it's good to have something different to balance out the schedule.

 

[GoSharks]

Getting way OT here but for future reference, a lot of professors are a lot more lenient on the class size restriction than you think they would be. For example, Microfabrication lab had an entire section added on to it because there were so many people that showed up for the first class. It's a really popular class because it can count towards many of your engineering requirements.

Regarding your pictures: rules are meant to be broken, but take a look into the Rule of thirds

 

[MyThirdEye]

I like them all except for number 8.

 

[sivart]

Originally posted by: amjohns5
I like them all except for number 8.

Hmm....I thought just the opposite. I liked #8 the best, all the others seemed rather average.

Just goes to show that photography is an art form. As long as the OP likes them, that's all that really matters.

 

[OdiN]

1 - Not sure what you're going for here - for a skyline it's rather bland, and there is a lot of noise in the dark areas that I would try to clean up.

2 - It's out of focus. Possibly caused by dirty glass of the tank. Subject is centered perfectly just about - not good composition. It's okay as a snapshot.

3/4 - litte better focus, nothing really stands out.

5 - better focus, subject is cut off at the top.

6 - Out of focus, depth of field I think was too shallow, subject cut off, a bit more interesting though.

7 - Why did you take this? Really, that's a good question to ask yourself when taking a picture. Again building almost smack in the middle, no detail in it.

8 - Pretty much same as 7.