Sunflowers
Saturday I tried my first photo workshop.This is different form the classes I took last fall. A workshop is basically a phot field trip wiht a professional photographer.So I got up at 4:30am Yes you heard me 4 am to head over to a Sunflower field on a wildlife management center in MD
Over all I learned a lot .Did not get as many good shots as I would have liked but I had a few tripod and camera issues .The tripod I managed to fix half way through .The one downside I am finding to a lot of these workshops is that the instructors mostly shoot with Nikon and a few with Canon.So far have yet to come across one the shoots Olympus which is what I have. Which means if there is a problem beyond the basic camera function and settings they are not familiar enough .That being said with a some tips and help from the instructor I did get a few good pictures
.Also part of the workshop is to send him 2 pictures for critique .So I sent 2 and got my feedback today . I got one good comment and one comment on improving .Actually I sent both thinking there would be elements he would suggest improvements on
So I thought I would put the 2 sent for critique up here with his comments
Instructor comments
"First, I like the layering effect with the out of focus flower in the front. This makes a nice composition. However, the main flower is a "little" out of focus. I'm sure that you took more than one image, so check for a sharp one. If you did not, it's a lesson learned-always take more than shot of the subject." (Unfortuantly I did not .This is where I had issues with the shutter being slow in aperture priority .Although I did take the same shoot just a a foot or so further away)
Instructor comments
"Wow! This is a striking image. The backlighting and the background really accentuate the water droplets. Also, your image is technically well done-very sharp and a great specimen for a close-up."
(cool I actually expected to be told I could have done something better here to )
And to finish these were not critiqued but are my favorites
I just liked the mottled blue I got in the background
Somehow I almost expect to see faces
Over all I learned a lot .Did not get as many good shots as I would have liked but I had a few tripod and camera issues .The tripod I managed to fix half way through .The one downside I am finding to a lot of these workshops is that the instructors mostly shoot with Nikon and a few with Canon.So far have yet to come across one the shoots Olympus which is what I have. Which means if there is a problem beyond the basic camera function and settings they are not familiar enough .That being said with a some tips and help from the instructor I did get a few good pictures
.Also part of the workshop is to send him 2 pictures for critique .So I sent 2 and got my feedback today . I got one good comment and one comment on improving .Actually I sent both thinking there would be elements he would suggest improvements on
So I thought I would put the 2 sent for critique up here with his comments
Instructor comments
"First, I like the layering effect with the out of focus flower in the front. This makes a nice composition. However, the main flower is a "little" out of focus. I'm sure that you took more than one image, so check for a sharp one. If you did not, it's a lesson learned-always take more than shot of the subject." (Unfortuantly I did not .This is where I had issues with the shutter being slow in aperture priority .Although I did take the same shoot just a a foot or so further away)
Instructor comments
"Wow! This is a striking image. The backlighting and the background really accentuate the water droplets. Also, your image is technically well done-very sharp and a great specimen for a close-up."
(cool I actually expected to be told I could have done something better here to )
And to finish these were not critiqued but are my favorites
I just liked the mottled blue I got in the background
Somehow I almost expect to see faces