Help with the basics please!

[stradawhovious]

I tried my hand at taking some pictures that are above and beyond point and shoot today. Almost for the first time. I was at a friendly pistol competition, and recorded what I saw. Unfortunately, my score suffered................. But I still had fun.

Please take a look at these shots and help me understand what yout feel would have made them better in regards to compisition, focus, etc.

Thanks!

[Ads]

PhotoForum.com is a leading Photography Forum, Registered users do not see these ads. Register, it's free!

[DSRay]

The first shot is good, but maybe instead of the man being center frame he could be to the right and his intention (target) could be on the left.

The second and third both need more depth of field (DOF) which comes from a smaller aperture (bigger f number).

Great first try keep it up.

[Jon Robert]

1st shot:
Boring documentary photo. No clue as to who what when where or why as far as my personal world goes. As a documentary it is meaningless to me. Therefore I need to view it as art. So let's try to turn it into an artistic expression. Do a radical angle crop. Tilt the framing left and the man right accentuating his right falling movement. I think we are getting to the point that I am now interested. The crop edge might be as much as a 45 degree angle. Impossible to display the 4x6 print traditionally thus it must be art.

Photo #2
Great shot if I were interested in the details of a hat band. But I am not. How to salvage this photo and make me interested? I'm not sure I could but maybe this:
Crop 1/3 off the top
crop 1/3 off the bottom
crop right down the middle.
The result is I obviously see a man from the back in focus but now I am startled to slowly spot the gun in the "Bokeh" of the very small background. I see nothing off the original background and must now leave it to mystery what is going on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh

Shot #3 is similar to number 2 where the focus point is not settling to me. I'd rather see the bullet or the gun or the target in focus rather than the ear muffs.

[floatswitch]

#1, due to the overall scenery you'd almost need a description to tell what it's about where he is what he's doing, otherwise i'd think it was po' mans baseball.

#2, as stated previously needs more DOF, however this one would have been nice if the focal point was the gun and the guy was slightly OOF.

#3, same as #2, however i think if this one was all in focus would have rocked with a bit of PP to make the shell pop more.