first critique please

[caleb7mm]

please go easy on me, this is the 3rd photo ive ever taken with a DSLR. I am as new as they get.

thanks!

[Frog]

Hi, Caleb!
This looks like an interesting place. Is it one of the old Florida forts?
One thing to think of is that it is usually better to do do your shooting in the early morning or late evening when the light and color are softer. Here you have shot in bright full sun and everything looks rather flat.
You've also included a great deal in your photo with the trees, the fort, the flat area to the right, and yet, I don't know what to look at. Something in a photo needs to grab the viewers eye either by composition, or focus, or a combination thereof.
Keep shooting and try to put some drama into your shots. From what I can see, that corner of the wall looks quite interesting.

[caleb7mm]

thanks frog, yes it is the fort at st augustine FL, the oldest city in the US. Lots to look at but I got very overwhelmed trying to pick something to shoot and only ended up shooting 28 pics today and I didnt like any of them, very frustrating and a waste of a day.

[mn shutterbug]

It wasn't a waste of a day. You learned what you don't like, right? Because of that, next time you'll attempt something differerent.

[Sushigaijin]

My criticism, and one to myself also (as I fumble through landscape shots too)

Watch the proportion of sky to land. If you have an interesting sky, you can include a lot of it. If not, best to make the shot mostly ground. For a landscape that might mean standing on something and shooting at a downward angle.

Of course, that's only in most cases, not all.

[jetrim]

Welcome to the forum! First, what you got right - Exposure is good and it's in focus, 2/3rds of the battle won

Composition is difficult for nearly everyone, but there are a few things to keep in mind when searching for a shot. Try to include just enough to tell a story without including too much unimportant stuff (and ALWAYS remember to only try to tell one story at a time!) When you're shooting, walk around your intended subject for a while and explore all the possible angles (Yesterday I took 28 shots of a bee on a flower to get 3 or 4 I liked). I see several really nice shots contained within the one you posted if you were a little closer, a little more to the left, crouched down looking up at the wall/turret, etc... and if I recall correctly, they have huge floodlights that illuminate those walls once sunset rolls around, which also makes for cool shots if you're able to stick around that long. The idea is that you don't really need to show 400' of wall for others to understand it's a fort - show 30' and the turret and people will understand immediately. That crooked tree in the foreground has tons of potential too, but not in a shot where it is competing for attention with the fort (use depth of field to make the fort less important).

[danic]

+1 to what Jetrim said. Composition is something a lot of people suffer with.

I won't add a lot more to what everyone else has said. BUT, I will say this. Have a look at the gallery of photo, whether it be landscape, macro, whatever and see what you like in them. Then try and incorporate those things you like in their photo's, into your photo's.

Keep shooting!

[caleb7mm]

thanks guys! Like I said im new to all this and wanting to soak up as much as I can. I am going to try and go back to the fort next week and do it again in the mean time I will keep shooting around here.

thanks for all the wisom, I read every word.

caleb