Christmas images - C&C welcomed and requested :-)

[luvaneezer]

Hi Everyone,
This is my first post in this forum. I new and a bit anxious to put photos out there, but I guess everyone starts there...so here goes.
I would greatly appreciate any and all critiques and comments. My goal is to keep learning. I'm not even sure what to ask for feedback on right now. It will be helpful for me to here suggestions about how to improve each photo, as well as what might be working well as I likely did it by accident and had no idea.
These are a couple of images from a friend's Christmas gathering. I would hope they would convey the lovely, gentle, beautiful, and delightful decorations set about everywhere.
Many thanks, Diane

20141206-PC060900 by luvaneezer, on Flickr

20141206-PC060914 by luvaneezer, on Flickr

20141206-PC060915 by luvaneezer, on Flickr

20141206-PC060916 by luvaneezer, on Flickr

[Shadowman]

Hi Diane,

Welcome to the group. Good start on your images. Can you tell me if these were shot on AUTO mode or if you chose the settings. I like the DOF in the 3rd and 4th image and BOKEH, however there seems to be a lack of clarity in the orbs, not sure if this is from noise or the conditions of the ornaments.

[Mike Buckley]

I would hope they would convey the lovely, gentle, beautiful, and delightful decorations set about everywhere.

You clearly accomplished your goal. The ambiance and interesting compositions very nicely convey what you had hoped.

You mentioned that you don't know what to ask but I have to believe you've probably got some nagging suspicions that you wish a characteristic here or there was a bit different. (We all have them.) You'll learn a lot by thinking that through and asking us about them.

[luvaneezer]

Hi John,
These were shot using Aperture priority. It was indoor in the evening with low light so the ISO was quite high. Might that be it?
By orbs, are you referring to the ornaments? or the Bokeh circles - sorry for my lack of vocabulary here.
There is a ton of EXIF information with the photo - what could I provide that would be helpful?
Diane

[Geoff F]

Images are a bit on the small side, Diane. Which method are you using for uploading? I normally use the Tinypics option which can accept up to 1600 pixels on the longest edge; although I usually tend to upload around 1200 pixels.

Alternatively you can link from photos which are stored on another site.

With regard to these images. Basically OK but I would have done a few things slightly differently. Most photographers have their own opinions and there isn't one definite answer.

I would crop #1 fractionally tighter on the right to remove that out of focus figure, which doesn't add anything except distraction. Which would mean having a different size ratio. Otherwise, I suppose take a balancing amount from the bottom.

#2 looks good although possibly a little on the 'tight' side; but maybe you had to avoid something so there wasn't any other option.

With the baubles, I think I would crop tighter to just have one in sharp focus without the distraction from out of focus objects. Or better still, arrange two or three of them to make a more interesting scene where they are all in sharp focus. If possible, having a narrow aperture would increase your available depth of focus area, but a sufficient shutter speed is still required unless a tripod is used.

I can't get any Exif details from those photos.

[luvaneezer]

Thanks, Geoff.
I uploaded from Flickr.

When I tried uploading to a CIC album, the uploads failed with no clear explanation.

When I tried using tinypics, the photos in the post were huge. Would I need to resize photos prior to using Tinypics for uploading? Any help you can provide regarding uploading better sizes would be appreciated. I have read the help here in the forum, but not found an answer to the Tinypics issue.

There is a ton of EXIF data linked to the pics on Flickr - I'll have to look at how to make that available. Any suggestions there?

Thank you for your comments on the actual shots.
#1: I will re-crop and see how that does
#2: yep - I was avoiding all sorts of junk :-)
Ornaments: too late to re-take those, but I will keep those suggestions in mind -thanks! I will re-crop tighter on one.

Here is a link to the re-croped Flickr post - the EXIF data is available.
https://flic.kr/p/qjG2fp

And here experimenting with a larger Flickr post:20141206-PC060900-1 by luvaneezer, on Flickr

[Shadowman]

Hi John,
These were shot using Aperture priority. It was indoor in the evening with low light so the ISO was quite high. Might that be it?
By orbs, are you referring to the ornaments? or the Bokeh circles - sorry for my lack of vocabulary here.
There is a ton of EXIF information with the photo - what could I provide that would be helpful?
Diane

Hi Diane,

Yes orbs meant ornaments, I tend to use either too many words or too few at times. Yes the high ISO could result in the lack of clarity in the ornaments. Did you use any noise reduction during post processing? Knowing you shot in Aperture Priority and used high ISO is enough, the DOF suggested that you used a wide aperture.

[Mike Buckley]

When I tried using tinypics, the photos in the post were huge.

I'm guessing that you had that impression when previewing the post before actually posting it. In that situation I believe the photos are displayed at the size you are uploading. They will automatically be downsized for display in the published post. When you click that downsized display, a larger size is displayed in the LyteTable. If you then click again, the photo will be displayed at the size that you uploaded.

I always use TinyPics with the files sized to match the native resolution of many monitors and my monitor, which is 1920 x 1080.

[luvaneezer]

Thanks, Mike - good to hear the ambiance comes across to someone viewing these. I will think about what might be nagging me about these and future posts and ask specific questions - great suggestion.
Diane

[luvaneezer]

Hi John,
I would guess the lack of clarity is due to high ISO and perhaps my lack of attention and skill at proper focusing. I think I relied purely on auto-focus and since have discovered the magnification and focus peaking capabilities of my camera - that might help. I did some noise reduction in LR. I did use a wide aperture. Here is a link to the Flickr photo where there seems to be a ton of EXIF data included.
Diane

https://flic.kr/p/qjrCK1

[luvaneezer]

Geoff,
I'll bet that is what happened when I was viewing the upload. I'll give it a try again on the next photo post. Thanks for the information on suggested size.

Is there a preferred method of posting? CIC Album, TinyPics, link to Flickr, BBCode embedded Flickr image?
Diane

Trying a TinyPics upload (max size seems to be 1024x768).

[Mike Buckley]

Is there a preferred method of posting? CIC Album, TinyPics, link to Flickr, BBCode embedded Flickr image?

Nope, except that a lot of people won't review an image if they have to click a link to get to it.

Trying a TinyPics upload (max size seems to be 1024x768).

I regularly upload 1920 x 1080.

[Geoff F]

There is a lot of information on uploading here, Diane.

HELP THREAD: How can I post images here?

I sometimes link from P base if I already have the photo there. The image shows immediately when viewed on CinC.

Your reworking of #1 looks good to me.

[Mike Buckley]

That thread Geoff provided indicates "TinyPic's Max image dimension: 1600 wide - but urge no more than 1000 px tall." That's not an upload limitation; it's a display limitation. I regularly upload images that are 1920 wide and it seems that TinyPic displays them no larger than 1600 wide. I verified this by reviewing a photo I posted last week.

[luvaneezer]

Thanks, Geoff. I read the form note you pointed to but I'll have a look again.
I like the re-crop of #1 better, too!
Diane

[luvaneezer]

Mike - thanks for the clarification - got myself confused on upload vs display sizes. I'll play around with TinyPics again.
I really appreciate everyone's wonderful welcome and help!
Diane

[bnnrcn]

Hi Diane I especially like #3, I'm looking forward to watching more of your images .

[luvaneezer]

Thank you, Binnur.
As I am trying to learn what makes for a good photo - may I ask what about #3 you like? And, if you have suggestions for improving the photos?
I am happy that I found this site - seems like a good group of very skilled photographers. I will need to work on not feeling intimidated :-)
Diane

[mknittle]

Hi Diane, I too like #3 best.
For post processing I have been using Adobe. Photoshop CC and Lightroom 5. For $10.00 on the monthly plan.

[luvaneezer]

Hi Mark,
Thanks! Same question for you if you don't mind sharing. Is there anything in particular I should be aware of in #3 that you like? (so I can learn for future shots). Or, that I could do better?
I am using LR5 and onOne Perfect Photo9 - though I am so very new at each so far.
cheers,
Diane