Wasp's nest

[topol]

Three shots of a wasp's nest, taken last year.
Camera was on auto as far as I can remember. Hand held, but using EVF so it was "steadied".

ETA - Picture Mode - Aperture-priority AE

Critique, please.

Wasps Nest (2) by taffopol, on Flickr
ƒ/8.0
89.5 mm
1/10
ISO 64

Wasps Nest (1) by taffopol, on Flickr
ƒ/5.6
24.2 mm
1/42
ISO 64

Wasps Nest Location by taffopol, on Flickr
ƒ/5.6
24.2 mm
1/45
ISO 64

[Shadowman]

Very alien like. Nice capture.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Norm,

Well, they're good 'record', or documentary, shots, but is that enough, since you asked for critique?

Given that we're all here to improve our photography, I hope you don't mind me saying (for me) they have little compositional merit, I say that (perhaps too harshly) because:

a) the nest is so centred in all three shots
b) they all look to have been taken from almost the same place, just with different zoom settings

Why did I say those things:

a) I'm not sure whether you have the ability to shift the focus point off centre with your camera, that's one way to focus on the subject and yet not have it dead centre of frame. Another technique is called 'focus and recompose', which can be employed on almost any camera.
b) A keen photographer should always 'work the scene', which means not just taking shots from a standing position; shoot from low down, or high up, for more complex subjects (like the chestnuts), arrange compositions with regard to foreground and more distant elements of the subject.

Now I appreciate there may be a few factors that could well have prevented you from 'working the scene' in this case; e.g. the foreground extension limiting angle of view - unless you could have got up on the roof by ladder - but that won't be possible if the nest and extension belongs to a neighbour or there are safety issues with getting up there, either from the wasps or just the height.

The exposure is down on #2, it could have been raised in post processing quite easily I feel, presenting a uniform exposure in a series of shots is fairly essential.


I hope you don't feel I have been too blunt, the last thing I want to do is discourage you, and I hope you realise that I wouldn't spend over 30 minutes putting these thoughts in to words if it wasn't with the aim of helping you.

I'm sure it is within your ability to improve - the ideas you'll learn over the first few weeks here will stand you in good stead for years to come. You'll also soon discover that we all learn far more from our mistakes than from the better pictures we take.

That said, I have hundreds of record shots of my house (just like these) and if that was the sole purpose of these, then my comments above don't really apply - although you (and/or others) may still find them helpful in other situations.

Dave

[Geoff F]

With the first shot your camera has selected too slow a shutter speed so there is some blur. OK with the second image using a slightly faster shutter. Possibly just a fraction more highlight brightness?

And the last one nicely shows the overall scene.

[topol]

Thanks to all for your advice, and the time spent compiling it.

They were "record" shots just to show the family, but that's no excuse for poor photography - so I blame my inexperience!
The third shot was just meant to put the nest into a better perspective size-wise.

There was room to "work the scene" except for height - ladders are a no-no for me, as is leaning out of windows!
I put the concept of "one hand for you and one for the job" behind me many years ago!

I can shift the focus point off centre, but as with focus and recompose, it's something I haven't yet tried.

[Rebel]

A very alien-like strange and complex structure! Thanks for sharing.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Norm,

They were "record" shots just to show the family, but that's no excuse for poor photography - so I blame my inexperience!
The third shot was just meant to put the nest into a better perspective size-wise.

There was room to "work the scene" except for height - ladders are a no-no for me, as is leaning out of windows!
I put the concept of "one hand for you and one for the job" behind me many years ago!

I can shift the focus point off centre, but as with focus and recompose, it's something I haven't yet tried.

Well it looks like it was worth you posting and me replying, even if I did go somewhat overboard (sorry)

I'm not sure I totally agree with "that's no excuse for poor photography", there's little point in spending too much time just for record shots. However they've now served a second purpose.

With photography (probably same for most things in life), the more you know, the more you realise how much more there is, that you still don't know