Most photographers have really great photos on their web pages. I do not. The reason? I've been shooting less than a year, and I want ideas of how I can improve. Within time, hopefully I'll be able to show off some work that will get compliments ... from myself and others.
Here are my friends during a recent trip to New Orleans. I didn't take this picture. Move in closer on the subjects?
Here's a picture of Mitzi, the family dog. Actually, I shot this a long time ago with a Canon point-and-shoot. An example of horrendous exposure.
This is a shot of downtown Appleton, Wis., the city I live in. I shot this from a skywalk with about a one-second exposure or so. Problems: Perhaps stop down and lengthen the exposure? Also, the streetlights practically made it seem like daytime.
This is a very "arresting" photo, wouldn't you say? OK, bad joke. The Appleton Police Department was kind enough to let me ride around with an officer for a day. This day happened to be a quiet one, but they did nab this guy, who was wanted for arson. Problem: BORING!
Door County, Wis. is known for its beautiful sunsets, and I got this one at the Sister Bay harbor. I think the exposure is about 1/2000 at f/22. Problem: This is OK, but maybe a telephoto lens would've helped.
This unsuspecting jogger still doesn't know I ever took his picture. I shot this at Menominee Park in Oshkosh, Wis. Problem: Too far away?
I had to shoot a track meet, and out of a roll of 24 pictures, this was the only one I liked. Problem: Autofocus picked up the hurdle, not the runner.
Do you know how hard it is to shoot something moving 200 mph? Very hard. I panned with the car to get the motion effect. Problem: Again, too far away. Also, the background doesn't really make it look blurred enough.
I don't even know what to say about this one. Learn to focus quickly manually
That's Gary Gerould, who covers Indy Car racing for ESPN. Problem: BIG DEAL!
This is a photo from the first basketball game I ever shot. Problem: Telephoto lens would've helped.
On this shot, I like how I got the ball in the frame just as the batter started her swing. Problem: Forget the catcher and the umpire and get some more of the field.
Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Satriani! Problem: Seems overexposed, but that's because our negative scanner at school doesn't scan slides very well.
Satch is my favorite guitarist. He's the guy who inspired me to start playing the guitar. Problem: If he could only inspire me to take better photos!
Joe probably knows more ways to get sounds out of the guitar than anyone else I've ever seen. Notice the different techniques Satch uses in these three photos. Problem: Same as the other two Satch shots.
Eric Johnson is another awesome player, but he never looks up when he plays! Problem: Too far away. Tough to get an emotional shot out of this guy because he never shows any.
Steve Vai is completely out of his mind. He's psycho. In a good way, though. Problem: Get the face in the shot.
The last time I tried to pick my guitar up by the whammy bar, all the strings broke. Kids, don't try this at home. Problem: A little better, but the color seems off.
By the time I got to this fire, it wasn't too spectacular. So, what to do? Well, I took a photo of a portion of the house that was still burning, then took a shot of a group of firefighters finishing off another part of the house, put the two together, and this is what you get. Obviously, this wouldn't fool anyone.
This photo illustration is supposed to depict how we now have a virtual universe of channels to choose from with cable and satellite TV. I had my faithful assistant Ben hold a remote control and point it at the sky. Then I took photos of different TV shows. I put them together, and came up with this. Problem: Put more TV photos in the sky.
This is the first Steve Vai photo, only with a cloud filter.
Same picture, only this time with an image distortion filter. Cool, huh?!