Learning to use my DSLR - feedback welcome

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allotropic

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Al
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I recently joined the forum and got my first DSLR, a Canon 450D.

As a way of learning and becoming better I'm going to try and use my camera most days and thought I'd put some of my photo's up.

I'd appreciate feedback and suggestions as it can only help me get better. I'm also trying to use Lightroom so and PP tips would also be great.

1. My first manual mode shot. (Day 1)


2. My attempt at a short DOF in the wild. (Day 2)


3. Some trees in the fog. (Day 2)




4. After playing my bass I thought I would try a neck shot. (Day 4)
 
Great start, as an excersize #1 looks fine.

Maybe #2 could be towards the to third of the shot.

#3a not fussed at all, #3b is nice, think it needs a bit of playing with, plus rule of thirds would improve composition.

5307128885_ffbff2cd8e.jpg


#4 looks like the WB (white balance may be out) not that I think it matters that much on that shot.

Hope this helps
 
Thanks for you thoughts, it's appreciated.

I agree the composition of #2 could be better.

I like what you did with the tree in the fog. Can you give me some tips on what you did other than cropping?

You are right with the fourth image, I'd been playing with the camera last night and set the WB to Tungsten, here's a adjusted version.

 
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I think 3b is the best. I'd probably try an stick with IS0200 for landscape rather than iso400 if possible. I like the minimalism of it. Presumably you tripod shot it at 1/30s? If handholding I try and use 1/250 or 1/125 as a minimum.

I think #2 possibly has a slightly "complex" bokeh. Bokeh is more effective when it's smoother, and some backgrounds seem to blur better than others.
 
allotropic said:
I like what you did with the tree in the fog. Can you give me some tips on what you did other than cropping?
Click to expand...

Looks like a bit of contrast adjustment and perhaps a black&white conversion or desaturation? To me it looks like there's a slight bit of colour in the original that's missing in the edit.

The main thing Lee did there was to crop the image to follow the rule of thirds - in his edit the ground takes up roughly 1/3 of the shot, and the tree is positioned about 1/3 of the way in from the edge. It's a very tried and tested form of composition that generally produces a pretty pleasing effect - once you start thinking about the composure of the shot more you'll probably find you start to do it more in the camera rather than relying on crops but either way is good if you end up with a decent shot!


Sounds like you're off to a good start with your photography anyway, getting to grips with exposure in different light and the relationship between aperture and depth-of-field is the perfect way to learn how the camera works and what the results will be. Good luck and keep posting shots here, we don't bite!





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incapete said:
Looks like a bit of contrast adjustment and perhaps a black&white conversion or desaturation? To me it looks like there's a slight bit of colour in the original that's missing in the edit.

The main thing Lee did there was to crop the image to follow the rule of thirds - in his edit the ground takes up roughly 1/3 of the shot, and the tree is positioned about 1/3 of the way in from the edge. It's a very tried and tested form of composition that generally produces a pretty pleasing effect - once you start thinking about the composure of the shot more you'll probably find you start to do it more in the camera rather than relying on crops but either way is good if you end up with a decent shot!


Sounds like you're off to a good start with your photography anyway, getting to grips with exposure in different light and the relationship between aperture and depth-of-field is the perfect way to learn how the camera works and what the results will be. Good luck and keep posting shots here, we don't bite!





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Click to expand...

Just about covers it :thumbs:
 
boliston said:
I think 3b is the best. I'd probably try an stick with IS0200 for landscape rather than iso400 if possible. I like the minimalism of it. Presumably you tripod shot it at 1/30s? If handholding I try and use 1/250 or 1/125 as a minimum.
Click to expand...

Thanks, It's taken at 1/30 at f/22, iso400, 55mm zoom, hand held as I don't have a tripod (yet). I agree the background of image 2 is a bit busy.

Thanks to incapete and ki_user for the PP tips, Al.
 
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allotropic said:
It's taken at 1/30 at f/22, iso400, 55mm zoom, hand held as I don't have a tripod (yet).
Click to expand...

Couple of observations on that lot... ISO 400 is usually the highest I'll let myself shoot at so to keep the risk of noise down you can probably afford to reduce that a bit, at the same time 1/30 is quite a slow shutter speed to use hand-held but you've also used a very small aperture so you've got loads of room to adjust things.

There's a general rule that hand-holding under 1/60s is tricky to keep the shot sharp and, for longer lenses, try to keep it to faster than 1/focal length - so if you shot with a 200mm zoom the fastest you can shoot hand-held would be 1/200s.

Take a look at the following sets of equivalent exposures, each of these will produce the same exposure as your shot
ISO 400, f22, 1/30s (your shot)
ISO 200, f16, 1/30s - reducing the ISO by 1 stop (400 => 200) is balanced by opening up the aperture 1 stop (f22 => f16)
ISO 200, f8, 1/125s - speeding up the the shutter speed by 2 stops (1/30s => 1/60s => 1/125s) is balanced by opening up the aperture another 2 stops (f16 => f8)

the last set of values gives the same exposure as the first but with less digital noise, less chance of camera shake and less risk of diffraction from the tiny aperture. An aperture of f8 is actually plenty for a shot like that.

Have a look at this little calculator to have a play with the settings - or just try it out in your camera!





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Al,

Welcome to TP - whereabouts in Norfolk are you?

Some of the Norfolk lot get together on a reasonably regular basis for a few hours or a days "togging" - everyone and anyone of all abilities is welcome - keep an eye on the "meets" threads.........

Couple of comments/observations on the photos.

1) now it;s possible yuo live in an old cottage with wonky walls but if you don't the line of the two walls meeting should be vertical (unless it's a Barrett new build, in which case it's fine!)

2) as mentioned above - a bit more of the subject in the frame but nice DOF

3) a and b, do nothing for me

4) with corrected white balance - yeah that kind of works - nice and symmetrical and balanced........ if it were me (and this is only my choice and style) I would have had one of the fret's tack sharp, not the neck between 2 frets. That though is just personal opinion.
 
Wow, great tips, thanks for taking the time to put that together Pete.

Wish it wasn't dark outside, I now want to go and play.
 
Thanks for the feedback Lynton.

I'm about 10 miles south of Norwich. I'll keep my eye's on the "meets" threads, it'd be good to mix with more experienced folks.

Fair cop on #1 ;)

I'll give your suggestion on #4 a go and see what it looks like.
 
Here's an image from today, it was taken about 30 minutes before sunset, and a it was a bit underexposed so it's had a fair amount of tweaking.



Thoughts appreciated.
 
What were your thoughts with that shot? If it was an exercise in exposure and processing then it looks good, otherwise it's just a bit of an odd subject!
 
I thought it would make an interesting image. But on reflection it didn't work.
 
Hi folks, I've been without a PC since January, but I'm now back online.

I've not has much free time when light has been available, but now we have brighter evenings I hope to get out a bit more.
 
I've added some kit to my collection in the last week (thanks to the birthday fairies).

Redsnapper RS-284 Tripod and RSH-24 3-way head - not used it properly yet.
Canon 50mm f1.8 II - which I had a play with earlier today.
B&W ND110 filter - I hope to get out to the coast next weekend

So here are some shots using the Nifty fifty, comments appreciated as it'll help me get better.

7. Nudge the cat



8. Cheeky cat!

 
Vikki - I may try and catch up and then join in on the Photo52, thanks for the suggestion.

Pete - cheers.

Martin - Thanks for the nice comment.
 
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