Question on the colors

[Newbthatwantstogetbetter]

Hi. I am a newb that wants to get better, so I have a few questions for "the more experienced" people on this forum. I have a Canon Rebel Ti, that i just bought, and the regular kit lens that came with it. I love my camera, but I am sort of disappointed in the turnout of my photos. They just seem "dull'. I think dull is the right word. For example, when someone on this board posts their picture of a flower bed (i am interested in nature) the colors of the flowers are BURSTING and vibrant. If I were to take that picture, mine just turns out "...eh". I was not sure if it was my film or it was the camera or what. So I asked my neighbor who is a few months into photography.

My neighbor tells me that the reason mine aren't turning out beautiful, are because of my aperture. I usually shoot on the setting of my camera that is "M" for manual. I have no clue what to do for my aperture settings. My extent of knowledge of apertures goes to about light. Also, he says that different films will bring out different colors. I usualy just use Kodak Max Versatility ISO 400 or ISO 800. That is it. Can someone please help me out?

[TPF Sponsor]

[terri]

Welcome to TPF!

You owe it to yourself to learn the basics of photography. You have a great little camera that will take beautiful, colorful shots for you, but you need to understand the relationship between aperture and shutter speed. And yes, good quality film helps.

Pick up a beginner's photography book and practice what they're showing you. Within a roll or two, the light will come on and your shooting will improve. Visit a photography store and ask for professional grade films.

If you like to shoot slide film, try Fuji for saturated color. It's hard to go wrong with that stuff.

Any local college might offer photography classes in your area, as well. It's a great way to learn because you'll be given assignments and can view your own results, and those of your fellow students.

Allow yourself some time to learn - don't rush.

And keep coming here with specific questions. Tons of folks here and we're all ready to help!

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum,

As Terri says, a good beginner book would be a good idea to get you started.

It seems a little odd that you would start shooting in Manual mode, most people would start in fully auto mode (P or Rectangle). But hey, that's a great way to learn.

Another thing, the way your prints look depends a lot on the printer (the machine and the lab tech). So do your best to expose the shot well, and then make sure the lab prints it how you like it (it helps if you take it to a good lab and not just Wal-mart.)

[j_mcquillen]

I agree with Terri & Mike's advice about getting to grips with the basics, but thought I'd post a couple of quick tips / pointers as well...

1) Choice of aperture alone is unlikely to effect the colour / vibrancy of your images, but exposure might. If you select the wrong aperture for your chosen film and shutter speed, then your exposure will be off. Over-exposed images will tend to have a 'washed-out' look to them, while under-exposure make images dark and 'muddy'.

2) Rather than jumping straight in at manual, try setting your camera to 'Aperture' priority if it has one (usually marked as 'A'). This will allow you to choose the aperture for your image, depending on the effect you are going for, but will leave the camera to figure out the correct shutter speed to go with it.

3) Film choice: as a general rule, fast films (those with higher ISO numbers, such as 400 or 800) have less saturated / vibrant colours than slow films (such as ISO 100). Faster films also tend to give more 'grain' in the image, and are less sharp. If a fast shutter speed is not essential for the type of photo you want to take (such as flowers... as long as its not too windy, they're not really going anywhere ), then try using a slower film for vibrant colour.

As Terri mentioned, for the ultimate in sharpness and colour saturation, you could try using slide film, but until you're really comfortable with your camera controls, exposure, etc, I'd reccommend staying with regular negatives, as these are a bit more forgiving of mistakes.

[Newbthatwantstogetbetter]

oooh ok. I was just looking at lenses that offer a bigger f-stop. the one i have now, is 2.8-4 and the one im looking at is 2.8-22. its is 75 bucks. do you think that that would make the pictures better?

[Unimaxium]

First, if you don't understand the basics of exposure (aperture, shutter speed, and ISO), then try shooting in P mode or Full Auto mode instead of Manual. This way the camera will be able to decide better for you what settings to use.

Second, go out and learn the basics. Read through this forum, search on Google, read a book on Photography, etc. This will really help you understand what is going on inside your camera and what all those numbers you see mean. To start out, check out here for info on exposure, or here for a detailed explanation of the aperture. this site also appears to have some good information.

Then, once you understand your camera and everything it can do, you can start shooting in manual mode and get nicer photos.

And as for color and vibrancy, there are much better films than what you are using to get nice colors. One of the best out there is Fuji Velvia ISO-50. But it's a slide film and as such is more demanding of proper exposure (it's just a characteristic of slide film). A good negative (print) film is Fuji Superia Reala (ISO 100).

[will turner]

use lower iso film and longer shutter speeds, a tripod will also help with this but you wouldnt need to use it for anything under 125 or mabey even 60, but it will help with composure also, so a tripod is a good thing to look into.

[j_mcquillen]

I was just looking at lenses that offer a bigger f-stop. the one i have now, is 2.8-4 and the one im looking at is 2.8-22.

I think you might be getting mixed up here - I think what the f2.8-f.4 on your current lens refers to is the maximum aperture at both ends of the zoom... say your lens is a 28-80mm zoom, the maximum aperture at the 28mm end (the wide-angle end... zoomed out) will be f2.8. At the 80mm end of the lens (zoomed right in), the maximum aperture will be f4. The minimum apertures for the lens are still likely to be f22 and f27, or something around there.

The f2.8-22 on the new lens you are looking at will refer to the max and min apertures, rather than just the max aperture at different focal lengths (zooms).

do you think that that would make the pictures better?

Buying a new lens will not necessarily make your pictures better... familiarising yourself with your camera, learning about composition, lighting, exposure and film choice will definitely help you improve your pictures. Only then should you really think about buying new lenses.