Just bought a Canon 400D

wiltshireflyer

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Hi all, very new to photography, although I consider myself to have an eye for a good picture and to be able to compose a reasonable shot.

I have just purchased the new 400D Canon and need some advice about shooting air to air shots.

I am a keen aviator and have experimented with taking pictures without choice through a perspex canopy. These shots are mainly of other aircraft in my aerobatic group. I used a polariser on the lense, to capture the blue skies against the aircraft. Can anyone advise me or point me to general setting to use for this type of composure. I tend to find propellers are "frozen" rather than a nice clean arc whilst they are in motion.

On another note, I would like to know what settings to use on a sunset composure, (ie) a shot fully into sun when the sun disc is a glowing red rather than bright yellow. And (I promise to shut up rabbling in a mo) I would also like to know how to compose pictures of people fairly close up with a blurred background both at night and in the daylight.

Your thoughts please? :D
 
Well I can help on the shutter speeds... if you use M or Av you should have your shutter speed set to <1/100 for rotary wing (helos), 1/100-1/160 for fixed wing prop planes, and as fast as possible for jets... that should give you proper prop spin for your shots... welcome to the forum and congrats on the new camera!!
 
Blurred background.

Use low f numbers for the exposure. The lower the f number, the wider the aperture in the lens and the more the background will blur. If running in manual mode, don't forget to compensate by using faster shutter speeds.
 
Hi guys,

Thanks for the tips. I have taken on board all regards the shutter speeds for hi speed props and rotors, im not to familiar with these F numbers though. How do I set these up? Under which menu.?
 
Welcome.

Try a search for basic exposure, aperture & shutter speed. Once you have a basic understanding of these terms...things will start to make sense.

When you half press the shutter button...you should see two numbers. One is the F-number and one is the shutter speed.

F-numbers are how we measure the aperture of the lens (the hole through which the light travels). A bigger aperture is a smaller F number and a smaller aperture is a bigger F number. As mentioned, a big aperture (smaller F-number) will give you a shallow DOF which can help make the background out of focus.
 
OK I with you now. As you will appreciate I am new to photography but very willing to pick up techniques and tips etc. I hope I havent bitten off more than I can chew with this new camera!:D
 
hey Salisbury!!!... i was born there!!!... anyway, dont worry about the basics, ive been doing my coarse for just 2 weeks and the amount thats sunk in is unbelieveable... best way to learn is to just go out there and do it... :)
 
Well Placeonthecorner, nothing has changed in Salisbury. Its still a dump!

Well Ive been playing with this 400D. I went to Cork in Ireland for the weekend in my plane and managed to get some nice shots. I took the night scene below. God knows how I arrived at the settings. Can anyone point out any critisim with the pic? Your comments would be gratefully received. Please note the image is low resolution.

0046a.jpg
 
Your main problem is the levels. The blacks aren't black.

Here's what the levels look like for your picture:

levels.jpg


If you notice, the black point (arrow at the bottom) isn't aligned with the data representing the dark side (the big peak in the graph). If you moved the arrow to the bit where the peak is, then the blacks would be black. You can then adjust the mid-point grey and get some more detail out the image.

After that, a little USM sharpening would help make it pop, and possibly a slight tweak to the contrast and saturation.

If you like, I can post an example?

Rob
 
Well I kind of get what you are saying. Bear in mind I am completely self taught with a camera. I have no formal "training" as it were.

What would I need to adjust in terms of camera setting to achieve what you are saying.? :er:
 

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