New member...lots of beginner pictures and space for plenty of advice ;)!

jackbaps · Feb 19, 2008

Hello, I am new here.

I purchased a Canon 400D with kit lens about 2months ago and I am slowly starting to get to grips with it. I have only used the auto modes such as landscape and portrait and have not gone to P, TV, AV, M or A-Dep. SO I guess my first question is which of these modes should I start shooting in? To takes things a little further?

Next for my pictures, I have not touched them in Fireworks...no colours or anything have been changed (as you can probably see!!) The Eifle Tower ones were taken on a lovely sunny day whereas all of the rest were taken on a very dark and gloomy day so have turned out a little dull!

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They haven’t been resized...just uploaded to photo bucket.

Any advice, anyone fancy showing me how to use Fireworks to change colours etc? Anything welcome!

Thanks guys, Jack.

MarcusM · Feb 19, 2008

Welcome! I like #13 a lot. The rest are nice, but you should check out the rule of thirds. A lot of your shots seem perfectly centered, if you use the rule of thirds I think it makes for more interesting shots.

You should read your manual - it will say what all the different modes are. Which mode you choose to use next is up to you.

If it were me, I would just set it to manual for awhile - don't be scared, just go out and shoot and play with it. You should really try to master manual mode so that you can see how you can really have the most control of your shots. Then there will be certain situations where Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority will come in handy.

You'll probably hear this a lot too, but it's true: Get the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson - great book for beginners.

nicfargo · Feb 19, 2008

I started in manual and I don't regret it one bit. I've always liked the ability to control the outcome of my pictures, so manual was it for me. I honestly haven't played much with the other auto settings because manual does more then all of them...so I just stick with manual. When you think about it you really only have a couple things to think about (mechanically with the camera that is). Aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and WB (if shooting RAW WB can be ignored somewhat). Knowing your camera and your lenses will help you to be able to set these so much faster. I know that if I'm in a low-lit area using my 2.8 aperture lens, I can get by with an ISO of 400 and I just play with the shutter speed a bit. If I want a larger DOF I either need some flash, or I kick up the ISO a bit (which on my 5D is no problem at all...love the low noise, full-frame).

passerby · Feb 19, 2008

They are good natural pictures to me with "on holiday" mood. the 1st and the 3rd girl face are too bright. You need to switch to the spot metering I think for the combination of white skin and dark clothing, with camera metered the skin.

But over all they are good.

alabama1980 · Feb 19, 2008

Looks like ya got it goin on to me!

I especially thought the one with the kid and birds was a good shot...I agree that the girl was too bright, but the rest were very good i thought!

SBlanca · Feb 19, 2008

nice shots, really wanna go back to france, especially now that i've got a better grasp of the language...

i really liked the shot where they have the cart thing with the boats, thats cool..

mrodgers · Feb 19, 2008

alabama1980 said:
I agree that the girl was too bright, but the rest were very good i thought!

So, is it just me and the fact that I'm use to either an old 35 mm point and shoot or my old 2 mp point and shoot that didn't shoot well in low light that find pictures such as these examples dark and dreary? My opinion is that the girl is properly exposed/lit, and the rest are a bit dark.

I don't have a dSLR, but a friend of mine has an XTi. I found his pics to be dark as well (he shoots full auto only). Just about every photo I see here and elsewhere online that has no processing done I find dark and under exposed.

Does it just come down to what you are use to since I don't have any exposure to how a dSLR takes photographs?

MarcusM · Feb 20, 2008

It might be your monitor, a couple might be slightly dark on mine, but overall most look correctly exposed.

LaFoto · Feb 20, 2008

Heya Jackbabs, welcome to ThePhotoForum.

For photo presentation we have our galleries. For questions that a beginner may have about photography, we have The Beginners' Place.

Hence I moved your thread from The Beginners' Place over to the General Gallery. OK?

And another piece of advice: when you post more than about three photos into one thread, number your photos, makes commenting on them much easier.

I will now go into your thread and edit in the numbers. Next time you know

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jackbaps · Feb 20, 2008

Thanks for the comments so far guys...wicked stuff. Am defo going to use TV. AV and M more now after the advice.

Any more comments/advice welcomed...also another thing, what is the next lens you reccomend I get? I want a bit more zoom so was thinking the sigma 17-70?

Thankssssssss

GeorgeUK · Feb 20, 2008

Welcome to the forum. A nice set of holidayesque snaps.

After auto, I got started on Av mode, it's the setting I use 90% of the time now.

passerby · Feb 20, 2008

passerby said:
They are good natural pictures to me with "on holiday" mood. the 1st and the 3rd girl face are too bright. You need to switch to the spot metering I think for the combination of white skin and dark clothing, with camera metered the skin.

But over all they are good.

I must retract this. I view these pictures on different computer (desktop) it seem ok, only slightly brighter. Look like my laptop need an adjustment.

Sorry.

Antithesis · Feb 20, 2008

I think all the images look pretty well composed. I'd start reading about the effects of aperture and shutter speed on your photography. Go to a river or creek with your tripod and play around with different shutter speeds, or just fast moving objects. You can learn it pretty quickly just on your lcd.

You'll most likely use Aperture priority a bit more often than shutter priority, and eventually you'll want to go full manual.

I'd recommend the book 'Understanding Exposure' by Bryan Peterson to get you started.

Lyncca · Feb 20, 2008

jackbaps said:
Any more comments/advice welcomed...also another thing, what is the next lens you reccomend I get? I want a bit more zoom so was thinking the sigma 17-70?

Thankssssssss

I like #11 best

I started on Auto as well to learn all the buttons on the camera and then quickly moved to Manual. Now, I will use Aperature and Shutter on occasion, if I only want to concern myself with one thing and let the camera handle the rest.

As far as lenses, it depends on what you want to do for what lens. Of course, I want one of each, but since I can't afford it, I got what was important to me most first and so on. I really wanted a telephoto to capture wildlife without interupting them, so I got that. Now I got my little 50mm lens for low-light situations. Next will probably be a wide-angle, followed by a macro...

And yes, get Understanding Exposure. It's fantastic and made sense out of all the terms that confused the heck out of me!