Are these good?

[Overread]

these thingies:
http://digitalbestbuys.com.au/images/canon_430ex_ii.jpg

that is the Canon 430EX2 - essentialy the lower range speedlite (yes they spell speedlite that way).

There is also the top of the range 580EX2 which costs more but offers more features overall, though the 430 is still a very capable flash.

There are also a lot of 3rd party options on the market - eg Sunpak flashes - which cater for those with morelimited budgets - though can be more limited on features (such as auto flash)

 

[SoonerBJJ]

Nope.

 

[thebeatles]

No.

:lmao:

 

[Tulsa]

ahhh, a flash, crazy Brits and your complicated words for simple items...:mrgreen:
just kidding, yes i recommend a flash!

 

[mom2eight]

Keep trying! Those indoor low lights are difficult for me too.

 

[Live_free]

No.

:thumbup:

 

[mishele]

I ll play along........yes they are great. Please post more!!

 

[Tulsa]

I ll play along........yes they are great. Please post more!!

I gotta give it to him, looks like he is trying to improve compared to previous posts.


I want to know what camera is being used though

 

[Overread]

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSi is what rightclick exif viewing on Opera (default feature - no need to download addons - its great) tells me. Same for how I got the settings he took the images at.

 

[TJ K]

Nah bro

 

[sauce839]

nope... not very good at all.

Keep practicing, and stop to take a photo... you will never get a good photo if you are still walking.

 

[Tulsa]

I was thinking it was a point and shoot, if he has an xsi i recommend to set the camera down and do some reading and learn how to use it, not to be rude, but if you do have a XSI, thats a good camera, learn to use it.

 

[er111a]

I have been learning to use it I had a xti for almost a year and I have had this one since x-mas

 

[Overread]

Based on the settings I pulled out of the images he is using it right -
a high ISO at 400
wide aperture (if he is using the kit lens as I suspect he might be then max aperture) of f4
and using the flash to boost the light.

His downside is that the exposures he is getting are still not good enough because the light is too dim where he is shooting to get a fast shutter speed. Anyone shooting with those settings in that light with that gear would have encountered the same problems. The only trick he has is to boost his ISO - 800 or even 1600 would be needed - but then the image quality will be killed heavily by noise degradation (though it would help eliminate the blur)
As I said earlier if shooting in that light its either going to be high ISO and noise problems or he invests in a flash setup as a starting point to boosting the local lighting.

As for the other shots I actually think the exposures look interesting - sadly composition is (I feel) lacking in them and that is where he needs to focus. However I don't know composition well enough to really give more constructive advice than that.

 

[sauce839]

OK... so it all depends on how you understand exposure. There are three things... ISO, Shutter speed, and Aperature. Remember those.

For the gym photos, these are difficult lighting situations... low light and fast moving objects. So to deal with the fast moving objects, you need a high shutter speed. This cuts out the amount of light making it to the sensor. Therefore you need to correct for that. This means (using the three items above) that you need to fix the other two. Aperature... you want a small number (larger opening), and you will want a higher ISO number (more sensitive to light).

As for the outdoor photos... you need a tripod. Since it was dark, there is very little light. Since the object isn't moving... you can use a longer shutter speed. I know some people say that they can hold a camera steady for 1/20 seconds... Therefore anything longer than that, and you need a tripod due to camera shake. If you don't have a tripod, put the camera on something steady.

Exposure is only one of the many technical aspects to photography. Work on that first. But keep in mind composition. What I found helpful when I was learning is that for one week, I would pick something about composition that I wanted to expore... like rule of thirds, or lines, or repetition... the list goes on. If you don't know what those are, google them... there are millions of websites out there that discuss it all, and there is some good info on here as well. Also, you need to look at the entire viewfinder to compose a good photo. That's something that a lot of people seem to forget. They will take a picture of something... say a bridge, and not notice the bag of trash in the bottom corner of the photo that could have been completely avoided if they moved over 12 inches.

Keep practicing. It'll come.