C&C First outing with a DSLR - Gloomy hike with my dog

[Mshanno]

Good morning! I bought my first DSLR/camera - A used cannon 6D with the nifty fifty - and these are some shots from my first outing with it. I know that I need to work on my focus, the aperture wasn't right for some of the shots, and countless other things, but i think they turned out OK for my first time. I hate the gloomy days that we have been having in Atlanta lately, but i guess it can make for some moody shots! Anyways please comment away with any tips recommendations!

Thanks - Mike

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

Welcome to the forum. I see this is your first post. Unfortunately we cannot do much except accept our weather. We have had more clouds than sun for the last year it seems here in northeastern Pennsylvania with a serious snowstorm approaching now. It can always be worse! Have fun with that camera and keep sharing! Many of us are pet owners and love seeing fur buddies.

 

[RVT1K]

Very good for your first attempts with a DSLR.
What length lens and what f-stop? A long lens and a low f-stop will equal a short depth of focus, I think that is why part of the dog in in focus and others are not. Plus moving targets are always tough.
But I do like the dog shots. The rock, not so much.

 

[smoke665]

I'd say you need to search out more gloomy weather!!!! These aren't bad. If these are your first shots, I'd say you already have a jump on most. I really like the first though I wish you had just a tad more of the yellow lines in front. The last one is also pretty nice!

 

[Jeff G]

Very nice set, looks like you are off to a great start!

 

[Jeff15]

Nice shots of the dog..............

 

[CherylL]

Love the pup photos! #5 is cute with the one ear up. It is easier to comment if you number your photos. Welcome to the forum!

 

[JonFZ300]

Yeah this is a great set for a first time out. Something tells me you have shot some pics before though lol

 

[Derrel]

Pretty good for a first go with a new camera. Yes, I can see the f/stop and shutter speed issues on a couple, but still...there's some decent stuff going on as well. I looked at a couple of my favorites in Lightroom, and made a couple of tweaks, just to see how things looked. As far as the "gloomy" weather...I love a foggy background in the winter time! As far as the tips you asked for? My tip would be to avoid shooting action like this at f/2 with a 50mm lens, and instead, stop down to f/3.5 or so...it gives a shallow DOF and a blurred backdrop, but also gives a little bit more depth of field at these 10 to 20 foot type distances, where the 50mm lens is so, so good. You did a good job keeping the shutter speeds FAST!, to stop motion, and used some of the 6D's good, higher-ISO capability. These look a slight bit under-exposed to me, however.

I took the liberty of cropping this fine shot of yours, eliminating some space on the left side, and giving the dog "more room to move into", which I think creates a better balance and a much stronger, excellent picture. The out of focus foreground rock sort of "points" to the dog; the shutter timing you show is fantastic! and the animal's overall positioning is excellent, and the low camera angle...all, very nice!

I gave this shot a little bit of a vignette and an exposure/color tweak. I think the balance of animal.action,and background, and low camera angle...all things considered, make this a very good pet photo.

 

[DarkShadow]

I agree for a first time outing with a new camera you have a good set of images here and can't go wrong with cute pup pictures..Welcome aboard.

 

[D7K]

Welcome, and well done, some nice shots for you first outing ..

 

[Philmar]

As a photographer you'll eventually embrace all types of different weather - especially fog.

 

[johngpt]

Good morning! I bought my first DSLR/camera - A used cannon 6D with the nifty fifty - and these are some shots from my first outing with it. I know that I need to work on my focus, the aperture wasn't right for some of the shots, and countless other things, but i think they turned out OK for my first time. I hate the gloomy days that we have been having in Atlanta lately, but i guess it can make for some moody shots! Anyways please comment away with any tips recommendations!

Thanks - Mike

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Really nice use of your aperture.

 

[SquarePeg]

Gloomy is better than sunny! Nice first set. I hike with my dog and he’s a frequent subject of my photos - getting a moving dog framed nicely and in focus is not easy. I agree with the suggestion to stop down a bit to f/3 or smaller to get more of your subject in focus but for a first outing these are very good. Keep shooting.

Tips - Watch or read a few tutorials on your specific camera to make sure you’re getting the most out of it.