C&C on my first photos! Thanks!

Ashlorraine · Jul 31, 2009

Hi! You may recognize me from about a month ago when I asked for advice on what DSLR to get. I finally decided on a D60 and got it in the mail 2 days ago ! So naturally today I went out in my backyard/downtown and started taking pictures. I am new to photography and just learning about exposure so I would really appreciate if you would help me out with these or just say what you think I did well/need to improve. Thankyou!! Sorry there are so many photos...I'm really indecisive. I used the 18-55mm lens it came with in manual mode and I didn't edit anything. Most of the afternoon was overcast but bright.

1.

to clarify I was trying to get the bee as the main subject!

2.

3.

4.

5.

#5 was one of my worst shots today. I kept playing around with everything but I couldn't get it to come out right. Either my dog was dark or the background was blown out. Obviously it was very bright behind him but I really wanted a shot of him there. How could I best capture this? I had this problem in a lot of my other photos today (like #4) Thankyou!! They are siberian huskies by the way for those who asked

Big · Jul 31, 2009

oh my god I want your dogs!!!!!! My favorite!

IgsEMT · Jul 31, 2009

If you're shooting on anything other then manual, then you're exposure will be decided by the camera. You could do try changing compensation or metering mode. Doug Gordon in one of his seminars was talking about spot metering on the eyes for optimum exposure. Try to preset your WB, your colors will look a bit nicer.

I like #1. Not sure if you wanted to point out the bug though.
I like #5 too. The silhouette-like looks nice. If you wanted to capture more less light from the background, then try shooting at hight shutter speed and with your flash, light up the dog OR you can meter the background, lock it, reframe and use the flash as a fill in to light the doggy.
read this thread, you might find it interesting and useful http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/beyond-basics/172643-metering-sky-apeture-2-8-recompose.html
good luck and GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!!

Dagwood56 · Jul 31, 2009

1. I'm assuming that the bee was not the main subject here. That said, the composition isn't bad, but you clipped off the bottom of the flower and the entire flower is not in focus. Color is nice and exposure seems good, but shooting in bright sun does create blown out areas and harsh shadows.

2. The white in the dogs face is blown out by the bright sun. And the shot might benefit with some cropping off the right side. Color and focus looks good. DOF could be a bit more shallow though -meaning to blurr the background a tad more.

3. I like the unique angle you shot from. Its usually good to shoot an animal from their eye level, but in this case I think shooting from directly above them has made for a really fun shot. Color, focus and exposure all look good. Beautiful dogs by the way.

4. Seems fine, a nice snap shot, but I'd crop the street scene off the right side so it would make a nice casual portrait.

5. Blown out sky -shot seems a tad over exposed and too much dead space to the left.

Nice start though, keep at it.

MarkV1184 · Jul 31, 2009

Nice first time shots on your new D60!
As for #5, something you could have tried would be to shoot in manual mode (if you weren't already) and use your area or spot metering to meter off the sky behind your dog. Then frame the shot as you did and shoot. This will make the sky a lot less "blown out", but this will also create a silhouette effect with your dog. However, this technique will not show the details of your dog and more than likely will only show the silhouette.

TriniPhototakeoutta · Jul 31, 2009

Congrats on the D60. Those dogs are freakin awesome. i want one. Anyway back to the shots, they look good and have fun with it as i am having with mine.

Philly101 · Jul 31, 2009

You're off to a great start. Here are a few suggestions . . .

#4 - I think it would have been more compelling to have your subject farther to the left since she is facing the right. Having her so close to the center makes the space behind her awkward. Consider this. Or you might have tried a vertical orientation if you just wanted to focus on her.

#5 - The other commenters have given some good advice on how to adjust your exposure, but it sounds like you tried that. The only real option (as igsEMT said) is external light (probably a flash in this case and you would probably need an external speedlight.) There is no way your sensor can record something as bright as the sky and as dark as your subject at the same time, so don't feel like you failed -- it's just not possible. If you had a flash light up your dog, then it would even out the brightness of the image allowing one exposure to capture more. You have the same issue in reverse in shot #1 where your sensor can't record your bright subject and the dark background at the same time so you end up with a black patch.

Overall, nice shots!

choudhrysaab · Jul 31, 2009

welcome to the forum ... your pix came out pretty good and your dogs are AWESOME. are they wolves or huskies (i'm pretending to know)?
as for critique ... i'll let the experts talk =)

Kcc · Aug 1, 2009

#1 could have better if the subject isn't in the middle of the photo. Try cropping it and see if there's any surprise from it.

Overall I think #2 is the best to me, very good mood from your subject (I assume that's a huskies?)

Nice capture for #3! It would be awesome if the head is taken one third below and not in the middle. (Less fence I guess?)

#4 with the model NOT standing in the middle might look a little different. I don't know, but the light source is good.

As of #5, if the exposure is correct for the sky, than your subject would be dark due to the back light issue. I would use a flash on the subject with the right exposure dial down 1 to 2 stop for the sky. It surely is a nice photo, but I don't like the purple tulips(?) on the left down of the photo.

p.s. I am not an expert, I am still learning to CC other people photo. I might be wrong, just to share some thought.

Kcc

Samanax · Aug 1, 2009

Ashlorraine said:
I am new to photography and just learning about exposure so I would really appreciate if you would help me out

Digital Photography Tips For Beginners This is a good web site for beginners to start with. Lot of information available (177 pages of photography tips)

Ashlorraine said:
#5 was one of my worst shots today. I kept playing around with everything but I couldn't get it to come out right. Either my dog was dark or the background was blown out. Obviously it was very bright behind him but I really wanted a shot of him there. How could I best capture this?

Oddly enough, this is when you should use your pop-up flash: Flash 101 - Fill Flash In Use

Using Fill Flash To Enhance Natural Lighting

Using Fill Flash

Good article about exposure: Exposure Metering

Ashlorraine · Aug 1, 2009

Kcc said:
#1 could have better if the subject isn't in the middle of the photo. Try cropping it and see if there's any surprise from it.

Overall I think #2 is the best to me, very good mood from your subject (I assume that's a huskies?)

Kcc

I actually wanted my bee to be the main subject, but I was trying to keep the whole flower in it at the same time. I think I should have come at it at a different angle or maybe zoomed in more?

And yes they are huskies!

Thanks for your help!

Ashlorraine · Aug 1, 2009

MarkV1184 said:
Nice first time shots on your new D60!
As for #5, something you could have tried would be to shoot in manual mode (if you weren't already) and use your area or spot metering to meter off the sky behind your dog. Then frame the shot as you did and shoot. This will make the sky a lot less "blown out", but this will also create a silhouette effect with your dog. However, this technique will not show the details of your dog and more than likely will only show the silhouette.

Thanks! Yes I was shooting in manual for all of these but I haven't tried spot metering yet. I've heard of it but I'm not sure what it is yet haha. I'll have to look it up!