Camera Noob, pics included.

[nickzou]

I think this is a good start. The toy basketball one already demonstrates to me you at least have an eye for the rule of thirds. There's probably a link in this thread already about rules of composition. They are important to know. Most beginners have this problem with being creatively restricted. But I think it is proper to assure beginners that once you understand the rules and why they are important, you'll know when to break them. Most times, you'll find one or two that will be appropriate for 95% of situations and you'll be glad you know them.

My personal advice for the kind of shooting you are doing here. It seems that these are all in doors, which is why you need the flash. But the built-in flash can't rotate or turn so it is hard to bounce the flash to make the light less harsh (also it is hella weak). See those nasty hard shadows you keep getting? You don't want those. Even if you think, those aren't so bad. Once you take more or less the same shot without the flash AND properly exposed you'll realize how much better it is without the hard shadows. So here's what to do about the in-door situation. Get a tripod, or just a bunch of books to set your camera on. Set it to A, S, or full manual (assuming you know what those are and what the exposure triangle is), compose your shot, adjust your exposure according to the meter and then take the shot without the flash. The reason why I say get a tripod or something steady is that inside your house there is never enough light. And your lens only opens up so much and if you don't want to crank up your ISO, the only option you have left is to leave your shutter open for longer. The problem with that is that humans have imprecise aim. And if the shutter speed drops below.... 1/25, most people won't be able to hold still sufficiently to get a clean shot. That's the reason for the pile of books. OR you can just crank up the ISO. But hey, personal preference, I try to avoid noise whenever possible. And with still objects, it's not a big deal to have the shutter open for 2 seconds.

But the most important thing I think to improve your shots for now is to try to avoid using the flash. Flash will become useful again, later on, but it probably won't be the built in flash.

 

[Sean_GT]

I think this is a good start. The toy basketball one already demonstrates to me you at least have an eye for the rule of thirds. There's probably a link in this thread already about rules of composition. They are important to know. Most beginners have this problem with being creatively restricted. But I think it is proper to assure beginners that once you understand the rules and why they are important, you'll know when to break them. Most times, you'll find one or two that will be appropriate for 95% of situations and you'll be glad you know them.

My personal advice for the kind of shooting you are doing here. It seems that these are all in doors, which is why you need the flash. But the built-in flash can't rotate or turn so it is hard to bounce the flash to make the light less harsh (also it is hella weak). See those nasty hard shadows you keep getting? You don't want those. Even if you think, those aren't so bad. Once you take more or less the same shot without the flash AND properly exposed you'll realize how much better it is without the hard shadows. So here's what to do about the in-door situation. Get a tripod, or just a bunch of books to set your camera on. Set it to A, S, or full manual (assuming you know what those are and what the exposure triangle is), compose your shot, adjust your exposure according to the meter and then take the shot without the flash. The reason why I say get a tripod or something steady is that inside your house there is never enough light. And your lens only opens up so much and if you don't want to crank up your ISO, the only option you have left is to leave your shutter open for longer. The problem with that is that humans have imprecise aim. And if the shutter speed drops below.... 1/25, most people won't be able to hold still sufficiently to get a clean shot. That's the reason for the pile of books. OR you can just crank up the ISO. But hey, personal preference, I try to avoid noise whenever possible. And with still objects, it's not a big deal to have the shutter open for 2 seconds.

But the most important thing I think to improve your shots for now is to try to avoid using the flash. Flash will become useful again, later on, but it probably won't be the built in flash.

Thats very helpful advise.
Yes most of my shots are in doors as i can't get out much due to cold weather and having a 2 year old son.
However I did take some pictures yesterday whilst taking my son to feed the ducks and play in the local park.
I do live in a rough area of town and walking around with a camera does get you some funny looks but F**k them lol.
Ill post some pictures up soon I know ill get slated or what ever but this is mainly to show that im trying to get this triangle thing sorted. I took about 35 shots but only liked about 2. I will get them uploaded soon.

 

[Sean_GT]

only few shots i'll include im trying to stay away from auto mode and focus on manual.
took another shot in the house too, I'm trying to master avoiding getting shadows in the pictures.

Wont let me load pictures normal way for some reason please click link

 

[Sean_GT]

I got 2 hours today so I had a lil drive about and trying to put my learnings into practise. I took about 70 shots but only liked a few.
There all learner shots but I think I'm getting there. its been freezing today and very windy also.
Sign Post

"Dikes" Sign Post

Topping in Sun light

Topping In Normal Light

Topping Took from Gt Ayton Village

BM over south bank(ish)

Again

Badge

BM again

Agen

Old rail loading bridge thingy

Up gribdale

Trying to show reflections in paint work

 

[jowensphoto]

You're getting there!

Try to keep an eye on exposure. The sky is blown out in over half of the photos where it is visible.

I can tell that you're coming into your own style, which is certainly great, but be careful about being to repetitive. You like having the subject to the right hand side of the photo; it's not bad composition, but gets kind of boring. You can experiment with subject placement while still following the rule of 3rds, etc.

Keep it up! There's definitely improvement since the original set.

 

[Sean_GT]

You're getting there!

Try to keep an eye on exposure. The sky is blown out in over half of the photos where it is visible.

I can tell that you're coming into your own style, which is certainly great, but be careful about being to repetitive. You like having the subject to the right hand side of the photo; it's not bad composition, but gets kind of boring. You can experiment with subject placement while still following the rule of 3rds, etc.

Keep it up! There's definitely improvement since the original set.

lmao your right, I never noticed that I always did that with the pics lol. feedback noted.
How do i not blow the sky out then what does it exactly mean? I'm trying toget the hang of manual settings and reading on it alot now, but now you point it out I do see the sky in most pics is all white and not as "blue" as it should be.

The little hill/mountain looking thing is called roseberry topping if anybody was wondering, kind of a landmark were I live.

 

[jowensphoto]

lol I do the same thing. Are you right handed? I am; maybe we angle from the direction without even thinking about it.

...but now you point it out I do see the sky in most pics is all white and not as "blue" as it should be.

That's pretty much what it means when something is blown out. But not only color can be blown; white can be too white and all detail (like texture) is lost when it's over exposed.

I'm sure that book (Understand Exposure) has been suggested, and I highly recommend it, if reading is a good way for you to learn. If you learn like I do, it won't matter how much you read. When I was ready to start learning about exposure, I went outside with my camera in full manual and played with it until I started to figure it out.

 

[Sean_GT]

Ye, well im away at the moment so i'll try when im home.
I am right handed and I dont think about were I shoot as long as its not centre lol, I feel the left is alien and doesnt look right but ill work on it and ill work on over exposure.
I do feel I have got slightly better since i took the first lot. its just finding time and weather

 

[bazooka]

"Blowing out" means that at least one of the Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) channels has maxed out at it's highest value of 255 but would go to 256 or higher if that tonal level was available. It usually means any large areas of the image that are pure white (255, 255, 255) that lack detail... but a large but slightly grayer area of (250, 250, 250) is not blown because there is more room for data. However, individual channels also get blown and show the same symptoms. For example, a red flower which has large areas of it that are (255, ###, ###) and lacks detail.

For the shots that have the sky blown out, there is no way for the sensor to either correctly expose the sky and correctly expose the shadowed ground. You must compromise between overexposing the sky (or even blowing it), and properly exposing the shadowed ground, or letting it go too dark. An alternative is to use an ND grad filter to darken the sky, or blend exposures with HDR. You can also shoot in RAW which gives you a lot of room to make localized adjustments in PS 5.5. But this is probably more than you should worry about right now. Just decide do you want the sky properly exposed, or the foreground, or do you wait until the light is more evenly distributed across the scene?

These shots are an improvement. "Topping in sunlight" is not bad at all.

 

[Sean_GT]

"Blowing out" means that at least one of the Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) channels has maxed out at it's highest value of 255 but would go to 256 or higher if that tonal level was available. It usually means any large areas of the image that are pure white (255, 255, 255) that lack detail... but a large but slightly grayer area of (250, 250, 250) is not blown because there is more room for data. However, individual channels also get blown and show the same symptoms. For example, a red flower which has large areas of it that are (255, ###, ###) and lacks detail.

For the shots that have the sky blown out, there is no way for the sensor to either correctly expose the sky and correctly expose the shadowed ground. You must compromise between overexposing the sky (or even blowing it), and properly exposing the shadowed ground, or letting it go too dark. An alternative is to use an ND grad filter to darken the sky, or blend exposures with HDR. You can also shoot in RAW which gives you a lot of room to make localized adjustments in PS 5.5. But this is probably more than you should worry about right now. Just decide do you want the sky properly exposed, or the foreground, or do you wait until the light is more evenly distributed across the scene?

These shots are an improvement. "Topping in sunlight" is not bad at all.

So its all about creating the fine blanace, most of the pictures I was mainly focusing on the car and the sky was not important to me also a reason why I think I didnt notice it was white.
Topping in sun light as had good reviews from family and people on other forums I speak too.

 

[bazooka]

I'm not sure balance is the right word. That implies that you are slightly overexposing the sky and underexposing the non-sky. This might be the best solution, but you can also correctly expose the sky and let the rest fall to shadow where it may, or correctly expose the non-sky and let the sky blow out as it may. It really depends on what you are going for. I do recommend that if the sky must be blown, just don't include it. A white detail-less sky is no bueno 99% of the time. In fact, a detail-less sky is usually quite boring overall, regardless of if it's properly exposed or not. Maybe it will work for a specific purpose, but by default I try to include as little plain sky as possible.

If you expect to be doing plenty of landscape, I recommend picking up a set of Cokin P-series ND grad filters available at bhphoto.com or adorama.com. They're cheap and easy to use... I wouldn't even bother getting the filter holder if you can find a set without it. Just hold the filter up the lens or tape it on with gaffers tape.

 

[Sean_GT]

Feedback noted ill edit the photos when home and see how they look, I'm always keen to learn how to do night shots using aperture mode and shutter speed and get as much light as possible with out killing pics with flash.
I got my tripod today so when I'm home ill try it.

 

[bazooka]

Feel free to give it a try, but be careful not to get enamored by the cliche car light trails. They're fine if they serve a purpose in the composition but quite a few people seem to just shoot them because they can... similar to your first shots with random objects and little "design".

 

[Sean_GT]

I will give the car light trails ago but not anytime soon

 

[Sean_GT]

took a few in garden, without try pod and i was freezinn, it was a frosty morning like most at moment.
some turned out ok aint had much time to use it this time home, had some sucking up to do.lol
I would of liked the full focus to be on the full flower not just one part of iut, i moved the focus thing the the centre of the flower but it come out like this?

I like the way the spider webbs get frost on them, it really brings them out

Advise on this one plz, you can see what I have tried to do with this pictute but the corner kept coming up blurred