First DSLR, some pictures, C&C needed! :)

[noritje]

Hi all,

I just got my first DSLR few days ago and had been shooting like crazy, haha. I've always like photography but never go into it seriously, so these are very 'beginnerish' pictures.

So please C&C and be kind too :blushing:

I have more pictures at my Photo Blog if anyone wants to look

 

[noritje]

My pictures were so bad, no one has the heart to tell me?

 

[Mike_E]

LOL No, they aren't bad.

You might study post processing a little, one of the points to a DSLR is that you are better able to refine your photos in post. There are several free ones out there if you don't already have the software. Gimp comes to mind first. If you are shooting in RAW format then RAW Therapee works pretty well and is free also.

You might also like to Google 'famous street shooters' to get an idea of the norms for this discipline. Unless you never want to share any of your photos you will find that your viewers are only going to spend so much time looking and if they spend too much of that time trying to work things out so that they can then enjoy them- they won't enjoy them very much. You could even do a search on this forum for street shooting.

Enjoy your camera and Never worry about being good enough!

Mike

 

[HoosierJoe]

Like the forkdrivers expression. These are good for a start. Read some books on photography from your local library and you will begin to get an idea of how to do what you want to do. I agree about pp. All of the pics need a little processing. Contrast, saturation, cropping. Play with it and have fun.

Good start.

 

[Dagwood56]

I love the candidness of the first shot - the drivers expression is priceless. I agree with Mike_E, look at some books or web sites by street photographers to get an idea of the stlyes. ....... and I sure would not have wanted to be on the clean up crew of all those feathers! LOL

 

[noritje]

Mike_E: Thanks! Will check out the softwares you mention. I never thought I would love doing street shooting, because I always thought I'd be a landscapes and architectures shooter more... but then, turned out from all the pictures I took since I got my DSLR, the one with 'people' in it looked like they have more... 'meaning'.

HoosierJoe: Thanks! I've been reading books, mostly on compositions and some technical bit :blushing: but nada on the pp. I am still grasping the ideas of aperture, shutter speed, focal length etc etc, haha. Now, pp is on my to learn list! Wooah... it's getting exciting! :thumbup:

 

[noritje]

I love the candidness of the first shot - the drivers expression is priceless. I agree with Mike_E, look at some books or web sites by street photographers to get an idea of the stlyes. ....... and I sure would not have wanted to be on the clean up crew of all those feathers! LOL

Thanks! That's kinda my favs too... I was actually pretty nervous to shoot that haha, he might throw me out from the tram if he caught me taking his pictures I need a new telephoto lens (after 5 days??) that let me be discreet, hehe (FYI, I just have the kit now).

 

[Mike_E]

Noritje, if you are going to do street shooting you need to be fairly close most of the time. Big lenses tend to make people nervous.

I don't know what type of camera you have but look into a 24mm or a 28mm prime and read up on hyperfocal lengths. Try here.. What is Hyperfocal Distance and Why Should I Care? and here.. Digital Photography Tutorials A fast paced style doesn't leave much time for critical focusing (even with auto-focus) and if you spend all of your time trying to focus and frame you won't have any time for fun. Using the hyperfocal lets you concentrate on timing and feeling the flow of the scene.

good shooting

 

[noritje]

Noritje, if you are going to do street shooting you need to be fairly close most of the time. Big lenses tend to make people nervous.

I don't know what type of camera you have but look into a 24mm or a 28mm prime and read up on hyperfocal lengths. Try here.. What is Hyperfocal Distance and Why Should I Care? and here.. Digital Photography Tutorials A fast paced style doesn't leave much time for critical focusing (even with auto-focus) and if you spend all of your time trying to focus and frame you won't have any time for fun. Using the hyperfocal lets you concentrate on timing and feeling the flow of the scene.

good shooting

Aah, I thought in order to capture these 'spontaneous' moments/expressions, it's better to have a telephoto lens, so they wouldn't know you're shooting them? I have Canon 450D kit and what I meant when I said telephoto is that 55-250mm IS lens.

But I guess people are easily nervous, I was trying to shoot few guys playing football/soccer at the park yesterday and they shooed me away, haha!

Thanks for the links, I will surely check it out!!

 

[Katier]

I think your biggest 'problem' is the crops aren't tight enough. You have too much going on in the first two pictures to actually focus. For example cropping tightly on the driver or the two blue people (who are to me the focal point of the image and should be more centered).

 

[noritje]

I think your biggest 'problem' is the crops aren't tight enough. You have too much going on in the first two pictures to actually focus. For example cropping tightly on the driver or the two blue people (who are to me the focal point of the image and should be more centered).

I get what you mean! I tried cropping the tram driver's picture and I think it made quite a difference. I also applied color effect (sepia and B&W) because I also think the colors were a bit distracting.

But that's just me, the embryo in photography age :mrgreen:
What do you think? Do these looked better than the initial one?
I also wish the pictures are sharper.

 

[bigtwinky]

A wide angle lens is great for street photos. You just have to be careful of the distortion.

Why its great is that you can get real candids as you are not even aiming the camera at the person and you can have them fully in frame with room to spare.

I tried street shooting with a telephoto and didn't like it. I couldn't just walk around and snap at a moment's notice. Using a wide angle on my 450D was great. I could even just let the camera hang from my neck, move the camera slightly to the point of interest, and snap.

I'm using a 10-22mm lens, which is a 16-32 equivalent for a 35mm/full frame.

 

[noritje]

A wide angle lens is great for street photos. You just have to be careful of the distortion.

Why its great is that you can get real candids as you are not even aiming the camera at the person and you can have them fully in frame with room to spare.

I tried street shooting with a telephoto and didn't like it. I couldn't just walk around and snap at a moment's notice. Using a wide angle on my 450D was great. I could even just let the camera hang from my neck, move the camera slightly to the point of interest, and snap.

I'm using a 10-22mm lens, which is a 16-32 equivalent for a 35mm/full frame.

Yes! I did a lot of reading last night about street shooting and it said tho telephoto lens sounds logical to snap pictures of ppl on the street without them realizing it, but wide lens with up and personal shot are much better way to do it!

I saw your lens collection in your signature and those are what I planned to get... I didn't plan for that wide lens but since now it makes sense, I want that too...

Did you sell off your kit lens? I don't see the point of keeping it if I have the same lens collection as yours... :er:

 

[Daki_One]

im just wondering what the hell is going on in the second picture...

 

[noritje]

im just wondering what the hell is going on in the second picture...

Hahaha, it was at the National Monument, next to Dam Square in Amsterdam. People were having pillow fights there anyone can just join and start bashing those pillows. Goose feathers everywhere... it was fun (to see). I don't actually know who organized it etc... but fun things always happened around here hahaha.