First Pics-C&C Welcome

93formulalt1 · Jul 16, 2008

I went out and took some pics today, just trying to get some ideas and test my limits with my new camera, and I wanted to get some ideas and suggestions from the folks here.

icassell · Jul 16, 2008

One suggestion -- put some space between each image. It's hard to concentrate on one when it blends into the next. I like the winding canal.

Tyjax · Jul 16, 2008

#3 had great potential but I feel it was both underexposed and could have been framed better. When you shot the same subject in #5 I got both a sense of place and the same colors and lines but better oriented and with interesting lines of convergence. Number five is great and would be better without the lower 1/4 of the image. Good stuff!

Keep it up!

93formulalt1 · Jul 16, 2008

Here are a couple more. . . I've only had this camera for a little over 24 hours, and I never really used my old 35mm SLR in any mode other than Auto, so my first million or so pics are going to be horrible, with a few good ones in there from when I get lucky.

I would LOVE to hear some suggestions that would improve my shooting, as I don't know anything about photography, really. I've only just begun using this camera in Manual mode, so I'm having some fun trying to become accustomed to the settings and controls and everything. Pointers and general rules would be great to hear, and I plan to keep bothering you folks and picking your brains until I'm no longer a complete novice.

Here are a couple more. . .

93formulalt1 · Jul 16, 2008

I still don't have a tripod yet, I'll be buying a cheap one tomorrow, but I'd like some ideas for night shooting. I've seen some really good pictures taken at night, and to be honest with you, my pictures look really dull and seem to lack the color and contrast as some of the better night pictures I've seen. I know my camera is capable of taking really good pictures in all lighting conditions, but the problem I'm experiencing is more related to user inexperience. What settings need to be changed? I used a slower shutter speed and lower aperture setting for the last pictures I posted, but I really didn't know how to get the most color and contrast out of the pictures, as well as making the best of what little light I had. These were taken without using any flash, I thought my flash was too small for this particular setting, so I thought it best to make due with what I had.

passerby · Jul 16, 2008

The 1st 3 shots are blurry to me while the next 3 are good. The 4th picture is tilted to the right (I did myself many times).

The last 4 pictures are too blueish which the eye can't see, they are false colours. Is this place near ocean, sea, beach? But maybe that river did it. Otherwise the 1st and the last are goodly composed shots.

They are good for starter anyway.

93formulalt1 · Jul 16, 2008

passerby said:
The 1st 3 shots are blurry to me while the next 3 are good. The 4th picture is tilted to the right (I did myself many times).

The last 4 pictures are too blueish which the eye can't see, they are false colours. Is this place near ocean, sea, beach? But maybe that river did it. Otherwise the 1st and the last are goodly composed shots.

They are good for starter anyway.

I can't seem to get the color to come through very well when I change settings manually, I just don't know what I need to do to get the best results.

Resin42 · Jul 17, 2008

One bit of advice I'd give is rather than working in manual at the moment try experimenting with Shutter Priority (S) and Apeture Priority (A), this will allow to get your head around one element at a time and make the camera do some of the work. Pay attention to how the the camera compensates for various shutter speeds and apetures and what this does to your shots in different types of light. Take 5, 10, shots of the same thing at different settings and see what happens.

This what I'm doing at the moment and i'm learning shed loads about my camera.

93formulalt1 · Jul 17, 2008

Resin42 said:
One bit of advice I'd give is rather than working in manual at the moment try experimenting with Shutter Priority (S) and Apeture Priority (A), this will allow to get your head around one element at a time and make the camera do some of the work. Pay attention to how the the camera compensates for various shutter speeds and apetures and what this does to your shots in different types of light. Take 5, 10, shots of the same thing at different settings and see what happens.

This what I'm doing at the moment and i'm learning shed loads about my camera.

Great idea! I'll give it a try, I plan on having another go at this tomorrow, I bought the BIG pack of AA batteries yesterday, so I think I'm set for at least a week or two. . .

zandman · Jul 17, 2008

the second set looks so blue-ish.
idk if it's just me though.

93formulalt1 · Jul 17, 2008

zandman said:
the second set looks so blue-ish.
idk if it's just me though.

Yeah, the second set was taken right before dusk. Also, I was still experimenting in full manual mode at that point.

Ron Evers · Jul 17, 2008

You need to watch your horizons/verticals. As an ex surveyor it bugs me to see them off.

93formulalt1 · Jul 17, 2008

Ron Evers said:
You need to watch your horizons/verticals. As an ex surveyor it bugs me to see them off.

This particular location is hard to do that, because the streets that surround the park are all slanted, there isn't anything level to gauge the horizon by except for the apartment building in the 4th picture in the first set. The whole park is very hilly, there is nothing really to line up with. The angle I was photographing from with the railing in the foreground prevented me from using the vertical bars in the railing, but maybe I should have. Any tips for places like this?

toofpaste · Jul 17, 2008

93formulalt1 said:
This particular location is hard to do that, because the streets that surround the park are all slanted, there isn't anything level to gauge the horizon by except for the apartment building in the 4th picture in the first set. The whole park is very hilly, there is nothing really to line up with. The angle I was photographing from with the railing in the foreground prevented me from using the vertical bars in the railing, but maybe I should have. Any tips for places like this?

Another Trans Am owner...FTP is being invaded by them. Good pics, #1 had a a lot of potential if it would have been just a BIT brighter.

Anyways...welcome.

93formulalt1 · Jul 17, 2008

toofpaste said:
Another Trans Am owner...FTP is being invaded by them. Good pics, #1 had a a lot of potential if it would have been just a BIT brighter.

Anyways...welcome.

Hahaha. . . Yeah, my best friend (a fellow Firebird owner) referred me to the site, he jumped into the world of DSLR and Photography long before I did, but he's been a great help. He said I could learn a lot from the people here, and that people here (for the most part) are polite, knowledgeable, and are patient with complete nOObs like us. lol

I'm going to be going on another hunt for photo opportunities this afternoon, most likely will have the Formula out. I've been driving the Sonoma lately to save on gas, but I think it's time for a little fun. . . hehe