First pics with my new DSLR. C&C please.

[Idaho21]

Here are a few pics I took today. It is 15 degrees and icy outside, so no outside pics for a while.

My fav drink-

The cat-

Just a flower-

 

[dtornabene1]

O.K. First you are trying to get macro photography without a macro lens. Many lenses out there, and I mean expensive lenses, claim to be macro, but simply are not.

If you really want the close up and don't want to spend lots of money, any local camera shop will sell macro filters that work like magnifying glasses on your lens. They'll show you how they work.

Three other thought come to mind. First, you probably have your camera set to focus on all auto focusing points. Don't. Choose the center focus point, focus on your subject (if people, use their eyes), then re-compose the shot.

Second, don't center your flowers, always. Mix it up and move the center of the flower away from the center of the photograph. This will make the picture less flat.

Third, black and white. Take the two B/W photos and go back to your RAW editor and change the white balance. I won't go into histograms unless you ask, but with the bottle, boost colors that would normally make a color photo look terrible. This provides a great tool for contrast and B/W images.

I guess that leads me to a third thought. You are shooting in RAW and your color space is sRGB right? Hope so. I always shoot RAW + a small jpeg for quick reference purposes only.

This is just my opinion. Find what's right for you and stick with it. There is not one photograph that everyone will like, not one. As you like it, who the hell cares! Great start.

Lastly, cute cat.

-Nick

 

[Jaq]

Too big!!! I can't really see the photo well enough to critique it. I would say 2 could be good but you might want to crop more around the head. 3 looks out of focus.

 

[Idaho21]

Thanks for the replies. The photos being to large was fixed.

I was just bored, and shot some jpeg images. Just using the kit lens that came with it. I am planning on picking up a nice macro lens shortly. I did have the camera set to focus on all points, not just on the subject.

I am still learning all of the ins and outs of this camera. Thanks for the tips.

 

[dtornabene1]

Its cool. We all, regardless of level, are learning - every day. I like the shot of the bottle. I was thinking of recomposing and changing the B/W a bit.

I could do more if the orginal color was retained; so I know I blew out some highlights. For some reason, I just like the shot.

That really is the greatest thing about art. We like things and its O.K. if we don't know why.

-Nick

 

[altyfc]

Some great tips from dt there... of the images displayed, I like the whisky one best.

 

[dtornabene1]

Thank you altyfc. Many people just think I'm too long winded. But what's the point of helping each other out without good explanations? Thanks again.

-Nick