..::First pictures with my DSLR::..

[JPmkV]

So this past Tuesday I bought a used Canon XSi. The package included the kit 18-55mm lens, 55-250mm, and 50mm 1.8 with hood, and a battery grip. For the past couple days I've been reading everything I can about this camera, and I've already taken a few hundred images . So now I would like to share with you what I think are my best attempts. All C&C are welcome :thumbup: :mrgreen:

1.) Tried editing in Lightroom, 5 minutes after installing the trial version. I need to learn how to use this properly..

2.) Daisy (No edit)

3.) Momma Palimeno. She'll kill me if she finds out I posted a picture of her on the internet (No edit)

4.) San Antonio skull ornament (No edit)

5.) First Night shot. My house.

6.) One more.

If anyone would like to edit these and show me their true potential, I would be most pleased :thumbup: :mrgreen:

Enjoy.

 

[MrsLittle]

Your Ornament came out good, looks like the focus was on the writing. On the 5th picture, I like the color of the sky. You could have used those trees to frame the moon or something interesting in the sky.

 

[misstwinklytoes]

I think these show a lot of potential for someone with so little experience!

#1 is cool on the WB. And it looks like the car was the subject but you cut it in half.

#2 Focus looks a little soft and WB is still cool, but no chopped stuff and a nice calm background.

#3 I like the composition but it looks like focus fell on her foot. And the chair in the background is pretty distracting.

#4 I like this one. I'd bump up the contrast a tad, but I'm a contrasty person.

#5 I really like this. I'd clone out the car and cut off light source to the left. Very pretty house, decorations, and photo.

#6 Very pretty. Again the light source on the left is distracting, but with that gone, I'd like it!

 

[gsgary]

These are a lot better than we usually see from someone new to photography
The shot of Daisy is good, focus is spot on the eye just what you want crop it and slight curves could make it look great

 

[RyanSands]

Joey,

Very cool stuff man! Glad to see your reading up on your Canon and getting the basics down. So far your doing great. I see solid use of depth of field, your focus is on and your exposure is good. Definitely off to a solid start! Nice to meet another photographer from NJ : ) Keep up the great work and practice, practice, practice!

 

[JPmkV]

Your Ornament came out good, looks like the focus was on the writing. On the 5th picture, I like the color of the sky. You could have used those trees to frame the moon or something interesting in the sky.

Thank you!
I was having trouble with getting my focus just right with all my pictures. I tried AF and MF. When looking through the viewfinder I'm having a hard time seeing when the image is at it's sharpest, maybe I need glasses :thumbdown: :thumbdown:

I think these show a lot of potential for someone with so little experience!

#1 is cool on the WB. And it looks like the car was the subject but you cut it in half.

#2 Focus looks a little soft and WB is still cool, but no chopped stuff and a nice calm background.

#3 I like the composition but it looks like focus fell on her foot. And the chair in the background is pretty distracting.

#4 I like this one. I'd bump up the contrast a tad, but I'm a contrasty person.

#5 I really like this. I'd clone out the car and cut off light source to the left. Very pretty house, decorations, and photo.

#6 Very pretty. Again the light source on the left is distracting, but with that gone, I'd like it!

Thank you for all your input!
I'm having a rough start with Lightroom, it's pretty confusing to me , but with some research and reading I'm sure I'll get the basics down shortly. #1 of my car, the original has the full car in the composition, but for some reason I thought it looked a lot more interesting cropped like this. :thumbup: :mrgreen:

Here is the original, if you'd care to see

These are a lot better than we usually see from someone new to photography
The shot of Daisy is good, focus is spot on the eye just what you want crop it and slight curves could make it look great

Thank you, that means a lot!
The shot of daisy is probably my favorite, and I think it's because of how sharp it looks with the focus. Like i said before I was having trouble getting the focus spot on with most of my pictures. DO you have any suggestions on how to fix this, or would the recommendation be just take a bunch of shots in MF and sort through them to find where the focus was best?

Joey,

Very cool stuff man! Glad to see your reading up on your Canon and getting the basics down. So far your doing great. I see solid use of depth of field, your focus is on and your exposure is good. Definitely off to a solid start! Nice to meet another photographer from NJ : ) Keep up the great work and practice, practice, practice!

Nice to meet you too, Ryan!
Thanks for the compliments! I am absolutely enthralled with my new toy so I'm having a lot of fun practicing, and I will continue to do so. :mrgreen:

 

[misstwinklytoes]

I like the whole car! You're someone I'll keep an eye on. You took the time to learn a lot of the basics before posting for C&C and when you got C&C you didn't a) gripe, complain, or make excuses (Something I did a lot of) or b) never come back to the forum.

I don't use LR so I can't offer any advice there.

 

[JPmkV]

I like the whole car! You're someone I'll keep an eye on. You took the time to learn a lot of the basics before posting for C&C and when you got C&C you didn't a) gripe, complain, or make excuses (Something I did a lot of) or b) never come back to the forum.

I don't use LR so I can't offer any advice there.

Thank you very much :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:
I'm trying to stay humble, and learn as much as I can from everyone :thumbup:

 

[JoeyV]

I don't have a whole lot of experience, I'll admit that. But I can tell that you've got talent. Here are my thoughts.

1) Colors seem a little flat (fixed in PP), and framing should have the complete car. The rest is perfect.

2) Great shot, just seems a little too centered (her face)

3) Nice shot. Looks like it could be in a clothing magazine. Colors needed a little help in PP

4) Amazing shot. Perfection according to me. Nothing needs to be changed.

5) Love this shot too. Since the lighting is really what we focus on, the car is barely noticeable.

6) framing just looked weird for this one.



Since you said you were cool with people editing your pics, I played around with 3 of them (1, 2 and 3)

In this one, I just played with the colors a little bit:

With these two I played with colors, contrast and framing:

 

[bazooka]

Now #5 is the PROPER way to take Christmas light photos. Well done balancing the lights with the sky.

 

[JPmkV]

I don't have a whole lot of experience, I'll admit that. But I can tell that you've got talent. Here are my thoughts.

1) Colors seem a little flat (fixed in PP), and framing should have the complete car. The rest is perfect.

2) Great shot, just seems a little too centered (her face)

3) Nice shot. Looks like it could be in a clothing magazine. Colors needed a little help in PP

4) Amazing shot. Perfection according to me. Nothing needs to be changed.

5) Love this shot too. Since the lighting is really what we focus on, the car is barely noticeable.

6) framing just looked weird for this one.



Since you said you were cool with people editing your pics, I played around with 3 of them (1, 2 and 3)

Thank you for the compliments, and especially for editing my shots. I really like the cropping and subtle change in colors :thumbup:.
Now that I look back at it, I see what you're saying about #6. If i shifted the perspective more to the left I think it would have been much better.

Now #5 is the PROPER way to take Christmas light photos. Well done balancing the lights with the sky.

Thank you very much! I wasn't even going to attempt night shots until i saved up for a tripod, but lucky me, my dad had an old one laying around in storage. :mrgreen:

 

[Audible_Chocolate]

pretty good. nice lights

 

[JPmkV]

pretty good. nice lights

Thank you!

 

[jowensphoto]

4, 5, and 6 are my favorites.

The composition of 4 is nice and has a lovely touch of bokeh going on.

I dig the color of the sky in the last two. I prefer 5 over 6.

BTW, nice GTI. I drive an '03 myself!

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Also the shadow side of the car is shaded. Additional lighting may have been nice to make the car pop if its the subject