Help with a lens filter?

[NoneLikeRob]

Hi guys! First off, I'd like to let everyone know I am a complete and total newbie to the world of photography. I have always wanted to get more involved with photography as I do a lot of hiking and the such and would love to be able to capture my adventures, but alas, I have been stuck with a cheap point and click kind of camera. Well, long story short, I was helping one of the guys at my work on his route and I found a nice little score. I came up with a Cannon EOS D40 with a standard little lens, a 70-210 1:4 zoom lens and a couple of filters. After posting some flyers in the neighborhood I found it and making a few posts on Craigs list and waiting for a couple months with no replies I feel I can safely assume the camera is mine now. This is the first picture I took with it, I was lucky enough for the pup to give me a little pose. The picture looked a lot better on the view finder than it does on my computer, seems like his head is the only thing really in focus on it.



I'm kinda looking for any tips or tricks for taking better pictures, and any book recommendations for some good beginner photography literature.

 

[acparsons]

You mean the Canon 40D, that's a very good find. I'd start here:

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

I got my first SLR camera in a similar way. Found it and when nobody claimed it, I adopted it.

The title of your tread is asking about lens filters...but you don't really have a specific question about them in the post. Did you have a question about them? For the most part, the most useful type is a polarizing filter, but you don't want to use it all the time.

I'd guess that you also have a UV filter, which is really only useful for physical protection of the lens. However, any lens (especially a cheap one) will decrease your image quality and possibly give you unwanted lens flare. I don't use them.

The picture looked a lot better on the view finder than it does on my computer, seems like his head is the only thing really in focus on it.

That is because your photo has a shallow 'depth of field' (DOF). It's not a good or bad thing, it's a choice that the photographer makes.

A DSLR has the ability to give you a shallower DOF than a 'point & shoot' style camera, which is probably why you're noticing it now. Also, the aperture and focal length of the lens have an affect on it.


Many people find that they like the look of a photo with a shallow DOF, as long as the most important part of the photo is the part that is in focus. In this case, if you have the dog's face/head in focus, then it's OK if the rest of the photo is a little out of focus. It helps to make the viewer look right to the face of the subject.