I am new here and would love to learn how to take great photographs!

[Aidan9]

I did some photography in college..but it has been awhile. I mostly did it for an art credit that I needed at the time. Anyway...about a year ago my dad passed away and he was always the photographer in our family! He had a few nice cameras when he passed with some different lenses and my mom thought I should have everything. With that said...I just need to learn how to use it!

I plan on enrolling at a local community college digital SLR class in the Spring of next semester...but figured I would start experimenting now. I also joined a photo group on meet-up.com and they have been extremely helpful. They often go on photo walks and help eachother compose nice photographs of eachother. I went out to Freedom Park (one of my favorite places locally) and took some photos of my fiance and my dog. I hope you will let me know what I can do to improve my photos. While I am new to photography I often shoot in the manual settings..the only thing I really have trouble with are motion photographs and I use the shutter priority setting...sometimes I just do that to see what kind of settings it will choose for me..and then plug it into the manual setting and adjust from there..

Thanks for any comments! I am glad I found this forum..I have been browsing awhile and with so many talented photographers I feel silly posting my goofy shots.

While i'm not looking to make money from photography I would love to eventually be able to do simple things like pet photography..senior portraits or engagements. I would never trust myself to shoot a wedding. The last thing I need to do is ruin the most important day for someone by not getting the perfect photos! I just love meeting people and photography seems like an excellent way to do just that!

 

[redessa]

If you want constructive criticism, only post 2 or 3 shots. And number them.
Things I notice:
Your white balance is all over the place
Try to avoid dappled light
You cut off the tip of the dog's tongue on the snout pic
The grass on the paw picture is obstructing what I think is supposed to be the focal point (the paws)
The little girl - I'm sure she's super cute but all I see is the back of her hand. It looks like she's holding something but I can't tell what she's doing.

There's a lot to learn but once you start getting the basics you'll see huge leaps in your photography. Since it's been a while, start back at the beginning, think of it as a refresher course, especially if this is your first DSLR. The book Understanding Exposure is a good place to start. There are also a bajillion online turorials. Start googling exposure, lighting, composition, posing.... Look at the work of photographers you admire and learn how to create something similar. Not to copy them, but as a springboard for learning technique and finding your own style.

 

[Eclivic]

The best advice I can give you is shoot shoot shoot, remember and write everything down that you like. I always say focus on Composition, Rule of Thirds and The Golden Rule first. Once you understand placement then start to move onto WB, ISO, fstop and all other Basics to tune those pictures into art.

 

[KmH]

Have a look at Digital Photography Tutorials

and

Guidelines for Better Photographic Composition.

 

[KmH]

While i'm not looking to make money from photography I would love to eventually be able to do simple things like pet photography..senior portraits or engagements.

It is naive to assume those subjects are any simpler than others.

To do them well takes as much knowledge and skill as shooting weddings.

 

[WesternGuy]

Hi Aidan9 and welcome to the Forum.

Two books I would recommend, both by Bryan Peterson - Understanding Exposure (get the latest edition - 3rd, I believe) and Learning to See Creatively. Also a series of web articles on composition by Ron Bigelow starting with this one: Advanced Composition -- Part I, the links to the second and third parts are at the end of each respective article. An index to all of his web postings, which I found very helpful, although a few are a bit technical, is here: Ron Bigelow Photography Articles.

I would also agree with KmH that the logistics of pet photography, senior's photos and engagements can be just as challenging as weddings - in my misspent youth, I have done some pet and wedding photography and believe me herding people to get "in line" for a picture is just as challenging as herding cats and dogs - I mean have you ever tried to get a cat to do anything on command ...anyway, I wish you good luck in you future endeavours.

Comments on your photos have already been made, I will just say I like the fifth one (the shepherd) best and the first one is not too bad, but the crop is a little tight for me. The one of the little girl is a start, but it would have been nice to see some facial expression - a nice smile or a grin as she looks at whatever it is she is looking at...the others are just snapshots.

Remember, the key is practice, practice, practice, and then practice some more and as Eclivic has indicated keep notes...as well, take the time to learn the basics and then some about the software you are using, or plan to use, for your post processing, because with digital, at least half the "battle", so to speak, is in the post-processing (PP) - I know, get it right in camera first (these guys will be after me), but you can still fix a lot in PP and shoot raw, if you don't already - much more PP potential. MY 0.02¢ worth.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

 

[Aidan9]

Thanks for the book suggestions and those links as well. I will enjoy reading through them. I went to the store to look at photography books, and more specifically those related to my D90 but it was a bit overwhelming all the books available. I ended up with a nice book on my camera that has been helpful and I prefer it over the manual it came with.

I plan on going out every evening after work and practicing with what I learn from this website as well as books or other people i've been talking to recently. It's really helpful so I appreciate the comments.

I was hoping to get a photo of the little girls face too...she had a camera in her hand and she was trying to get a photo of the ducks in the park..and she ran off before I could get another picture! I feel weird taking pictures of strangers, almost as if i'm bothering them or something.