I'm new

[nicolek]

Hi I'm Nicole and I'm thinking about taking up photography. I'm not sure I know enough about it at this point to go out and spend the cash for a nice DSLR. Right now I just have a cheap canon zoom that lets me work ok in manual mode. I really have no idea what I'm doing and thinkin of maybe taking some classes. Just wanted to show a few pics and see if you think I should pursue this or not. Just let me know how bad or whats wrong with the photos...thanks!

 

[eric-holmes]

Hi Nicole. It sounds like you have the first thing down, desire. It seems like you have an eye too. You pictures show promise. Just keep up the work.

 

[PatrickHMS]

For a beginner, these are pretty nice imho. I have seen a beginner do much worse. Everyone has to start somewhere, and there is something interesting about each of these, in terms of either subject or composition. And you know how to choose a subject for a b/w photograph.

Nicely done.

WELCOME to TPF!

Many here would not be able to tell just from looking that you did not use a DSLR...

 

[Bad Andy]

Welcome to the Forum. I think you have a very good eye for composition. These are nice pics from the Canon SX120 IS. I see you imported them with photoshop CS4. That is a very nice program for editing photos. I think you will be doing great in no time.

 

[nicolek]

Thank you very much.....I've always enjoyed taking pictures but just recently got serious about it. I still have no clue what I'm doing and just mess around with all the settings and take as many pics as I can to see what I think looks good. Is there anything I'm definitely doing wrong? What can I improve?

 

[tirediron]

Thank you very much.....I've always enjoyed taking pictures but just recently got serious about it. I still have no clue what I'm doing and just mess around with all the settings and take as many pics as I can to see what I think looks good. Is there anything I'm definitely doing wrong? What can I improve?

In short? Everything. No, that's not a slap-in-the-face answer, it's serious. Everyone can always and should always be striving to improve, and it's a matter of understanding which areas need improvement the most. In your case, you seem to have, as others have mentioned, a good eye for composition so maybe more work on the technical side.

What I would suggest is (1) Checking out local camera clubs. These are often great places to meet other entheusasts and learn from very experienced photographers, and (2) head down to your local library/used book store and see what you can find to read. Even if you limited to older books dealing with film, the basics of exposure, the relationship between shutter-speed and aperture, depth of field, etc are the same as they always were.

I wouldn't worry about a new camera until you 'outgrow' the one you have.

 

[nicolek]

Thank you very much.....I've always enjoyed taking pictures but just recently got serious about it. I still have no clue what I'm doing and just mess around with all the settings and take as many pics as I can to see what I think looks good. Is there anything I'm definitely doing wrong? What can I improve?

In short? Everything. No, that's not a slap-in-the-face answer, it's serious. Everyone can always and should always be striving to improve, and it's a matter of understanding which areas need improvement the most. In your case, you seem to have, as others have mentioned, a good eye for composition so maybe more work on the technical side.

What I would suggest is (1) Checking out local camera clubs. These are often great places to meet other entheusasts and learn from very experienced photographers, and (2) head down to your local library/used book store and see what you can find to read. Even if you limited to older books dealing with film, the basics of exposure, the relationship between shutter-speed and aperture, depth of field, etc are the same as they always were.

I wouldn't worry about a new camera until you 'outgrow' the one you have.

Thank you! I plan to pick up some books this weekend. I know I need to learn all of the technical stuff because like I said I have no clue what I'm doing. Just wanted to make sure that these photos are going in the right direction....that I will have the eye it takes to take great photos before I spend my time and money on doing it. So people can know all about it and have the best camera and still not take great shots....I just dont want to be one of those people i appreciate all the C & C.