Just picked up the camera. Tips and critiques?

[SCullet]

Derrel and robbins,

I appreciate the information! Knowing that aperture is measuring in fractions makes a lot more sense.

This is going to seem like a very random question, but it just popped into my head and it's sort of related to the topic. But when taking long-exposure night photographs, like of the stars, it would make sense that a very slow shutter time would be necessary, to let in enough light that the stars would actually be visible. But with such a slow shutter time (say up to like 30 seconds), wouldn't the movement of the earth cause the stars to blur? How do people get around that?

 

[robbins.photo]

Derrel and robbins,

I appreciate the information! Knowing that aperture is measuring in fractions makes a lot more sense.

This is going to seem like a very random question, but it just popped into my head and it's sort of related to the topic. But when taking long-exposure night photographs, like of the stars, it would make sense that a very slow shutter time would be necessary, to let in enough light that the stars would actually be visible. But with such a slow shutter time (say up to like 30 seconds), wouldn't the movement of the earth cause the stars to blur? How do people get around that?

Well for shots like that you'll need a tripod - but you'd need a pretty long exposure time before something like the earth's rotation would come into play. Haven't done the math myself but I would imagine that something over at least 30 seconds would be needed before you notice any affect, and 30 seconds is a really slow shutter speed.

 

[Geaux]

Read the manual.
read Bryan Petersons "understanding exposure"

Its a good start

 

[AlanKlein]

Welcome to the site. You're off to a good start. I like #2 of the first set but as someone else mentioned, I would like to see less exposure. That would provide more contrast something I find attractive. Another lessen is shown in your third shot of the second set. The limited range of the camera to get all light intensiies. If you notice, you exposed for the shadows. You can see detail there. However, the sky which is much brighter is burned out because the sensor cannot capture the full range. If you exposed for the sky, the shadow area would show little detail if any at all. Try doing two shot at different exposures in a situation like that so youi can see what I mean.

 

[minicoop1985]

Welcome, and I do like the second shot, personally. Anyway, there's a great thread I have used quite a bit in the beginner's section that may prove useful to you too:

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...299286-new-feature-photography-tutorials.html

It's been a HUGE help to me. Good luck, and go have some fun!

 

[18.percent.gary]

Since people have been commenting on #2 I did a quick edit to show what they mean:

Yours... My edit...

I decreased the exposure by -0.5 and increased the contrast. Notice how much more the image "pops" now.

 

[SCullet]

Wow, that is a significant difference. It's amazing how such a tiny little change can alter the photo so much.

 

[SCullet]

Here are a few that I just shot today. I was focusing more on exposure and I think it's a little better. Still need a lot of practice. What do you guys think?