my first pics

[demondrivemaster]

a couple of pictures I took yesterday - this was my first attempt at this kind of photography and was done as a learning exercise. All comments are welcome.

http://i154.photobucket

 

[chrisburke]

all but #2 are out of focus... and the colors seem kinda blah

 

[demondrivemaster]

thanks for being the first

what would you suggest re: colour (preferably without photoshopping it)
as i like to keep the colouring natural

 

[LaFoto]

Hmmm. What could be added?

I wonder what you mean by "this kind of photography"? What kind of photography is "this"? You mean nature?

What do you photograph with?

Are you working in AUTO mode, so far only just trying to compose something out of the big whole that we see with our eyes and first of all letting the camera do the rest for you?

If this is the case, do keep in mind that the camera needs oodles of light when you zoom in on things (like I assume you did on the bird in the last photo, and maybe also on the gulls in the first?), so that, when in AUTO, it will automatically (without you noticing) up the shutter speed, i.e. require longer shutter speeds than you can possible hold without getting camera shake.

If you zoom, try to avoid at all costs to zoom into the "digital zoom" area. The quality of your photos will drop rapidly with that, as the camera is no longer actually zooming, but creating a crop out of a photo that would normally look a lot less zoomed.

Do you work any further on your images once you have loaded them onto your computer with whichever sort of software? That might help correct colours that went wrong, it may help up contrasts and colour saturation, and in some case a mild sharpening might help you get a sharper picture. Though no sharpening will save neither Photo 1 nor 4.

 

[demondrivemaster]

Hmmm. What could be added?

I wonder what you mean by "this kind of photography"? What kind of photography is "this"? You mean nature?

What do you photograph with?

Are you working in AUTO mode, so far only just trying to compose something out of the big whole that we see with our eyes and first of all letting the camera do the rest for you?

If this is the case, do keep in mind that the camera needs oodles of light when you zoom in on things (like I assume you did on the bird in the last photo, and maybe also on the gulls in the first?), so that, when in AUTO, it will automatically (without you noticing) up the shutter speed, i.e. require longer shutter speeds than you can possible hold without getting camera shake.

If you zoom, try to avoid at all costs to zoom into the "digital zoom" area. The quality of your photos will drop rapidly with that, as the camera is no longer actually zooming, but creating a crop out of a photo that would normally look a lot less zoomed.

Do you work any further on your images once you have loaded them onto your computer with whichever sort of software? That might help correct colours that went wrong, it may help up contrasts and colour saturation, and in some case a mild sharpening might help you get a sharper picture. Though no sharpening will save neither Photo 1 nor 4.

thanks for the reply
yes i meant nature/wildlife thought i'd start with a simple subject (the ducks)
i'm using a fuji finepix s8100fd
am for the first time not using auto am using P to try actually setting up the camera for individual shots (although i do still revert to auto in some cases) to some quite disastrous results
and no i dont edit apart from cropping because my philosophy is to learn to take photographs as if editing wasnt available - if you cant get the basics right then there's no point editing anyway.

 

[Sodak]

and no i dont edit apart from cropping because my philosophy is to learn to take photographs as if editing wasnt available - if you cant get the basics right then there's no point editing anyway.

I agree to an extent. The less editing you have to do, the better. I used to have a S5200, and there were very few pictures I took with it that I couldn't make better in PS; and that's the objective isn't it? Great pictures?

 

[chrisburke]

(preferably without photoshopping it)

this is what i dont get.. i mean, when you use old school film there is "post processing" to make the photo better... why are people against photoshop in the digital age? enhancing colors and things like that are just as much a part of "final product" photography as taking the photo itself..

 

[LaFoto]

Chris, while you and I know that you are only right, and while we both know that the use of Photoshop or the like is not there nor meant to make a "bad photo good", the absolute beginners should, indeed, learn to use their camera as best as they can FIRST, before they start taking photos in a kind of "what-does-it-matter-anyway-there's-Photoshop-for-everything"-mode. To learn about what they mean to really do with their camera in their strive to create THE photo/image they want for themselves should really come first. With learning to determine what they want their photography to do to them, for them, what it is supposed to express, they will learn the how's, and with that, their viewing photos (also and foremost their own, I should think) will change, and soon they'll be on the very right path!

So there is a "Yes, right" and "No, not quite right" answer to the definite "no postprocessing"-attitude.

 

[Mgw189]

and no i dont edit apart from cropping because my philosophy is to learn to take photographs as if editing wasnt available - if you cant get the basics right then there's no point editing anyway.

Get over this and get over it fast. Digital images straight from the camera need to have some editing done to them. They need to have a little saturation boost and some sharpening at the very least in most cases. I understand what you are saying but as far as learning the basics but dont rule out photoshop as part of photography.

As far as your pictures go are you using digital zoom? If so, dont. It is nothing more than cropping the image in the camera rather than in post process. The white balance is off in 1,2 and especially 4. 1 and 4 are very out of focus. 1 almost looks as though it could be from slow shutter speed or camera shake or digital zoom.

 

[demondrivemaster]

Get over this and get over it fast. Digital images straight from the camera need to have some editing done to them. They need to have a little saturation boost and some sharpening at the very least in most cases. I understand what you are saying but as far as learning the basics but dont rule out photoshop as part of photography.

As far as your pictures go are you using digital zoom? If so, dont. It is nothing more than cropping the image in the camera rather than in post process. The white balance is off in 1,2 and especially 4. 1 and 4 are very out of focus. 1 almost looks as though it could be from slow shutter speed or camera shake or digital zoom.

i agree with what you are saying about editing yes they probably do need it but as a beginner what i am trying to do (and i probably didnt say it very well) is master the camera first - when i start getting the initial shots right THEN i'll progress on to the editing side
1 step at a time guys and thanks for the responses i appreciate them

 

[Gsurf1029]

just saying but

learning both simultaneously wont interfere with your progress in learning the camera. its all part of coming up with a good photo. when you are done shooting maybe just try plugging your camera in and playing with some editing. it wont hurt, only help. and if you dont like the product you will always have the originals.

 

[LaFoto]

That is: provided you save your originals (!) in file folders of their own where they stay as untouched as they were on the day they landed from the camera in the computer, and any cropped version, any version with just ONE little change made to it, is given a name of its own and a placed in a folder of its own, so the original is not simply being replaced by the edit! That's quite an important thing to be aware of and to watch.