my first post, let me have it!

[Aze]

I've been lurking long enough and decided to sign up and get some feedback from you guys. I'm new, but don't go easy on me, I really want to learn to improve my photos. I've spent time learning the mechanics, and I know generally what things do, I just can't seem to put them together to get a good photo. My biggest concern is all my photos feel "soft" to me. I'm sure I'm doing pretty much everything wrong. Fortunately I haven't had too much of a chance to build very bad habits. So please, please help a poor awful noob with a camera out.

ps. I do have a graphic arts background, but getting what I want out of a camera is another thing altogether.

Here is the only shot out of about 50 I took of this tree that is not entirely embarrassing. It still feels "soft" I think. I'm 99 percent sure the problem exists between the shoes and the shutter button.

This was taken on my 500D 50mm 1.8 @ f/4 1/60 iso-125.

IMG_0038 by jbardrof, on Flickr

Apologies for using the wrong flickr link.

Any and all criticism is totally appreciated.

 

[pony]

I don't see a pic

 

[Lambo77]

Ok, the "softness" is prolly from your Appeture value. 4.0 might be too low. You depth of field is too small, thus giving is a "soft" feel. I'm not 100% sure on this, just a guess. In this particular shot, your subject gets lost in the color of the background. You're shooting basically green on green. Now if you're subject had some pop of color, say a flower, your background would be perfect. To make your subject stand out, either A. shoot at a lower position, and use the sky as your background, or B. put up a piece of white paper behind it. Or C. my personal fav, find a better subject.

 

[Aze]

Hah, thanks Lambo. Yeah I had finished mowing the lawn and really wanted to get some shots in as the sun set. Figure that was the most intriguing thing in the yard. (its boring this time of year). I will try shooting at f/8 next to see if i can get a good picture. I keep hearing people rave about the clarity of the 50mm 1.8, but my shots all stink. This lens is challenging me much more than the kit lens did.

 

[Fern]

Make sure your subject is easily identified - what is it you want us to see about this branch? Do you like it at all? If so, what about it? Get down on that part and work it.

For me, I would get a much closer (tight) shot of the cool little antennae things coming out of the middle of the lower section. Do like Lambo says and move around so the background is contrasting and make that section pop. Put it on the lower right "third" with nothing around it (pull back the other section if needed) and maybe even spritz it with some water so the sun glints on it.

 

[mjhoward]

As interesting of a subject that is... you could isolate it MUCH better with a longer focal length instead of a wide aperture. If you had say 200-300mm you could still stop the lens down enough for your entire subject to be sharp but yet still have a creamy background. Also, raising the ISO to say 400 should allow you to raise the shutter speed and still keep a clean file. 1/60th is iffy on sharpness when handheld @ 50mm.

 

[Aze]

I definitely could have framed the subject better, that was all me. I'm really trying to find the right use for this lens. I was hoping at least to capture a sharp image at a reasonable distance with it. I'm starting to think I'm using the lens wrong. My original plan for this lens is for mostly portrait/person shots. Would I be better off concentrating on that type of picture with this lens?

I know I must sound all over the place. Basically I've got my first child on the way in 5 months, and I really want to get ahead of the curve so that when the baby comes, my pictures don't look like they were taken by a 6 year old with a disposable camera. I imagine practicing with nature shots won't be helping me that much, but I'm trying to shoot anything I can find in hopes of getting more comfortable with the camera by then. Where should I start? Is the 50mm 1.8 even a good lens for photographing babies? Augh, I feel so ignorant.

 

[raphaelaaron]

what part of florida are you from?

i'm from orlando.
the woody areas in florida can be quite monotonous. I don't particularly like this photo because of several reasons:

1. you should first pick an interesting subject. granted, some pine tree branch can be interesting, but you'd have to do a lot to make it look interesting. to everyone, it's just another tree branch. if you have any friends that don't mind having their photo taken, then use them. the human touch always adds well to any picture.

2. read up on composing shots correctly. the branch is being cut off on the top right. sometimes a subject being cut off can be artistic, but like lambo77 said earlier, there's no separation from the background. it sort of becomes a headache to try and decipher what is going on in that corner of the frame.

3. if you have f1.8, shoot at f1.8. increase your shutter speed as someone said earlier, keep your iso at 125 or so, it maintains the fine details of the image. the high aperture (f1.8) will create a better separation of subject and background. get in closer to the subject also, or get a lens with longer focal length as mjhoward said.

 

[Aze]

Raphael, thanks for the feedback,. the branch is boring, i kinda knew that going in, I definitely need a more interesting subject to work with. I did shoot with a friend recently and kept the camera wide open for much of the shoot. What I found was that the focus was so narrow that even parts of her face would be out of focus while others were in focus. I understand the concept of using aperture to control depth of field, but what I'm failing at is knowing how to control it to get a sharp picture, and still stand out from the background. i need to get some pictures which are a little more friendly towards C&C.

 

[raphaelaaron]

Raphael, thanks for the feedback,. the branch is boring, i kinda knew that going in, I definitely need a more interesting subject to work with. I did shoot with a friend recently and kept the camera wide open for much of the shoot. What I found was that the focus was so narrow that even parts of her face would be out of focus while others were in focus. I understand the concept of using aperture to control depth of field, but what I'm failing at is knowing how to control it to get a sharp picture, and still stand out from the background. i need to get some pictures which are a little more friendly towards C&C.

oh i see. well, then mjhoward made the best suggestion, i think. you need a longer focal length lens (something around 85mm) with a nice wide aperture. the longer the barrel, the more distinct clean separation of subject and background. that or just try going way close in to your subject.

if you want to stay with the f1.8, then bump it to f2.8 when you shoot next. that should give you cleaner separation, while still maintaining a good amount of bokeh.

 

[Fern]

Kids move a lot, and they don't spend as much time in natural outdoor light as a tree branch. Your wife now appears to be the best subject. Get some cool pregnancy shots using differant indoor lights and flash. Unless the baby is sleeping you will not want to try cutesy stuff like bokeh or fuzzy backgrounds, you will want to be able to get it quick (4 kids, 10 grandkids for me), that first smile- birth etc are brief.

 

[pony]

Kids move a lot, and they don't spend as much time in natural outdoor light as a tree branch. Your wife now appears to be the best subject. Get some cool pregnancy shots using differant indoor lights and flash. Unless the baby is sleeping you will not want to try cutesy stuff like bokeh or fuzzy backgrounds, you will want to be able to get it quick (4 kids, 10 grandkids for me), that first smile- birth etc are brief.

I have to, respectfully, disagree. I don't think bokeh and fuzzy background are cutesy. Nor do I think you have to set up all kinds of lights and flashes. Sounds like you want your every day candids to be nicer than the average P&S snaps. And really, babies do cute stuff like smile so randomly I think it's easier to not have to mess with any special ligts or flashes. But that's just me.
I love the 50 for kids. I use it almost exclusively, for a few reasons.
Babies look great in natural light, and a wider aperture makes that easy indoors.
It's fast enough that I can usually get my 4 year old in focus (4 year olds are quick, erratic, and twitchy LOL)
It's small, which is nice when you are carting a whole bunch of other kid crap around at all times
It's inexpensive...I'm on a budget. I would love to be able to drop $1000+ each on a few lenses...but I can't. And the 50 does the job.
Practice on your wife (she may hate you for it now, but she will love them later. (I wish I had not been so self conscious when I was preg. with my girls). And her eyes and skin are good practice for a baby because until they get hair and attitudes...babies are pretty much just eyes and skin LOL
Practice in the low f2's , and practice getting her eyes in focus and learn where and when the light is good in your house. In my very humble and inexperienced opinion that is a good place to start if what you want is much better than average pictures of your child.
If your baby is an average newborn (s)he will not do much except lay around looking sleepy and sweet for the first 2 weeks. Take a million pics at this time, even if they all look the same...like a wrinkly pinkish lump...get to know the light in your home and learn what works. Then, once baby starts to do stuff you will have had 6 billion hours practice.

 

[AgentDrex]

One tip from an amateur human to yourself: Overcast days are not the greatest days to include parts of the sky in photos, also...try angles (not horizontal tilt angles) that are abnormal to spark interest...take a shot of a cloud...boring...we see clouds everyday...take the same photo from the view of a high altitude plane and suddenly that boring cloud is now interesting...take a photo of a dog from normal level and its boring...take another from its level and you add that much more interest...

Did I make myself clear or am I rambling? The latter? Well, that's typical of me...

 

[Forkie]

...wanted to get some shots in as the sun set.

Perhaps you can you walk around the branch and get a silohuette against a red sunset sky?