new guy..need some CC!

[stanton3]

Hey all i'm just getting started with photography..today was my first time taking pics with my new dslr. My setup is a canon 20d with the basic ef 50mm 1.8 II. I've taken some pics and just need a bit of advice and comments.

This is the main one I could use advice on. What is the best way to keep the rest of the pic lit, but the white not washed out?

Another question...I was going through some old photo equipment today and found 70-300 4-5.6 LDO Macro. This was from my moms old canon rebel film camera. It still is in good shape. Is there any reason I shouldn't use it on my 20d? And is this a decent lens?

Thanks guys! I know they're not great, but say what you feel! haha

 

[MLeeK]

If it's an EF lens you should be able to use it with your camera.
Your images lack any subject or story to them.
Start with composition. That is the first big leap in improvement anyone can make in images. HEre's my favorite link on composition.
Then you have to begin to learn the basics of exposure and create it yourself to control the entire image. Here's a jump start on those tutorials.

 

[tirediron]

Moved to the General Gallery

 

[stanton3]

Thank you for the links! And yea I was just really eager to get some pics right when I got the camera so I took anything haha.

As far as the lens..it doesn't say ef anywhere. The only other thing it says is quantaray for canon af.

 

[MLeeK]

Thank you for the links! And yea I was just really eager to get some pics right when I got the camera so I took anything haha.

As far as the lens..it doesn't say ef anywhere. The only other thing it says is quantaray for canon af.

Take a photo of the mount end of the lens. If it was a film rebel it should be an EF mount

 

[stanton3]

It mounts on my 20d fine.

 

[Frequency]

Your lens images are fine
As MLeek has pointed out your Points Of Interests are not convincing in the first set; and that mushroom is over exposed; probably metered from the dark region in the frame
Regards

 

[stanton3]

Thanks! I agree about the the first images. Went out in the kayak today...

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

C&C please! All of these are un-cropped

 

[Mully]

Huge improvement ....keep shooting and you will learn your camera

 

[shefjr]

I like the last two photos. I noticed you said they were all un-cropped. I would suggest that you crop in to eliminate some empty space. Huge improvement since your first post.

 

[stanton3]

Thank you!!! I spent most of last night figuring out shutter speed and aperture.

Edit: I tried cropping and sharpening some on photobucket, but none of my changes show up.

Is there a version of photoshop or something similar that is free and works good?

 

[shefjr]

Sparky480 highly recommends GIMP. (hopefully not speaking out of turn)
If you are considering buying a program eventually Adobe has 30 free trials on all of their programs.

 

[Edgar_P]

Hi Stanton, the following advice assumes that you know basic terminology and technique for photography. If you are confused about any of the things I mention, a simple Google or YouTube search will help you immensely. In the image with the blown out leaves there a couple things you could do to improve the exposure.

If you you are using flash, decreasing its output strength with give you the results you want. If you are not using flash, then your problem is that the leaves inthe front are receive a significantly larger amount of direct sunlight. Consequently, they are overexposed. Diffusing the light hitting them would be your solution in this case.

I apologize in advance for any typos, I am replying through my cell phone.