Newby to photography. Owned a Canon 600d for a week. Would love advice on my pics!!

[Krupt]

Hey my name is J and i'm really new to this forum and photography game. Had a few point and shoots in my time thats about it.. hahahaha So i've always been a creative individual but never had the opportunity to try photography. I would really appreciate any advice or help taking the perfect photo's. I love all types of sport. I surf most days and ride my dirt bike when I can. At the moment I have hurt my back so i'm out of action which has inspired me to get on the other side of the lens.
I would love to get some shots of my mates doing what we do as no one is ever keen to take pics..
Bare in mind this is my first week owning a DSLR​ to take pics, but I have been reading and studying forums and tutorials trying to learn. All pics are taken in the creative settings TV or AV mostly and i'm trying to get this DOF and aperture/shutter/iso = exposure sorted.
None are edited really as I don't have photoshop. I just turned a couple black and white with my Mac in iPhoto.
Also what is the best photo editing software to get best results out your pics???

Whats would the best shutter speed 1/500 or slower for surfing and dirt bikes???? Lens, that for of stuff..
I like it honest!!!!! Nothing better than constructive criticism.

Here are a few pics I've taken... Is the exposure o.k???

 

[Frequency]

I like them as a whole
#1 would have been better if catty's face was fully available

#2 lacks a strong theme

#3 is outstanding; #4 is equally great

#5 has the paws creates a visual hindrance (those on right bottom corner)

#6 this would have been better if the baby was looking at the owner of that hand

Regards

 

[Krupt]

Hey thanks frequency. It makes a lot of sense what your saying. Just those few things you pointed out could be the difference between a good or a great photo. I never even noticed the feet in 5 and you hit the nail on the head with no theme in 2. Just a quick snap. I'll just keep taking photo's. the more you take the better you get right?

 

[cgipson1]

Try to avoid framing your subjects where parts of them get cut off (tips of ears, hands, tops of heads, etc! Typically if you have to cut off a limb, it is better to do it between joints.. cutting a joint makes the subject look like an amputee!)

These shots lack metadata... so difficult to offer advice there.

Watch out for blown out highlights like the one with the sleeping Siamese.. our eyes are drawn to the brightest are in the photo, and that detracts from the subject.

All in all.. not bad at all for a week (unless you are shooting in Auto.. Because then the Camera is the photographer.. not you! lol!)

 

[Krupt]

Thanks CPI. By metadata you mean a description of what I'm trying to Achieve in each photo right?
I mean how is one suppose to offer advice if I don't even know what I'm trying to achieve in the pic. In the baby pics I was trying to capture her innocence as a baby, like trust and love and of course her little personality.
But the others photos are me learning my camera just trying to get creative. No real theme . I like your advice cos it's made me think, a chef needs to know what he's cooking before he buys the ingrediants, otherwise how would he know what to buy. Cool, rather than just take pics of the moment try and work out what I want the photo to show.

Lol, no auto here,I took all pics with my own settings in av/ tv with a prime 50mm f/1.8 to show DOF , most had an wide aperture of under f/2.8 and Iso of 100 . Baby pics are on a zoom lense about 100mm with.f/3.6.

Thanks heaps for the advice, I'm defiantly taking it all onboard. I know i have a long way to go ( lol) but every little bit helps.

 

[Krupt]

*cgi ( auto correct on the iPhone)

 

[Joel_W]

For just one week with a DSLR, not bad. Just learning enough to use it is an achievement in itself.

Picture #1. Great facial expression on the main cat, but you both cut off the other cat heads and it's totally out of focus. More DOF would have been needed. Also you need to pay attention to your backgrounds. the window just pops right out at you. I know that action shots are a lot harder to control all aspects once you start to shoot, so preplanning is so important.

Picture #2. Outstanding. The DOF is just perfect. This is your best picture by far.

Picture #3. You clipped the ears off. Look at the whole viewfinder before you take the picture. It's an easy fix to crop, but there is no way to get back clipped images or data. Focus looks a little soft as well.

Picture #4. The baby is dead center. Move to the right like the B&W picture for more visual interest, and it's just more pleasing for viewing.

Picture #5. Great subject. Poor composition. A higher angle to get past those feet would really have helped.

Picture #6. As already mentioned, having the baby looking at the person rather at you, would have made for a more solid composition.

Bottom line. For one week you're doing fantastic.

 

[SCraig]

Surfing and dirtbikes are completely different. For dirt bikes use a slower shutter speed and pan with the subject to get some motion blur in the background and spokes of the wheels. On the other hand shooting with faster shutter speeds catches chunks of dirt in the air. Both look good when done properly. Try both and see what works for you.

Water in motion shot with a slow shutter speed has a misty, silky look to it which usually doesn't go well with surfing. I say usually since I have seen some surf shots done at a slower shutter speed that look great. Try both and see what works for you.

 

[cgipson1]

Thanks CPI. By metadata you mean a description of what I'm trying to Achieve in each photo right?

Metadata (also called Exif data which is a subset of metadata) is data that is typically embedded into a digital image with information as to what shutter, aperture, ISO, etc.. was used. It can also include info about the camera, lens, location, date / time, and many other things. It can be stripped out by some compression schemes.. but can often be left in if the user configures their editing program correctly.

Exchangeable image file format - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Metadata - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Krupt]

Thanks Joel and Craig. I really appreciate the advice. Joel I can see what you mean by to not enough DOF with main cat pic and it seems everyone is in agreement with cutting of ears and parts of the body.
Also it's also funny how people interpret the pics. I'm starting to realize their are no rules with photography, a lot is just expression , but there are guidelines that are best to follow with certain types of pics.
Is that the 1/3 thing your talking about by off setting the subject?
I think that will work well with action shots too.

Craig I will defiantly be trying both examples you gave. The dirt flicking up sounds cool, but the blur on the spokes could look sweet as well.

I think I really just need to get out there and start shooting some sports see what I end up with.
A lot has to do with background as well and I'm realising that I need to take more care with what I have in the background of my images.

Thanks again everyone this is awesome advice and I am really taking it in.

 

[SCraig]

Exposure is rules-based. There is no getting around the laws that govern exposure much as we'd like to sometimes. You have to learn the rules of exposure because they are physical limitations. Composition is guidelines-based. The guidelines are based on interpretations of how people view objects, and they can be adhered to or not. Other than the laws of physics and optics there are no rules in photography, only guidelines. What you love others may hate. Does that make it wrong? Of course not.

Shoot the things that you like, your way. Ask for critique on them and then listen to the comments. It doesn't mean you have to stick with them but try them and see if they work for you. Odds are that you will simply because there are some here that know what they are talking about. Regardles, it's important in the beginning to at least try what people recommend simply because you can't say it doesn't work for you if you haven't tried it.

Over time you will naturally migrate toward your own style of shooting, just like most of us have, you'll learn what you like and don't like, just like most of us have, and you'll hang around forums looking for an excuse to tear someone's dream photo to shreds. Just like most of us