Noob needs CC

[Rsxtacee]

Hey guys, finally decided to stop lurking and dive right in.

I've been reading a lot, just never got to post any pictures. Finally starting to get a hang of using my camera in manual...i think. It's a nikon d50 with the kit lens and i also have the 55-200mm.

Anyway, picked up a flash the other day, and a 50mm 1.8
Decided to try and take a picture of my roommate and this is the only one that didnt have her hand waving in front of the camera..guess she finally gave up and decided to let me take one. Came out soft, not sure if i focused correctly. Didn't want to use the flash since i wanted that natural/dark/??? sorta look. (whatever you call it)

Heres the sb800 I picked up. Still need to use it.:x

And the obligatory self-portrait in your bathroom shot. Don't mind the dirty mirrors:er:

Anyway, tear into me. Be harsh. These pics have no PP done to them, just straight from the camera. Thanks!

Back to reading "Understanding Exposure" :blushing:

-Ryan

 

[JIP]

The problem with your first image is the brigh window area in the background fooled your meter into thinking the scene was brighter than it was hence the darkness of your subject. A way to fix this might have been to attach your flash and bounce it on the wall behind you and then it would have given you a very nice look to this image.

 

[Early]

Came out soft, not sure if i focused correctly. Didn't want to use the flash since i wanted that natural/dark/??? sorta look. (whatever you call it)

-Ryan

Unfocused or slight camera shake. Unless it's totally obvious, I never could tell the difference.

 

[passerby]

Picture is worth thousands of words. A photographer can chose which picture to represent his/her view.
Smiling face representing happiness for the first photo. For the second
the flash sitting on the table means the flash is not used. For the 3rd, the shower room and the studio means the same thing.

Ok, once we look at those than we now look at something else. The pictures are not sharp as many people always demanded. Well for the handheld shot it was more than good, I have shot far blurrier than that. It is better than walking around with tripod though.

There were not enough outside (sun) lightings to neutralize the warm interior colours. This pretty much the one I want to win, to have neutral colours indoors at any shot.

 

[BuZzZeRkEr]

#1 way too dark. Need to fill shadows with that nice speedlight you got there.

#2 The picture of the speedlight isn't even in focus and your WB is too warm.

#3 WB issue

Then again some people like the warm feel to their pictures, but I think it just drowns out the color making photos look drab.

Those are the technical faults, but artistically they arn't very interesting either.

Keep taking pictures, you've got some great equipment!

 

[Mav]

1/6s @ iso200? WOW! Looks pretty sharp to me for such a slow shutter speed. Yeah like the others mentioned, your subject is back lit and hence her face is dark. Need to bounce a flash off the wall behind or to the side of you, or even try a direct flash. Using a flash would also let you use a more reasonable shutter speed for that lens such as 1/60s.

 

[Rsxtacee]

Thanks for the tips/adivce guys! Guess it's time to start learning how to use my flash (off to strobist i go). I guess i also need to invest in a tripod....trying to hold the camera still is damn near impossible. Anyway, ill keep you guys updated on my progress. Thanks again!

Ryan

 

[brileyphotog]

You've got pretty steady hands if you took that first shot at 1/6

 

[Rsxtacee]

You've got pretty steady hands if you took that first shot at 1/6

haha thanks. You should see the other countless blurry ones i took of her. .

For the WB in my shots, its set at auto right now. I've mainly been shooting indoors, should i be setting it to incandescent? My pictures seem to turn out blue when i do that.


-Ryan

 

[brileyphotog]

There are a few good threads about setting white balance on here that you should check out. Try all the settings you have and see which one gets you the closest...incandescent might work for one indoor location and shade might work for another.

 

[Rsxtacee]

Well, didn't have time to go out and shoot today, so before I decided to knock out i wanted to try the water droplet shots. Messed around in lightroom/cs3 and this is what i came up with. It's cropped so i lost a bit of quality. let me know what you guys think and what i can improve upon.

-Ryan