Recommend a beginner a DSLR

[prodigy2k7]

Well the lighting in ur first isnt that great, compared to the second one hehe...

They probably used some nice glass or decent glass, (something better than kit lens) and has a shallow depth of field to create that effect.

Do you mean soft as in our of focus? That is the depth of field.

 

[Mav]

that shot was all about very good lighting, looked like a natural light source from off the camera, a great model who knows how to pose, and a nice lens. That was at 50mm and f/2. The "nifty fifty" $100 50mm f/1.8 would do that. Shoot at a large aperture (small f/number) for minimal depth of field and focus on the eyes.

 

[someguy5]

Well here's my very first pic. I have an amazing view of manhattan from my apartment, so I thought what better place to start? I can see that some parts are over exposed, so I will work on that for my next shots.

I believe I shot it at 200mm f/5.0, 20s shutter speed. Would changing the ISO help? (100 for this pic)

 

[Mav]

WOW! Great shot and great view! Nope, you did it exactly right. Base ISO, on a tripod, and a long shutter speed. f/8 probably would have been about as good as f/11 where you shot it at, and then you'd only have a 10s exposure rather than 20s. That'll kill battery life real quick if you're away from home and want your batteries to last.

Quick tip: Take that photo at different times and you'll have a drastically different looking sky. A bit after the sun goes down when it looks like it's a neutral gray but before it's completely black out, you'll really still get a nice blue on your camera, sorta like this Paris shot of mine. It's because our eyes are less sensitive to blue than other colors, thus the camera sensor which is neutral can see it better. Makes for some interesting effects!

 

[someguy5]

WOW! Great shot and great view! Nope, you did it exactly right. Base ISO, on a tripod, and a long shutter speed. f/8 probably would have been about as good as f/11 where you shot it at, and then you'd only have a 10s exposure rather than 20s. That'll kill battery life real quick if you're away from home and want your batteries to last.

Thanks for the tips. I used Aperature priority for these...

just playing with DoF on this one...

and Mav, this one was done at twilight,:thumbup: which I think looks better than the one above (probably used too long of a shutter speed though)

same as above, but at 75mm. My window bars got in the way