Some of my last photos taken in 2011 (Non Christmas)

photo guy · Jan 1, 2012

Can't donate plasma due to a medical condition that I have. Thanks for that suggestion and I couldn't afford to go to college. Grades were good but didn't have the finances. Don't have a rich family so there is a lot of things that I make do with what I have until I can afford to advance.

photo guy · Jan 1, 2012

Thank you RebeccaAPhotography. As I said above, I will be getting out the books tonight and reading. Thank You.

cgipson1 · Jan 1, 2012

MTVision said:
1/60 seems to be the go to shutter speed when PG is shooting in shutter or manual. 1/60 isn't a good shutter speed for nighttime.

He is probably popping up his pop-flash.. which would lock that camera down to 1/60 (I believe!), Not realizing that little tiny pop of light won't help things at all!

tirediron · Jan 1, 2012

The type of camera used presents no significant equipment limitations at all. Compare this to a Speed Graphic of 1940 ('F8 and be there!'); it is MANY orders of magnitude more capable and sophisticated, but I'm willing to bet that even a cub reporter from the Daily Bugle could have produced better images. Why? Because he knew his gear and understood the theory behind it. Rebecca's is the best advice you have received so far. READ. Read a LOT! Understand what the exposure triangle is, and how each leg affects the others, and what will happen to the image with each change. Understand what the different metering modes are, what benefits each one can offer and when to use them. Understand flash and how to use it (contrary to popular belief, the darker the scene, the less likely you are to want to add flash).

One of the best things that a person who really wants to learn can do IMO, is join a local camera club. You will find people of all experience and knowledge levels, and with all types of gear, and most importantly, who are more than willing to sit down with you and help you!

cgipson1 · Jan 1, 2012

photo guy said:
Can't donate plasma due to a medical condition that I have. Thanks for that suggestion and I couldn't afford to go to college. Grades were good but didn't have the finances. Don't have a rich family so there is a lot of things that I make do with what I have until I can afford to advance.

Maybe you should consider delivering pizza... that is how I put myself through school! it might even pay better than "process serving"... and you would be a LOT more popular when you ring that doorbell! Rich family? 99% of us didn't have rich families.. and a certain percentage of us had no family at all! No excuse!

SCraig · Jan 1, 2012

From an exposure point of view using a bridge camera these are really not that bad. As Bazooka pointed out you will never get good light at night unless you manufacture it yourself in some way.

Look at #2, how the headlight of the vehicle in the back lights up some of the detail on the side of the engine in front. Those are the kinds of details you look for at night. Next time get closer to the corner of the front truck and use the headlights behind to provide some detail illumination.

I also like the fact that in #2 the black is black and not mushy gray as in the first one.

Night photographs seldom show detail, they use what light is available (or provided with flashes) to frame subjects. You can't fight the night so use it however you can. Colors are more vivid at night, details are lost but even faint lights and reflections are emphasized. Use that to your advantage. Things like the glow of instrument lights in someone's face are completely lost during the day however at night they can be used to emphasize the determination in a fire fighter's face. Don't try to fight what's there, you'll lose. Use it to your advantage.

photo guy · Jan 1, 2012

Thank you tirediron. There are no camera clubs in my area so that is ruled out. Was a nice idea.

photo guy · Jan 1, 2012

I like that pizza guy one. That is true, they are more liked by people than people in my line of work. You actually made me laugh today. That helps. Thank You

photo guy · Jan 1, 2012

Thank you for the review SCraig. That is why I am trying to learn so I can get better at some things like that and that is why I do some of these types of photos.

Derrel · Jan 1, 2012

Your small sensor camera ought to give decent depth of field at wide apertures like f/3.5 or f/4. I would say try and use it at ISO 400 or thereabouts, and just dial in +1.5 or +2.0 stops of Exposure Compensation, and shoot in AUTO mode, and then review the images and add more and more Exposure Comp until the images are well-exposed. Take control of two things: the ISO level used, and the lens aperture, and "figure it out". This ain't rocket science. Exposures in the 15- to 90-second range will handle "most" ubrban nightime scenes at ISO 400 and f/4.

If your camera has slow manual speeds like say 30 seconds, try that. 30 seconds is a good exposure time. Overall what I keep seeing are UNDER-exposed pics, so you need to use a more-generous exposure, and that can be done in multiple different ways...ISO elevation, wider aperture, longer shutter times like 30,45,60,90 seconds, flash pops with the shutter open, etc...

Nikon_Josh · Jan 1, 2012

jterry85 said:
I have been sitting back and watching the threads from photo guy unfold and have gone back and read through his old ones and it is clear to me that he is just becoming an attention whore. The constant posts with little to no improvement show that he either thinks he knows photography already or he just doesn't care enough about photography to improve but either way he's just demanding positive attention and settling for negative when he doesn't get it. I have to deal with this all the time when I get new 18 year old Army Privates in my platoon. C&C his photos but stop feeding his need and eventually he'll take it seriously or go away. Drama queens feed on drama and we've just been helping it along.

This waas pretty much what I said on another thread, this is a cry for attention and My god is he getting his wish now! Very insightful post jterry, glad I am not the only one who sees this.

Dao · Jan 1, 2012

I'd read few of OP's theads. Here are my few questions.

- What do you think about your photos?
- Do you like the images you post?
- If yes, can you tell us why?

jake337 · Jan 1, 2012

Nikon_Josh said:
jterry85 said:

I have been sitting back and watching the threads from photo guy unfold and have gone back and read through his old ones and it is clear to me that he is just becoming an attention whore. The constant posts with little to no improvement show that he either thinks he knows photography already or he just doesn't care enough about photography to improve but either way he's just demanding positive attention and settling for negative when he doesn't get it. I have to deal with this all the time when I get new 18 year old Army Privates in my platoon. C&C his photos but stop feeding his need and eventually he'll take it seriously or go away. Drama queens feed on drama and we've just been helping it along.

Click to expand...

This waas pretty much what I said on another thread, this is a cry for attention and My god is he getting his wish now! Very insightful post jterry, glad I am not the only one who sees this.