Still cant get this?

[mommaof2]

I have been shooting shooting and shooting, and for some reason i can get a good shot one day but the next it sucks?
I have a better understanding of aperture and shutter speed but i still don't quite know how to use them together and get a great shot!!

can someone please help me
Maybe with some examples?
Thanks
Confused?:/

 

[Overread]

can we see some examples of shots that have gone wrong for you please.
Without seeing the shots ourselves we can't work out where things are going right/wrong for you - we can guess, but that is all.

 

[mommaof2]

I did take this one but i had help from the person that i am learning from!
But i am asking anyone that knows anything!!
This one is what i am going for in every shot!!

BORING!!!! maybe its what i am taking pics of?
And this is what i always end up with!! I am really wanting to master this and become a great photographer!!
I need some advice and or examples with the settings i need to use?

 

[Overread]

to my eye your latter shots look uninspiring though that is my eye looking - the subjects are just not what I would shoot - so I will let another deal with them.
I think on the whole your control of exposure is working well - though the first shot does shot that your highlights can get blown out.
f3.6, ISO 100, 1/800sec
settings for the first shot - a wide aperture for that limited depth of field which has worked well, coupled with a low ISO - now you need to look to controling the shutter speed. 1/800sec might show as a good exposure on the camera meter, but often in direct sunlight its better to underexpose the image - this will help prevent the highlights from blowing out and preserve the details. You can then brighten the shot up later in editing if needed. That means that using a faster shutter speed would help.

Check your camera manual and say if your camera has a histogram viewer

 

[petercox]

It looks like your main problem is actually your composition and choice of subject. Your first shot is quite nice aesthetically (although it does have overexposure problems as Overread pointed out). To fix the overexposure learn how to read your camera's histogram - that will tell you whether or not you have exposed the image properly, and you can then re-take it with the corrected settings. I have an article which might help: Understanding the Histogram.

As for composition, that's something quite different. It boils down to choice of subject and framing it in the image. Light is also an important factor. Your first shot is compositionally nice, the rule of thirds is being obeyed (if you don't know what that is, the Wikipedia entry for it describes it pretty well).

Your second shot is actually pretty nice compositionally - I like the central placement of the flag (in general this is something to be avoided, but it works here). The flag is well separated from the background and is an interesting shape. You're let down here by the light - it's very uninteresting. Some late evening (or early morning) sunlight dappling the flag and bringing out the texture in it would be a big benefit.

Your third shot has no composition to speak of. It's not aesthetically pleasing at all - other than a shot to show what the pads looks like it doesn't seem to have any other purpose. A photograph has to clearly communicate to the viewer what it was taken of and why - this is clear in the first two, but not in the third.

The last shot is better - there's some composition there. The sculpture goes down the left hand third line and is reasonably interesting to look at, but the left of the frame is a bit busy. The girl on the bike is not completely in the frame and is out of focus - better to wait until she's clear of the shot if you're not going to have a deep depth of field. Also the lamp-post crosses behind the sculpture - moving to the left would have separated it better. You're also being let down by the light again - better light would have resulted in a better picture.

Hope that helps!

Cheers,
Peter

 

[mommaof2]

Thank you everyone for all your comments hopefully i can work on these things and get GREAT!!!

 

[ksmattfish]

...for some reason i can get a good shot one day but the next it sucks?

"If I knew how to take a good photo I'd do it every time." -Robert Doisneau

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Robert+Doisneau&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

 

[manaheim]

Your main problem is you use too many exclamation marks in your posts. :roll:

Have patience... learning how to compose shots well takes a lot of time and practice, and even people who are really good at this toss more shots than they keep. Watch what others do, look at what they have, analyze why it works, ask questions about why yours are lacking, etc.

Getting to a point where you are taking good shots is, unfortunately, not simply a matter of doing a bunch of pre-defined things right (though there are some guidelines here and there, such as the "rule of thirds")... it is about experimenting with interesting things, having a good eye for good subjects, capturing emotion and like about a million other hard-to-define things.

It've been doing this constantly for about 6 years now, and I am at a point where I feel like some of my images don't totally suck, and literally I think one of them is absolutely awesome, and probably 6-10 of them are probably worth printing and selling. That's out of literally thousands of pictures. *headdesk*

The good news about this is it does seem like you start to get traction after a while... most of the images I think are worth something are ones I have taken in the past year, and I find just in the past 6 months that I toss far less, and usually am able to identify an interesting potential shot at a glance (as opposed to searching constantly) and get the shot I want within 2-3 exposures. Not all of those are necessarily ones I'm going to frame, but at least the camera feels far more predictable to me.

Keep at it.

Be patient.

Ask questions.

Listen carefully to advice given.

Look at as many pictures as you can. Try to understand them.

Take as many pictures as you can. Try to understand them.

Those bullets are, in my opinion, the best advice you can possibly get.

 

[sultan]

You need to develop your eye for photos. Clean up the composition and focus on a specific subject. Also don't cut off the subject, keep the entire subject in for now until you learn how to cut off properly.

Example - the colourful guitar:
-Move to the left to get rid of the writing on the wall, the girl on the bike and the tree
-Increase the contrast
-Get an interesting angle eg. getting close to the bottom of the guitar and point the camera up while on your knees

 

[Brian L]

I have found that shooting what you like makes it much easier to see the beauty in something. I know while I'm driving down the road or just walking with my camera I'm always looking for something I like. Then when I see a shoot it and take my time. Taking a couple photos to make sure exposure and shutter is right. I often shoot in Program mode with the lowest iso during the day. Then adjust when night time comes around. Hopes this helps out for you.