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My First Pics :) Where would you improve



  Hondata'd EP3 Type R
Got my SLR Today, 400D with 18mm-55mm lens.

Very very very impressed with it, But I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing with it, So I put it on auto mode and took these Shots. I am quite impressed as it was alot darker than the pics let on and was a very dull day.

Anyway, What modes etc etc would you change? These are RAW images, No editing, Just changed to jpeg.

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Very very impressed with the camera, Just wish I could work it more :)

What settings would you change to improve my pics?

Thanks
 
  Cupra
The best thing you can do is just use the camera as much as possible. Try taking people, buildings, random objects, animals, inside, outside, close ups etc etc etc.

Play with the settings and you will get a feel of what the various things do. There are a couple of useful guides stickied at the top of the forum which cover a lot of the basics.

I rarely use RAW unless I am not too sure about the exposure or will be doing post processing in Photoshop, it is just too much hassle and you really struggle to see the difference in quality 1-1. Change it back to fine L and you will save a lot of time on the PC!

The photos cost nothing so just snap away!
 

® Andy

ClioSport Club Member
  Illiad V6 255
Knack to photography is to understand how the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and white balance affect the picture that you take. Hence you've got to move outside of auto mode ;). Don't know if the 400D has a "program" mode, but if it does then that's often a good place to start since it'll allow you to change eg. your aperture and then the camera will change other parameters to match accordingly.
 
  Revels Mum & Sister
DO what Andy said.

Defo fiddle with the Shutter, Aperture, Manual modes. Get some reading done of the guides on here. Buy a few magazines and soak it all up and go take pictures
 
What Andy has said is great advice, that's more than enough to either get you started or finish you off! I'd also take a glance at composition, I find it interesting how if you simply frame something slightly differently you get a totally different image..
 
  AMV8, Mk1 Golf
all i can say is read the manual , make notes, make sure you understand all the terms, and dont use the cammera in dummy mode, may as well just a normal one if thats all your going to do
 
  Megane Mk4
id change the things you take pics of,

they're boring.
You always get one :rolleyes:

I personally try to use the camera without flash as much as possible and if you haven't already, get a tripod as sometimes you never know when you'll need one. ;)

Best way to learn is to play with the camera, you can't really break it by playing with settings on the camera so experiment. As Andy's pointed out start with one setting and play with that, then go to the next when your confident enough, learn each setting one by one, stay away from full manual, (or 'M' as most DSLR cameras have) that is completely 100% user programming and that means you have to set up everything.

Play with settings 'P', 'S', and 'A' in turn. Learn each. As already said, read some guides in this section. You can't really fail tbh ;)
 
  Hondata'd EP3 Type R
Knack to photography is to understand how the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and white balance affect the picture that you take. Hence you've got to move outside of auto mode ;). Don't know if the 400D has a "program" mode, but if it does then that's often a good place to start since it'll allow you to change eg. your aperture and then the camera will change other parameters to match accordingly.

Cheers for that mate, Really helped.

Does anyone know if the 400D has a Programe mode? I presume its the P ;)?
 

Ali

  V6, Trackhawk, GTS
I've taken over 1k pics in a month! Most s**t, but occasionally i get a peach! Its all about practice!
 
Practice is the most important thing. IMO knowing about the technical side of photography is secondary to knowing what makes a good photo so reading up on composition techniques is where you need to start. Then move on to improving them through technical changes
 
  LY 182 FF CUPPED
Practice is the most important thing. IMO knowing about the technical side of photography is secondary to knowing what makes a good photo so reading up on composition techniques is where you need to start. Then move on to improving them through technical changes

this guy speaks the truth....afterall he is the 7th best in the world lol...sorry for the cheap dig
 
  LY 182 FF CUPPED
sorry mate could not resist the cheap dig.
Went onto that site with your competition entries.....and I must say they actually look very good on there.
You even have some better images than the ones you posted on here yesterday.
I bet the hi res images look even better.
Your images have a very commercial look, which is where the money is at nowadays.
keep up the good work.......
at least you had the balls to enter a competition.
 
  LY 182 FF CUPPED
what what what???....
so you are saying Jpeg v raw....that jpeg is better???
and your thought process behind this is???

its 2008 and memory has never been so cheap.....I would advise anyone and everyone to use raw in every circumstance possible.
At least if you make a booboo at the taking stage you have a chance to rectify it later using ACR etc.

jpeg is so 2006 lol
 
I looked to my local college and signed up to a 10week photoraphy course (par time) but it was the BEST 65 pound i`ve spent, Getting first hand experiance off a photographer & use of the college studio loved and leart that much i signed up for another 10 weeks.
 
D

dick

jpeg + raw ftw.

best of both worlds. can PP better in raw,but ease of use in jpeg.
 
  LY 182 FF CUPPED
most modern cameras now allow you to shoot both in jpeg and raw....
like I said before memory is now so cheap that you have no excuse not to shoot in raw.
forgetting write speeds ( which is only really relevant when shoot high speed action) you can pick up a 2gb card for under £20 now.
if you want the best chance at capturing the scene as you intended to see it then....CAPTURE IN CAMERA raw.
 
  Hondata'd EP3 Type R
Had a little play again today, Not happy with any of the shots, But they were all in a variety of modes, Wit various settings. I appear to have TOO much light on most of the photos. Any ideas?

Where should I ideally have the dial for taking these sort of shots (Modes are P, TV, Av, M, A-Dep, Green Square, And then the preset ones (sport, Portrait, Landscape, Macro etc etc.

I thihnk its the knowledge I need to brush up on, But any pointers would be greatly appreciated:

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No editing as such, Just opened them in Photoshop 7.0 and Saved to web as jpeg, And uploaded to photobucket.
 
D

dick

well.. id advise you to not save for web, as it kills off any exif data that you have.
cant really tell what setting youve been using on each photo.

just resize them using something.

just turn your exposure comensation to about -2/3 of a stop or something if its letting too much light and blowing out highlights.
it depends, what you want, do u want the other sidew of the lake in focus or not,

i would suggest checking the histogram after youve taken the photos, but lets not confuse things!

what the camera has done; has metered for the ground, and blown out the sky,

this is one of the times HDR would be appropraite for once. (or a Grad ND filter)

l;ike the tree 1 dude :)
 
  Cupra
One small point I would make is to keep an eye on the whole picture and not just the subject.

Two photos are let down by something in the foreground that lets down the photo (IMHO):

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  Vauxhalls
Buy a tripod take it with you and use it as much as possible if you can. i bought a cheapo one for £15 Squid and its done me fine.

The more you use the camera the better you will know how different settings and things will change the outcome of your pictures.

Go back to the manual every now and then and just have a flick through, just reading one thing and finding out something new can really change the way you try to take a picture and settings you use.

Dont be dissapointed with your pictures that dont come out as you want them to. you can look at them and see what you can do for next time. and they will only get better.

You might take two hundred pics but only have one that your really happy with, thats how it is, but you'll be happy with that one picture.

Like someone said near the top, try and understand how shutter speed, aperature, exposure and lighting affect your picture. And play with different composition, just moving the camera or subject a little bit can make a big difference.

Good Luck Mate

P.S >Anyone< Know where can i post some randomly good pictures???
 
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