New on Photography Guidance DSLR

[Geddes]

Just bought my first DSLR camera Canon 500D and know nothing and would like to get into it. So i thought and make a new thread and post up pictures and see how i progress.

Today i was out and too a few pics to my local river. I'll post them up soon.

I just had it on fully auto and sometimes the flash came on even though i was outside and some pics didnt save on my card not sure how or why it happened. On the other thread it was mentioned to take it off Fully Auto straight away. So i'll do that from now on.

 

[Geddes]

 

[Geddes]

the second one, i tried too focus on the lettering
the one with the bridge, i now see that the camera wasnt level
and the last one seems abit dark

 

[Nick_P]

Have a read on here, although take it with a pinch of salt

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech.htm

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Have a read through Harpham's noob thread.

Composure is the first thing to get right !! Rule of thirds needs to be learnt.

First pic is great apart from the telegraph pole crashing the scene. Second, Auto will try to get the best out of the scene, so you can't see the writing. Unless you picked one focusing point on your AF picker, a low depth of field with a large aperture and spot metering too, at that distance it was never going to work.

Third - not bad but needs the 'rule of thirds' incorporated.

Fourth - dont put things in the middle. Crop it to pull focus or zoom in (stand closer!) if you just want a photo of the bike.

Fifth - straighten your horizons ! Rule of thirds...

Sixth - messy composure, too much going on. Are you trying to take a picture of the bench ? Zoom in... rule of thirds...

Seventh - not bad ! slightly tighter crop to get rid of the pole crashing on the left. Straighten to make telegraph pole vertical, and crop so that's on the 1st left 3rd. (rule of thirds)

Eighth - sky blown out, and shadows underexposed. Shorter exposure and some fill flash needed. Or .. invest in a polarising filter and play with settings

Sorry if that's too harsh .. just my thoughts and I'm far from pro level !


Normal advise I give to noobs is:

Practise, practise, practise.
Don't try too much at once.
Practise.
Stick it in Av mode mode of the time, bigger number (f point) means smaller aperture. Play around and see what the camera changes on your screen when you move the f number.
Get to know the rule of thirds and then know how to break it successfully.
If you've got a photo in mind, look on Flickr for similar ideas then check exif data for settings.
Practise.

 

[Andy.]

Have a read on here, although take it with a pinch of salt

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech.htm

Rockwell?? You didn't!?! The guy is a class A clownshoe of the highest order. He is so full of s**t it is untrue!

 

[Geddes]

on the 6th i was trying too take a pic of the bench with the doorway plus the flowers on the bottom, think there was too much going on.

So much to learn but it will come, i guess you still learn things no matter how long you been doing it

 

[D4N13L]

Read the guides at top of photography section, most hopefull.

 

[Harpham]

As said above, read through plenty of guides and have a read through my thread.

I try to go out now with a particular type of photo in mind and then read up/ask about the best settings etc to use and what I should be doing etc.
It's a slow process, but you'll get there. Ive had my cam about a month and im still a complete an utter noob. The only thing ive really 'mastered' (id like to think so anyway ) is the night shots at the CS meet I did.

 

[Nick_P]

Rockwell?? You didn't!?! The guy is a class A clownshoe of the highest order. He is so full of s**t it is untrue!

Lol, I like some of it, although he does "talk" to you like your a piece of moulding piece of fruit.

 

[Xanda73]

Rockwell?? You didn't!?! The guy is a class A clownshoe of the highest order. He is so full of s**t it is untrue!

LOL rockwell is the first place I go to to learn of new Nikon stuff. I know what you mean though, but his reviews and advise or quick and easily digestable unlike some.

 

[Andy.]

I think that all Canon users are obliged to hate him TBH. some of the stuff he comes out with is laughable though.

 

[Nick_P]

Yeah that hate thread on the canon forum is funny, the quotes are hilarious.

 

[MikeoftheQuays]

LOL @ the Ken Rockwell hate. It's been a couple of years since I was involved in photography and photography forums and I still shuddered when I saw the name.

2 resources were invaluable to me when learning -

Fred Miranda forums
Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson

The forums are superb for both the gearhead talk and the truly stunning photography posted on there. Understanding Exposure is great for really getting to grips with what your camera is doing in terms of metering and whatnot. If nothing else there's a huge glossy shot of his Missus in her bikini and she is fiiiiine.

I also did a great deal of googling. Ensure you understand the relationship between shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Then what aperture size does to your depth of field (DOF). Once you have that it's all about practice.

 

[riz]

Read about composition first and foremost. Then play around with your camera in aperture and shutter speed priority. Then see what results you get.

I went on a local council dslr course for 50quid. Which was superb.

 

[SamP]

Have a read on here, although take it with a pinch of salt

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech.htm

O'rly. Tripods are unnecessary and any lens past a 18 - 55 kit is a waste?