Novice with a new camera

elpedro

elpedro

elpedro

Associate
Joined
7 Feb 2008
Posts
1,196
Location
Surrey
Hey guys, well I took the plunge and decided to take my photography to the next level; no more point and shoot compacts or mobile phone photos. Picked up my Canon 1000D today, already I am really excited and optimistic.

I got a book, Digital SLR photography for dummies, for xmas and have been emerged in that for the past few days. Just wondering, what did the pros here do when they literally first started SLR photography?

My camera came with the IS 18-55mm lens, so I'm restricted in that aspect; really not fussy what I take photos of but would like to start with some simple and effective shots.

Any hints, tips, pointers would be great.

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My first photo hahahaha:D
 
welcome to the expensive world of SLRs :)

tho (no offence) i never understand why people think the kit lens is restrictive. until you start wanting low light flexibility its a good item..
 
im in the same boat as you. new camera, not much experience. but what i would say is the lights from your desktop is overpowering your focal point (sub woofer).......and on a different note, should you have the sub that close to your pc? the magnets could screw up your HDS :p
 
Same boat, same camera :) Get out and about, get some photos taken, stick them on here or Flickr and get some feedback!
I'd love to hear how more advanced photographers on the forums started off, what they learned and what kit they had they've gone through :)
My flickr is in my sig!
 
Not bad, looks like you're experiencing with composition at least. What mode were you shooting the pictures in? I haven't got my firefox extension to read the EXIF data (at work).

Ok here're my critiques on today's shoot:

Berry - Suffering from poor lighting - could do with exposure compensation a bit. Try different angles as well and see what gives you the best composition. The composition in this particular shot is a bit weak. I've always found it a struggle with these types of shots mind you - tree branches tend to give you very limited feel of the depth of field and pictures can look flat. I find it more interesting shooting up or down a branch with the subject flower / fruit to help bring in some depth - but that's a totally different kinda setup than your picture.

Dog:
Quite a decent shot, good exposure, I'm guessing you've crouched down to get a better angle. Could probably improve on composition a bit by moving the subject slightly further to the right. Read up on the golden ratio :)

Fence:
Best composition of the lot.
I'm guessing this was shot around 40mm-55mm focal length? I don't think the shallow depth of field worked well here, unless if you had a fence pole as the main subject. Otherwise I would have gone for higher f-stop for greater depth of field. You might need to use wider angle and get up right close to get a decent enough DoF shot though.

Dogs in tube
Nice job with the exposure considering the subject! Very interesting shot and subject are nice and sharp. Can benefit a bit more with composition, and maybe photoshop out the foreground branch that sneak in there? It doesn't quite frame the picture, nor does the picture needs framing with foreground really :)

iPod
Lots of background noise - corner of paper, table edge and darker background etc. Though the subject does stand out because of the colour :) Can do with getting closer although I know you'd probably struggle because the kit lens isn't a macro lens.


I think all in all it's a good start! I think you're in the right direction but needs to push it and experiment more to get more dramatic angles and shots :)
 
Appreciate that feedback, like I say its my first day really trying out the camera, granted there were some terrible shots I took - under/over exposed badly but I am happy with the few good ones. The true beauty of digital photography I guess being able to take and discard so easily.

Still reading through my "Dummies guide to digital SLR photography":p Helped me a lot as this is the first time I've used an SLR. Thanks again!
 
Oh yeah, I'd recommend you stick to Av, Tv or M mode when shooting (if you aren't already) because it's the best way to learn!

The problem I find with the Creative Modes is that they change lots of "internal settings" like picture quality and what not. I'd say use them when you're struggling to find the right exposure for your shot, and see if the pictures come out better afterwards.

What photo editing / management software do you use by the way? You want something that displays EXIF data - it's another good way of learning about exposure after you've sat down at home.

I remember film camera days when I couldn't really remember what setting I used for each shot, and never had the patience to jot down all my exposure settings. Praise Digital Photography!
 
I have it set to M, but I found it difficult remembering to adjust all settings at times and would just change one or the other.

I have Photoshop CS3 - not sure what is best for photo management. Is it best to keep hold of all your photos or just the ones you feel are good? What would you recommend?

Only way I know of displaying the EXIF data is right clicking then looking at properties of the image :rolleyes:
 
Ah, I'd recommend using Av or Tv more then - M's probably a bit hardcore to start out :) I only really use M when I know the lighting's not gonna change and have had a few reading from the Av or Tv mode already. M's a must for gig / club photos though, if you have a light enough lens (f1.8 50mm is what I use)

I use ACDSee myself for managing my photos - it's got a nice tagging system and reads the EXIF data nicely. Not without its flaws though but I'm very "accustomed" to it. I needa try out Picasa more. I heard good thing about Lightroom as well.

I've got massive harddrives so I'm not bothered about keeping the crap shots - but then I think one oughta delete them at some point.

What I do is have a "source" folder with originals of all my photos, a "jpeg" folder either within each one of these or in a separate folder if I'm doing a set on dA, flickr or facebook.

Another thing I've literally just started doing (after getting the 450D and re-igniting the photographer in me) is to resize all the "scrap" photos to 900x600, so I still have them and all the exif data, but they're not eating up too much space and don't take ages to load each time I browse the folders.

Perhaps worth starting a thread about how to "manage" your digital photos.
 
Good man, another 1000d convert, I got mine this past week also. I love it. Coming from a fuji s9500, I just didnt know what to expect with regard to noise as the fuji was awful above iso 200. now 1600 is a treat compared to the fuji. I too have the kit lens and apart from a slightly laggy AF on it, I really cant complain about one single aspect really.
Apologies on the slightly large size and the off-crop of the third pic but I love it regardless, my little un loves the camera.
I think this camera is a keeper.
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Didn't know the kit lens' capable of macro :o Check out the "room light" thread for a simple way to setup your "macro studio" :)

Last shot is lovely, colour's very good considering flash was used!

I think I glanced over dpreview's comment on Canon's noise level at high ISO is superb. I still remember when I used the Nikon 5700 before getting the 300D second hand. I was just stunned by the lack of noise. Granted it was a jump from CCD (high noise sensor) to CMOS but still!

Do you use spot focus? I don't think the AF's too slow myself, although maybe you're comparing it to your Fuji. I'm pretty used to it myself, spot focus I find reasonable enough, and it only really struggles in low light.

It's a good lens really, wouldn't knock it at all. I love it when comparing to the second hand kit lens I had. Of course I still would mind replacing it with an f2.8 Canon wide angle zoom anyday :p
 
thesubstitute said:
Didn't know the kit lens' capable of macro :o
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Any lens is capable of macro if you have some extension tubes. Those shots aren't macro, though.

thesubstitute said:
Last shot is lovely, colour's very good considering flash was used!
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I don't understand this - you get good colour using flash as long as you set white balance correctly and process as needed.

Are you shooting RAW, brendy? I would suggest that you do if you're not and spend some time learning about/playing with processing - it can really save some photos. Try something like Lightroom (or Aperture, if you're a Mac user) for managing/processing your photos.
 
Sic said:
Any lens is capable of macro if you have some extension tubes. Those shots aren't macro, though.



I don't understand this - you get good colour using flash as long as you set white balance correctly and process as needed.

Are you shooting RAW, brendy? I would suggest that you do if you're not and spend some time learning about/playing with processing - it can really save some photos. Try something like Lightroom (or Aperture, if you're a Mac user) for managing/processing your photos.
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Bits and pieces matey. Ive been playing with L&raw together those those posted were not raw in the first place.
Love the little critter elpedro, very photogenic!
 
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