I currently own a Sony A350 with kit lens that has been unused for a while. Looking at some photography galleries, I have been wanting to take some photography snaps with a good range or colors and of good quality. What would be the best way of doing this but still keeping the kit lens. I have been looking at filters (ND filters in particular). PLEASE HELP
Best way to take high quality pictures
- Thread starter Dokinator
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I am not professional by any means but know what most features do. I want to explore photography more and get some high quality images. I do not post process. I need to be pointed in the right direction. I have the camera and kit lens, so need advice on some filters to help aid some landscape photography and such
postprocessing. Shoot Raw an post process for colours.
Try and avoid shooting really high ISOs as your 350 will be pretty poor at anything above ISO 400. Look into getting a dedicated flashgun for this purpose as even a basic on-camera bounced flash is a lot nicer than the harsh fill flash you would get from a small pop-up unit.
Filters other than ND filters and polarising filters do nothing really other than limit you in terms of your image. Learn to use lightroom and consider ND and CPL filters if you find that you want to do long exposure work or a lot of work with water/glass/cars or other reflective surfaces.
Try and avoid shooting really high ISOs as your 350 will be pretty poor at anything above ISO 400. Look into getting a dedicated flashgun for this purpose as even a basic on-camera bounced flash is a lot nicer than the harsh fill flash you would get from a small pop-up unit.
Filters other than ND filters and polarising filters do nothing really other than limit you in terms of your image. Learn to use lightroom and consider ND and CPL filters if you find that you want to do long exposure work or a lot of work with water/glass/cars or other reflective surfaces.
Thanks for your help and I will take all on-board. I have played around with post processing on photoshop to be fair, but the filters will help me a lot. Please could you advise on what ND filter would best suit...
ND filters just reduce the amount of light getting to your camera so you can do long exposures during the day. A graduated filter might be more useful for landscape work where you can darken the sky and get more cloud detail, while still getting a good exposure on the darker land bit.
Reduce grain by setting the lowest ISO possible, but make sure you use a tripod because you will be using a slower shutter speed as a result which could result in hand shake blurring the image
Reduce grain by setting the lowest ISO possible, but make sure you use a tripod because you will be using a slower shutter speed as a result which could result in hand shake blurring the image
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My advice would be to buy a copy of Lightroom before spending money on filters. And no, I'm not for one minute saying it's a replacement for using filters, but you can do a LOT if you shoot RAW and get a good exposure in the first place.
Below took 2-3 minutes and the only two tools I used were the gradient filter and the adjustment brush - just as an example on how you can bring the sky back so long as you don't blow it out completely.
Below took 2-3 minutes and the only two tools I used were the gradient filter and the adjustment brush - just as an example on how you can bring the sky back so long as you don't blow it out completely.
As said ND filters are used a lot for longer exposures during the day, this reduces the light hitting the sensor. Used mine quite a number of times to bring out the detail in the clouds and also on waterfalls so you get that silky water look.
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Learn your camera, buy a copy of 'Understanding Exposure' by Brian Petersen, and read up on composition, then put it all together with some imagination
Some good advice there, learn the basics of your camera & composition then thinking outside the box will make your photos standout from the crowd. The biggest thing I would recommend is lean to take pictures in manual.
Also, start taking lots of photos, post them up (on flickr or photo forums) and ask for critique. Take advice on board and your photography will grow.
These days, learning post processing techniques is also very important. For starters, learn the various different ways to boost contrast and sharpening (and there are several ways for each) to give the images a little 'pop'. Contrast, sharpening and black&white are the basics of post processing IMO.
These days, learning post processing techniques is also very important. For starters, learn the various different ways to boost contrast and sharpening (and there are several ways for each) to give the images a little 'pop'. Contrast, sharpening and black&white are the basics of post processing IMO.
Thanks for your advice guys, I've got 'Lightroom' now 
Have just been playing around after taking the battery off charge and took this with some help from light room, nothing special but I thought it was worth posting.
Have just been playing around after taking the battery off charge and took this with some help from light room, nothing special but I thought it was worth posting.
Not bad - out of focus on the edges, over saturated, but does indicate that your lens can deliver quite good images. If you really want to start taking good shots you need to do some ground work.
Get to know what shutter speeds and aperture values will give you - easiest way is to get a pen and paper, set you camera up and take a number of shots of the same subject, altering settings, making a note of the settings for each. Subject can be a mundane as a brick wall, but lock your camera on a tripod and have a static subject so it is not being affected.
Once you have done this and got to know what you can achieve through settings then go out and take a few photos. It is about practice etc. The more you take the better you'll get and learn from past mistakes, I have about 5000 past mistakes lol.
Get to know what shutter speeds and aperture values will give you - easiest way is to get a pen and paper, set you camera up and take a number of shots of the same subject, altering settings, making a note of the settings for each. Subject can be a mundane as a brick wall, but lock your camera on a tripod and have a static subject so it is not being affected.
Once you have done this and got to know what you can achieve through settings then go out and take a few photos. It is about practice etc. The more you take the better you'll get and learn from past mistakes, I have about 5000 past mistakes lol.
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My advice would be to buy a copy of lightroom and either buy a copy of understanding exposure by Brian Petersen and/or watching as many videos on youtube by FroKnowsPhoto and Adorama TV. That is how I am learning anyway (except I use aperture 3 rather than lightroom).
If you did it with LR then well done, you are getting to grips with it. Scarab Darkroom is a very good free RAW converter. I don't like LR too much, and favour Capture One Pro, but, still use Raw Shooter Essentials which was a really excellent free RAW converter that Adobe bought out and built LR on.
Do you (or anyoneelse) have any links to decent post processing tutorials? especially, as you mentioned, sharpness and contrast