Buffet's photography journey

BuffetSlayer

BuffetSlayer

BuffetSlayer

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Joined
19 Jun 2012
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Now I am entering the world of photography I thought I would create a thread where I can post some of my shots for honest critique of other members, advice and of course something to look back on as I develop. A kind of catalogue of improvement (hopefully!).

Now at this stage I have been using my camera for less than 24hrs - in fact total time behind the view finder has been just over an hour.

Today I got home from work and decided to do some experimenting with focus, DOF and general exposure in close up shots in the garden (as well as a few of one of our cats - the other one was being a grumpy bugger :p ).

A couple of the shots were in auto but the majority of these pictures were taken in manual mode without even reading the camera instructions, suffice to say they ain't brilliant! :eek:

So here goes!


Day 1 - Getting a feel for the camera

As you will notice, on the outdoor shots I was using single point focus so some of the shots have the wrong feel but I really just wanted to experiment with DOF. I am fairly pleased with some of the shots. Shame about the purple flower being under exposed though :( Was having a nightmare as half of trhe garden was in sun, the other half shade :p Anyway, here are a few from earlier on.

DSC_0039 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0072 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0073 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0093 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0101 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0111 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0161 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0165 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0186 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0199 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0215 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr
 
Before I start, please let me qualify this with me being, at best, a beginner hobbiest.

For day 1 they aren't bad. Some under exposure on some of the external / flower shots but the composition and still life isn't bad.

I really like the idea of a progress diary / journal and I'm sure it will be a great way to see yourself develop and improve.

This early on all I would recommend is reading a few books on light / exposure and the basics of photography and having a damn good play with your camera.

Also get out and about - a walk or trip out and look for things to capture from differ angles and perspectives. There are also some great togs on here and following their threads is a constant source of inspiration and food for thought

Most of all enjoy - it's a wonderful and rewarding hobby :)
 
Thanks for the input. I am enjoying myself already! I am getting to grips with the shutter speed settings and it is amazing how much difference it makes in low light conditions. My 70-300mm lens arrived today and the settings I was using on my 18-55mm don't seem to cut it. Massive white out over exposure! :p

Only used auto mode on the the new lens today, just getting to grips with what it can and can't do but I am very impressed with the image quality. It is pretty fast too - and I feel like I made a good purchase buying 2nd hand instead of getting the basic 55-300mm.

Already I am walking around thinking of shots, thinking of good angles, trying to find inspiration.

There is one element I have observed across both of my lenses though and wonder if anyone can tell me where I am going wrong or what causes it? See below:
DSC_0313 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0181 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

Can you see how there is an area of focus that runs across each shot from the subject and everything else is out of focus?

Any idea what the problem is? The first shot is with the 70-300mm and the 2nd is with the 18-55mm, both on auto focus. Is it simply the woven effect of the table being too complicated for accurate focus? Or is it perhaps my approach or my settings?

I took a couple with the the 70-300 today - admittedly on auto mode though! Revisited some of the shots I did yesterday to try and improve them a bit, not to mention the amazing fantastic Silhouette Bird! :p
DSC_0293 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0295 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0303 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0312 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0318 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

DSC_0332 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr
 
This line isn't a fault. It's called Depth of Field (DoF) and is controlled by the apperture of your lens.
On the telephoto lens you have a higher f-stop however you are zoomed in a lot more thus compressing the image.
If you use the 18-55, drop the shutter speed and increase the f-stop you will see the line of in focus stuff get wider.

HERE is some reading
 
When you say Manual mode I hope you don't mean Full manual exposure or manual focus. For some reason beginners seem to think they need to switch their camera to be in Manual m mode to be a pro. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Full manual mode has a time and place but for a vast majority of your photos you want to be in Shutter (S) or Aperture (A) priority mode. Around 95-99% of my photos are taken in aperture mode because aperture is the most important aspect you want to control for most photography. The rest are almost exclusively in Shutter priority and once in a million years I will switch to full Manual.


I also set auto-ISO on because it is another aspect I simply don't care about, it should be as low as possible to get the photo I want, otherwise I don't case. The only times I wont use auto-ISO is some flash work (but even there it is commonly left on) and when I am doing serious landscape work on a tripod.


Focus is the same, it is always in an autofocus mode but do change focusing modes depending on whether I am shooting birds in flight, landscapes, sports. Typically I'll be selecting the focus point except for some BiF work. DSLRs simply aren't design for manual focus, you will want o modify your viewfinder with an etched screen to really do MF justice.



I might have misread what you were saying but I wanted you to avoid beginner mistakes. You pay a lot of money for your camera to accurately measure exposure, calculate shutter speeds, focus quickly etc. Make full use of these features, let the camera do as much of the leg work as you can while you concentrate on aspects that are important to photography such as dept h of focus, composition, subject, framing, light.
 
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Urbanfreestyle said:
This line isn't a fault. It's called Depth of Field (DoF) and is controlled by the apperture of your lens.
On the telephoto lens you have a higher f-stop however you are zoomed in a lot more thus compressing the image.
If you use the 18-55, drop the shutter speed and increase the f-stop you will see the line of in focus stuff get wider.

HERE is some reading
Click to expand...

Thanks :) Just done a quick scan read for now but will come back to it later. Interesting reading from what I did pick up though. I need to get my head around all that lot with a bit more practice methinks!

I had just started messing with f-stop and shutter speeds last night in the house. Basically taking the same photo over and over but with different settings.

When you say I should increase f-stop do you mean increase aperture size (IE let in more light), or increase it in numerical terms IE 1.4-2.0 and let in less light?
 
D.P. said:
When you say Manual mode I hope you don't mean Full manual exposure or manual focus. For some reason beginners seem to think they need to switch their camera to be in Manual m mode to be a pro. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Full manual mode has a time and place but for a vast majority of your photos you want to be in Shutter (S) or Aperture (A) priority mode. Around 95-99% of my photos are taken in aperture mode because aperture is the most important aspect you want to control for most photography. The rest are almost exclusively in Shutter priority and once in a million years I will switch to full Manual.


I also set auto-ISO on because it is another aspect I simply don't care about, it should be as low as possible to get the photo I want, otherwise I don't case. The only times I wont use auto-ISO is some flash work (but even there it is commonly left on) and when I am doing serious landscape work on a tripod.


Focus is the same, it is always in an autofocus mode but do change focusing modes depending on whether I am shooting birds in flight, landscapes, sports. Typically I'll be selecting the focus point except for some BiF work. DSLRs simply aren't design for manual focus, you will want o modify your viewfinder with an etched screen to really do MF justice.



I might have misread what you were saying but I wanted you to avoid beginner mistakes. You pay a lot of money for your camera to accurately measure exposure, calculate shutter speeds, focus quickly etc. Make full use of these features, let the camera do as much of the leg work as you can while you concentrate on aspects that are important to photography such as dept h of focus, composition, subject, framing, light.
Click to expand...

I was using semi-full manual mode for most of the shots I have posted in day 1. Basically using manual settings but auto focus but I was in Manual mode. A few shots were taken with full manual though, where I was using the focus ring myself - but none of those were posted (for obvious reasons - they were pants :p )

But what you just posted makes a lot of sense. I was starting to come to the same conclusion that ISO seems less influential on my shots than shutter speed and aperture. I will give the S and A modes a try.

It's all good fun. I'm enjoying the challenge to be honest.
 
Alternatively try Av Mode and take some shots at different apertures, that will automatically change the shutter speed.

I shoot about 70% Manual, 15% Av and 15% Tv.

Normally i use Tv (shutter priority) for my motorsports, Av (Aperture Priority) for Weddings and fast changing animal shots when i know there is enough light and Manual for everything else
 
Shooting manual when Av would work is making hard work for yourself unnecessarily.

Use aperture to control your DoF and exposure compensation dial to adjust to the light and it will work 99% of the time. The only thing you need to pay attention to is your Shutter Speed which you can set the ISO to suit.
 
Well I did some experimenting earlier, and I think part of the problem is the lens isn't really designed for close ups.

I managed to get a fairly even DOF but the shot seems under exposed and the spring is slightly out of focus. The others are only slightly better than what I have already achieved so I haven't bothered posting them.

DSC_0303 by Buffet Slayer, on Flickr

I will get there eventually! :)
 
Raymond Lin said:
DoF is more than about getting close.

Macro photography obviously means very shallow DoF, but if DoF is what you are after, just make sure the background from your subject is miles away.
Click to expand...

Any advice on that shot above? Was it simply a case of wrong shutter speed? When I tried increasing shutter speed I just seemed to get blurry over exposed shots.

Thinking about it, using f36 probably wasn't the best idea either. Didn't realise I had gone that far! lol

Well, tomorrow is another day. Another chance to practice. :)
 
Raymond Lin said:
Unless you can throw that up and shoot it in mid air with the background 5 meters away.
Click to expand...

I can bloomin well try! :p

I figured a macro would be the right tool for the job. I was only really experimenting with my 18-55mm, trying to learn the camera and get familiar with light and shutter settings. It's a bit daunting at the moment, but it is enjoyable, particularly when you get a shot you are happy with.
 
BuffetSlayer said:
I can bloomin well try! :p

I figured a macro would be the right tool for the job. I was only really experimenting with my 18-55mm, trying to learn the camera and get familiar with light and shutter settings. It's a bit daunting at the moment, but it is enjoyable, particularly when you get a shot you are happy with.
Click to expand...

Your lens isn't really made for Macro, and trying to do something it can't do will only frustrate you.

Learn the limits of your camera and lens' technical ability and work how to get the best out of them, and then learn how to push it to its limit, but to push it, you need to know the limits in the first place.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Shooting manual when Av would work is making hard work for yourself unnecessarily.

Use aperture to control your DoF and exposure compensation dial to adjust to the light and it will work 99% of the time. The only thing you need to pay attention to is your Shutter Speed which you can set the ISO to suit.
Click to expand...

Yep, and set auto ISO so you dont have to worry about shutter speed, just keep an eye on the ISO so you can make an informed decision to adjust aperture to compensate if you are pushing things to extreme.
 
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