first DSLR shots

ljt

ljt

ljt

Soldato
Joined
28 Dec 2002
Posts
4,567
Location
West Midlands, UK
Hi guys

I've been looking into getting a DSLR for a couple of months, and in the last month have got a couple of books from the library to have a read up on. A couple of weeks ago I got myself a Canon 400d with kit lens and a 70-300mm Tamron Lens. These are a couple from the first lot of photos I took (from about 30). I know the backgrounds etc are messy but this lot of photos was me just experimenting with the camera and getting to know its features etc. Any tips for improvement would be appreciated :)

1)
megs1ug8.jpg


2)
ozz1ca8.jpg


Many thanks

Lee
 
nice shots..

those messy backgrounds are actually dof (depth of field) shots when your subject is clear but the background is blurry

try this to start off with:-

http://www.morguefile.com/archive/classroom.php

there are several sites similar to that..

welcome to the addictive and expensive world of photography..

oh if you have photoshop or similar software to that you can adjust your photos accordingly..


goodluck , keep sharing

thanks
 
:confused:

I think he means that the CONTENT of the backgrounds is messy. how you could interpret out of focus as "messy" is beyond me.

I find your post really patronising.

The framing of the shots is pretty good, you know where in the picture to have the cats, but as you say the background is a bit busy. The focussing on the cats is good too! and pretty cats :p
 
I think thats' a very good beginning you've got yourself on there, pretty sharp for the kit lens and nice framing, I agree with SidewinderINC (and about the patronisation). They're a lot better than many people post, and you've got a good subject.

Also it's good to know you've selected it down to only show us 2, the world of DSLRs seems to be, take loads and then sift through to get the best few.

For some reason I'm really drawn to the 2nd one, while I would prefer the cat to be 1 or 2cm further to the right (rule of thirds) it's a good shot, you want to know what the cat's staring at so deeply. The DOF is nice too, the messiness just adds to the family/home environment the cats live in.

Good shots. :)
 
1) not vertical, overexposed (maybe use a sheet of A4 to reflect onto cats face so can expose body correclty too), cupboard in background is similar colour to cat (losss of object form), object in background which resembles a cat/wiskers which improves mood/composition

2) 2 competing focuses of interest (bench/cat), cat chopped in half (composition), good colour combination, window frame makes background too busy, good expression on cats face :D

hope that helps, maybe im right or its just my opinions, nice camera btw
 
2StepSteve said:
Only thing I have to comment on is the very slow loading of the images for me.
Click to expand...
Jesus, yes! Host them on imageshack or something, I'm still waiting for them to load after a few minutes on my uni network, which isn't slow by any means.

// EDIT // Oh, they actually were :o seems imageshack is just having a fit.

I like the composition of both. DoF is good, focus is in the right place, exposure isn't too bad and the images are nice and sharp. Can't go wrong, really. Good work :)
 
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didn't think xirokx was patronising at all ... a very helpful post.

the shots are really something considering they're your first. i am very drawn to your second; the composure is very satisfying. i always find cats to be very good subjects.
 
Really appreciate the responses guys!

I didnt take the post by xirokx as patronising lol, but when i meant the backgrounds were messy, I did actually mean untidy, too cluttered etc!

I can see what you mean about the first (meggy shot) being overexposed juno, I hadnt learnt the exposure lock function at that point :p

When you say the first is not vertical, do you mean as in the cupboard behind isn't vertical, i.e. the photo is on a tilt?

Unfotunately, the alternative background to the first shot, was a bright doorway and a pair of feet lol, so unfortunately that was the best there was lol

Atleast I have a pair of good subjects to practice on lol, they like to pose for the camera :D

I was hoping to go out to the local park to photograph some wildlife tonight, but alas i didnt have time in the end, and its very likely I'd have got mugged as its a bit rough at the local park lol

Many thanks

Lee
 
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Yer the cupboard isn't upright, like theres an earthquake going on as the cat carries on sleeping :D
Holding a sheet of A4 just under the camera lens will yield miricals.
Shooting people/animals at 80mm (dunno what that is in todays digi world) will give a proper perspective.

I find going the park just results in close-ups of ducks, which I suppose be good for training your reactions with the camera.

I'm old school myself, shooting in manual (hate auto-focus & zoom lenses), all ya have do is keep checking the light every 30mins & be able know the exposure within half a stop without checking ;)
Try shooting on real slide film, that will teach ya :D
Learn about depth of field/hyperfocal distances etc. Gimmi a standard Leica lens & I'll give ya the world ;)
 
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tim80bwi said:
didn't think xirokx was patronising at all ... a very helpful post.

the shots are really something considering they're your first. i am very drawn to your second; the composure is very satisfying. i always find cats to be very good subjects.
Click to expand...

You can be patronising and helpful at the same time ;)

He was very assuming of ljt's knowledge, and treated him as if he didn't even know what DOF was, and his description wasn't even that accurate to boot ;)
 
Don't worry I never felt patronised, things come across different when wrote down, we all interpret things differently when we read them.

Anyway, I tried the Tamron 70 - 300mm DI LD Macro today as it was quite a pleasent evening.

I also downloaded the Lightroom 2 beta to have a go at editing them

Macro shot (took about 5 of this shot, tried manual focus etc) However I realised i'd took them all at ISO400 :o for some reason!

ma11of1cj7.jpg


I then tried with my cat ozz on this lens, again he posed for the shot :D

my.php


Considering the lens only cost me £65 it isnt too bad lol. I tried taking shots of some seaguls flying above with a high shutter speed (1/800 - 1/1000) at 300mm but I think they were too far away as they only took up about 5% of the frame even at 300mm
 
Oww, the pic of ozz dont show :(

Dont forget if shooting birds in the sky to overexpose as the bright sky will fool the auto-exposure, another reason to pre-set the exposure in manual & just shoot.
 
imageshack doesnt seem to like me :( Is there a better image host thats as simple as imageshack?

And with regards to pre-setting the exposure, do you mean setting the "Auto Exposure Balance" on my camera to +1 etc? or am I missing a vital feature lol
 
Yer +1 etc. same with snow scenes as the camera auto exp thinks everything is a 70% grey card / dark skin tone.
Use the force ljt, let it flow through you & with the blast shield down even if you're still on manual if it was ok before then its prob still ok.
 
Right, I'm trying a different image host lol

I had a go with my Tamron 70-300mm lens today, took about 50 shots, and only 2 were passable :( and even they aren't the best, really bad background (bokeh) in the robin shot especially. There is also a branch obstructing the view of the finch.

These were taken at 300mm or there abouts if i remember correctly, manual focus on the Robin, as despite telling the camera to AF on the middle point it still didn't seem to get it clear, so I did it myself! These have been cropped as there was a lot of useless foliage

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

1) Robin
robin1ocuk-1.jpg


2) Finch (i'm not too sure)

fimch1ocuk-1.jpg
 
There great shots if you only just got the cam ! your progressing fast :), the robin one is great, the lil dude is in a great position, maybe crop the left out slightly as imo its not offering to much to the shot. But otherwise good stuff, nice and sharp for the kit and well lit :)
 
Combat squirrel said:
There great shots if you only just got the cam ! your progressing fast :), the robin one is great, the lil dude is in a great position, maybe crop the left out slightly as imo its not offering to much to the shot. But otherwise good stuff, nice and sharp for the kit and well lit :)
Click to expand...

thanks for that vote of encouragement.However the other 48 shots were, well, pretty naff lol. I took Juno_first's advice of setting the AEB on my camera to +1 for the sky backgrounds which has helped a lot in getting a better exposure

For stationary shots like the Robin (he/she was a great sport, stopped there for a good 15 mins while i messed about) I found manual focus much better as the camera didnt always pick up on the Robin, would this be as he/she was too small to pick up on the focus?
 
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