first DSLR shots

[ljt]

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

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Many thanks

Lee

 

[ljt]

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

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

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

 

[ljt]

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 for some reason!

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

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

 

[ljt]

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

 

[ljt]

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

2) Finch (i'm not too sure)

 

[ljt]

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

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?

 

[ljt]

Right, I thought I'd have a go at a bit of landscape photography this time around, using the kit lens again.

I went to Swallow Falls at Betws-y-Coed and the Horse shoe pass on Monday, thankfully the weather wasn't too bad, the sun kept trying to shine through the clouds.

Here are a few I took of these locations, again this is my first shot at some of the landscapes, so any help for the future would be great! They have had some croping and post processing in Lightroom

These 3 were taken out the car window driving past at about 50mph! (no i wasn't driving lol)

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This one was taken at the top of the Horse shoe pass

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These 2 were at Swallow Falls

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6)

It was a bit of a rushed visit in a day, as most time was spent traveling there and back, and this trip wasn't just to take photos. But the scenery was beautiful, so i might go back for a couple of days purely to get some good shots.

Many thanks

Lee

 

[ljt]

Managed to get some time with my camera on monday. Went to Stratford to the butterfly farm, really glad I went. Took over 120 photos on the day, but the light was poor (dull and overcast ) so in some shots I had to rely on the flash and had to open up the aperture on the lens as much as I could, meaning lower DOF than I wanted on most shots. Here is about 5 of my favourites from the day.

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I was using the macro feature on my tamron 70 - 300mm (macro from 180mm > 300mm) to take these shots, but after this visit I really want a dedicated macro lense and a better zoom lens thats quicker at auto focusing

Many thanks

Lee

 

[ljt]

not much water at swallow falls.....looks better when it's raining!
if you're into waterfalls, and swallow falls isn't too far away, you shoul try Pistyll Rhaeadr
google it and take a look, very impressive and free to visit too!

I do live a fair way from swallow falls, but I did say I would go and stop a weekend around that area so I could spend more time composing the shots, so I will put this on my list of places to visit. Cheers!

WOAAH. i like your shots, i hope i will get better soon, im still a noob at it, getting from video to photo is a bit hard but im starting to get the hang of ISO/Shutterspeed and apature...its all a bit confusing tho

The best thing you can do is practice, if like myself, just reading a book about photography isn't really your style, then the best way is just to take lots of shots and practice. I normally take about 5 shots of the same scene with different apertures/shutter speeds etc and then pick the best one.