My first pictures.

[Admiral Huddy]

I started a Photography Btec course in September.

Thought I'd share a few as I go along.


Sorry I admit I lack originality and have been inspired by what I've seen here, in particular Devrij's water circle and a few others to say the least.

I used a 1/200, 100 ISO, f16 exposure. Tripod and remote.

I used a 2", 100 ISO, f16 exposure. Tripod and remote used.

I used a 2", ISO 100, f16 exposure. Tripod and remote.

Couple of St Micheal's Church, Galleywood, Essex

Played around with bracketing and HDR. The church tower need adjusting slightly which I'll do t but otherwise, I'm happy with the results.

 

[Admiral Huddy]

Are you after some C&C?

Always.. Can't learn otherwise

Excellent start, well done. A bit of feedback below for you.

3 of the first 4 look a little soft and flat (not the Xbox pad), I'm not sure if this is because of jpg compression, cropping or something else but the could certainly do with a kick of colour / contrast / sharpness in post.

I think 2 of 4 could also benefit from a wider field of view but that's purely a personal thing!

The 2 of the church are fine but when processing HDR's watch out for the 'halo' effect. You can see it on the transition between the sky and the trees and it's generally something to try and avoid.

Also when using HDR, look for scenes that would benefit from the HDR method. This could be any subject / scene that has a huge difference in contrast from extreme dark to extreme light, this is where HDR should really be used as this is where most camera metering systems will struggle.

Cheers. I've only just noticed the "halo" effect so will try correcting that.

as for the 3 pics you mentioned, I wonder if it's anything to do with the 90mm Macro i used? I shot them in RAW and used Elements RAW to make adjustments.

 

[Admiral Huddy]

Thanks for the comments guys. All duly noted of course. I've updated some of the images with exposure details.

tbh sometimes I get little confused when preparing my shot and forgot stuff, like the ISO, or the the WB etc..

I forgot to mention that I'm in my first year at photography college (evenings) so the images you see are really just playing around. I have an assignment due to start next week which ends in April.

Images 1 to 4 where taken with a Tamron 90mm lens using a tripod and a remote. I Took them using natural light but this disappeared fast so had to compromise a bit. There is a pattern emerging that i do appear to be shooting out of focus. The guys at work have spotted it but don't know what I'm doing wrong.

The water shots was taken with a window to the back, and a spot light to the left hand side. I used the cameras built in flash too so i could get the 1/200 exposure. The other 3, i concentrated on the composition, using a related background but one that didn't interfere with the main focal point.

Definitely learnt quite a bit but wonder at times if what I have learnt will ever fall in place.



Thanks for the HDR tips D.P. I've had a retry.

 

[Admiral Huddy]

Took some flower pictures over the weekend using natural light in our conservatory.

1) f/1.8 1/40 ISO 100 50mm

2) f/4/5 1/6sec ISO100 50mm

3) f/1.8 1/20sec ISO100 50mm

4) f/14 0.8sec ISO 100 50mm

5) f/14 6sec ISO100 90mm macro

6) f/16 5sec ISO 100 90mm macro

7) f/13 1.6sec ISO 100 50mm

8) f/3/5 1/20sec ISO 100 50mm

f3.5 1/2sec ISO 100 90mm macro

 

[Admiral Huddy]

Hi there

I'm not really in any position to offer advice as I'm still learning photography myself but I like your first set. The water droplets strike me as quite tricky to get right? I also like the bokeh effect you've managed to capture on the Polo / mint shot.

I was hard.. I tried different lighting sources to get a reasonable speed. I've got a spot light the side, natural light from the window behind . The shot is a dripping tap. I took about 200 shots to get this one over and 2 sittings. My first attempt was with a 50mm prime but by the time I cropped the shot I lost too much quality so the second sitting was done using a 90mm macro with greater success and hardly any cropping.

I like number 8 as it is simple and the water droplets add interest. Some of the earlier ones are imo perhaps a little busy, which can detract from the main subject given the flat lighting.

However I think the jpeg compression is still compromising the images as the edges are losing their definition - what setting are you using?

Thank you.

Compression rating 9 or 10 but still in the highest compression range ... I have to admit I have been having problem with focusing..

Had a play with colour on an image I took at college a few weeks back..

 

[Admiral Huddy]

Thanks for the comments alex.. Point taken on pictures 7 and 8. Picture 7 is copped so I could do that.. for picture 8, maybe between f/8 and f/16 as in picture 5 would have been better?

edit// it's early days for me but I sometimes wonder if i'll ever take great pictures as some of you guys. Some of the pictures a chrips, clear and tack sharp. I just don't seem to be able to get anywhere near.

 

[Admiral Huddy]

Zooger I really appreciate your comments. Thanks.

I do look at live view and think that's ok until i get them to Photoshop so you've obviously experienced this before so at least i feel normal.

I did use a tripod and remote for the above shots but i think the problem is narrow DOF and/or as the camera shoots it moves because the tripod i have is only a budget and not very stable. I'm looking at replacing this next payday.

The camera i have is a 700D and I used the Canon 50mm f/1.8 prime / Tamron 90mm Macro for the flower shots. I didn't use IS for the above but I have read this before so thank you for reminding me.

I'll have to write that checklist of things to do when preparing for shooting because it's often later i think I forgot to set this and that..