First ever shot

[ChaoKuang]

I'm just getting into photography and bought myself a Sony Cybershot DSC-H3 for Christmas. 8.1MP with 10x optical zoom. This is my first shot.



I was on my way to work when my dad called me to the back yard. I managed to snap this before it flew away.

[tomw]

Congratulations on your first camera
With this photo I see a lot of blur and over exposure. Your camera can have Exposure Compensation, which basically decreases the exposure while still in Auto or Program mode. With a new camera, try not to be in Automatic so much, and try to learn about the different modes and how to create good exposure if you haven't already.

My one question for you is what size do you take pictures in? Lots of consumers don't understand the purpose of megapixels and think that it is a rating of how good the camera is. Hopefully you don't think that . Anyways, most people, if they don't print and only use it for web or computer use, should use a size under about 5 megapixels, or even less. I have a 350D Canon dSLR. I have so many attachments it looks twice as big as it should, and I shoot professionally now. Yet, I still use the smallest size on my camera. Now that I am printing more, I might bump that up to the medium setting, but even then it's pushing it. I have 8 megapixels just like you do, and I think it's pointless. It's hard on your card to process it, it's hard on your computer to open it, and it uses up a LOT more memory than it should. On my 1 gig cards I can get about 800 photos in small format at the sharpest quality. Research your camera (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/spec...sony_dsch3.asp) and learn about all of the settings and sizes to optimize it to your needs.

Sorry I didn't talk about your photo too much though. Just remember that you can become as great as those amazing photographers on DPS. I'm completely self taught, as well as like 90% of all photographers here on DPS. Just have fun with it!
-tom

[ChaoKuang]

I've used the landscape setting now and then. I'm moving into the program auto which has more settings that you can customize. I've been taking the photos in the highest setting, 8mp. I'll try lower, that could help. I didn't get the camera for the mp but the optical zoom, had a hard time deciding which to get and finally got this one.

I'm hoping to shoot pro at some point, and when I can get better, maybe start by creating prints and see how they look for posters and whatnot. CafePress seems to be a good place to start trying to get posters and pictures printed out to display at home. I don't personally own a printer at the moment.

Thanks very much for the feedback, though. Perhaps you could take a look at my newest photos and provide me more feedback? http://www.flickr.com/photos/22337157@N06/
I'd rather not flood the forum, lol

[jiminyClickit]

ChaoKuang, Welcome

You describe a quick snap, which could mean you moved after focus was established. Front of arbor/arch is more in focus than bird. Not a keeper, except as first shot/new camera. You'll have many more chances to get one.

[Mr. Clipit]

I dont see that much in the shot to keep it. Real quick, I would keep the bird to the right third of the frame, since its looking left (is this correct?) The exposure is off, I know the H3 has a spot metering function, that could have helped to get the exposure right before the birdie took off. But I know, its tough under pressure.
tomw, i never really saw the concept of megapixels that way. Is there any other advantage to using a smaller size? I would suspect the noise might be lesser.

[ChaoKuang]

Originally Posted by Mr. Clipit

I dont see that much in the shot to keep it. Real quick, I would keep the bird to the right third of the frame, since its looking left (is this correct?) The exposure is off, I know the H3 has a spot metering function, that could have helped to get the exposure right before the birdie took off. But I know, its tough under pressure.
tomw, i never really saw the concept of megapixels that way. Is there any other advantage to using a smaller size? I would suspect the noise might be lesser.

Spot metering? Not quite sure what that means. Could you explain it a bit more? The book doesn't go into it.

[james_c]

Spot metering is one way the camera can use to set the correct exposure - in this case, metering the light at a particular point in the shot (often the center spot). Other methods include taking an average of the light level in the entire shot, and exposing according to that.

So if for instance you are taking a pic with your main focus (such as the bird) against a background that is significantly lighter or darker... you could use spot metering on the bird to ensure it has the correct exposure (at the expense of the other areas)

Hope that makes sense... still learning this stuff myself!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metering_mode

[Jory]

Pretty cool bird to see in your backyard! Where are you from?

[ChaoKuang]

I live in Tampa, FL

[Mr. Clipit]

I guess I'll expand a little bit more on the spot metering. I downloaded your manual, metering is hidden on page 46. While I find that it usually is a good idea to stick with multi metering, spot metering (or center weighted, which is a happy medium between the other two) is useful in high contrast scenes, like the one you shot. to get comfortable with it, try switching your metering mode over to spot and focusing on a dark area right next to a bright one, like the edge of a window. if you point the small box at the bright area, the sill will be underexposed. if you point it at the sill, the window will be overexposed. however, you have the control over which area is properly exposed, instead of the camera.
Just remember that in a shot like the one you took, if the subject is anywhere but the dead center of the image, the spot metering wont work the way you want. You would have to press the shutter button halfway down while the subject is in the center, then recompose the shot how you want after the focus and exposure are locked.
I realize that was extremely long, so toy around with it and let me know if you have any questions (I only got the hang of this a few days ago myself)