An unknoen flower on a leaf...

[sgiedne]

i am siddharth and am new to this site. I am very much an amateur photographer and would definetely like to improve my photography skills. I am using a Canon SX30IS camera. I know its not a dSLR but as of the moment, for my considerably low skills in photography, thats all i could afford. Id be glad to hear any tips and suggestions to improve my photographic skills. thank you.
aperture : f/2.7 shutter speed : 1/60 focal length: 4.3mm

[Thunder_o_b]

Originally Posted by sgiedne

i am siddharth and am new to this site. I am very much an amateur photographer and would definetely like to improve my photography skills. I am using a Canon SX30IS camera. I know its not a dSLR but as of the moment, for my considerably low skills in photography, thats all i could afford. Id be glad to hear any tips and suggestions to improve my photographic skills. thank you.
aperture : f/2.7 shutter speed : 1/60 focal length: 4.3mm

There are several things that will help you with your shots, may I work with your picture to better explain this?

And don't worry about your camera, it is fine to start with.

[sgiedne]

Sure. No problem at all. Please go ahead and let me know any kind of suggestions or changes i have to make.

[Thunder_o_b]

Originally Posted by sgiedne

Sure. No problem at all. Please go ahead and let me know any kind of suggestions or changes i have to make.

Thank you.

I will look at:
1. Lighting
2. Subject
3. Rule of thirds
4.Macro.
5.Portrait or Landscape

1.
Lighting is the bases of photography, it is the foundation that all else is built on. In your shot there is too much tension between the light and the dark part of the shot. Evening out the lighting can be done several ways. With the gear that you have you could use a screen to block the bright light, or you could use a reflector to lighten up the shadows, a white poster board works well, you could also put aluminum foil over cardboard. You could also move what ever is casting the very dark shadow. I carry a pair of small garden scissors to clear small amounts of leaves out of the way.

2.
In this shot (or any shot) you want to look closely at all the components. Does everything in it contribute to the picture? If not they should be removed. In this case the small bits of flower in the BG (background) are a distraction to the primary subject. I did a quick removal to show how it would look if you had done so before taking the shot.


3.
The rule of thirds http://www.digital-photography-schoo...f-thirdsreally comes into play in this shot. Compare this shot to the one above. The subject is placed in the upper left corner with the lines in the leaf trailing diagonally to the lower right, giving the picture a smooth flow from one corner to the other.


4.
Macro. Macro is a 1:1 (one to one, life size) reproduction of the subject on the sensor plain. Generally the subject fills the entire frame so the rule of thirds has less impact, but not always.

5.
In this first shot the subject is in landscape, in the second shot the subject is in portrait. As can be seen, because the subject has an elongated shape portrait is a more effective presentation.




Much of this is subjective, and I do not claim to be an expert. These are some of the "rules" that are excepted by consensus, and there are plenty of times that they are broken to good effect, but to break them you first have to know them. I hope that I have been helpful.

[sgiedne]

in sorry for my ignorance but what exactly does tension between the light and dark parts mean. and should the shadow not be there? i thought it provided a good contrast but still, should it not be there?
and about the rest, i seriously could see the difference berween the original and cropped photo without the background. that trick was really good - to remove distractions.

you most certainely were helpfull. could u also please advise me as to what aperture and shutter speed i must use when. i almost dont even know what they are other than their definitions and a vague idea that formed in my head about them. it would be most kind of u, if u could help me in these.
thanks once again
and ill post more photos i took. pls review comment on them too.

[sgiedne]

and hey that 'rule of the thirds' link is not valid. could u post it again?

[Thunder_o_b]

Originally Posted by sgiedne

in sorry for my ignorance but what exactly does tension between the light and dark parts mean. and should the shadow not be there? i thought it provided a good contrast but still, should it not be there?
and about the rest, i seriously could see the difference berween the original and cropped photo without the background. that trick was really good - to remove distractions.

you most certainely were helpfull. could u also please advise me as to what aperture and shutter speed i must use when. i almost dont even know what they are other than their definitions and a vague idea that formed in my head about them. it would be most kind of u, if u could help me in these.
thanks once again
and ill post more photos i took. pls review comment on them too.

The tension refers to the struggle for dominance that goes on between two things, in this case the extreme dark and the extreme light with part of the subject in the dark. This comes under the header of subjectiveness, if you did it because you like the effect that is fine.

F stop (aperture) and shutter speed depends on what you are trying to accomplish. F stop controls the DOF (depth of field) and the amount of light that enters the camera, shutter speed controls how long the light hits the sensor, and as such also controls the amount of light. ISO is how sensitive the sensor is to light What Is... ISO - Digital Photography Tutorial - Photoxels High iso needs less light (used for low light) but increases "noise" in the shot, esp. in the shadows. This can be remedied to a certain extent in PP (post processing) I use Topaz Topaz DeNoise - Remove Noise, Recover Detail plugged into Adobe Photoshop® CS5 Extended 3D design | Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended But there are a lot of free programs out there that you can start with.
Add to this mix the flash and the various calculations, and things get complex quickly.

Take it one step at a time and you will be fine.

[Thunder_o_b]

Originally Posted by sgiedne

and hey that 'rule of the thirds' link is not valid. could u post it again?

Here is a different link.

The Rule of Thirds and Photography – PictureCorrect

[sgiedne]

i read about the rule of the thirds as well as about the ISO and they definetely proved helpful. thanks a ton for them. Could u suggest such pages for aperture, shutter speed and all such basic stuff as well?. is there any really good book i can read about all of 'em? i am kind of getting the feeling that im troubling you a little too much over here, you know, with just posting one average photo and asking a thousand things off u....sorry abt that...pls help me out if u dont mind....thanks again.

[Thunder_o_b]

Originally Posted by sgiedne

i read about the rule of the thirds as well as about the ISO and they definetely proved helpful. thanks a ton for them. Could u suggest such pages for aperture, shutter speed and all such basic stuff as well?. is there any really good book i can read about all of 'em? i am kind of getting the feeling that im troubling you a little too much over here, you know, with just posting one average photo and asking a thousand things off u....sorry abt that...pls help me out if u dont mind....thanks again.

It is no trouble, I am happy to help when I can. My skill level (such as it is) it the direct result of all the help and guidance I have received over the years. As for books, I really can't suggest any, but maybe others can.

Give this a try, it may be helpful Shutter and Aperture - Beginners Guide to Photography - Photonhead.com