First Attempt

[lanikatherine]

This was my first attempt at a Flower Macro. It was 7:30 at night. Still light out but sun was down. This was taken handheld. (no tripod yet)

I have a Kodak Easyshare ZD8612 Zoom Lens Reflux.

I'm sure once I switch to an SLR and am able to change lenses my photos will improve but looking for any suggestions or opinions. I just started Photography School 2 weeks ago and am still learning about Aperture and Shutter Speeds.

EXIF:

F/4.8
1/100
ISO 400
Focal Length 604mm

[Meadster]

Nice first attempt! I like the composition and the colors. The focus looks a little soft which is probably due to the tradeoff you had to make to get a fast enough shutter speed in fading light. In a more perfect world, I'd want to have a smaller aperture (f 11 - 16) to increase the depth of field and thus your sharpness. Overall, a nice first go!

[lanikatherine]

I think if I did a smaller aperture, the picture would had been really dark, right?

[Meadster]

If you had a smaller aperture, and did not adjust your shutter speed, you'd get a darker exposure. However, when you alter either aperture or shutter speed, you have to adjust the other in the opposite direction. In your case, to move to a smaller aperture, you'd need to go to a slower shutter speed - this would keep the exposure level the same.

The further you go with this may get you to a point where the shutter speed is too slow to get you a sharp image due to camera shake or subject movement due to breeze.

I hope this helps!

[lanikatherine]

Thank you so much! I think you just explained it better than my textbooks did! That helped alot! Thanks again!