NewBie-please share your thoughts

[a73210]

Hello Guys,
I am newbie to this photography world.I had Cannon 450d.This shoot is one of those which I like.
please share your thoughts/suggestions on this.
Also please tell me how much editing is required/necessary once pic is clicked.Bcaz I dont like post production od my pics.

Thanks
-M

[dessa]

I'm afraid you will have to post this again, for me at least, the image is the size of a postage stamp

[Technical Tim]

same here - best to follow the rules for posting images - use flickr or similar photohsharing website

[Heaterguy]

Very small as previously stated. You should post this in "critique my shot" section.

[a73210]

Sorry Guys,

Here is the link for few of my clicks.Please share your views

Flickr: Buttermix's Photostream

[Grumby]

Hi M and welcome to the world of photography, and to DPS.

Sadly, I can't actually see too much of your photo - it's very tiny even when I follow the thumbnail to the full size version. You need to figure out a way that works for you, that allows you to post pictures here so that they can be seen. Personally, I use a bit of software called Faststone Image Viewer that allows me to resize a copy of the image (there are many freebies out there that will help you with that task). For posting in DPS forums, I usually take mine down to 320x240 type of size. Then I upload the photo to a web album - I use Photobucket, but again, there are dozens of them - such as Flickr, Picasa, etc.). Then the web album will give you a 'link' code that you can cut and paste into your post here (using the 'Insert Image' icon - two grey mountains and a grey sun in front of a yellow sky...), so the image is embedded in your posting.

There are other ways - but that way works for me, and so I stick with it. If you do a search across the forums here at DPS, I'm sure you'll find some other ways documented as well.

So - have a play with that first - you can keep previewing your post before you submit it - so you can see if your image insert link has worked. Then we'll be able to get down to talking about your photos.

If you've got a camera as nice as a 450D, then start off by using it in 'P' mode - and let the camera make intelligent decisions for you, balancing shutter speed and aperture. Then as you get used to the camera and learn the advantages of either aperture or shutter speed depending on the effect you want, you can start to take control of the camera's automatic choices, by adjusting the balance point that the camera chooses, towards an aperture or shutter speed you want to use. In 'P' mode, after the camera has made its best guess at the settings, if you adjust aperture one way, the camera will automatically adjust shutter speed the other way to keep the exposure correct and (with my Nikon anyway) it will restrict you to the range of setting combinations that will give you a correct exposure.

That's just my opinion - others may advocate using the aperture-priority or shutter speed-priority modes to start out. But I think, most will agree with me - leave manual mode till you understand the basics of exposure. I can thoroughly recommend the book 'Understanding Exposure' - I think it is by Bryan Peterson.

OK - I've babbled for long enough - and told you nothing about your photo - sorry...
Try posting a link to it again.

Grumby.

OK - In the time it took me to type all that - I see you have provided a link to Flickr - good work
You've got some nice shots there - perhaps all I typed above was in vain - you aren't THAT much of a newbie! I like the shot of the little dude (1219) - nicely composed and he has a nice natural cheeky grin. I'm intrigued why you think that the shot of the tap is your best...?

[a73210]

Grumby,

...All you type is not a waste bcaz it is every single suggestion that matters and you were so detail in explaining that It will help me understand the functionalities
Thanks for all your feedback.
To be very true I clicked all these pics on Apperture priority mode.
I dont know photoshop so havent done any editing on these pics.
For the tap pic,i thought It was something unusual so i liked it.

Will share more pics and will surely need more feedback from all the xperts out here.

[Grumby]

OK - so if you are currently using aperture priority exclusively, perhaps I can help you understand what difference it would make if you used shutter priority instead... Then you can decide which mode will best suit any picture you want to take.

Basic mechanics of taking a photo
(skip this paragraph if you already know how the camera works)
Behind the lens, there is a hole (the iris) that lets light through into the camera. The size of the hole (aperture) can be controlled. Just in front of the sensor, is the shutter (think of it like a window blind). When you fire the camera, the shutter is opened for a short (or long) time, letting the light coming through the iris onto the sensor. The time the shutter is left open can also be controlled.

• When you use aperture priority, you tell the camera how big you want the hole to be, and the camera decides how long to leave the shutter open so that the sensor gets the right amount of light.
• Shutter priority is the opposite - you say how long to leave the shutter open, and the camera decides how big the hole needs to be.

Either way, the camera ensures the correct amount of light gets through to the sensor, so what's the difference?

Aperture vs. Shutter Speed
In very general terms, the shutter speed you use affects motion aspects of the image, and the aperture affects the depth of field (aka depth of focus or DOF - actually, the two terms do have different technical explanations, but amount to the same thing - how much of your image is in focus).

So you need to decide what aspect of your photo is the most important - if you want to freeze a fast moving athlete, you need to use a fast shutter, but if you want to capture the motion of people walking in a shopping mall and have them blurred against the background of the storefronts, then you'd use a slow one. In either case, you'll be wanting to use the shutter priority mode, so you can control if the exposure will be short or long.

However, if the motion aspect is less important than the focus, then switch over to aperture priority. The smaller the hole in the iris (i.e. the higher the f-number), the more of the photo will be in focus (i.e. between the closest object and the furthest). If you want to do a portrait with the subject's face in sharp focus, and the background really blurred so it is not distracting, then you'll want a bigger hole to let the light in - which means a low f-number. If you are doing a landscape, and want as much as possible from the distant mountains right up to the tree just in front of you to be in focus, then you want to use a small hole (high f-number). This will be the aperture priority mode you've already been using, which allows you to decide which f-number you want the camera to use.

The 'P' (Program) mode I mentioned previously, is a halfway house between these two modes. The camera finds a balance of aperture and shutter speed that will give you a good exposure. You can then swing the balance one way or the other, by adjusting the shutter speed or the aperture, and the camera will automatically compensate by adjusting the other setting accordingly. The rule is quite simple - 1 jump in f-number (aperture) requires 1 jump in the opposite direction on shutter speed to keep the balance. Every f-number jump halves or doubles the size of the hole, and every jump in shutter speed halves or doubles (approximately) the time the shutter is open - so you can see how the two go hand-in-hand.

(End of lesson)

Hope all this has been helpful to get you started experimenting with aperture and shutter speed. Once you are familiar and understand these concepts, it all gets a lot more exciting and you will be taking photographs rather than snapshots.

The day you miss a shot, because you were too busy thinking about what mode to use, the light direction, the correct shutter speed, composition, etc., is the day you arrive (and become a photography nerd like me)

Good luck with your journey of exploration - btw, I wouldn't worry about Photoshop for the moment... I'd suggest a simpler approach so you can concentrate on the photos. Install Picasa 3 on your PC - it's free, and it has very simple to use correction settings, which will make great improvements to your pictures with the click of a single button. Photoshop is really powerful, but takes a lot of learning and practice to get really good with it - Picasa is much easier for day-to-day quick fixes.

Cheers,
Grumby

[Grumby]

(btw - apologies to moderators for the length of my essays - I suppose I really ought to write all this stuff down somewhere)
Grumby

[Sime]

Originally Posted by Grumby

(btw - apologies to moderators for the length of my essays - I suppose I really ought to write all this stuff down somewhere)
Grumby

No apologies required - cheers for sharing.

a73210 - Firstly, if you're after decent feedback, please use the critique section from now on, but don't worry this time - you'll work it out.

a73210, Welcome to dPS... I've clicked through and looked at your photo on your flickr account. I don't understand what you were capturing. What was your thinking behind the tap, is it a town that doesn't have water, or did you just like the way it looked? 90% of a photo is the thought that comes before, the thought process that helps you identify what you're taking a photo of, why and if it is indeed worth taking that photo. The best thing about digital, you can take the photo and decide afterwards, but always have some sort of thought in your head "why am I taking this photo"

The technical bits will come. Your photo is over exposed and the composition doesn't really work for me. I also note that your ISO is up at 1600 - It looks like it was a nice bright day, you need to get this down to 100 in the sun.

If you were going for that look, with the tap in focus and the house behind out of focus, you will get a better result with a wider aperture (smaller f number, like f3.5 as you were using the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS)

I think you may have a bit of camera shake in there, too. If you drop your ISO to 100, your Aperture to f3.5 and your shutter speed to about 1/100 you could have a cool looking picture (of a tap!)

Things for you to think about...
- Shoot in P mode, see what the camera does and then mimic it and work on knowing your camera.
- COmposition, How you frame your images, put the tap off to one side, play around with it a bit.
- Think about your shots, why you take them and what they mean to you.

Hope this helps.

Sime