New guy. Just checking in.

waygard33

I'm completely new to DSLR's but am usually the guy taking P&S photos everywhere we go. I've always shot using the 'Quantity' over 'Quality' method hoping that at least a few of my many shots would be worth looking at.

Finally decided to move up to a nicer camera when the need to photograph my son's basketball games came along. I'm enjoying the adventure so far.

Here is a photo I took the other day around town. I just like the colors and the worn out look.

Thanks for looking. Any feedback is welcome.

catspaw

waygard33 wrote:

I'm completely new to DSLR's but am usually the guy taking P&S photos everywhere we go. I've always shot using the 'Quantity' over 'Quality' method hoping that at least a few of my many shots would be worth looking at.

Finally decided to move up to a nicer camera when the need to photograph my son's basketball games came along. I'm enjoying the adventure so far.

Welcome to dgrin! so what type of DSLR did you end up buying??

rwells

Welcome to dgrin and DSLR's. There's lots to learn, and your at a good site for just that.

As for the shot:

Your focus led us to the front of the truck, but your perspective does not allow us to see much of that front end. We are forced to look at the long side of the truck, which is OOF due to shallow DOF.

But, the main thing to remember: If YOU like it, then its a good photograph

Looking forward to seeing more of your shots.

waygard33

catspaw wrote:

Welcome to dgrin! so what type of DSLR did you end up buying??

Hi Leah,

I bought a Canon XSi/450D from Costco. It came with 2 lenses...the 18-55 and a 55-250 zoom. I found out quickly that neither did a good job inside a gym, shooting basketball with no flash.

I've since bought a 50mm 1.8 and an EF 28-105 zoom. These are definitely better in low light. Of course the 50mm is best. Still only able to get about 1/320 shutter speed at 1600 ISO. The pics are a little grainy and still get a little blur at hands and ball but they are great compared to previous tries.

Here's what my basketball shots look like, with the 50mm. the 28-105 zoom is still a little dark/slow so I'm sticking with the 50 for now. This one was actually taken at 800 ISO.



I'm having fun with the camera and this forum is great. I appreciate you taking time to look and comment. Thank you!

wg

waygard33

rwells wrote:

Welcome to dgrin and DSLR's. There's lots to learn, and your at a good site for just that.

As for the shot:

Your focus led us to the front of the truck, but your perspective does not allow us to see much of that front end. We are forced to look at the long side of the truck, which is OOF due to shallow DOF.

But, the main thing to remember: If YOU like it, then its a good photograph

Looking forward to seeing more of your shots.

Hi Randy,
I totally agree. I'm having trouble with the focus a bit and the big pile of weeds on the right are definitely in the way. I like the 50mm and have over used the big, open aperture so far. Also, I think I actually focused on the weed at the front left of the photo (accidentally). I've noticed in many of my photos since, that I'm not focused on what I thought I was. I have not used the manual focus at all. Is that something I should rely on more?

Thank you for your comments.
wg

redleash

Welcome! This is definitely a great place to learn--and some super people too! I like your b-ball shot, especially the dribbler's floppy hair. Looking forward to more of your work.

Elaine

Hey, I see you're from Newberg! One of my favorite towns! My husband and I went to George Fox. Welcome to DGrin.

I also like the colors and textures in the shot of the old truck. The headlight is pulling my attention...it's dead center and the brightest spot in the picture and tends to draw the eye away from the other interesting parts of the pic, which are out of focus (OOF) because of shallow depth of field (DOF). I like shallow DOF in general, and applied in a different perspective here it may be more effective.

Nice action caught on the basketball shot!

Enjoy your new camera gear...it's an addicting hobby and this is a great place to feed it!

Skippy

waygard33 wrote:

I'm completely new to DSLR's but am usually the guy taking P&S photos everywhere we go. I've always shot using the 'Quantity' over 'Quality' method hoping that at least a few of my many shots would be worth looking at.

Finally decided to move up to a nicer camera when the need to photograph my son's basketball games came along. I'm enjoying the adventure so far.

Here is a photo I took the other day around town. I just like the colors and the worn out look.

Thanks for looking. Any feedback is welcome.

Welcome to the forum waygard33
There is so much information on this website for you to learn,
no matter what level your at.

Don't be afraid to ask questions of people, check out TUTORIALS,
and make sure you look at other areas of the forum.

We have some extremely talented folks here at Dgrin,
and every one of them started off as a newbie at some stage in their photographic adventure.

Don't give up the point the and shoot, they come in so handy.
Even the Pro's carry them around

The shot you took has lots of colour, are you using AUTO Focus?
Looks to me like the focus has picked up the weed on the left hand side of the image as being the subject its locked on to.

Do yourself a favour, save a copy of this image and name it DgrinFirstPost
and in 12 months time take another look at it, and I put it to you that you will be surprised just how far you will have come in that period of time.

We welcome you to Dgrin, and hope you enjoy all we have to offer.
Dont forget if you need help all you have to do is ask

.... Skippy
.

Skippy

The looks on the boys faces are just priceless, as is their hair
I love these kinda shots ..... Skippy
.

waygard33

Lauren, Elaine, and Skippy,

Thanks for the great comments. I really appreciate all of you taking the time to look and offer great suggestions. I'll see if I can put them to work.

Elaine - We really enjoy Newberg also. We moved here about 6 years ago from Chicago. What a beautiful place to take pictures in. I've seen quite a few Oregon locations in the posts.

Thanks again!
wg