From the ground up...
I was sent here by a friend of mine. I have been reading a LOT, but I'm one to get my hands in there and get my hands dirty (so to speak) early and learn as I go.
Today, I wanted to develop better control of the manual settings on my camera. I have a goal to buy a camera that can really maximize photo opportunities, but can't justify the expense until I feel as though I have full control of my camera and my skills exceed those of my equipment.
Right now, I'm working with a Kodak EasyShare Z712IS. My theory is that if I just take every day and every opportunity to get the best pictures possible, I will be able to take good photos no matter what conditions.
Today, we went for a motorcycle ride. It was about 3:00 pm, bright, bright sun and very clear and beautiful out. I had my daughter as my passenger and my camera...no other equipment. It was also windier than you can imagine (I had a couple photos where my hair ruined the photos by blowing in front of the lens).
Currently, I don't have photo editing software...I'll get into that once the software enhances what I feel is already solid photography.
I worked with angles and shadows...trying to maximize the color in the photos and make the (very) bright sunshine work in my favor instead of to my detriment. These are the three photos I think were the strongest for today. Some my daughter was posing, others I was playing with settings while she was texting her friends (what she calls the 'natural teenage element) :lol3 I was happy she was being so patient with me.
I would truly welcome feedback to help me develop my skills. :bow
1. Probably my favorite posed pic of the day because you could clearly see her face despite the bright sun and issues with shadows.
2. This was where I really started to get the 'blue' from the sky and not have the background wash out. (Daughter was pointing at a bird...lol!)
3. I was working on ISO (daughter was texting) and caught the vulture in the background...honestly...by accident.
Today, I wanted to develop better control of the manual settings on my camera. I have a goal to buy a camera that can really maximize photo opportunities, but can't justify the expense until I feel as though I have full control of my camera and my skills exceed those of my equipment.
Right now, I'm working with a Kodak EasyShare Z712IS. My theory is that if I just take every day and every opportunity to get the best pictures possible, I will be able to take good photos no matter what conditions.
Today, we went for a motorcycle ride. It was about 3:00 pm, bright, bright sun and very clear and beautiful out. I had my daughter as my passenger and my camera...no other equipment. It was also windier than you can imagine (I had a couple photos where my hair ruined the photos by blowing in front of the lens).
Currently, I don't have photo editing software...I'll get into that once the software enhances what I feel is already solid photography.
I worked with angles and shadows...trying to maximize the color in the photos and make the (very) bright sunshine work in my favor instead of to my detriment. These are the three photos I think were the strongest for today. Some my daughter was posing, others I was playing with settings while she was texting her friends (what she calls the 'natural teenage element) :lol3 I was happy she was being so patient with me.
I would truly welcome feedback to help me develop my skills. :bow
1. Probably my favorite posed pic of the day because you could clearly see her face despite the bright sun and issues with shadows.
2. This was where I really started to get the 'blue' from the sky and not have the background wash out. (Daughter was pointing at a bird...lol!)
3. I was working on ISO (daughter was texting) and caught the vulture in the background...honestly...by accident.
Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms)
-- (Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms)
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Comments
One advantage of a DSLR is that many of them will give you a highlight warning in the viewfinder if you have blown the highlights. My Kodak didn't have that maybe yours does. By using Aperture or Shutter Priority you avoid having as many blown out shots. As for editing try using Google's Picasa or the web-based tool Picnik. Both of these are very capable editors.
I think your images look like snapshots. That isn't bad if that is what you are looking for. Here are some of my favorite images taken with the Kodak.
I do not think (I won't say for sure) that I have the warning you talk about with the highlights. I'm going to look though and see if I'm missing yet another thing!
-- (Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms)
+1 for Picasa. It's free, so you don't have to worry about investing money in a new tool before you are ready. I think it could really help to be able to do some post-processing work on your pictures, to get bluer skies, etc. I just looked at Google's help pages and it looks like you should be able to get bluer skies with Picasa if you fiddle with it.
Picasa's also nice because it's relatively simple and not overwhelming.
http://picasa.google.com
I just looked at your camera's manual on the Kodak website, and it looks like you can adjust most of the basic parameters-shutter speed, aperture, ISO and white balance. It doesn't look like you can shoot in RAW. I would advise you to fiddle with the various settings as much as you can and then take things further in Picasa if you can.
Good for you for getting out there and shooting as much as you can! Your story is inspiring me to get out there and shoot more. Thanks for that.