Relearning to shoot, first time post

irwinkm · April 15, 2009

A quick introduction, after many years of not doing photography, which was a big hobby for me in High School, I decided to take it up again a few years ago. Problem is I just put the camera on automatic settings, and my wife recently commented her pictures from her point and shoot looked just like mine on my "fancy camera". doh! Oh yes, I had forgotten about things like depth of field, so I would like some opinions on a recent little field trip behind the house. I am using my Rebel XT and my new :barb Sigma 18-200mm os lens with a circular polarizer.

Thank you for any input, and please feel free to browse my other folders.

http://irwinpictures.smugmug.com/gallery/7912465_YXiq7#513244726_b66Pr

Kevin

I don't know why, but the page doesn't show any pictures, I refresh and get an error, refresh again and it works. hhhmmmmm.

Khristen · April 15, 2009

Beautiful garden- I'm so jealous! Might want to watch the lighting and framing though. Still very good pics for getting back into the game.

pathfinder · April 15, 2009

Welcome to dgrin, Kevin!

Shooting digital is not that different from shooting positive transparency film. The basic photographic fundamentals still apply.

Most of the images in your gallery were shot in Av mode. Av mode is useful, it lets you choose the aperture, and the camera chooses your shutter speed. I use Av mode much of the time, but I do have to keep a close eye on the shutter speed as the camera may choose a shutter speed way too long to hand hold the camera.

I think that is what blurred this image with an aperture of f25 and a shutter speed of 0.3 secs. Maybe you wanted to catch the flowing water, but the image is either out of focus or was moved during the exposure. Was this shot on a tripod? f25 is usually not the sharpest aperture for a lens used on a 35mm camera due to diffraction.

To create the best possible images from a DSLR requires a number of skills in addition to good camera equipment and shooting skills, including editing skills in Photoshop or other image editing software. That is why Point and Shoot cameras images can be more impressive at times as they are designed for higher contrast and color saturation directly out of the camera with no editing, than is typical for jpgs straight from a DSLR that has not been adjusted in its deeper custom menus.

On a side note - You are allowing the public to download your original images - you may want to turn that off in your Control Panel on smugmug if that is not your intention.

Qarik · April 15, 2009

for the most part well exposed, decently framed, and not out of focus. That's no small thing.

I would say it's a good start after some time off.

irwinkm · April 16, 2009

Thanks for your input everyone. I have been working with photoshop elements off and on for a while, and occasionally mess with a demo of aperture, which is where I did the post processing on these pictures.

I had downloads available for friends and family, I'll have to look into creating a password. Thanks.

Kevin

Toshido · April 16, 2009

Unfortunately the Rebel XT does not have the ability to control sharpness and saturation in camera. So you are forced to do that in post.
Of course shooting RAW none of that makes a difference anyways.

catspaw · April 16, 2009

Welcome!!

relearning to shoot is ALWAYS a fun trip. You learn new things you swear you never learned before and remember tons more you've forgotten. Oops! I've spent the last 2 years 'relearning' with the DSLR cameras and simply LOVE it compared to the film processing. As a shooter, I've been doing this for over 15 years, but I took a break between film and (serious) digital for a few years.

Welcome to dgrin and definitely use us as resources! There's tons to be found, especially with the right searches or the right questions. As well, the 'Books' section above as some great ones (coughcough with more great ones to be added soon). I've been do massive research on my own and reviewing books that'll be added. Not sure which ones are available over in Germany, but some of the more popular ones might have made it there (such as Bryan Peterson's line).

Keep it up and keep coming back, we love to teach here

Relearning to shoot, first time post

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