First Crack at the bucket

[BroMiCs]

Hey everyone,
I am new here and it it my first post.

I have just recently purchased my first DSLR camera and have been busy taking photos ever oppertunity possible.

I purchased my first digital camera in 1999. It was a kodac 1 megapixel camera. Since then I have owned nearly 6 more point and click's. All of good quality but still point and clicks.

I have purchased a Canon T2i (550D) with an 18-55mm and a 55-250mm lens.

Here are a few of my first shots.

http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx130/BroMiCs/Keepingthemout.jpg

http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx130/BroMiCs/TrailGuard.jpg

http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx130/BroMiCs/Standingout.jpg

http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx130/BroMiCs/ToCloseforComfort.jpg

[Iguanasan]

Hey, BroMiCs, welcome to the forum. That's a nice camera you have there so I hope you have fun with it.

You have some interesting subjects here and some nice compositions. A few technical details to work on but overall it's a nice set. I really like the bee shot! :thumbup::thumbup:

[Mad Aussie]

Yep ... I'm seeing some nice compositions in that lot. Welcome BroMiCs

[Wicked Dark]

Welcome aboard. You've made a good start.

[Marko]

Welcome indeed - nice start and I too dig the bee shot!

[BroMiCs]

Thanks guys, Glad you like the pix....

The bee shot took a long time... I have like 50 pix of the bee's on the flower, but but they take off so bloody fast it was almost impossible to catch them in the act.. especially at such close range.

I am just learning how to use the camera at the moment.
I am a bit disappointed in the color of the original pictures from this camera. I find they are a bit desaturated and dull. I had to give them a bit more life in photoshop by adding some vibrancy..

Any idea's why the camera might be taking such dull pix...

[Mad Aussie]

Any idea's why the camera might be taking such dull pix...
Are you shooting in JPG or RAW?

I'm guessing if you are new then you are shooting JPG which should return slightly brighter, more vibrant shots. In your cameras menu is colour settings (see the manual) try setting this to 'Vivid' or similar and see what happens.

Also some of those shots are a little over-exposed or at least right on the verge of it. This will wash out colour also.

[JAS_Photo]

I like the angle of view of the first photo. If you have concerns about a particular photo just post it in the critique section and someone will help you out. :)

[BroMiCs]

Yes, I agree the photo's are a bit bright.
Most of my shoots have been days were it was overcast yet still bright..
I find that any shots that have the sky in them are either too dark or too bright cuz the white sky washes them out..

I just recently learned a photoshop technique to brighten darker areas of the photo so that I can tone the sky down... but on many of the reviews of this camera they mention that it does take bright photo's

I have never taken any courses on actual photography. Just been having fun with my expensive point and shoot cameras over the years...

I want to take some online courses, but I blew my budget on the camera .lol

As for the settings, it does have a vivid blues and greens setting, but I still find it a bit dull. I have never worked with RAW images before so i haven't tried them yet..

[jlandrews]

Some nice shots there, I like the bee particularly.

[JAS_Photo]

Bromics, this forum is a great place to learn! And there are references to other sources here as well . One thing you can do if you find that your pictures are too bright is underepose them a bit. Some scenes will make you light sensors go crazy and they overcompensate. If you are using aperture priority, you can just dial in a bit of underexposure. Or you can bracket your shots. You should be able to set up your camera to automatically bracket three or more shots under or over. As you get more practice you will get a better handle on exposure.

Jay Maisel, (one of my photographic heroes) tells a story of how a fellow was told by a photography guru type how to find the perfect exposure everytime. "Just do what I tell you and you will get the perfect exposure everytime," the the guru says to him.

"So I just follow this procedure and you quarantee perfect exposure everytime?" The fellow queried.

"Of course!" Says the guru type, "That and bracket the SH** out of them!"

[BroMiCs]

You should be able to set up your camera to automatically bracket three or more shots under or over. As you get more practice you will get a better handle on exposure.


Yes I had noticed this when I was fooling around with a few of the settins on the camera. I orderd David Busch's Canon EOS Rebel T2i/550D Guide to Digital SLR Photography. I am pretty excited for its arival. Should be here today or soon.

I am glad I found this forum. I have been looking for a place to show ppl some photo's I have taken. Not just familly and friends. Ppl who have some experiance.. Not sure If I have anything good enough for a critique yet though... Most of the pix I have taken are pretty cool, but lack something... I can't explain it... I wonder if I am just expecting to get profesional photo's from a entry level camera or if it really is mostly how you take the photo.
I have seen some pretty good pix from this camera so I am hoping its the latter of the two.

Aside from the brightness of the photo's my biggest dissapointment is dullness of color. I know I can PS them but I would have expected a little bit more richness in the originals....

[Richard]

Hi Bromics,

One thing you could do is do a search on flickr for the 550D, although this might not show exactly what come out of the camera with out processing, it will show you what your camera's capable of.

You can download 'canon picture styles' which might help boost your vibrance levels.

http://www.canon.co.uk/Support/System/Search.aspx?TcmUri=tcm:14-754504&SearchType=3

From what I've hear the 550 is a very nice piece of kit and I'm a little green eyed. :)

btw... nice job with the bee, love that shot!!!

[BroMiCs]

Thanks Richard,
Yea I guess I will have to take a look at the settings...

Everyone seems to like that bee shot...
I am entering a photo contest and am not sure what photo to use....

this is the other one

http://www.photography.ca/Forums/f20/perfect-landing-11092.html

I might throw them both up in the critique area and see what everyone else thinks...

[Mad Aussie]

Not sure If I have anything good enough for a critique yet though... Most of the pix I have taken are pretty cool, but lack something... I can't explain it...
Those are the photos best suited to Critique mate! ;)
We don't want to see awesome photos in the critiques section, what would be the point? Throw yours up and what you can't explain ... we will :)

Occasionally a really good photo or two do get in here for comparison reasons or perhaps we want to see if the processing we used is accepted by others, but mostly it's great for those unsure.

[BroMiCs]

Those are the photos best suited to Critique mate!

Yea yea I know... I guess you are right.

I guess I am my biggest cridic. I have seen so many amazing pix, I just makes my stuff seem so much more amature... (which it is....lol)

I am a perfectionist. Gets me upset when my ability is lower than my standards...

[Mad Aussie]

:) Even the better photographers were only average at one time. Walk before you run mate ;)