My first shots

[Matt2682]

So I am a complete newbie, ive always liked photos and yesterday I finally went out and bought myself a D90 with a 18-55mm vr lens.

After going out all day and taking about 200 shots I liked these 3. What do you think of them, comments welcome, I know they are far from perfect.

[Matt2682]

I just did this one again, I think im starting to get the editing

[Marko]

Hi Matt,

You're just starting out so here are a few pointers.
- Please familiarize yourself with the rules on basic exposure and basic composition. Here's one article on exposure (written for film cameras but all the rules apply) http://www.photography.ca/phototips/trinity.html
Here are some basic tips (very quick list) http://www.photography.ca/blog/?p=56

Here are 3 podcasts on composition
http://www.photography.ca/blog/?p=50
http://www.photography.ca/blog/?p=51
http://www.photography.ca/blog/?p=52

Ok in terms of these particular shots, as an FYI - please upload 1 -2 photos at a time per thread. It makes it easier to critique.

The biggest problem I see is underexposure in all the shots except the squirrel. The squirrel shot is cute but the eye should be tack sharp. This shot would have benefited from a much wider aperture to blur the background.

The other 3 shots show that you have a decent eye but that you are still learning. In order for most prints to be good they must have a full range of tones. There is almost no detail in most of the shadows of the 3 non-squirrel photographs.

But that's what we are here for.. Post 1 shot at a time, we'll critique it for for and you'll take that knowledge forward.

Hope that helps - Marko

[Travis]

Hey matt... welcome and enjoy your new D90!!!

marko have given you enough to chew on so have fun shooting!!

[Matt2682]

Thx for the advice and the welcome to the forum. I guess that makes sense as to why I could not get the shadows to come up any better. Also when I shot the scene of the dike I did not set the camera to raw, would that be part of the reason im lacking detail in the shadows after processing them?

The dike picture was shot in the dark with a 10 min exposure at 18mm f29. At what point would the main part of the picture become over exposed while waiting for the shadows to have enough detail? Also the other challenge I faced with the night shot was finding the focus, it was dark enough I could not see the scene through the view finder to focus. What are the techniques typically used in this case if any?

Im really enjoying myself so far and can already see how addicting this hobby can be.

[Travis]

The dike picture was shot in the dark with a 10 min exposure at 18mm f29. At what point would the main part of the picture become over exposed while waiting for the shadows to have enough detail? Also the other challenge I faced with the night shot was finding the focus, it was dark enough I could not see the scene through the view finder to focus. What are the techniques typically used in this case if any?

Im really enjoying myself so far and can already see how addicting this hobby can be.

I don't do much in the way of long exposures.... but a 10 min @ f29 seems excessive... the aperture is too far closed.. the same shot at f4 would be only 2 minutes....


this would lessen the chance of vibration from wind or whatever to introduce shake to the shot... also at 10 minutes the sensor will be getting hot resulting in more noise...

the camera needs light to properly focus so if your onboard light isn't doing the trick try using a flashlight to set your focus... once it's set lock it...

it will be hard to pull detail in certain areas if there is no light whatsoever in the shadows..... you can try painting some light in using the same flashlight you used for focusing.... try small even circles in the darkest areas during the exposure...

pertaining to RAW on shots like these..... RAW will preserve your bit depth and allow you to recover some detail in the shadows... but on a shot like this the cost will be some noise....


also... if the D90 has a mirror up function this would be a good time to take advantage.... keep the D-lighting off for this as well... and ISO at base of course....

[Matt2682]

Thank you, that is some really good advice. My thoughts on the high aperture was have a large depth of field but it does make sense that a shorter exposure would produce better results, for all the reasons you mentioned. My iso was set to 200, is that what you mean by base? Would it be better to say set the iso to 400 and aperture f8 to preserve depth of field? I guess I have some playing around to do, which is most of the fun for me. Thank you for all the good advice, im soaking it all in.

[Dwayne Oakes]

Cool little critter and good job. Keep placing your subjects off center
like that as it makes for good compositions.

Take care,

Dwayne Oakes