New to DSLR...

[3i]

Well I finally got one.

[Captain Meowmix]

Protip: Tanks work better with tracks :tu:

Pics are looking good!

[Gaz]

couple of nice shots there, first things i was playing with was low ISO settings and long shutter speeds, wait till you stsart buying lenses, it's a slippery slope :pmsl:

[El Negro von Coon]

couple of nice shots there, first things i was playing with was low ISO settings and long shutter speeds, wait till you stsart buying lenses, it's a slippery slope :pmsl:

It really is :(

Some good shots there mate, keep at it! Are you shooting in RAW yet? It's the best thing to do as a newbie; it's like having the stabilisers on - if you funt something up, you have a LOT of control over editing.

[Gaz]

couple of nice shots there, first things i was playing with was low ISO settings and long shutter speeds, wait till you stsart buying lenses, it's a slippery slope :pmsl:

It really is :(

Some good shots there mate, keep at it! Are you shooting in RAW yet? It's the best thing to do as a newbie; it's like having the stabilisers on - if you funt something up, you have a LOT of control over editing.

:pmsl: RAW files are BIG, stock up on memory cards!

[Jaffa]

If you want come critisism, here it is:

First shot is fantasic, contrast is spot on and the depth of field is sweet.

The second and third, seem a little 'plain'. Up the contrast, bring that pink/purple colour out. You could also experiment with a custom white balance, get a nice deep color temperature and with the background being plain you can really bring some fantastic colours to the petals.

The composition on the third should have been taken from the side, I didn't see the wasp until I looked carefully.

They're all bang on with the focus though, keep at it fella.

I'll share with you some advise what LM gave to me. Go and buy a 50mm prime lens, f/1.8 will do you fine. They are AMAZING lenses, you'll get the sharpest pictures ever with great DOF and bokeh.

Keep at it

[3i]

That little hoverfly actually flew into my shot and landed. Then did the same on the other flower.. little attention whore.

The main thing for me is the focus and such. I have barely got into the menus such as white balance etc. so perhaps I will play with this in future to bring out colours. I have it set to daylight at the moment because of the bulbs I use in the model photo studio.

These lenses... they sound expensive. Do they have an AF motor? I am using the stock AF VR lens from the kit, I can barely understand what this fucker does, what are the gains of using this prime lens thingymajig ?

Come on Jaffa, talk down to me, for once I genuinely know less than you about the subject being discussed. I understand depth of field, exposure, ISO and focus... other than that, I'm you're bitch now FUCK MY ASS

[Jaffa]

That little hoverfly actually flew into my shot and landed. Then did the same on the other flower.. little attention whore.

The main thing for me is the focus and such. I have barely got into the menus such as white balance etc. so perhaps I will play with this in future to bring out colours. I have it set to daylight at the moment because of the bulbs I use in the model photo studio.

These lenses... they sound expensive. Do they have an AF motor? I am using the stock AF VR lens from the kit, I can barely understand what this fucker does, what are the gains of using this prime lens thingymajig ?

Come on Jaffa, talk down to me, for once I genuinely know less than you about the subject being discussed. I understand depth of field, exposure, ISO and focus... other than that, I'm you're bitch now FUCK MY ASS

They're not too expensive, I paid £120 for mine and it's a f/1.7 - do some reading on aperture. The 50mm is a prime lens, it's fixed at 50mm so all zooming is done by you and your feet. Shooting at f/1.7 makes anybody interested in photography very very horny. Your subject is incredibly sharp and detailed and you're left with a cool as fuck depth of field and some very nice bokeh.

I went through a very enjoyable phase of shooting with very wide apertures and some of the results were fantastic:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3389/3660789240_6b6874b1c8.jpg

Exposure: 1/4000 sec Aperture: f/4.5 Focal Length: 50 mm

There's a shot I took with the 50mm and a Skylight 1B filter, even at f/4.5 the DOF is nice.

Here's one at f/1.7, to get an idea of just how sharp the lens is:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2481/3625658861_0f9d63e706.jpg

Exposure: 1/2500 sec Aperture: f/1.7 Focal Length: 50 mm

Bike is uber sharp, your subject needs to be BANG ON in focus though to really gain the benefits of wide apertures.

That was taken from a bit of a distance, but you get the idea on the sharpness of the lens. Here's a bit of a candid I took of our cat when i first took the lens out of the box:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3633/3618007760_206d183763.jpg

Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125) Aperture: f/1.7 Focal Length: 50 mm

Hope that helps you weed smoking, model painting anorak.

[LM]

Wide apertures are the sex of photography, nothing gives a togging geek a hard-on like a crystal clear photo with UBER amounts of bokeh.

50mm f/1.8 = Near enough everyone who's into photography has one of these in their kit bag, i'm talking like 7/10 people have one. They're cheap-ish (bit dearer now the price has gone up on togging gear), sharp as fuck, nice and light and make you work like fuck for the shot you want, which in turn teaches you about composition and helps you progress.

Just to echo what Jaff said, with wide apertures, you have to be abso-fucking-lutely BANG on focus with the subject, literally ANY movement before you fire the shutter can massivly throw your photo out of focus.

Example of f/1.8:-

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2366/3536389588_59acf8bbe3_o.jpg

All tips aside, you've produced some good photos for a first timer with a DSLR, I love that first one, as Jaffa said, that's pritty much bang on point.

Keep at it :tu:

[3i]

Now this thread is becoming very fucking useful.

These prime lenses are making my penis twitch. I love the whole blurred background stuff, which I can sort of get with my aperture spread wide (ooh yeaahh) but I always wondered how they got it to be like your shots.

Now I know. Next payday I may buy one.

[Jaffa]

Now this thread is becoming very fucking useful.

These prime lenses are making my penis twitch. I love the whole blurred background stuff, which I can sort of get with my aperture spread wide (ooh yeaahh) but I always wondered how they got it to be like your shots.

Now I know. Next payday I may buy one.

Oh yes, there's some compositional elements to take into consideration too. Looking down onto subjects like on your second and third shots will not provide a good background bokeh.

I actually had this thread in mind when I was out last night so I took this with the nifty-fifty at f/1.7, as an example.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2634/3763879348_318780ed75.jpg

That was using a custom white balance too, hence the colours.

I HATE flower shots, everyone takes them and you see so many before they all start looking the same. I'm not sure if you know this free-eye but a wider aperture also means a faster shutter speed as it lets more light through so you're in for an even sharper shot when the aperture's wide open which is even more handy when there's a breeze and the flowers won't keep still.

I presume that your kit lens is around f/3.5 at minimum focal length, you should still get some nice DOF with that and if you're using the macro setting it should probably widen your aperture automatically.

[3i]

I'm a quick learner so I was experimenting with aperture and exposure on my second day. I tend to use all manual and set my aperture and exposure manually, obviously using wide ap and quick expo for stuff like the flowers... I just need a lot of practise now and of course to think more about composure.

Flowers arent my thing, theyre just in the garden and make for decent subjects to practise on. Youre right about every fucker taking them.


custom white balance looks mint btw

[LM]

Theres nothing really I can add that Jaffa's hasen't already mentioned tbh, he's pritty much covered everything.

Prime lenses do help you learn though, without a doubt, after a few months of using one you'll wonder what your other lens is there for, fact!

[Jaffa]

Theres nothing really I can add that Jaffa's hasen't already mentioned tbh, he's pritty much covered everything.

Prime lenses do help you learn though, without a doubt, after a few months of using one you'll wonder what your other lens is there for, fact!

18mm on my kit lens for landscapes.... and ..... erm..... well...... that's it :cry:

My next lens will be a Tamron 10-20mm FOR SURE.

[Mike H]

DoF FTW! 50mm is a superb lens to get john!

also look into the Sigma 70-300 with Macro and Zoom.... superb for the money and a good long range shooter, and one for getting really close up to the tanks/flowers.

Nice start. welcome to the expensive world of photography!