plz help... really bad photos. need c&c

[tommy52]

dont kno why i suck so much..
any and all c&c is welcomed, i did have a polarizer on too and pics taken at around 2pm. it was really hard to get a good look at the lcd since it was really bright , i tried using the histogram to help me with my exposures.. but guess i got no idea wat im doing.. lol
please.. anyone tell me what can i do....
i figure i should be able to take decent looking photo before worrying about pp and composition..

|---warning-----view at your own risk----|


1http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/tommyoh52/d1.jpg

2http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/tommyoh52/IMG_0511.jpg

3http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/tommyoh52/IMG_0482.jpg

4http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/tommyoh52/IMG_0508.jpg

5http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/tommyoh52/IMG_0487.jpg

6http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/tommyoh52/IMG_0488.jpg

7http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/tommyoh52/IMG_0496.jpg

8http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/tommyoh52/IMG_0486.jpg

[NFRs2000NYC]

Are you using a kit lens?

[tommy52]

yes

[JuSlaughter]

What mode are you shootuing in. It looks like you need to dial in some exposure compensation to allow for the polarizor. #5 is a good shot if a little dark.

[Picture North Carolina]

Nobody sucks. You're learning.

What camera? I ask because even tho you say no PP, it looks to me like these may have been altered by something like a picture style in the camera. Do you have a style selected?

Exposure: some of the shots you have here are inherently tough with bright skies and shadow-filled foregrounds. Are you using fully auto, semi-auto (AP / Shutter) or manual? If manual, try an auto mode to help you with exposures and learn to use the "press-half-way to meter then move to shoot" technique.

Composition could be better. However, excellent composition is irrelevant if exposures are bad, so work on that first. For composition, there are many sites to read, but photoinf (http://photoinf.com/) has an emphasis on composition articles.

Keep shooting, keep learning. /Dan

[MichaelAlan_Photo]

The biggest thing I had to learn when starting out (we all had issues like you are experencing at one point in time BTW!)

1.) Our eyes are different then what a camera can pick up... The beach and the pier probably looked absolutely stunning when you were there, but didn't have the same effect in the photo.
2.) Polarizers and a majority of other lens filters (aside from UV filters - to protect the lens and reduce UV light going through, maybe a neutra ldensity filter or 2) are not needed anymore really if you have photoshop or other similar programs.
3.) Shooting in M or Tv mode is good but I would work more in manual mode.
4.) You cannot help it in landscape photos for the sky to be bright yet visible and not blown out, AND have the foreground at the same brightness (that is what the neutral density filter is for BTW) in many cases! If you were to take a photo of the sky, it could be off 5 stops or more from the ground! That is a lot and a camera just cannot pick both of those exposures up in one shot. Photoshop or ND filters do the trick in this case.

Now for your photos: They are not bad, rather more like snapshots to document the day!
#1. A longer zoom lens would really tighten up that shot of the city by the water
#2. The rock wall and decoration on the left and bottom is a good idea (to use natural stuff around you to frame the subject) but there just isn't anything in the picture that stands out. You need something for the eye to focus in on.
#3. Nice shot. Once again, it is taken nice, there just isn't anything standing out. It is water.
#4. Too dark, I think the polarizer got you here. The blues look too artificial and the people in the scene are lost because it is so dark. I would have maybe zoomed in a bit for a tighter crop and took the photo while the camera is on the ground so it has a different perspective to it.
#5. I like this better than #1 for the city view. It is much sharper. The colors look over saturated and fake which looks okay for this shot. Some people make that look "their" style and that is why I like it, because I seen the over saturation (and blown out highlights) look from other photographers.
#6.ehh. Just a snapshot.
#7. ehh same as above.
#8. I like this one also better than #1.

I think you are currently limited by your kit lens. You see something like a boat or airplane but when you put your eye to the viewfinder, it is too far away! Zoom lenses will help you get closer to what you want to capture. It hurts the composition of the images and nothing stands out. I would google search "the rule of thirds" and other photographic techniques to help with composition.

Keep experimenting and keep searching on here and you will learn a lot!

[tommy52]

thanks for the input.
i am shooting in M, and i am using a rebel xti wit kit lens 17-55mm
yea for picture style i downloaded it off canons site
http://web.canon.jp/imaging/picturestyle/file/index.html
i used emerald and clear.
i did do some reading on composition, but i am more worried about decent 'looking' (colors/exposure?)photos first
so for the press halfway to meter then move to shoot.. should i target the brightest area for that?
well i am probably going to pick up that book understanding exposure, so hopefully that can help...
i do also have a ef 75-300mm 1:4-5.6 canon zoom lens

also, so does the cameras reading of the exposure from the background/subject affect the overall photo exposure?
if i was to let the meter read a bright and a dark area taking 2 seperate pics wit the exact same settings except for the metered reading of exposure, would the pics come out totatally different?
(sorry not exactaly sure how to word the question properly)

[JuSlaughter]

tommy, I don't mean to be rude and I am by no means an expert so some of the other guys might correct me here, but for a noobie, shooting manual probably isn't the best way to learn. From my 12 months of reading this forum, I have learnt that its better to start of using either Av or Tv mode depending on what you are shooting. I have only just started to look at manual and find that its not that easy to get the correct exposure I want instead of what the camera is telling me I want. My advice would be to start simple and work up to the manual setting.

[Broncobear]

all I can say is picture number is not bad, number 5 can be decent if PP, and when your shooting with a mixture of sky and water it can be very very tough to nail the exposure.

You're learning and the key is to keep practicing. I started using AV and TV and then went into full time manual mode. Once you become comfortable with getting the exposure right, you can do some pretty amazing things in manual mode.

If you can , pick up a copy of a book entitled "understanding exposure"...

it's really the only photography book you will probably ever need, the rest comes with time.

[cfcRebel]

for a noobie, shooting manual probably isn't the best way to learn. From my 12 months of reading this forum, I have learnt that its better to start of using either Av or Tv mode depending on what you are shooting. Ditto. To the OP, start with something more simple than M. Something like Av or Tv. When you get a better grip of everything, you can always go back to M later, if that's even necessary.

These images of yours are not bad but just a little inconsistent. Some is a little too light, some too dark, and some just right. :)
To get consistent good result, you want to learn as much, and as hard, as you can. M mode makes it harder, IMHO, to begin with. Try Av or Tv as starting point.

[::John::]

Don't use emerald and clear unless the situation absolutely calls for it. Clear will really naff about with the picture contrasts, as you are seeing - read the bit on the picture style site about when to use it. It gives me some bloody awful shots on the 5D unless I am really careful.

Likewise with emerald, but for slightly different reasons. Emerald is mucking about with your saturation - again, as you have seen.

If you want to persist with manual mode on the camera (and there is really no reason why you shouldn't - just watch your meter) then start by choosing one of the other picture styles. Neutral or Landscape may provide you with more keepers for now. You can always provide post-processing in Photoshop (or something similar) if you want to hack about with the saturation and contrast.

Keep going, but look carefully at the sort of settings you are choosing.

Also, on that kit lens, try keeping it at around f/8

I notice you were only about a stop away - but that lens is a bit picky.

You were also shooting at ISO 200. Not too much wrong with that - but, for a start in that wonderful location, I probably would have started at about ISO 100, F/8, Picture style on landscape, Polariser rotated to get the view I wanted and shutter speed adjusted to the meter.

It was a sunny day (sorta - a bit cloudy). Auto white balance should have coped with it.

Have a google for the sunny 16 'rule' and see if that helps.

oh, and keep trying. You are in a gorgeous location with a chance to take some stunning shots.

Have a look around the forum, too. There is a fairly active Honolulu group here - and I am sure they would be happy to shoot with you and offer advice. They are really friendly people.

Edit: Here (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=302787&page=53) is a link to the current last page of the Honolulu thread.

[Shinigami052]

Those pics look like the pics I took when I first started too...I thought they sucked (still think so) and I still think my pictures aren't great (but I'm hyper-critical of my art).

You've got a good start just keep shooting. Learn from your mistakes and ask questions. I too suggest starting with land (or water) scapes as they don't move and you can take as much time as you need to set up take a pic, review it and adjust. If you are really unsure of what settings to use try bracketing your pictures. Or take the same picture at many different ISO, f/stop and shutter settings to see what happens with each. (I'd try working on one of the three each day...).

Over time and with practice you'll get it. Also don't forget that photoshopping or post processing your digital images are for touch ups only. Don't go over board with smoothing or saturating your images as it seems you've done on a few of the ones posted.

I am by far not an expert or pro but...take a look at my deviant art gallery and you'll see my progression (older pictures are near the end of the gallery).

We've got a get together planned for this Sat at Sandy beach if you'd like to attend...

[Linkzi]

Hey Tommy52...

Our Honolulu POTN group is having a meet at Sandy Beach here:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=357132

We will be glad to assist you on your camera stuff. Our group meets once or twice a month. This Saturday is the next meet. Bring your stuff and we'll discuss anything you want.

[G35Driver]

Come to the meet and we will help you out, great group of people, plus you also get to test out other people's lenses.

[Glenn NK]

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=198005

http://www.currys.com/knowledge/landscape.asp

http://www.amazon.ca/National-Audubon-Society-Landscape-Photography/dp/155407195X/ref=sr_1_2/701-5438407-7645937?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186097820&sr=1-2


The first two links are free for the reading and are very helpful.

The third you will have to buy, but if you are serious about landscape photography, this book is worth every penny. Buy it.

[B3SEO]

If I were you, I'd go out tomorrow, and not use that picture style "emerald and clear". The photos don't NEED that at all. You're in Hawaii!! I've been there, and when I think of Hawaii and certain colors, I think of these colors - blue and green ;)

Shooting wide open over water, when there isn't anything to look at, like a beautiful sunset (which you have a lot of those down there I'm sure), can be a composition problem. The third picture has great colors, but it reminds me of being on a deserted island somewhere, or worse yet a raft from a sinking ship, looking out at the horizon, with no help in sight!!

Don't worry, your learning how we all learned. Go take some pictures of some pretty girls in bikinis, and stay out of manual mode for a while. Try some shots without the polarizer too!

I will say this - some of your shots make me want to buy a plane ticket today!

[Shinigami052]

Here these are some of the first pictures I ever took once I decided to start up photography as a hobby:

http://fc03.deviantart.com/fs15/f/2007/037/b/d/Shore_by_Shinigami052.jpg

http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs14/f/2007/037/d/d/Home____by_Shinigami052.jpg

they look much like your pictures. I just hiked up the mountain by my house, set up the tripod and started snapping away. But the thing is don't just blindly snap away, you need to take note of what you're doing, conditions, and what you're trying to capture. Take it home and open them up. Compare what you thought you were getting to what you got and after some time you'll learn how to get what you think you're getting.

[tommy52]

wow, thanks for all the help guys
oh. and i think i read that learning in M was suppose to be best.. lol
so i guess i can play around in tv and av now..
but i am also doing manual focusing,.. should i change that to auto?
well i am going to buy understanding exposure rite now!
ill be trying to get some sunset shots in tommorow since i finish work early..
o and about taking pics of chicks in bikinis at the beach..
i think the mrs's would destroy my camera.. lol..

[|)\/8]

I am far from being an expert. I looked at the exif data from two of the above photos and I would say your settings were off, ISO 200, f/6.3 @ 1/250, Google the "sunny 16" rule, you probably should have been between f/11-f/16 using the same ISO and shutter speed.

[Robert_Lay]

I don't see that you are doing anything wrong at all.
Most of your pictures are very good. If I had to characterize your most common departure from ideal it would be that there is a tendency to underexpose. Guess what? Most Canon cameras are notorious for underexposing by about 2/3 f-stop.

The only thing that I would advise for the immediate future is to go easy on the use of any glass filters applied to the camera until you are on more solid ground with the exposures.

You're doing great - keep up the good work!

[canotographer]

do some cropping and PP.. they can all turns to good pictures..they are not that bad indeed..