New Member, New Camera!

[dgreer]

Hey all, First post!

I just picked up my first DSLR yesterday, the Canon EOS 20D, and I absolutely _love_ this camera. I'm an extreme beginner, so go easy on me.

Here's a link to my first few shots with this wonderful camera:

http://alinuxbox.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core:ShowItem&g2_itemId=24

Please post any helpful criticism that you have.

Thanks,

Darren

[Raj]

Hi Darren,

Welcome to the forum & congratulations for your new purchase.
You have some nice pictures there :-) Keep sharing :-)

Also browse EOS section sometimes, you will find all the info you (may) require there :-)

[Michaelmjc]

Welcome and glad you got a sweet camera.

Good pictures for a first timer, only comment would be to make sure you have your horizons lined up. Even if they are off by a bit, its very noticable.

[Sydor25]

Congratulations on the new camera. Just do yourself a favor and hide your wallet from yourself, lens cravings will begin any moment. ;)

[RJSorensen]

Congrats on the nice 20D . . . and welcome to the forum.

[Mills]

Nice start. Congrats on the new toy. Welcome to the forum, you are going to love it here and learn a ton at the same time.

[dgreer]

Thanks for the comments all.

I noticed the horizon thing when I imported them. This being my first real trip to an Ocean, since I was 12 (17 years ago), I think my bearings were all off standing there. Every shot that I took, the horizon was way off. I'll definately have to work on that :)

Thanks,

Darren

[etaf]

nice shots -
my comments are
the horizon thing again - infact it applies to a lot of photos, anything with water like lakes and pond etc, also verticals.
If you have an image editor like photoshop, elements paintshoppro etc then its easy to correct -
Also have a look at your framing - I was taught to look at the four corners of a shot just before I hit the shutter - sometimes you concentrate so much on the subject you dont realise just how small it is in the frame, or how cluttered or distracting the background is.

I think IMG_0017_2, if you crop in on the bird and reflection with some sea above is a great shot.

For a first outing with a new camera you certainly have an eye for shots.

Next have a look at loads of photos - theres another website I'm at here http://www.dpforums.com/ with a gallery and comments etc.
Hope I was not to harsh in my feedback here.

practice paractice practice

[dgreer]

Not harsh at all on those comments. I greatly appreciate it. I'm looking forward to more criticism :)

[dgreer]

Taking your suggestion, I cropped down the Lone Bird picture. Take a look on the gallery posted above if you like.

[etaf]

works better for me - may even be able to take a bit more off the top so the top wave is removed.
anyway the most important thing is;

what do you think about it?

[dgreer]

I like it quite a bit :)

I took the top wave off on one version, but put it back on. Before I posted I actually thought of taking it off again.

Thanks for the suggestions :)

[etaf]

all comes down to personal taste eventually :) hence my question - take photos for you

[Brantner]

Welcome and glad you got a sweet camera.

Good pictures for a first timer, only comment would be to make sure you have your horizons lined up. Even if they are off by a bit, its very noticable.

I hear this alot... what do you mean to line up your horizons?:oops:

[etaf]

if you look at the world - you will see that lakes, the horizon are usually level or horizontal - so for a picture to look natural you normally need to take the horizon level or manipulate the photo afterwards to level.

I hope you dont mind i'll attach an example

[Skitzy]

Those are very nice for first shots, keep up the good work. I'm a newbie too, heh :d But with a less satisfying piece of equipment.