ZOMG a whole bunch of stuff

[Heorogar]

Hey everyone, this is my first post here. I have recently bought a XSi and im loving it. I am new to photography and i was wondering if anyone can give me some pointers. You can view my images at http://picasaweb.google.com/heorogar122/Random# . The night shots were shot in manual mode while the others were in the noobie "P" mode for just quick shots. i am starting to get a hang of the full manual mode tho for my day shots. Also can anyone give me a tip on shooting a moving object such as a skateboarder or a small jumping dog? thanks everyone and I hope you enjoy my photos.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/SbnN0Er_lJI/AAAAAAAAAH8/Q427BmHubh0/s912/dollhead1.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/SbnN0_02yLI/AAAAAAAAAIE/8oFpJYxaQKY/s576/bike1.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/SdPov-eTawI/AAAAAAAAAMM/HIw2upyJFVY/s912/Silo1.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/SdPo_rZBVII/AAAAAAAAAMU/r82H2JWJOvw/s912/Silo3.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/SdPpMylaBOI/AAAAAAAAAMc/iOHU2keYt6A/s912/Silo2.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/SdRAb6EHKYI/AAAAAAAAANA/nfUBpUygNmk/s576/Ink1.jpg
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/SdY3llHZtBI/AAAAAAAAAN8/wvMIzZ-cwfk/s912/City1.JPG

edit** Well I added em in :) i thought i would have to attach them into a message. now that we got that out of the way. enjoy.

[MattMoore]

I would add them to the forum page for easy viewing by my internet likes to crap out due to this wireless adaptor im on when i try to upload files :-/.

Why do you have to upload them?

You could just insert them into the post (press the little "mountain" icon & supply the url to the picture).

[Heorogar]

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/SdY4O7VQSMI/AAAAAAAAAOE/lmlzDf2bFRY/s576/City2.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/SdY7DCOHvTI/AAAAAAAAAOM/FfooFF8H-i8/s912/City3.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/SdZKEBq7Q4I/AAAAAAAAAOU/CTk3LtAtMLQ/s912/City4.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/SdaN2pqRlMI/AAAAAAAAAOc/w17n8n4t3Oo/s576/lizard1.JPG
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/SdbquLpVzTI/AAAAAAAAAPI/cAH89uIvHkE/s576/Gorilla3.JPG
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/SdbrO3oeCvI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/mRDXUO6NPdo/s576/gorilla4.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/Sdbsa3xY1TI/AAAAAAAAAPg/MANtsBgs13U/s912/penguin.JPG
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/Sd5NyXXMwEI/AAAAAAAAAQY/FpBDyR97bS8/s912/night1.JPG

[Heorogar]

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/Sd5N3D0tcLI/AAAAAAAAAQg/UtoDVqQ3_dc/s912/night2.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/Sd5N8UI7lQI/AAAAAAAAAQo/aGf74JdK1PY/s912/night3.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/Sd5OBLLU9DI/AAAAAAAAAQw/bZ217kBacrs/s912/night4.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/Sd5OG0BcH2I/AAAAAAAAAQ4/pwwnpEjF8Cc/s912/night5.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GUqcECJNdV4/Sd5OL3K_sTI/AAAAAAAAARA/1DNGGkN8T28/s576/night6.JPG

[blackmatch456]

Love that last one.

[tonydee]

#1: Contrast is a bit flat, and while I like bike pictures, I prefer more decrepit specimens as they seem to offer more of a history to contemplate. Compositionally, doesn't really come together well - just lacking something; the black windows and railing tends to lead the eyes out of the shot, and the bike is very central.

#2: Nicely focused and sharp. I'd suggest a squarer shot, trimming some from the bottom, so the lines converge towards the bottom left corner. Don't feel compelled to stick to the camera's native proportions... you can get a lot more out of different photos by going squarer, for a thin narrow strip or wide panorama....

#3: I like the lighting. I'd angle the camera more downwards though, so a little of the road is visible, as it provides a grounding supporting a sense of depth through the shot. As is, you've cut into the tyres half-way and that's a bit distracting, as the eye drops out of the image when following the curves of the wheel arches.

#4: Super shot! Big lizard fan, and they're overlapping near the Rule of Thirds placement (i.e. a third in from right and bottom) - tends to look harmonious. I like that it's not too bright too... adds to the sense of their camouflage. You've got a few complementary diagonals too, formed by the lizards' bodies and the darker line in the dirt.

#5: Very clever and interesting juxtaposition... so rare to see those pesky reflections at the zoo used to creative effect. Having the heads so accurately facing opposite directions helps enormously. Great shot. Again, I'd go squarer with this, cropping some off the top, keeping things tighter around the points of interest.

#6: This one doesn't quite work... the reflection of the youngen' is pretty crisp considering, but the gorilla is just a blur.

#7: Your verticals are leaning rightward, there's a lot of "dead" black in that bottom right area, and the image isn't terrible well balanced, but I'm not sure that those concerns detract from such a rough, meaty kind of an image. You've got some good diagonals, two roughly leading into corners and forming lead in lines through the image. Having a the brightest area cross the right edge a quarter from top does attract the eye and lead it out of the image... would clone that out or "burn" it to make it darker.

All up, really good work for someone starting out.

Re shooting moving objects: there are a few things to consider. A fast shutter speed helps to "freeze" everything crisply, but generally requires using a higher ISO sensitivity (which degrades the image by increasing "noise") and/or a wider aperture (which gives you shallower depth of field making it harder to get and keep your subject in focus). It'll be much easier in bright sunlight, as you've got more leeway with these three interdependent settings. Sometimes you want a shutter speed that's marginal precisely to allow certain parts of the subject to blur, or, if you're panning with the camera to follow the subject, to allow the background to blur. These effects take more practice and experimentation to get good at. You may also want to change the focus mode on your camera to "AI Focus", which will try to calculate how your subject is moving and keep it focused. Not sure what lenses you've bought, but if any have "Image Stabilisation" (Sigma call their version "Optical Stabliser", Tamrom "XR" I think) - you'll want to check if you need to move a switch to a separate mode to work better when panning with the camera.

Cheers, Tony

[jeffbox]

for the zoo shots try to put your lens ON the glass (with a filter of course) to get rid of the glare