walk in the park (first day with my new 20D)

[Hava]

I'm a newbie in many ways here.

I picked up my new 20D last Friday, and took it for a walk with the family on Saturday. What a pleasure this new toy is. Mind you, I skipped some decades with this purchase since my previous SLR was a minolta xd-7 (manual focus, A/S/M exposure mode), which after many many years broke down. I loved that thing, but after the first day with the 20D I'm in love all over again :-) .

This is a shot of my wife and eldest son. Unfortunatly the dynamic range in the image exceded the sensors 5 stop range; the black is pitchblack, and some whites are washed. Nonetheless, I like the result. Since the lenses I ordered are not yet in, I made do with the 18-55 (which I have bought for the 18 mm, until I make my mind up on what lens to get for wide.)

Don't hold back and let me know what you think.

ps. I set the aperture open for max background blur. To get high shutter speed to capture the floating seeds I increased ISO to 800.

PPS I wonder about the focus of this thing. Is this typical for the lens, or should I be able to do better?

[Sam]

Congratulations on your new toy! A lot of people will tell you that the 18-55 is garbage, don't listen to them. I had my camera three months before I started playing around with it and I like it a lot. The only reason I decided to use it at all was because I was planning on a 17-40, but now I think I'll hold off and pick up a 70-200 first.

One tip on the kit lens though, stop it down a little and your sharpness will greatly improve. I have been shooting with it about f/8 or so.

Here are a couple threads where I have posted some images with the 18-55.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=73382

and

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=73442

now go take more pictures...

[edit] welcome to the forums!

[Hava]

Here is one from Sunday. The weather had changed to clouded skies, but we went out nonetheless. This is an image of my youngest son, who was appearntly somewhat puzzled by the odd appearance his dad had taken withthis black thing before his head.

What I like about the image is that you can tell from the fabrics (hat, blanket) and eyes that there is a lot of detail in the picture, but that you just don't seem to be able to 'see ' the skin of this baby. It is that way in real life as well; the babyskin often seems almost transparent to me.

Curious to hear your feedback.

ps I plan on getting other subjects than my beloved ones soon :)

[Richard51]

Cute baby and nice shot. Cloudy days are great for shooting outdoors; less shadows (look at difference in pic one and two) less harshness on subject. Make the most of cloudy days.
Richard

[PaCiFiSt]

Wow he is very confused. I love that shot. Great work.

[jporter12]

I actually like the kit lens in general, but what I don't like about it is the ergonomics. They obviously intended it to be used by someone that would most always use auto-focus. I've gotten used to manually focusing it, but a bigger focus ring would be nice. From the looks of the USM model that's out there, it's the same, and probably for the same reason.

Great shots!

[Titus213]

First picture is neat. Very difficult lighting situation handled quite well.

The second is a nice shot but I think it's underexposed a bit but the more I look at it the more I like it. Sharpness looks great. And you have a couple of cute children.... Have you done any post process on the images? Number 2 came up nicely with a little levels in PS.

And don't worry about your subjects. Shoot them till they run and hide when they see you coming and then you can practice your wildlife technique by sneaking up on them...:lol:

Welcome to the forums...

[Hava]

Thanks for the nice reactions.
I did not do any post processing, except for some cropping. I have zero PS experience. But it is something I definately want to get some basic skills in. Any links to basic tutorials are welcome.

[Fer]

I love the 1st one, you captured the moment! Very nice!
About PS, it's easy once get used to it. If you like I can give you some advice, just pm me.;)

[Keiffer]

I agree with Titus, difficult shot and I like it just the way it is.

[gmaize]

Hava,

As a lot of forum members will say, the 20D with default settings can underwhelm you with respect to its sharpness. Yes, some of this is your lens, some the aperture being wide open (rather than in the lenses "sweet" spot) and some can be camera shake or off-focus. I find myself sharpening a lot of my 20D photos in PS, but I'm just one who prefers sharp photos.

Have a blast with your new camera. Your going to love it.....no doubts.

--gmaize

[tabrandt]

Hava, I liked both of your shots. I too have the 20D and I just used the kit lens today for the first time in the month plus that I have had it. I have really only looked through the 150 shots via 'chimping' but so far I like what I saw. I have read that many think it is soft and not very good but I am far from being a pro and until I find $900 for a 17-40 this one will have to carry the load. Best of luck to you.

[Ballen Photo]

Hava, You've got a couple of winners with these shots. I think it's really Cool looking that you've caught the dandylions floating away in the first pic. ;)
And the Baby picture? SUPERB! Very good detail displayed in that shot. :D
-Bruce