First shots with new 50mm...Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan

[YORCHI]

I finally got a good day to go shoot with the new 50mm I got

I can list of quite a few things I did wrong. I'm so not used to a DSLR, I keep forgetting to check my settings and make changes. I would take pictures and hate how dark they came out or blurry and then I would walk away from the spot and then realize that maybe I should have played around with the aperture more or the ISO so I could of gotten a faster shutter speed out of it. I also realize how badly I need a tripod now.

Anyways, out of maybe 150 pictures, I only kept about 20 and these are my favorites...

Thanks for looking, and thanks in advance for the critiques

Just a lil background...this is the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Kintai Bridge, in Iwakuni Japan











full album is here http://yorchiphotography.com/v/Cherry_Blossom_Festival/

[Kingsofronin]

#1 feels like it should be wider. Youre cutting of the bridge and the mountains and the festivities.

#2 could use a bit more DOF.

#3 is beautiful but a bit busy.

AND

#'s 4 & 5 are out of focus.



Still. Nice pictures, and im glad you got to go. I wish i couldve been there.

[YORCHI]

Originally Posted by Kingsofronin

#1 feels like it should be wider. Youre cutting of the bridge and the mountains and the festivities.

#2 could use a bit more DOF.

#3 is beautiful but a bit busy.

AND

#'s 4 & 5 are out of focus.



Still. Nice pictures, and im glad you got to go. I wish i couldve been there.

I was trying to only use the 50mm lens. I have the kit lens as well so when I go back this weekend I will be taking the tips you guys give me and attempting the shots again. I will also be buying a tripod and I know that will be a great help as well.

I didn't realize my aperture was out of wack until halfway through the day. I tried keeping my ISO at 100 to minimize noise but then all my shots were coming out really blurry.

How do you know that 3 is dusty...like my sensor is dusty? or the picture itself is dusty

[Kingsofronin]

Hahaha. BUSY not dusty. My eyes can't really find a place to focus on in the picture. Next time, pick a focal point in the frame, and empahsize it with some DOF or Selective coloring or any other ideas that might pop up.

Please keep track of this thread and post your new ones when you get them. I'm looking forward to it.

[YORCHI]

Originally Posted by Kingsofronin

Hahaha. BUSY not dusty. My eyes can't really find a place to focus on in the picture. Next time, pick a focal point in the frame, and empahsize it with some DOF or Selective coloring or any other ideas that might pop up.

Please keep track of this thread and post your new ones when you get them. I'm looking forward to it.

hahaha...sorry, I read it too fast...

I guess that would of been a great time to test the bokeh(?) on the 50mm

I keep thinking I never do the pictures justice...I'm such a newb

Yeah, I'll definitely update this thread when I take the new pictures...I'll also have more time and hopefully it won't be so gloomy so I can get more color out of the pictures with more light. So much to learn, so little time to do it in.

Thanks again.

[canonnoob]

#2,4,5 are all out of focus.. Im not on my computer so I cant see the exif but my bet would be that the culprit is Shutter speed.

3 isnt bad....

1 I believe you focused on the background and not the bridge.. if that is what you wanted to do then good job...


personally I think that the 50 is a very capable lens and you should have fun with it. once you get better..

EDIT:

So I looked on your site and noticed the shutter speeds.. did you use a tripod..

#1- 1/20th
#2- 1/15th (Why F11 on this one?)
#3- 1/30th (again why f11 on this one?)
#4- 15 seconds (F20 is causing some major diffraction here btw...)
#5- 15 seconds (also f20)

From what I am seeing is that you might not understand how to correctly get the right exposure. so I am going to reccomend that you read "understanding exposure" and do some reading up on what aperture, ISO, and Shutterspeed all do and that way you can understand how each of them affect the others.

[YORCHI]

Originally Posted by canonnoob

#2,4,5 are all out of focus.. Im not on my computer so I cant see the exif but my bet would be that the culprit is Shutter speed.

3 isnt bad....

1 I believe you focused on the background and not the bridge.. if that is what you wanted to do then good job...


personally I think that the 50 is a very capable lens and you should have fun with it. once you get better..

thanks...this is only my second time really using my XSi so I have lots of learning to do. I'm so used to using a point and shoot that I just take a picture and then walk away. I need to really slow myself down and take lots of pictures using different settings and really look at the picture to see what's working and what's not.

[Kingsofronin]

Man. This is some great advice. I love this forum.

I second the book reccomendation. Fantastic read. Most libraries have that book. Go pick it up.

[Sisyphus]

Originally Posted by YORCHI

I keep thinking I never do the pictures justice...I'm such a newb

I know the feeling. You get some fantastic shots, can't wait to get home and open them up on the big screen. But then you actually do that and you immediately see one mistake after another. Indeed, it can be frustrating. Yet I suppose it's all the more rewarding when things do come together.

[CJinAustin]

lots of motion blur,,, you probably need to try some things differently... Shooting at ISO 200 would probably help,,, open your aperture up a little more,, and focus on being smooth when you push the button.

[SilverJester]

1 and 3 are the best of the bunch, the other seem like there is some camera shake going on.

#1: I would edit the branch on the top right. The colors seem a bit flat, adjust the WB a little and maybe add some contrast.

#2: I like this one. A little cluttered though, somehow you need to make the in focus flower stand out from the background (out of focus flowers). maybe blur the background some more and sharpen the foreground. a little more contrast may help as well.

[YORCHI]

Originally Posted by canonnoob

So I looked on your site and noticed the shutter speeds.. did you use a tripod..

#1- 1/20th
#2- 1/15th (Why F11 on this one?)
#3- 1/30th (again why f11 on this one?)
#4- 15 seconds (F20 is causing some major diffraction here btw...)
#5- 15 seconds (also f20)

From what I am seeing is that you might not understand how to correctly get the right exposure. so I am going to reccomend that you read "understanding exposure" and do some reading up on what aperture, ISO, and Shutterspeed all do and that way you can understand how each of them affect the others.

I didn't use a tripod...I don't have the money for a quality one right now so I'm holding off on that until I do. But after this, a tripod just jumped up the "need" list.

I don't know why I used f11...I remember reading "The Digital Photgraphy Handbook" (?) and it said something along the lines of f11 is a good overall aperture setting.

Again, I'm so used to using a point and shoot that I forget about making sure I have the right settings. Right now all I do is raise the camera, focus, adjust the shutter speed so that the exposure meter is at 0 and then snap the pic and look at the image. I know I need to slow myself down and take more than one picture at different settings.

But you are definitely right, I really don't know how all 3 things (shutter, aperture, ISO) affect the exposure. I just ordered the book online and it should be here within 2 weeks.

Thanks again for the tips, I have very thick skin so I really appreciate the honesty. Sometimes I feel there isn't an artistic hair on my body and stuff like this is just proof that I need to work on it.

[canonnoob]

Originally Posted by YORCHI

I didn't use a tripod...I don't have the money for a quality one right now so I'm holding off on that until I do. But after this, a tripod just jumped up the "need" list.

I don't know why I used f11...I remember reading "The Digital Photgraphy Handbook" (?) and it said something along the lines of f11 is a good overall aperture setting.

Again, I'm so used to using a point and shoot that I forget about making sure I have the right settings. Right now all I do is raise the camera, focus, adjust the shutter speed so that the exposure meter is at 0 and then snap the pic and look at the image. I know I need to slow myself down and take more than one picture at different settings.

But you are definitely right, I really don't know how all 3 things (shutter, aperture, ISO) affect the exposure. I just ordered the book online and it should be here within 2 weeks.

Thanks again for the tips, I have very thick skin so I really appreciate the honesty. Sometimes I feel there isn't an artistic hair on my body and stuff like this is just proof that I need to work on it.

no problem.. just keep working... thats all it takes... practice practice and more practice..