Newbie to DSLR

Hi All -

Just picked up a new T3 with 2 lenses (18-55mm Lens II & EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II) for $600. I have 2 other lenses from an old Canon SLR 35MM as well.

Here are a few pictures from my first time out. Please feel free to comment. I am open to suggestions. I am taking a 3 hour course on the camera at a local camera store so hopefully that helps.

Thanks

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Very nice, welcome to the forum.

It's a good idea not to strip out the exif information from your shots. In the child shot, the eyes appear a touch soft. But there's good detail in the part of the hat nearest the camera. The exif data would reveal if the fault was with a wide aperture and poorly chosen focus point, or if it was due to something else. When you're shooting with a wide aperture, you must be careful that the camera chooses the right thing on which to focus.

In both shots, there is clearly a "direction of movement". A center composition, as you have here, will not be as interesting as one where you gave the subject room to move into and cut out the dead space behind them. The rule of thirds is appropriate in this case I think.

I live on Long Island. This looks like a north shore beach. Yes?

Thanks for the input. That was south shore - Heckscher State Park.

joedlh wrote in post #13573113
In both shots, there is clearly a "direction of movement". A center composition, as you have here, will not be as interesting as one where you gave the subject room to move into and cut out the dead space behind them. The rule of thirds is appropriate in this case I think.

I find this a more pleasing composition.

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^I agree. With both pictures you have the subject centered- not necessarily a bad thing, but for now I'd go research the rule of thirds and try that. It's a big part of the difference between snapshots and photos.

Exposure is ok, but like some mentioned....I would look into (research) composition. I feel that these could be better composed (even cropped) which will help. The second photo looks like you got focus on the wing furthest away, with the head being a little blurry, but it's hard to tell with the size.

Anyway, good start and welcome to the forums.

Thank you for the rule of 3rd's advice. This is mainly done on the LCD if I am correct with the grid? I am playing with the viewfinder to see if I could spot the 3'rds position in it, does the red focus pointer in the viewfinder act the same way?

I just tried it and focused on the top of the laptop. If this a good example? BTW, it was manual focus b/c auto in the low light took too long.

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You don't need a rule of thirds grid overlay on the LCD screen when taking photographs because it's a simple grid to remember after all & it would be overkill to arrange the scene in line with the rule of thirds to that degree of precision in my opinion.

This is a classic ROT situation. Picture this; Your at a beach, your subject (a person for example) is in front of you & behind them, the background is ocean & a horizon. An average photographer will position the subject in the middle of the frame & have the horizon line running horizontally across the middle of the photo... booooooring right?

A photographer wanting a more pleasing composition will place the subject more towards the right or left of the frame (approx 30% from the edge of the frame) & as for that horizon perhaps the sand looks awful, has lots of yuck seaweed etc but the sky is beautiful with cool looking clouds so the photographer might decide to place the horizon 2/3's down from the top of the frame in line with the rule of thirds but also capturing the amazing sky while minimizing how much of that awful sand makes it into the shot.

One thing I do is; I have a single focus point in the middle of my viewfinder, I line that up with the subject to get it in focus then with the shutter still pressed half way down I recompose the shot to achieve a pleasing composition before taking the image.

Remember you can learn the rule of thirds & other compositional techniques without having anything to do with a camera. If you were an artist for example you could apply the rule of thirds to a painting, I'm saying this because you mentioned 'red focus pointer's' etc which are irrelevant to composition.

Bear in mind rules are made to be broken, it is possible to create incredible images that break the various 'rules' of composition.

MesserschmittMan wrote in post #13623160
You don't need a rule of thirds grid overlay on the LCD screen when taking photographs because it's a simple grid to remember after all & it would be overkill to arrange the scene in line with the rule of thirds to that degree of precision in my opinion.

This is a classic ROT situation. Picture this; Your at a beach, your subject (a person for example) is in front of you & behind them, the background is ocean & a horizon. An average photographer will position the subject in the middle of the frame & have the horizon line running horizontally across the middle of the photo... booooooring right?

A photographer wanting a more pleasing composition will place the subject more towards the right or left of the frame (approx 30% from the edge of the frame) & as for that horizon perhaps the sand looks awful, has lots of yuck seaweed etc but the sky is beautiful with cool looking clouds so the photographer might decide to place the horizon 2/3's down from the top of the frame in line with the rule of thirds but also capturing the amazing sky while minimizing how much of that awful sand makes it into the shot.

One thing I do is; I have a single focus point in the middle of my viewfinder, I line that up with the subject to get it in focus then with the shutter still pressed half way down I recompose the shot to achieve a pleasing composition before taking the image.

Remember you can learn the rule of thirds & other compositional techniques without having anything to do with a camera. If you were an artist for example you could apply the rule of thirds to a painting, I'm saying this because you mentioned 'red focus pointer's' etc which are irrelevant to composition.

Bear in mind rules are made to be broken, it is possible to create incredible images that break the various 'rules' of composition.

Got it.