Milton Keynes - Willen Lake

was quite of a sunny day this afternoon so went out to take some pics... but im not sure what im doing wronng?

Settings were either F4 or F11, iso100, kept it at partial metering with occasional centre weight/spot. Aperture priority... i tried adjusting the exposure in some shots, but im not sure why my photos look bad still...

Please C&C and give me some advice please guys

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Hurrah ... I haven't been there for a while. I told you I stayed in the temple for a month or so I think in some other post, so it's great for me to see some shots and note that things are still looking good I helped build the storage shed near the car, the totum pole and laid some of the shrine foundations to the rear.

The first two are suffering with flare and maybe the interest in the shot for me is the material decorating the tree (or am I imagining that's there?) I would want a nice close up of some of those. The following shots are tilted and composition doesn't seem right. I see what you're trying to do but the detail is lost and the environment the temple is located in doesn't make up foir that. I think for me an obvious shot would be the totum pole in the close forground and then looking through to an area of the temple building.

Do you shoot RAW? These could all benefit from some PP-ing to adjust exposure and saturation and contrast.

Number 5 is more interesting but still a bit over-exposed. I guess it was sunny at the time. The second number five again is plonked dead centre and the point of interest is probably closer in. No. seven is nice enough but there is a lot of detail in the Pagoda worthy of capture. I also know it's hard to frame because it's tall and not very hide and the surrounding area is nothing too interesting. You'd need to find an angle on it closer up. The last one does nothing for me tho' it's a beautiful lake at times and a nice spot to wander.

Did you get to meet any of the monks or nuns? I guess there are only still a small number. There were only 3 when I was there. The actual temple area to the right is nice. Where did you manage to park your car?

i still cant see a good pic through the view finder man haha, im finding it really hard to learn, i sort of see what u mean about the comments . As for the over exposed shots, how can i stop this? i tried adjusting under/over exposure but it either made it really dark or really light. Couldnt find the right balance . Does a sunny day really play a bad part in pics, as i thought it was suppose to help with good natural light!!

As for the tree details, there was one i took, but i never uploaded it to my fotki site.

Not tried raw yet, just shooting in jpgs still. I darent hehe... i guess i want to learn the basics first before trying raw. I took about 200 pics again, and a lot were crap so to speak.

i didnt actually go into the temple, i got scared haha, but maybe next time. See if i can get some better shots? im quite annoyed as my photos are just normal pics, i dont know what to do, feel like i waste money getting a 20D, maybe i should of stuck to a 350D or sommat or not even bother

there is a small car park at the bottom, where u have to walk up the hill, so it wasnt that bad.

Any more tips/advice on how to approve

7th day of shooting with my 20D so far, can only play on the weekends see

Yella Fella wrote:
Not tried raw yet, just shooting in jpgs still. I darent hehe... i guess i want to learn the basics first before trying raw. I took about 200 pics again, and a lot were crap so to speak.

i didnt actually go into the temple, i got scared haha, but maybe next time. See if i can get some better shots? im quite annoyed as my photos are just normal pics, i dont know what to do, feel like i waste money getting a 20D, maybe i should of stuck to a 350D or sommat or not even bother

Don't be scared ... they just drag stray visitors in, shave their heads and feed them Tufu so not so bad

Keep it up Mr Ed ... soon things will fall into place (tho' I'm still waiting for that!) I recommend RAW. It is not a big deal. Expect 30-40% better shots Download the trial edition of RAWShooter Premium and snap a dozen shots. Then work through and play: see what you can do. You might be amazed. I hope so. There is a good downloadable manual to guide you. The curves tool is excellent. I never sharpen my RAWs, or just the tiniest tiny amount. They don't seem to need it but my glass is all sharp as a pin. I think you're doing all the right things and you have a great camera: getting out and playing and trying stuff makes a huge difference over time.

How about getting a good book on exposure, such as:

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera Bryan Peterson; Paperback; £12.90 (Amazon)

yep that books on order chief , still waiting from waterstones with regards to that, but apparently there is a 4-6 week wait in the uk

im still using aperture priority still, dont really understand manual yet as the shots come really over/under exposed. Im just amazed at the quality of some other peoples photos even with normal 350D and lens kit! Just cant see how the get it so good definately an inspiration like.

As for trying different things, i thought i have today lol. But i guess thats the thing... i can look at other peoples pics and say thats good, or thats not, and sort of see how and why, but i cant see it in my own for some reason, strange man.

Saying that, dont think MK has a lot to offer picture wise :P

BTW, more pics on my fotki site... dont know if u had checked it. If you have msn, add me, i will send u pic of the tree thing

http://public.fotki.co​m …otography/mk_wi​llen_lake/