Hi there. Completely new to photography and any help appreciated

[AndyStevens]

Some good advice from Phil and Matt.

I'd also recommend some Googling. If you' re into landscapes, and near the Lakes why not, look on Alamy and Getty Images and search for 'lake district' - find some images you like and ask yourself why you like them. Then find some photographer's sites and ask yourself why you like what they do and try to emulate them and a style will start to develop. I use Mark Bauer, Adam Burton and Charlie Waite as inspirations - great images and they're all fairly local to me so I can relate to the locations on their sites.

And something to consider... During a Light & Land day out with Charlie Waite, he suggested asking of yourself 'would you like the image you've taken hanging on your wall?'. I have an exhibition on at the moment; I came back to photography Christmas 04 and struggled to find 20 images I was happy enough to 'hang on the wall'. Thats 3 'decent' images a year!! No pics to be proud of by now is nothing to worry about

Cheers
Andy

[mondmagu]

Hi The Littlist Hobo,
Reading through your thread it seems to me you are trying to run before you walk.I have a 450D for about 2 years now and am still learning.If I were you I would concentrate on using 'p' mode as the camera will set the shutter speed and aperture automatically,but you still have the option to change the settings by rotating the thumb wheel.You can then review your pictures on the lcd and see the difference.Also learn the relationship between aperture,shutter speed and IOS.Then when you have the hang of it move on to the other modes.
Every day is a learning curve and we all have shots that are unusable.
Practice makes perfect,but it takes time.

Des

[Balenciaga]

Hello and welcome,

Look I cant advise you in anyway other than to say it will come with practice and as with everything it gets easierr in time..

Dont give up, Im terrified to open the Box my camera came in in case I push the wrong button, so you are leaps ahead of me..

Bal

[The Littlest Hobo]

Crikey, thanks for the comments. Havent read it all but hope its all good.

As i am home here is a link to the fotopic site.

http://andrewkinnersley.mediaobjects.co.uk/

Actually, i have read it now. I like the suggestions for where to try at Ashness bridge. Will try that out (Wife says it will be poor weather on Sat though).

Can you believe that on the way out of Dumfries this afternoon there was a lovely cloud inversion over the fields with a lovely hillside in the background. I was in someone elses motor at the time so no camera. Even spotted someone composing a shot on a tripod as i drove by. I have some Iphone piccies of me and some mates on the top of cross fell when you could see Helvelyn peaking out in the distance. It was the most surreall thing i have ever seen, you felt like you could walk across.

The comment about running and walking is probably very relavent. I was very keen to get as much knowledge as possible when i maybe should have just took some pictures.

The comment about P Mode. Hmm thats the one i am not sure of. If it sets the AV & TV values but you can change them as well. Does that mean if i alter either then it will auto adjust the oher settings accordingly?

[pburness]

Hi Andrew,
I had a quick look at some of your images and they are similar to my first images many years ago.
One image that caught my eye is IMG_0048.jpg in the Ben&Lilly album.

This I think could be converted into two pleasing images fairly easily with a bit of production.

Firstly I would split the image into two just to the left of the back blue chair - this will give you a picture of the child and a picture of the lady.

Picture of the child:
I would crop the bottom of the image just above the pencils / below the orange bucket off, and then blur the background a bit to reduce the distraction. (Next time you take a photo, any photo, always concentrate on the background of the image you are making. In this case, if you had used a large aperture (small f number), then the background would have been blurred already.)

Picture of the lady,
Blur the background.

If you want me to have a go at it to show you the effect then let me know, but I only have a laptop with me and no mouse, so the results would not be very high quality, good enough to show you what I mean though.

Phil

[The Littlest Hobo]

By all means go ahead. Are you sure about that image, its one of the worst

[pburness]

OK, I've only spent a small time with these, but I chose this one earlier because it can help in several ways; Here is the original


It's very busy, there is evidence of some movement, and no particular section is clearly the focal point, although this can be derived by the foreground subject matter. So as an image it shows mother and daughter playing together in a busy workshop.

Here is the first cut I mentioned in earlier post;

This has changed the 'message' of the picture somewhat, but clearly defines the main object of the 'new' image, the child engrossed in playing.

Here is the second cut;

This again has changed the 'message' of the picture.

What these examples show is that the scene can be broken down into sections using your eye's before aiming the camera and framing the shot, think about what you want to show and then how to take the picture. Neither of the images I have done are going to be any good as prints, they will be too small as they are relatively small crops. And the quality of the editing I have done is basic with many errors to say the least.
Several things to think about and practice for next upload then ;
Try and pre visualise the scene you want prior to framing
Try and isolate the key components of the image through composition, focus points, colour balance etc.
Examine the background carefully and it's effect on your 'subject'
Use post processing as a last resort, try and get things done in camera as much as possible

Phil

[matt wilson]

For me the last three in your Ben and lily shots are the best .My reasoning is there is no background distraction.The one of your lad in hat and scarf makes a good shot against the snow.

There are a few silly little errors that can make all the difference.In the black and white of Mum and child Mum has a piece of window coming out of her head .(either close the curtains or move ever so slightly left or right and the background enhances rather than competes.)

On the portraits eye focus is key ,either manually focus (make sure your viewfinder eyepiece is set up for you ) or perhaps use just the centre point as I said earlier.without this you could end up focussing on a nose and at wide apertures indoors this can be quite critical.

There's one in the shots of ben playing football that works better(him kicking and his eyes looking up to a blurred ball that is moving .I think it is because you are closer .In others I think the camera has struggled to lock focus on him and tried to average the scene.

To summarise they are not as bad as you think (yes you are your worst critic)

[mondmagu]

In P mode the camera sets the aperture and shutter speed, but if you want to increase your shutter speed for instance,when you turn the thumb wheel the aperture will automatically adjust to match the shutter speed and visa versa,if you adjust the aperture the camera will set the shutter speed to match automatically.

Des

[The Littlest Hobo]

I see what you are saying about the picture. I just didnt expect you to choose that picture to edit. Thanks

Yep i see about composing the picture. The i could have moved slightly and got the same picture in a better setting.

Took a lot of pitcures of a van today for a customer. Was quite pleased. This one is by no means the best but i will have a play around and see what i got