new to SLR - DPChallenge Forums

03/21/2005 10:06:37 AM · #1

ok i consider myself very artistic but when it comes to taking photos with my new camera, i suck..i have a cannon digital rebel 300D and i can take better photos with my fuji finepix...every challenge i've entered my photos have bombed and currently bombing on my best friends..o get great comments on my creativity but negative comments on the actual photo..i've read the manual and nothing seems to do what i want it to..any thoughts to what i could do or change? words of wisdom, i'm very frustrated! thanks

03/21/2005 10:11:02 AM · #2

Originally posted by queanbeez:

Turn the camera upsidedown and shoot that way for a day.

digitalknight

03/21/2005 10:12:05 AM · #3

show us some photos, tell us what you wanted, what your settings were, then we have some structure to hang some comments around.

If it helps you feel any better, I've had my DSLR for three months now, shot over 4,000 photos (this after 15 years with an SLR, many awards, etc, then a slight 7 year hyatus) and am only beginning to not suck.

Friday I found that if you turn the brightness of your LCD up, you can shoot a whole card full of photos that look great in the camera, and are 2 stops underexposed. I was so happy to learn that!

At least I don't have to pay for film processing to learn all of this again, but it is a different animal.

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

03/21/2005 10:14:59 AM · #4

all the photos on my LCD look great but as soon as they get on my computer they look like hell and their dark...i cant post any photos right now i'm at work but you can see some of my disappointments in my profile

awpollard

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

03/21/2005 10:18:26 AM · #5

Any specific area the commenters point out. What Parameter are you shooting in...a lot of people (myself included) make the move from point and shoot to dSLR for the first time, find the pictures softer than their old camera...this is really by design to give the user more freedom in the digital darkroom.

When I first started with this my first dSLR I started with the sharpest preset parameter in the camera and as I get better in the digital darkroom drop back to the default which is very soft.

Prof_Fate

03/21/2005 10:18:46 AM · #6

I looked at your last 3 challenge entries -
the toth fairy one is TOO SMALL - see the tutorial on here about resinzing fro challenges,. DPI means nothing for screen display, it is for printing only. see //www.scantips.com for lots of info on DPI and such.

the tank and prison - WAY oversharpened. When i moved from my Fuji S602 ot my Rebel i had to change my workflow, particularly my USM methods. I kept my Fuji set to Soft and did the sharpening in PS. The Canon i like best set to the default of parameters one. Very little sharpening is needed. Also, USM is done LAST, AFTER resizing for the web, and preferably only once (unless you are after some effect. A pass to de-haze is sometimes OK).

I don't comment on too small a pic - too small for me to evaluate. The tank one is average, a snapshot. The prison one is , well, odd. An odd angle. Get a book on photographic composition and read it.

03/21/2005 10:20:15 AM · #7

Originally posted by queanbeez:

For what it's worth my images right out of the camera almost always look great when I download them to my Mac and look all dark, muddy and dull when I put them on my PC. I'm about to invest in an Apple Cinema Display for my PC and a Spyder to calibrate the two.

Prof_Fate

03/21/2005 10:24:14 AM · #8

Originally posted by nsbca7:

Originally posted by queanbeez:
all the photos on my LCD look great but as soon as they get on my computer they look like hell and their dark...i cant post any photos right now i'm at work but you can see some of my disappointments in my profile

For what it's worth my images right out of the camera almost always look great when I download them to my Mac and look all dark, muddy and dull when I put them on my PC. I'm about to invest in an Apple Cinema Display for my PC and a Spyder to calibrate the two.

the laptop obviously has an LCD. What do you ahve on the PC? If a CRT, how old is it (they darken with age). Most of what i have read recommend a CRT for photo editing, NOT an LCD. If you know different tell me - i want an LCD monitor!

03/21/2005 10:27:49 AM · #9

i know how to size an image but i typed in 240 instead of 640....my BF photo is out of focus and for some reason i cant get my camera to focus on anything and thats why i dint enter the stock challenge cause it keeps focusing on the background...i bought i tripod cause i got shaky hands with the big lens lol, but they still look like crap

03/21/2005 10:32:12 AM · #10

Originally posted by Prof_Fate:

Originally posted by nsbca7:

Originally posted by queanbeez:
all the photos on my LCD look great but as soon as they get on my computer they look like hell and their dark...i cant post any photos right now i'm at work but you can see some of my disappointments in my profile

For what it's worth my images right out of the camera almost always look great when I download them to my Mac and look all dark, muddy and dull when I put them on my PC. I'm about to invest in an Apple Cinema Display for my PC and a Spyder to calibrate the two.

the laptop obviously has an LCD. What do you ahve on the PC? If a CRT, how old is it (they darken with age). Most of what i have read recommend a CRT for photo editing, NOT an LCD. If you know different tell me - i want an LCD monitor!

I know different. I'm not talking laptop. Apple Cinema Displays are great for editing and rival the best CRTs for the purpose. No contrast or color shift. Plus they are easier on the eyes then CRTs. I'm running a 23" ACD on my G5. I'm pretty sure Sony and a few other LCD manufacturers now have top of the line LCDs that are as good as if not better then the best CRTs for tasks such as graphics and photo editing.

03/21/2005 10:34:24 AM · #11

Originally posted by queanbeez:

my BF photo is out of focus and for some reason i cant get my camera to focus on anything and thats why i dint enter the stock challenge cause it keeps focusing on the background...

You can change the AF points on your camera. Try center weighted.

andyman

Canon EOS-10D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

03/21/2005 10:42:50 AM · #12

Cheryl, why do you have such high ISO at all your images? If you decrease it some levels, and have a slower shutterspeed, then your images wouldn't have so much noise. Outdoor at day there is no need for Would make your pictures more nice.

Have fun, and good luck. :)

03/21/2005 10:45:17 AM · #13

i have no idea. thats why i started this post because they dont tell you this stuff in the manual, it explains things as if i already know everything..which i feel like i know nothing.

Originally posted by andyman:

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

03/21/2005 10:47:07 AM · #14

Originally posted by andyman:

I didn't catch that. Definatly turn down the ISO. I have a camera that handle higher ISO settings much better then yours and I would never think of shooting an outdoor daylit shot at ISO 1600. My camera stays at ISO 100 unless I just have to turn it up.

dahkota

Canon EOS-7D

03/21/2005 10:51:52 AM · #15

If you use the program modes on the Rebel I don't think you can change the ISO. You have to use one of the manual settings. In the various program modes it will set the ISO to what ever it thinks is best.

dahkota

SDW

Canon EOS-60D

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

03/21/2005 10:53:29 AM · #16

Hi Cheryl,
I have a prosumer camera now and hope to upgrade to a 300D or 350XT soon. But as far as your photographs go I went to your profile and viewed your three submissions. I know that you have a learning curve steping up to a dSLR and you will achieve that just keep practicing. But here are a few things that I see in your entries. I hope you don't mind but I would like to comment on them. Hope you don't take this the wrong way but different people see things differently. This is just my opinion and hope it helps.
1. Be All You Can Be...Army Reserves
I think this is a good picture. Very sharp and colors OK. I think the reason this picture didnâ��t do well was not because of the camera but because of the composition. If I was 18 and was thinking about going into the Army or getting out of the Army and was considering the reserves this billboard would not make me make a decision. It would have been better taken from the front and something to show excitement. Maybe a slight zoom while taking picture to show motion, etc.
2. Separation From Society
Again I believe more of a composition problem more than a focus problem. Yes the focus is off / soft, maybe due to long-range lens w/ camera shake. But if you could of got close to the fence and let the fence be in focus [since that is the separation] with a blurred but recognizable background of the prison I think this would have been a great shot.
3. Impatient Tooth Fairy
Great concept but picture to small probably due to your first submission. I made the same mistake on my first entry.

Keep shooting and focus on the composition of your shots. Read the manual completely and when done go back and read it again. I think you will enjoy your new dSLR and I believe you will begin taking great pictures with your rebel. Remember, practice, practice, and practice more. And take the picture that you want, donâ��t chase challenge pictures and if it fits the challenge enter it.
â��Only use your eyes to compose the image, but always let your soul press the shutter.â��
Just my 2 cents
Scott W.

Message edited by author 2005-03-21 10:57:17.

Schuff

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

03/21/2005 12:06:41 PM · #17

Originally posted by dahkota:

Not according to my Digital Rebel. I can change the ISO and it stays at that, never auto configures itself no matter the light/scene. I assume this is the intended way it should work.

But as others have stated above, I keep mine around 100 and move to 200/400 depending on need. 1600 might be useful on a nascar wizzing by you at 1/4000 of a shutter speed. =o

ReallyColorBlind

Canon EOS-70D

Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM

03/21/2005 12:29:53 PM · #18

Just a few comments.

1. I looked at your photos and I think if you just work on composition a bit, you'll get there. For istance, in your "Seperation . . ." my eye was drawn to the [well focused] stop sign. I don't think that was supposed to be the center of attention.
2. Learn to adjust all your manual camera settings and see what each one does to a particular shot. Take the same shot with a dozen different settings. You'll soon start to understand each setting more. The nice thing about digital is that it doesn't cost anything.
3. If the pictures look dark on your monitor, you might try calibrating it. If you have photoshop, Adobe usually sends a monitor calibration routine with it. You might have to check the help file as to which directory it's stored in.

These are just ideas from a newbie. I just bought my DSLR a couple weeks ago so I am not much of an authority on the whole subject. I'm hoping this site can teach me a lot.

Good luck with future pics, and just keep shooting.
-RCB

pawdrix

Nikon D700

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D IF

03/21/2005 12:39:56 PM · #19

queenbeez-I have two questions

1. Were you using more preset modes when you were shooting with the Fuji?

2. Are you now using the preset modes with the Canon or are you going full manuel?

Going full manuel, no presets is the real deal. From what I understand about my D70(and this might apply to the Canon as well)is that the preset modes stink. These babys are built for you to take control and that's where they shine. The shooting modes aren't that good.

I took nice pix with my non-dslr cameras but I far prefer working and honing my skills with full control. I'm new to the DSLR world, at just under three months but have learned so much in that time and have already started scoring significantly better over the last few challenges.

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D

03/21/2005 12:43:34 PM · #20

i usually use the presets and when i shot those pics at 1600 the camera was already set at that i hadnt changed anything.

JoelHSmith

Fujifilm FinePix S1 Pro

03/21/2005 12:46:27 PM · #21

One more idea....

Use you FinePix and take a photo that you like, then look at the exif data. Set your Rebel to manual and use the exact same settings. ISO, Apeture, Shutter, and Exposure Compensation.

Remember your FinePix 602 can take a shot at F2.8 and your kit lens on the Rebel is a F3.5-5.6. (Make sure your shot on the FinePix is possible with your Canon Lens. )

The photos will not be exact... This will get you into the ballpark.

Some may frown on the idea of using a Point and Shoot as a crutch but its just another way of learning.

pawdrix

Nikon D700

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D IF

03/21/2005 01:06:47 PM · #22

That's good advice from Joel. Might I also suggest that you revisit subjects that you shot well, before with the P&S and try to match the same textures and settings with or without the exact data in hand.

Go full manuel...all the way. You'll feel better about yourself and your work as a serious photographer when it clicks. Just a matter of more trial and error and practice.