My first DSLR pictures...Audi A3...be kind!!
Discussion
OK I was lucky enough to be blessed with this little beauty to roadtest, a bit of time over lunch, and my new camera. These are my first proper shots with my EOS350, any comments really appreciated. I'm a total newbie to this, so be as honest as you want!



I know that the sky's too light and the car's too dark in the first one...in fairness a lot of them were not that good at all, I thought that a nice sunny day would be just what the doctor ordered, however the car came out so white that you could not really see the shape of it at all. In real layman's terms, what am I doing wrong?
And also, many were not that sharp, is it a case of really needing a tripod for these kind of shots, do I need to really read the EOS manual properly (I will do it, but I'm just being a bloke and using the new toy, or is it that AF is easily fooled and I'm better on manual?)
By the way the car is very good indeed...I'm still undecided about the DSG gearbox, but it really is rather good!



I know that the sky's too light and the car's too dark in the first one...in fairness a lot of them were not that good at all, I thought that a nice sunny day would be just what the doctor ordered, however the car came out so white that you could not really see the shape of it at all. In real layman's terms, what am I doing wrong?
And also, many were not that sharp, is it a case of really needing a tripod for these kind of shots, do I need to really read the EOS manual properly (I will do it, but I'm just being a bloke and using the new toy, or is it that AF is easily fooled and I'm better on manual?)
By the way the car is very good indeed...I'm still undecided about the DSG gearbox, but it really is rather good!
Edited by Hard-Drive on Monday 4th February 13:24
Hard-Drive said:
I thought that a nice sunny day would be just what the doctor ordered
This is where you went wrong. The camera simply can't handle such deep shadows and highlights together.Try shooting within an hour of sunrise, and/or an hour before sunset - the light will be a lot more forgiving

The other option is to shoot the same shot twice, once concentrating on exposing the sky properly, the other concentrating on the car. You'd need a tripod for this, or exceptionally steady hands. The two shots can then be brought together in post processing on the computer.
Edited by Andy M on Monday 4th February 13:58
theRossatron said:
All quite nice shots in my opinion. As you say the first one is a touch over-exposed. Nice though! 
first shot is always going to be hard as the sky light was crappy (light by the looks of it) so the camera exposed to that (hence grey car). The 3rd image is very nicely exposed on the white of the car. 
V6GTO said:
Your sensor needs cleaning 
Thats the first thing someone said about my first shots with a DSLR too 

The shots look fine barring the over exposure which you've already pointed out
Try some lower angle shots too, should work well with the shape and colour of the car
*resists the urge to ask whether OP is shooting in RAW or jpg*

Edited by jagdpanther on Monday 4th February 17:26
Hard-Drive said:
I did get some lower ones, however the background was a bit rubbish but the car looks OK...I left them out of the original post as I preferred the first 3, I thought the composition was a bit better. But out of 47 shots 3 is a rubbish hit rate! More practice required!

IMO If it consisted of more car, less background it would've been a hit
It takes a little time to get the hit/shot ratio up, but it comes


The poor exposure of this shot detracts from a well composed image.
If you took the same shot round about sunset when the sun's gonna be further to the right of the frame, you'll get better light on the side of the car, the sky won't white-out and, if you shoot long exposure using a tripod, you might luck-in with some light trails from a passing car.
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