I'm just starting out...

[WorAl]

Well, I say just starting out, I'm learning all this photography stuff again, basically from scratch as my mind is like a seive and I've not taken proper photographs (i.e. non compact) for about 12 years. Only got back in to this when the snow was about, but haven't had much time to learn.

I've got a Sony α500. My old Minolta lenses fit it, which is the main reason, but it does seem like a very capable camera.

Anyway here are a few shots I've taking with it so far, any hints, tips, criticisms are very welcomed. All shots are as they were out of the camera, I may have just cropped them down a little and that is all.





Love this shot with it sticking its tongue out. It is blurred because it's been cropped too much, I realise this.



Through a window.




Flash



No Flash (I think)



Through a glass window, but didn't have much choice.



Last one, was just messing about with the settings, but ended up quite liking this one for some reason.

[WorAl]

Here are a few more from today, again straight from the camera, apart from one which has been darkened a little as it was a little bright.



Darkened this a little.







Basically the same shot, just trying to be a bit more "moody"



Once again, comments, criticisms, suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Edited by WorAl on Sunday 27th February 20:14

[Muncle Trogg]

For someone who is starting out again these are all good shots and the exposure control on the river shots is really good.

The best advice I could give is to just keep shooting, shooting, shooting. It was advice given to me when I made the move to a DSLR and has let me learn the camera inside out, making image making more creative as I am not worrying about the technical aspect.

Keep us updated with how you are getting on.

Olly

[Gemm]

Apart from obvious technical issues, e.g. birds images are well underexposed - caused by bright background (camera thinks it's light, so it tries to underexposed the images), the main issues to me are composition and focal point (lack of it). But don't worry, this isn't something that comes immediately. They are more than fine as snapshots but if you want to go up one level, these are things you need to concentrate. You could probably study other people work (they don't have to be photographs but paintings will do) to learn what catches people's eyes. You really have to think before you press the shutter button what you want to see in your images rather than just firing away. Hope this helps.

[WorAl]

Gemm said:

Apart from obvious technical issues, e.g. birds images are well underexposed - caused by bright background (camera thinks it's light, so it tries to underexposed the images).

OK these are good starting points. How could the exposure be bettered? (these were just standard settings on the camera as I wanted the shots, more than the art) obviously with pets you can get them to stay still longer for a longer exposure, but with wild bird/animals they move pretty quickly.

Gemm said:

The main issues to me are composition and focal point (lack of it). But don't worry, this isn't something that comes immediately.

Like I said, I'm just learning, so can you explain the above a bit better please?

[Gemm]

WorAl said:

OK these are good starting points. How could the exposure be bettered? (these were just standard settings on the camera as I wanted the shots, more than the art) obviously with pets you can get them to stay still longer for a longer exposure, but with wild bird/animals they move pretty quickly.

This comes with lots of practice.... you'll get to know your camera and how it handles the exposure so that you can adjust the setting quickly depending on the light and subject matters (direction of the sun mainly and size and the colours of the birds and background). I personally use exposure compensation but some people will (and I occasionally) switch to spot metering. For example, when I see backlighting, I'd increase the exposure, but there's no set rule, so you really need to experiment and learn from your errors.

WorAl said:

Like I said, I'm just learning, so can you explain the above a bit better please?

As I mentioned above, I think you'll learn a lot by studying other people's work. Composition and focal point can be very subjective as each of us has different taste (because it is Art!!). It's to do with images having a balance and and a point(s) your eyes are led to. It can be some object(s) in the foreground or background (or anywhere); it could be the colour(s). I don't have time to go on now but I'm sure someone can explain it better.

[davidd]

I'd echo what others have said,take a lot of pictures, learn how the controls work and don't be afraid to adjust and crop in post to get an image you are happy with. I find that this process helps me understand where I went wrong in the first place and therefore do it a little better the next time!

[roogi]

I'm a bit of a noob as well, but have steadily been taking better photos since I got a DSLR last year. There's a lot of information on the net about technique, composition etc and it can be a lot to take in initially.

I quite like the photo tuts website and especially their basic guides.

Have a look at some of those and then play around with your camera to try and get the same results.

[Gad-Westy]

Just to add, I highly recommend a book called 'Understanding Exposure' by Bryan Peterson. It was recommended to me on here and was really what helped things click for me. It talks a lot about metering techniques and exposure compensation. Another good book for photo/subject composition is called 'The photographer's Eye'. I forget who it's by but it's worth looking up.

[Gemm]

Also...... as you become more experienced, you'll start seeing what inexperienced photographers (or non-photographers) don't see, even simple things that you take for granted, e.g. out of focus, under/over-exposure, softness, subject movement, etc, etc. For example, all I could see in your first image initially was the distracting background. It's amazing what your eyes get trained to see with your experience. It's like drummers can only hear drums when they listen to the music, which actually can be quite annoying!