My first two half decent shots

[horribleman]

Hi there!

I have had my Nikon D40 for two weeks, and it's my first camera I have had to think while using

First couple I took this morning at about 7am from outside my house:

And here is a protrait shot of my fiancee:

None have been post processed yet.

Any feedback or tips?

[stevegreen]

Originally Posted by horribleman

Any feedback or tips?

Get the Mrs to smile

Did you use the flash for that portrait shot as there is a massive shadow behind her head. Natural lighting or bounced light are both much better for portraits than a direct flash. Maybe sit her next to a window next time, up the ISO to get a decent shutter speed. Also, try and get level with her so the eyes are not looking up. I'm guessing that this was a snapshot and she wasn't posing?

Out of the other two I would go for the first one, nice colours.

[horribleman]

Nah, she wasn't posing. You're right I used a flash.

I like the first sunrise photo too. I spot metered in the sky about an inch from the sun, so it looks quite bright. The others I took on my flickr look too dark compared to real life.

When I try to get up in the morning to do some proper sunrise stuff I'll take my tripod and stuff.

I'm still a bit intimidated by full manual mode - how do you guess the ISO and shutter speed for low light?

Thanks for the feedback. What would you do in photoshop to the first photo?

[stevegreen]

Well, if you have a tripod then go for the lowest ISO possible (ISO-200), if you are taking a landscape then anything over f/8 will probably get you a decent enough DoF and in low light the tripod will allow you longer shutter speeds without bluring.

Simply mount the camera on the tripod, frame your shot and with an aperture of f/8 or higher, focus mid way through the scene. The camera will tell you in the viewfinder what exposure will be right so just alter that using the dial until you get the correct exposure shown. Probably better to put it on a timed release so you don't knock it.

Take a shot, check the histogram for blown or underexposed areas and adjust to suit

I don't think I would do a great deal to the first shot in PS, it seems fine to me