[MonkeyHugger]

Hi guys,

Took my 350d down to Lichfield today. Got it Thursday, great camera, all photos taken with the kit lens

I posted some of the best below. I'm pretty new to this, shot in RAW. However, I did experience some problems. A lot of the pictures were coming out dark (was shooting in TV mode), and I had to shoot at iso400 and 1/320, meaning a lot of the photos didn't come out sharp I was in the bright sunlight, had to up the brightness a lot in photoshop, is this normal? Seems a bit weird.

Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 46 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 1/3 EV

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 1/3 EV

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 42 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 1/3 EV

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 48 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 1/3 EV

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 48 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 1/3 EV

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/10
Focal Length: 52 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 1/3 EV

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 1/3 EV

Any tips are greatly appreciated, and please be gentle

[tontoshorse]

Good start, you may want to insert a line (press return) between each link though.

cheers

[stevegreen]

Originally Posted by MonkeyHugger

Hi guys,

Took my 350d down to Lichfield today. Got it Thursday, great camera, all photos taken with the kit lens

I posted some of the best below. I'm pretty new to this, shot in RAW. However, I did experience some problems. A lot of the pictures were coming out dark (was shooting in TV mode), and I had to shoot at iso400 and 1/320, meaning a lot of the photos didn't come out sharp I was in the bright sunlight, had to up the brightness a lot in photoshop, is this normal? Seems a bit weird.

Any tips are greatly appreciated, and please be gentle

Lichfield? You are not far from where I work then, Cannock

I am a bit confused by what you have said though. Tv mode with a specified shutter of 1/320 should be plenty quick enough not to encounter any blur from movement of either you or the subject (unless you were walking quickly whilst shooting) so the blur wouldn't be from the settings. Might be an idea to post up some .exif and one of the originals.

When I first started with my 350D I used Av mode predominantly as all you really have to worry about in good light is depth of field.

Try a few shots at ISO-100 and select the Av mode at as low as you can (f/3.5 at 18mm and f/5.6 at 55mm) if you find that the shutter speed that matches that is below 1/100 then up the ISO to 200 and see how that goes.

It took me a while to have enough experience to try shooting in Tv mode and i actually prefer to shoot Av most of the time with the occasional foray into Manual when I feel it is needed.

As for the images you posted, they look fine to me, my only tip would be to try and get lower so the shots don't have that 'taken from above' look (as in #1,#2 and #5)

[denno75uk]

Good photos IMO . Certainly look sharp enough so not sure what you mean by not sharp. Looking at the one of the ducks swimming away, the water splashes seem to have been 'frozen' well enough.
As far as the light goes, I'm not sure. First thing I notice is the lack of strong shadows, it seems more like bright overall light but the sunlight doesn't seem direct. ISO 400 and 1/320 seems adequate to compensate for the lack of wide aperture of the kit lens though, but more experienced guys may be able to help better there.
For shots like these though, try getting down to the ground a bit more to get more of a full view. Also helps to accentuate DOF.

Must type faster.

[MonkeyHugger]

Many thanks for the replies!

Stevegreen you're in cannock? Achually live in walsall wood myself but lichfield is a great area to visit!

Sorry I didn't explain more, I meant on the 'moving' pictures. I had a few of birds flying and they didn't come out well. Perhaps it was a bad decision to start off in TV mode!

Thanks for the AV tip though. Certinally gonna try that out.

denno75uk, i think the lack of shadows was because I really brightened the images up in photoshop. Some of the photos were a lot darker, particullary the first image which was shot at 1/1000, (was the first image I took there).

I'll edit the original images with EXIF in a tic

Thanks again for the replies.

EDIT: Exif added. After looking at the exif myself it seems the camera wasn't always setting the aperture to wide open. Could of gone even further on the shutter then. Defo gonna try AV mode next time

[stevegreen]

Originally Posted by MonkeyHugger

Many thanks for the replies!

Stevegreen you're in cannock? Achually live in walsall wood myself but lichfield is a great area to visit!

Sorry I didn't explain more, I meant on the 'moving' pictures. I had a few of birds flying and they didn't come out well. Perhaps it was a bad decision to start off in TV mode!

Thanks for the AV tip though. Certinally gonna try that out.

denno75uk, i think the lack of shadows was because I really brightened the images up in photoshop. Some of the photos were a lot darker, particullary the first image which was shot at 1/1000, (was the first image I took there).

I'll edit the original images with EXIF in a tic

Thanks again for the replies.

EDIT: Exif added. After looking at the exif myself it seems the camera wasn't always setting the aperture to wide open. Could of gone even further on the shutter then. Defo gonna try AV mode next time

Well, I work there, not sure I'd want to particularly live here though

I understand what you were saying abut the 'moving' pictures now. panning to catch birds in flight is not an easy thing to do and requires a lot of practice........oh, and a fast shutter to stop the movement (maybe one of the trimes where Tv mode would be used over Av, just to confuse you further!)

[Holowlegs]

Hi MonkeyHugger


I had the same problem with the kit lens and pictures like this, they were also coming out a bit dark. But I think a lot of this was due to over cast days.

Also pictures look sharp enough apart from the one were the ducks are taking off. This is not an easy shot to get and I don't think the kit lens is best suited for this sort of shot.

Have found myslef shoting a lot of ducks, swans and other water birds. denno75uk is right you need to get a little lower. I am quite lucky were I go because I can actually sit low down on a little wall or another place there is a big log I can sit on. but I am thinking about buying a little stool to carry around.

Haven't tried to shoot this type of shot in AV or Tv mode yet. the way I do it at the moment is shoot in sports mode. The only downside is you are not shooting in RAW. At the moment this suits me while I learn to anticipate what the birds are going to do. Sometimes I can sit there for 20 minutes and nothing happens, and then a couple off birds take flight or land. So one of the most important things with the action shots with the birds and catching the right moment is judgement and a bit off luck. I waste just as many as I keep.Also you need to get in a little closer sometimes, the kit lens just doesn't have enough zoom on it.

Only a newbie at this and other no doubt will know beter ways off doing this.


Cheers Holo

[MonkeyHugger]

Hi Holowlegs!

Thanks for the comments, had some problems with reach. Have ordered a Sigma 70-300mm today however. Gonna go down again when it comes me thinks

Will also try and get down a little too, although for a lot of those shots it could of been difficult.