Hi everyone...I just got my D40...these are some shots taken recently...some random one...I would appreciate sifus to make comment about my photo...Enjoy

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This post has been edited by Victor3010: Feb 10 2008, 04:07 PM

hmm, very nice indeed...

the first one is better!!

Comment? I'm no sifu but I'll give some comments:

1. DOF too shallow and the color is dull. And I don't know what you are trying to tell.
2. The flower is OOF, and the composition is noisy. I don't know if I shall look at the grass or flowers.
3. OOF and blur. Black and white is a very bad choice for flowers.
4. The composition is noisy and the BG is distracting. The roof doesn't match the bird and the bird is too small to be the object.
5. & 6. Bad composition. The shot is blur and BG too noisy and distracting.
7. It's blur.
8. What's that black thing? Bird? Forget about shooting a flying bird with this focal length.

ok...tks for ur advice...
how to play with D40 DOF, use A mode??

Use smallest aperture to keep everything in focus.

no wonder when i take photos of my friend, sometimes it looks nt so focused...use which AF-Area mode the best for taking this kind of photo?

Seriously, I think the OOF problem is not fully contribute from the shallow DOF or the aperture problem. Caused, from what i can see in your pic, if shallow DOF, no matter how shallow it is.....there still should be a point to be clear in focus....but yours...i hardly find one....It could caused by your shaky hand as well especially under low light condition....but no worry.....explore more into your camera....and try to hold your breath whenever you are ready to click the button....

1st one nice.

the rest are snapshots and not worth commenting IMO unless you really want to hear what's bad about them.

My advise, from a noob also , is to understand what aperture, shutter speed and ISO do to a picture before you start shooting away on your new dSLR.

You also need to beef up your biceps due to the weight of a dSLR.

Be one with your camera and you will then be able to shoot better pictures.

Good luck!

u r right

roger that

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Added on November 2, 2007, 3:49 pmI need some tips from u guys...I will be taking some photos in my school hall tmr (junior middle graduation), the lightning is only so so..what are u guys advice about the settings??

I'll probably zoom until 200mm with my 55-200 VR....the aperture is pretty small at that focal length...

I don't have any speedlite yet....only can use built-in

This post has been edited by Victor3010: Nov 2 2007, 03:52 PM

Taking advantage of the VR, you can try shutter priority mode and set the shutter speed to 1/100s and then use maximum aperture at 200mm while keeping ISO at 800 or 400 if possible. Shoot RAW if you have enough memory storage as you can use adjust the exposure later should the pictures are not exposed properly.

The best is to be at the hall before the event starts and take some sample pictures while adjusting the camera settings accordingly.

Happy photographing!

try to hold ur camera steady and use tripod if needed. and learn how to focus to your object would be a good start.

dun worry, u will get better.

ok...I'll do my best tmr

d40 so light... skinny people like me also can hold with one hand lar
M mode also can

even at 200mm, you can still reach speeds as low as 1/15 with VR on... it shouldnt pose a problem unless your shaky hands is beyond normal people... i would advice shooting at ISO 400...only go up to ISO 800 if really necessary... remember to shoot at big aperture( low f number) since you are quite a distance from the object... gives you more lighting...

how bout the white balance??set to what??it is those high ceiling fluorescent lighting..

erm...leave that to auto first the time being...trying to understand white balance isnt something easy... i myself also always choose the wrong settings at times....

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Added on November 2, 2007, 9:00 pmoh ya...your shots... they look like normal snapshots... try to work on the composition...

This post has been edited by orenzai: Nov 2 2007, 09:00 PM

When compared to a P&S, even a D40 is quite heavy for the untrained hands.

Even though you might be able to shoot 1/15s @ 200mm with VR, however, please understand what the TS intend to shoot. A 1/15s shot for graduation pictures will just produce useless blurred pictures. Do understand more before giving advise and this is my advise to you.

oops...i didnt read the breacketed phrase...i only saw read that he was taking pictures inside the school hall...anyways... so if its this case, just put 1/100 and set to the biggest aperture lor...hehe...

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Added on November 3, 2007, 11:33 amand you cant compare the weight of a SLR to a P&S gua..that would be like comparing a Toyota to a Kancil

This post has been edited by orenzai: Nov 3 2007, 11:33 AM

Well guys, sorry to make you guys to wait...Here are some photos on my graduation day...

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This post has been edited by Victor3010: Nov 5 2007, 12:54 PM

Hmm... Looks like normal snap shots which I can also achieve with my humble P&S.

2. Watch out for the tilt. Senget already.
3. Best pic in this series, although it's still a snapshot.
4-10. The rest all snap shots, nothing special.

I would expect you to capture the going-ons in the hall when the graduation ceremony is in progress.
But these are all posed group photos which really are nothing to shout about..

Hmm congrats to ur graduation day. However the pics on ur graduation day is really snapshots. Even a camera phone or a normal P&S cam can do better. Hope to see u utilize ur DSLR more.

1. composition ok but sky overex
2-3. normal
4-9. need to prac on the composition (try crop out d distracting ppl at side)
10. again composition can be improved

try to practice more and get d feel of ur camera setting, try PS ur photo abit b4 posting...can make a lot more different

cheers

but I dun have photoshop yet...so these shots are st8 from the camera...
tks for u guys advice....I'll improve with my skills.
I focused more on A mode that day...did I made a right choice? I can't use M mode yet, bcuz of my viewfinder problem (the wordings are all jumbled up, gotta bring back to exchange)

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Added on November 5, 2007, 3:53 pmBy the way, may I know what's is the most important roles and functions to play with when taking a shot?? (eg. ISO,shutter...)

This post has been edited by Victor3010: Nov 5 2007, 04:21 PM

no excuse la. there's Picasa!
http://picasa.google.com/



btw your pics 1 to 10 are just snap shots.

tks for letting me know abt Picassa ^^...its' one nice programme indeed

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Added on November 5, 2007, 11:11 pmI'm falling in love with Picasa now...the photos now looks much better...goldfries, i salute u

This post has been edited by Victor3010: Nov 5 2007, 11:30 PM

nah, don't have to salute - we're all here to share and learn.

there is really no need to use M as a beginner...it will only make you confused... get use to S mode and A mode first... there isnt really any specific rule on saying" what is most important when taking a shot?"

it all about priority...thats why we have apertuer priority and shutter priority...
used the specific mode when that is your main priority...
for instance, if you were to shoot the waterfall, set it to Shutter priority. Why? because you want the water to be blurred out and look like a piece of silk or maybe you wanna freeze the water movement.

when taking close-ups, set it to A mode so that you control the DOF to a right amount so that the object will be sharp while having a good bokeh.

no harm using M straight away though. i started off with using M.

yes..by using M, you will learn more..but first you gotta know how does aperture relate to shutter speed and vice-versa mar right

actually ok wan. even in M mode the user can start to understand that. either way, Manual, Aperture and Shutter modes - all are fine for learning. just DON'T GO AUTO!

i second that!!! lolz... but i heard somewhere whereby a lot of full-time photographer use Auto mode wor...

eh. my DON'T GO AUTO is in reference to learning mah.

those photogs, their situation may be different.

hm..true also..haha... until now i hate Auto mode and Program mode a lot...it keeps on giving me the wrong settings. eg slow shutter speed, small aperture etc...

Actually you should've focused more on the celebration and emotion of the students. A lot of face closeups and medium closeups could be a good subject.

Those casual snapshots are just boring, you can even achieve the same thing with a good cameraphone.

Now, work more on your framing and composition.

This post has been edited by soulfly: Nov 6 2007, 12:01 PM

yup. take picture #4 for example, go nearer zoom in on any of the flowers and set higher aperture and choose a decent background. can come up with something interesting.

same goes to 4 - 5 - 6 where you have a group of guys jumping and all, try snap from a squatting position. that's 1 thing about angles, go as low as you can and you'll be surprised what you can get.

icic...ok..tks for u guys advice...I'll try my best tmr...
btw, why my CPL the front part can turn one???got what usage??I'm currently using the RM100 Hoya CPL...
another question to ask, is it better to take portrait of people from head to toe, or just the upper part?

This post has been edited by Victor3010: Nov 6 2007, 12:40 PM

The front part of your CPL can turn is because it's used to achieve polarization by you turning the front moving part to certain angle. Try this and you'll notice the difference. Try it while looking through the lens on a bucket of water or at a glass window, well, you need to be standing at an angle though.

Well, portraits.. hmm, I just take the upper part, but that's up to the individual's perception or creativity. Sometimes, it can be extreme closeups to show the emotion of the person, full body or half just to show the curves.

Haha.. well, that's just my 2cents.

BTW, don't forget to experiment.

This post has been edited by skarn: Nov 6 2007, 02:43 PM

err...I did notice in terms of different part of shadows..so is this the effect?

yes...try to see thru ur viewfinder when rotating d CPL filter...err just look at d screen of a calculator for eg. CPL block the lighting from certain angle only...so if u take outdoor pic, u can adjust it to get the effect u wan

lolz...the first thing when you buy a filter is to READ THE DESCRIPTION AT THE BACK OF THE CASING . It cuts of the reflection of non-metal objects and increases contrast...lolz...

steady la, I gt read the details abt it ^^..

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Added on November 9, 2007, 9:10 pmtks for ur info..

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Added on November 9, 2007, 11:08 pmHere are some random photos I taken recently, I had put my effort towards all these photos...C&C are welcomed..

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This post has been edited by Victor3010: Nov 9 2007, 11:08 PM