Advice Needed

[sheffielder]

I have just got a Sony A1 camera, and have been out today playing with it, I only have a couple of old Minolta lenses so I am limited to what I can do at the moment.

I have put 2 images up in the unidentified area, as I am not able to put them anywhere else yet, please can anyone comment as what is wrong with them.

I am not unhappy with them, as they are my 1st piccies on this camera, and they was taken in fully auto mode.





Andrew

[Paul mabbott]

The dragonfly is okay - could have been a bit brighter with better definition of the wings but that's mainly down to it being such a dull day.
The tit doesn't really show much - partly because it's turned away (enough to suggest that it's not a coal tit?) but partly because your camera seems to be auto-focussing on the reed-mace seed rather than the bird! Autofocus needs to be used sparingly - on this subject, I would suggest that you either need more light (a sunny day in Sheffield or a flash) to increase your depth of focus or go to manual focussing. I'm sure you'll get a lot more advice in this site but as a fellow Sheffielder I thought I should give a welcome and offer some encouragement!

[Nettle Runner]

Hi Sheffielder, from another one (I only have to work there)
Nice pics for starters, too.
Les

[Hobjob]

Not much wrong with these photos !!!

The dragonfly can be "changed" to make it more exciting.
This turns it more into "art" than faithful reproduction and it
is not to everyone's taste.
I have over-egged the example below a bit.

Original




Now tweaked with levels and unsharp mask



Now lit with a little golden light, and edge become a little darker

[Interpreter]

The bird is unsharp. Either stop down to add more depth of field or use manual focus.
I do not know your camera, but with others, it is possible to use the AE to focus on the subject and then to lock the focus whilst adjusting the camera position to give a more pleasing photograph. This is not always possible unless you can get the subject to sit still for a while. If you know of a spot where birds always land, set the camera up manually for exposure and focus so that all you have to do is to point and shoot. Pretend that you are a Boy Scout and be prepared.

If the camera is new, spend an hour or so with the manual, or, better still, if you know someone who has the same camera and is used to the controls, get them to show you how to do it. I find it much easier to pick something up when I am shown how to do it. It beats reading manuals.

Don't be too disappointed with your images. It just takes a little while to get used to new equipment. If you read the reviews on the Canon 1Ds, you will see that a well known wildlife photographer came unstuck while using it. He suggested carrying the manual with you while using the camera.

[sheffielder]

Thanks for the hints everyone.

Yes, I did some more shots late yesterday using MF and they were defiantly sharper. It was wet, windy & overcast yesterday and I don't think it helped the AF shots.

I do not have any software for "touching up" the images, just some software that allows me to crop.

So now I am going to play around with the manual settings of the camera, see if I can improve.

Andrew

[mh68]

Andrew, you can download a few free programs that will allow basic colour correction/sharpening etc....2 examples being Irfanview and The Gimp.Do a google and you`ll find the download sites for each. Both are highly recommended and will provide a stop-gap until you decide whether you want to buy the likes of Photoshop/Painshop Pro.You may find that one of these programs is all you need for editing images.
Re the pics, its never easy getting decent shots in poor light, i think you did ok given the conditions.You should see a great improvement once you get out in some better light.

Mark H