New Camera - Advice Appreciated

[Doggle Avaddit]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

All the images are taken with a shutter speed of 1/274 and above, which is plenty fast enough to hand-hold. You don't need to use a tripod at these speeds.

Jim

Yes, probably best to improve your technique first than hoping more equipment will do it for you.

[SuzieandFlo]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

All the images are taken with a shutter speed of 1/274 and above, which is plenty fast enough to hand-hold. You don't need to use a tripod at these speeds.

Jim

Thanks Jim
So is it just a case of me getting used to handling the camera better ? Would it help to try using my dog as a moving subject to practise with until I get steadier ?
I've just taken this picture on manual settings to see how it came out.
It's my dog and she is chewing and licking her paws so is continually moving.



The settings for this picture are as follows -
ISO 400
1/50 F8
WB - custom ( pointed the camera at the dog and pressed the shutter half way - spot metering ?).
The lighting in the room is 2 x 60 watt energy saving bulbs.
I used the flash (+1/3 on the display), high speed shooting , the sharpness is set at "hard".
Can anyone critique the photo please ?
(p.s. the colour of both the dog and the carpet are a very good match to what they are in natural light).

[squishy]

Originally Posted by SuzieandFlo

1/420 (what does that mean ?)

1/420 is the shutter speed. This is the amount of time the shutter is up and the sensor is recording the image.

The higher the sensitivity of the sensor (the ISO number) the shorter the time the shutter needs to be, as the sensor is in effect more sensitive.

The larger the aperture (smaller f/number) is, the shorter the shutter time needs to be, as the larger aperture is letting more light through.

The shorter the shutter is, the less chance there is of camera shake in your photos.


All cameras that zoom in a fair bit will be 'sensitive to movement'.

When you zoom in you're kind of amplifying all the tiny little movements of your hand.


I think with the dog photo you have missed the focus. If the subject is close to you, you have to press the macro button, otherwise, the camera wont be able to focus very well.

With a bridge type camera you have a larger DoF than DSLR's (they have a smaller sensor, so multiply the 'actual' focal length of the lens more).

You can probably afford to stop up to f/5.6 to get a faster shutter speed.

[nigel_b]

I think:

Good light = good pictures (...usually)

Get it off auto exposure and onto "A", aperture priority, then go out in some controlled conditions and have a play with different apertures. I take about 1000 pics a month and I'm still way down at the bottom of the learning curve.

Go somewhere bright and open and find a bird feeder where the birds come quite close. Spend an hour taking shot after shot on different apertures then take them back home and see what difference the different apertures make.

Try and keep the focal length the same, i.e. try and change one thing at a time. You'll probably want to be zoomed in quite well to emphasise the results. Wide angle is definately more forgiving!

Let us know how you get on.

[SuzieandFlo]

Thanks squishy , that's very helpful advice that you have given.
I suppose I'm expecting too much too soon as I've only had the camera for 2 days so far .
I was out again today and took a variety of photos from landscapes to attempted close ups. I kept the camera on AF though as I'm not sure enough about using the manual settings outdoors yet.
Here are some of today's attempts.
A view along the road I walked along, 1 mile from home

A view of the countryside in my area

I saw this and was on my hands and knees on a grass verge to take the photo

Not perfect, but I had to take this as it flew up from the undergrowth and sat posing on top of the hedge

I couldn't resist this one ! There were 6 Skylarks on the track in front of me
.
My pictures WILL get better , I promise .
Thanks Nigel . I'll give that a try on Saturday and possibly even take a hanging feeder from home to set up somewhere I can sit for a while watching. I already have a couple of places I scatter loose seed and strategically place mealworms, (that's what the Great Tit came down for on Tuesday evening). I'll let you know how I get on.

[nigel_b]

All good experience!

Try applying the "rule of thirds".

Any feature of interest, lone tree, horizon, etc, should be one third of the way up or down the view, or one third of the way across the view, or indeed both.

Try not to split the picture in two.

It works really well!

BTW I do like the composition of the country lane, excellent!

[squishy]

That butterfly is a very good shot for a beginner. It's an orange tip, a species I still haven't managed a good photo of .

One tip for wildlife: When composing a photo (or cropping) leave more space in front of the animals eyes (where it's looking) than behind it. Try to avoid placing the subject directly in the centre of the image.

[nigel_b]

Originally Posted by squishy

That butterfly is a very good shot for a beginner.

Fully agree it's also an excellent shot!

[SuzieandFlo]

Thankyou so much, both of you .
Nigel, the country lane picture , I felt that angle invites you to see what is around that bend. I like the combination of trees along the roadside due to the variety of species, colours and textures. The tree line on the horizon, I actually walked along later, and the male Orange Tip was on an overgrown verge at a point midway between where I took that "country lane" photo and the tree line on the horizon
squishy , I'd seen the butterfly fluttering towards me and stopped to admire it. It's the first time I've ever seen one of these and love the contrast of the orange against the creamy white on its wings. There were actually quite a few of them. Anyway , I was watching to see if this one would land so that I could try to get a photo. When it landed I really was on my hands and knees, crawling very slowly on the verge to get up close. Relieved it didn't fly away , I got the camera as close as I could on supermacro. I was actually hoping it would open its wings so that I could get a shot showing the orange , but hey , he stayed in this position instead. As I'd never seen one before , I had to look up the butterfly Gallery on here to ID it .

[Lancashire Lad]

The S8000fd is a good camera in its own right, and is an ideal step on the road to a full DSLR system. If you fully get to grips with the workings of this camera, you will have a very good grounding for any future upgrades.

I would recommend that you buy, beg, borrow, or steal (only kidding!), the book "Digital Photography For Dummies". - Anyone who knows the "Dummies" series of books will confirm that they are a phenomenal resource on whatever subject they cover.

It will guide you through all the technical aspects in a down to earth, very readable manner. I've lost count of the times I've recommended it, and everyone I know who subsequently bought one has found it well worth while.

You might also try online tutorials - eg. browsing for "aperture for beginners tutorial", brings up several useful websites, as does shutter speed for beginners, ISO for beginners, etc. etc. (Some also have short video clips).

Above all, keep practising, and try to move towards aperture priority mode (to control depth of field - very useful for static subjects), or shutter speed priority mode (very useful for moving subjects), as soon as you are familiar with the controls.

Good luck,
Regards,
Mike.