New Camera - Advice Appreciated

[SuzieandFlo]

I bought a new camera today , a Fuji FinePix S8000fd.
I'm not an experienced photographer so don't know a lot about technical stuff, but I want to save up for a good DSLR. I bought the Fuji as a first step into digital photography. My aim is to photograph mainly birds and wildlife, and pictures of my dog and my pony.
I went out for a walk tonight , taking my "new toy" with me , and took a few pictures while playing around with the settings to see what came out.
Here are a few of my first pictures with my new camera. Any advice is very welcome and very much appreciated.
Woodland near my house , taken at 7.30pm

Some wild flowers

Flowers on a tree

[SuzieandFlo]

Here's another picture of a Jackdaw in my garden , taken from 30feet away.
Anyone ?
I had to resize the pictures to upload them on to here , the woodland one has come out rubbish although the original is not all blurred like that.

OOPS ! Forgot to add the photo

[SuzieandFlo]

Here's another picture of a Jackdaw in my garden , taken from 30feet away.
Anyone ?
I had to resize the pictures to upload them on to here , the woodland one has come out rubbish although the original is not all blurred like that.

[Jim Ford]

Try and take pictures on a bright sunny day. Generally, a picture taken on a dull day will always be a dull picture.

When you get a bit more practice, try using a non-automatic setting. For close ups of flowers use aperture setting and set the aperture at a high value - say f11. This will ensure that all parts of a flower will be in reasonable focus. You'll need good light to do this.

Don't be in a hurry to progress to a DSLR. They're much harder to use.

The woodland scene is badly 'pixelated'. Looks like you may have uploaded a 'thumbnail' image rather than the original.

When taking a shot of an animal, try to ensure an eye is in the image. Also that it is sharp.

Jim

[squishy]

Fuji cameras are very popular. I myself use an S9600.


I recommend to join Flickr, and find a fujifilm group, or a group for your camera. There are specific groups for almost all cameras on flickr, and many people who are adept at using them and happy to give out advice.


One thing I would always recommend is learning how to use an image editing program. Taking good photos is important, but post processing them well makes a huge difference as well.

You don't have to spring for something bank breaking like photoshop to get good results though. Photoshop elements is highly recommended, or you can download several good free programs (I use the G.I.M.P.).

Programs like this may seem confusing when you first start, but there are many tutorials online, and it is worth spending time on it.

I second Jim's advice as well. My mode dial is almost permanently set in aperture priority mode.

I also recommend using a tripod for flowers and insects. I have been using a relatively inexpensive manfrotto mini 785SHB modo tripod for a while now, and I highly recommend it. Packs very small, has a very low minimum height (good for ground level subjects) and is very sturdy at low heights. It is not very high and is a little wobbly when at full height, but for flowers and stuff this shouldn't matter. When using a tripod you can use a lot longer shutter speeds, which means you can use a small aperture (large F/ number like f/8 or f/11) and a low ISO sensitivity to avoid noise without the problem of camera shake you get when handholding. (if it's a long shutter you also need to use the self timer (or a separate cable release) because you create vibrations when you physically press the shutter button).

Hope that helps .

[SuzieandFlo]

Thanks both of you , that's very much appreciated
I went out today to play around with it but kept it mainly on AF. The light wasn't great as it was a bit overcast with a few sunny spells.
I reckon it will take a while to get used to the camera and all of the settings. Here are some pictures taken today. First 3 were taken in my garden this morning.
A male House Sparrow

A Jackdaw

A Starling

A Great Tit


This last picture was taken at 4.40pm this afternoon. On AF , the settings on the camera adjust themselves. This picture was taken at F4.5, ISO 800 , 1/420 (what does that mean ?) and auto white balance. I like the idea of being able to see the settings the camera selects when on AF, I'll be able to use these settings as a guide for future reference when I'm brave enough to use manual settings. This is the first camera I've had with so many different modes and settings , and it's a bit scary . My manual SLR was easy compared to this but I like to see the pictures straight away and delete the totally rubbish ones
Please feel free to advise/comment on my pictures

[Doggle Avaddit]

Presumably all your photos have been hand held. i.e. just you and the camera in open air.


Next time you go out for a shoot, find something solid like a tree or wall you can either rest part of the camera on, or perhaps rest your arm or elbow that is holding the camera on.
What you need to do is keep the camera as rigid as possible, and squeeze the shutter button GENTLY without moving or jolting the camera. This will go a long way to minimising the blurring evident in your photos so far.

In poor light I tend to imagine the camera is a rifle and I am determined to hit the target bullseye, despite my shakes. As well as keeping the camera as rigid as possible, I also relax and breathe out slowly, before finally squeezing the button.
You might be amazed at the difference this technique can make, and it won't cost very much either.

[SuzieandFlo]

Thanks for those tips , I'll try that tomorrow
Yes, everything so far has been taken handheld. It's not a very big camera but I was very surprised by how sensitive it is to the slightest movement , especially when zooming in on a subject.
I think I really need a tripod as a lot of my outdoor shots are in locations where there are little or no convenient resting points to keep the camera steady.

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by SuzieandFlo

I think I really need a tripod as a lot of my outdoor shots are in locations where there are little or no convenient resting points to keep the camera steady.

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

[Doggle Avaddit]

Originally Posted by SuzieandFlo

Thanks for those tips , I'll try that tomorrow
Yes, everything so far has been taken handheld. It's not a very big camera but I was very surprised by how sensitive it is to the slightest movement , especially when zooming in on a subject.
I think I really need a tripod as a lot of my outdoor shots are in locations where there are little or no convenient resting points to keep the camera steady.

Check out Monopods too, easier to lug around, and you can also get those walking stick/ski pole things with built in camera mounts.