mish13 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I always thought if you spent a lot of money on equipment it would mean you would get great photos, well I now know this is wrong. My equipment is a Sony A850 full frame camera and the most used lens is a Carl Zeiss 24-70 lens. I have been to a six week tafe course and about four one day photography courses but I still take disappointing photos. I find I still shoot in Auto and when I try Aperture priority I don't know what aperture to set it at for what ever situation I am in. I have five dogs and never get that shot that I would be happy to frame. I do have other lens but I don't change from the main one vey often. If I post a few photos I was wondering if anyone with photography knowledge would help me out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 (edited) Post some photos and tell us why you aren't happy with them. Disclaimer I dont claim to be an expert, or even a photographer. :laugh: Edited July 30, 2013 by Kirislin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlc Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 What sort of stuff did you learn in the courses you did? Learning the relationship between aperture shutter speed and ISO is a great place to start. Definatley post some photos, like Krislin I'm not a pro but a very keen enthusiast who has learn so much over the last 12 months. Happy to impart knowledge if I can help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mish13 Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 Sorry Kirislin I tried to load photos with my first post but it didn't work, I am having another go now. I hope these don't turn out to big, these are really bad but they are the most recent. Remember the camera was on auto with the flash attached Iso 320 24mm F/2.8 1/30 http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q182/mish13_2006/DSC00596.jpg Iso 800 70mm f/2.8 1/20 http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q182/mish13_2006/DSC00597.jpg Iso 3200 60mm f/6.3 1/320 http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q182/mish13_2006/_DSC0611.jpg iso 500 30mm f /2.8 1/30 http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q182/mish13_2006/DSC00614.jpg iso 800 45mm f/ 2.8 1/50 http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q182/mish13_2006/DSC00618.jpg iso 800 30mm f /2.8 1/25 http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q182/mish13_2006/DSC00660.jpg iso 3200 30mm f/ 7.1 1/60 http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q182/mish13_2006/_DSC0664.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mish13 Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 Don't know why it didn't post the photos but if you click on the link it will open, remember these are really bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlc Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I'm at work at the moment but will have a look when I get home. My first though without even looking at the photos is the shutter is too slow. But I will add more when I can have a proper look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mish13 Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 I'm at work at the moment but will have a look when I get home. My first though without even looking at the photos is the shutter is too slow. But I will add more when I can have a proper look. I agree with a shutter speed that low I will get poor light and blurry but the camera was on auto and the flash was on if the camera thought it needed it. So I don't understand why auto did that? Its very disheartening after spending a lot of money on camera gear, especially when someone can take a better photo with their phone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 (edited) mish ..I am on shaped internet , so can't open the pics .. (I am useless with a DSLR ...I get horribly confused , so cannot advise :p ) however , may I offer you the knowledge contained on this website to read through ? :) Digital Photography School esp these bits .. LINK I'm sure folks on here will advise you - it must be very disappointing . Edited July 30, 2013 by persephone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mish13 Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 Thanks persephone, I get email updates from Digital photography and have read heaps. I just struggle to absorb it, I will read your link thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimax Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 These would have been really good questions to ask when you did the photography courses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mish13 Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 These would have been really good questions to ask when you did the photography courses? Thanks for that but I did ask many times but a class with twenty people and one teacher doesn't give you much time. I just thought someone on here may also struggle with getting it all together and might have some tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Ok, without even looking at the photos I'd say your shutter speed is way to slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 For some of the shots it looks like you needed more light, and maybe a tripod to hold the camera steady while it took the shot. Some of the focusing looks a little haphazard - how many focus points does your lens have, and have you tried dropping it to only 1 or 2 points so you can get better focus on what you are really wanting to, rather than what the lens thinks you want? That said, I actually really like the one that focuses nicely on the foreground streamers with the people out of focus in the background... *grin* I haven't done any courses myself, and am still deathly scared of taking my camera off the presets - so don't think I'm any sort of expert. What I have found is that when you have a type of photo you are really interested in doing lots of, practice, practice, practice is the only way to end up with any consistency. I use the Sports mode setting and continuous shooting mode - take enough pics in a burst and you'll more likely get 1 or 2 worth sharing... hehe! I like taking pics of animals - dogs, animals at the Zoo, birds in flight, etc - so I like shooting with a decent zoom lens in good light. I have well over 10,000 photos of various animals under my belt (possibly even more than that) - and a good number of them are complete shockers too. I only post the really good ones - so it makes me look a better photographer than I really am... honest! If it makes you feel any better, I take revolting indoor shots with my Canon 60D... mostly because it doesn't really interest me to take indoor shots or shots of people and I thusly haven't given it much practice. T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe1 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Strange that it does that in auto. In aperture priority mode you are essentially setting the depth of field. The lower the number as in 2.8 in some of the photos the blurrier the backround. The higher the number the more of the background will be in focus. Depends on the type of photography you are doing. If outdoors then f11 to about f15 is usually good. For portraits then i would start at f10 and work my way down depending on how much blur in the background you want to achieve. The amount of lighting is important too. In that situation a tripod would have been better as the slow shutter speed means the hands generally move around too much :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Of the few I looked at they all seem to be indoors. Try taking photos outside in the daytime. Then you can reduce your ISO a bit and increase your shutter speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrigadoonRose Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 (edited) Hi Mish13 Great advice already here. I have no idea why your camera chose what it chose for your shots above. Generally auto works pretty well, but I'm pretty clueless when it comes to flash photography so no help there I'm afraid. I can say that the shallow depth of field (limited area of focus) in the shots is due to the very wide apeture. Like others have said, the slower shutter speeds would create handshake as well. You're not alone with the exposure triangle - it makes my head spin too. I have come up with a way for me to understand things. Although I'm certainly not an expert photographer, I'm pretty happy with a good number of my shots. My favourite thing to photograph is landscapes so I primarily shoot in apeture mode (A). My rule of thumb #1: If it's fairly still (ie not tearing around the place like a soccer game or racing cars), I shoot in apeture mode. If it's moving a lot I shoot in shutter speed mode. My rule of thumb #2: If I want everything in focus I use an apeture of f11 or less (or more - don't know the right terminology but f11, f16, f22, etc). My camera takes pretty crap shots over f16 though. If I want a nice blurry background, I use f4 or more. Note that when using the big apetures (f4, etc) your focus point needs to be pretty spot on as there is a very limited amount of the shot (foreground & background) that will be in focus. There's a generally accepted photography rule of thumb (not one of mine ;) ) that says your shutter speed shouldn't be less than 1/focal length, eg if your focal length is 30mm your shutter speed shouldn't be less than 1/30sec. This ensures handshake doesn't cause blur. My rule of thumb #3: I can't take a clear handheld shot at a slower shutter speed than 1/60. Any less & I need to use a tripod. My rule of thumb #4: Forget about ISO 90% of the time. If I change it for a special situation, I will without fail, take my next set of shots at that different ISO and cock them all up. If I do venture onto M mode, I choose what's most important to me for that shot out of area of focus (A) or clarity for movement (S) and set that. Then I use the little meter in the bottom of the view finder to tell me when I've adjusted the other one to the correct exposure. Keep at it, maybe just choosing one thing (like apeture or shutter speed or area of focus) to work on at a time. You'll see the shots improving ETA: typos Edited July 30, 2013 by BrigadoonRose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mish13 Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 For some of the shots it looks like you needed more light, and maybe a tripod to hold the camera steady while it took the shot. Some of the focusing looks a little haphazard - how many focus points does your lens have, and have you tried dropping it to only 1 or 2 points so you can get better focus on what you are really wanting to, rather than what the lens thinks you want? That said, I actually really like the one that focuses nicely on the foreground streamers with the people out of focus in the background... *grin* I haven't done any courses myself, and am still deathly scared of taking my camera off the presets - so don't think I'm any sort of expert. What I have found is that when you have a type of photo you are really interested in doing lots of, practice, practice, practice is the only way to end up with any consistency. I use the Sports mode setting and continuous shooting mode - take enough pics in a burst and you'll more likely get 1 or 2 worth sharing... hehe! I like taking pics of animals - dogs, animals at the Zoo, birds in flight, etc - so I like shooting with a decent zoom lens in good light. I have well over 10,000 photos of various animals under my belt (possibly even more than that) - and a good number of them are complete shockers too. I only post the really good ones - so it makes me look a better photographer than I really am... honest! If it makes you feel any better, I take revolting indoor shots with my Canon 60D... mostly because it doesn't really interest me to take indoor shots or shots of people and I thusly haven't given it much practice. T. Thanks I have now changed it to spot auto focus it was on wide, I don't have any preset modes only P,A,S & M. The photos I have shown are of my step fathers 92nd birthday so they were really important, normally I shoot my dogs and food. Some times car shows and family events. I don't have a good zoom lens but don't want to spend anymore money until can nail this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roova Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Probably a silly question but is there a chance your lens is set to manual, although your camera is on automatic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mish13 Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 Strange that it does that in auto. In aperture priority mode you are essentially setting the depth of field. The lower the number as in 2.8 in some of the photos the blurrier the backround. The higher the number the more of the background will be in focus. Depends on the type of photography you are doing. If outdoors then f11 to about f15 is usually good. For portraits then i would start at f10 and work my way down depending on how much blur in the background you want to achieve. The amount of lighting is important too. In that situation a tripod would have been better as the slow shutter speed means the hands generally move around too much :D I will keep these tips in my camera bag thanks, I understand the bit about Aperture but just never sure in the moment what to set it at. these tips will help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mish13 Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 Probably a silly question but is there a chance your lens is set to manual, although your camera is on automatic? Definitely on Auto :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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