My pics

[dutch27]

I just started playing with a DSLR - Canon 50D - and am hoping to find some good books and to take a class or two this summer on photography. Any good book recommendations for Photoshop would be appreciated. I've been shooting RAW and teaching myself how to adjust with PS.

Wanted to start a thread to put in my photos from time to time to get input on how they could be improved. Constructive criticism on anything from composure to shutter speeds is welcome. "Clean your glass" will be ignored. :lolspin:

I had my old P&S settings down to a science and this camera reacts completely differently. I'm also planning on getting some extension tubes to try and get good macros of anything close to the glass, and possibly for flowers, etc with my 50mm f/1.8.

Here are a couple of the better ones I've gotten. I'm more focused on getting settings right to capture clean pictures right now more so than composition as I'm learning from scratch having a new camera. Once the weather warms up I hope to be getting pictures of landscapes, etc.

 

[young_reefer]

Nice pics. I also have 50D but need to get better lenses... They definitely make the difference. Hope to see more.

 

[dutch27]

Getting a little better with this 50mm prime. My other lenses aren't cut out for in tank shots. Hoping to order extension tubes soon to try and get some macros of some stuff close to the glass.

 

[nemosworld]

very nice!

 

[Boboli]

Very nice .
You have talent .
What's your secret ?

 

[dutch27]

Thanks guys. Looking at them this morning on a different (better) monitor they are much darker than they appeared at home. I may need to hook up my old monitor to my laptop to make sure I'm seeing the pictures accurately.

 

[young_reefer]

Simply, wow!

 

[frankyrivera]

Not bad have u considered an actual macro lens. And cleaning your glass will help lol. Keep the pics coming nice fish btw

 

[dutch27]

I have considered macro lenses but they're expensive so for now I'm going to play with some extension tubes before I invest. I also think I need a better waking around lens as well like an 18-55 IS kit lens, I have an old 35-80 now which doesn't give a terribly wide view. Altho the 50mm prime I have with a tripod will prob still do decent landscapes I'd imagine.

 

[carloschali]

It is good to try with extension tubes at first. My friend has a crappy point and shoot and he rigs it with an extension tube attached to his camera with a rubber band (true story) and takes amazing pictures of his acans (it doesn't work on subjects farther than three inches though). Way better than my macro lenses. I think its at least worth a try.

 

[kissman]

This book was by far the best book I bought for photography

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Updated/dp/0817463003

 

[Birddogm33]

Great pics.....The wife is bugging me to get her a macro.....Thats a few nice fish I could buy for the price of a lens.

 

[frankyrivera]

Except fish will die and the lens will live on forever lol get her the lens

 

[jroovers]

I have considered macro lenses but they're expensive so for now I'm going to play with some extension tubes before I invest. I also think I need a better waking around lens as well like an 18-55 IS kit lens, I have an old 35-80 now which doesn't give a terribly wide view. Altho the 50mm prime I have with a tripod will prob still do decent landscapes I'd imagine.

The 50 prime will indeed take some nice landscape shots... as well as good shots of anything really, portraits, tank shots, etc. Probably the best all around versatile lens of a fixed focal length. My 30 mm sigma gets a lot of use on my 7D, which is pretty close to equivalent as a 50 mm on a full frame camera. I've gotten some nice landscapes with it.

In terms of darkness, your shots don't look dark to me.

 

[dutch27]

Thanks for the compliments and insight thus far everyone. Ordered a set of extension tubes today, so hopefully I'll be able to experiment with some more true macros of things in the frag rack or that are otherwise close to the glass. The weather is starting to turn, so hopefully in a few weeks I can start trying to find some things outdoors to play around with. I forgot to order a tripod though, maybe I'll pick up a cheap one locally just to have something for now.

 

[dutch27]

And, just because I got a clear shot of one of my scolys:

I took a series of shots of the scoly keeping everything the same except the aperture. Found out I was shooting some things all wrong. My mindset was to keep the aperture wide open (low f) to maximize light and get quick shutter speeds. I didn't realize how big the difference in depth of field was by shooting at a lower aperture, made a huge difference in how much of the subject was in focus. Lesson learned.

And, looks like one of my pics above isn't linked anymore, and I don't remember which it was, so here's a guess to get it back up in the thread:

 

[dutch27]

Got some extension tubes and have been messing around. I very much need to replace my broken tripod so I can use one again, but here are some of the better shots.

A little too blue, couldn't get happy with the white balance in the RAW editor

Tough lighting, I think I need to spin it and try a different angle.

Prob best of the tank shots - Red Planet frag

Non-tank, tried some shots of the cat.

 

[dutch27]

Holding male bangaii in a holding tank. I'm at the extreme limits, he should have spit days ago, I'm around 26 days right now. Saw pectoral and tail fins sticking out of his mouth. Tried to strip unsuccessfully. I'm starting to get concerned. One fry tried jumping free, but papa dukes freaked out and wiggled loose and got back into the water.

But anyway, point of the thread is pics! Did these with an old Canon 35-80mm, extension tubes, built in flash, hand held.

Random other recent tank photos. More snow and cold in March = to heck with outdoor stuff for awhile yet.

 

[ssick92]

Those are some sweet photos you have there. Extension tubes can definitely give you that macro effect.

One note though, it looks like some of those photos are taken at an angle to the glass which will cause some noticeable distortion. If you put the lens directly perpendicular to the glass I believe you will get some clearer shots. I know it's hard without a tripod but if you can kneel down there then I think it will pay off

Great shots though!

 

[Reef Bass]

Thanks guys. Looking at them this morning on a different (better) monitor they are much darker than they appeared at home. I may need to hook up my old monitor to my laptop to make sure I'm seeing the pictures accurately.

Sounds like your photos could benefit from monitor calibration.