The Learning Curve

[wenrob]

Oh, bless you Pea and Deb!


Still struggling sometimes with soft images and/or slightly off-focus. Especially with narrow depth of field with a moving object. Example: was trying to shoot a kitten at f/1.8. Thought I got a good shot, come to find out (once on the computer) that I had her whiskers and not her eyes as the focal point. Anyone have tips for that? Or is that just part of the deal when using shallow DOF and shooting a moving object, and you just have to take lots of pics to get a few right?

This is something I have recently been struggling with as well. I'm aiming right between the eyes yet my focus is falling on a shirt or hair no matter what I do. I recently put the camera in AF-C (continuous focus) and when you do that you no longer get the little green light or beep. That forced me to really pay attention to when the red parts light up and where they were. I had an "aha" moment as I realized I was concentrating on where I put the little box but I wasn't making sure I had the box on one of the little dots aka focus points. Some may think, "Well duh," but I honestly wasn't seeing the little dots. Once I realized what I had been doing I started nailing focus much more often even wide open. I hope this makes sense?

 

[ColleenG]

Good tip Wen! I've been having some of the same thing happen too.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I kind of also had an "ah ha" moment recently when I realized that sometimes highlights can be spared by selecting a smaller aperture. I like to shoot wide open so this (sort of) came as a bit of a revelation, by accident.

Can someone explain this to me in photography terms?

 

[Country Flower]

Maybe some information on filters?
Im also a beginner and this thread is helping me a lot so please lets continue it.

 

[JoeDif]

Also--anyone read a really good book on composition recently? Has anyone read The Photographer's Eye or Learning to See Creatively--any good?

B/c I think that's where I feel MOST "stuck" lately--composition, creativity...

I've read both and recommend both although The Photographer's Eye reads more like a text book.....very dry reading but extremely informative.

 

[stitch1986]

I have read a few things and I am enjoying it I have a nikon d40 and havent used it much i took pictures tonight and will post some later to see how to make the picture better but TY for starting this thread!!! it is very helpful

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I have read a few things and I am enjoying it TY for starting this thread!!! it is very helpful

Im also a beginner and this thread is helping me a lot so please lets continue it.

I'm glad you've both found the thread helpful.

Maybe some information on filters?

Can you be more specific about what you want to know? Did you see the filter thread on page 30?

 

[broberts]

Just a friendly bump.

 

[NLD]

Just found this: Check your color vision....

http://www.spectralcolor.com/game/huetest_kiosk

Thought it was interesting.

 

[ColleenG]

I tried this, I scored a 60, I guess not so great. After awhile I couldn't look at the blocks anymore.

 

[boBQuincy]

I scored an 8 but that was not surprising, my *relative* color vision is good. It is my absolute color vision that is dodgy, my eyes each see different shades (warmer left, cooler right). It can cause difficulty with photography but it can also make it easier (Don't like that color balance? Try the other eye!)

 

[ColleenG]

Bob, 8 is really good! It said 0 was a perfect score. That's interesting how each of your eyes sees color differently.

 

[Troop o' Goofs]

Wow, I scored a four and that was before my first cup of coffee this morning.

 

[KSchwagg86]

subscribing

 

[SrisonS]

Cool test. I scored a 16.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Oh my - no one will probably believe this b/c I don't but I scored a zero!


"You have perfect color vision!
FM Hue Test Results
A lower score is better, with ZERO being the perfect score. The bars above show the regions of the color spectrum where hue discrimination is low.
To see how your results compare to those of others, please provide the information below.
Age Range:

Gender:
Male Female"

 

[Pea-n-Me]

FYI catalogued all the Monthly Assignment threads in post 455.

If anyone has any threads they think are important, or helped you learn something important, pleast let me know and I'll include them here so we can easily reference them in the future. Thanks

 

[spinetnglr]

bumping this for some of the newer DIS members ..... this was always one of my favorite threads here .... so much info and input

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

I haven't read through the whole thread yet, but here is my 2 cents. I hope it isn't out of line.

I just got the Pentax K-x in BRIGHT RED. I LOOOOOOOVE that camera!!!

I was hoping to accomplish an unusual thing in buying this: I wanted the smallest DSLR on the market, yet one that had the ability to do what I wanted. I decided that the K-X did EVERYTHING I wanted and some, and the price was awesome. But thats only half the story. I wanted point and shoot size and "carryability" but the more professional picture. Here is what I decided on:

I am using my camera bag from my point and shoot! Check this out! Its the 100% PERFECT size!!! Now granted, I can't carry anything extra in terms of lenses or external flash, but I can carry extra batteries, a mini-tripod (on the left hand pouch in the picture) and the book. Thats all that fits. The whole thing is padded everywhere, so I feel it will keep it all safe if I use standard precautions. Anyways thats my only point, is I have one of the smallest cameras made, in a tiny, snug fitting bag. I probably wouldn't carry around the big bag with lenses and such, so this way I get my cake and eat it too.

I plan to carry it around by the hand strap rather than the neck strap, because I can't stand ANYTHING around my neck INCLUDING Disney lanyards.

Here are my pictures! Comments welcome, please keep them nice. I'm still a newbie at this whole DSLR thing. The best part is the bag came with a P&S I bought for my Craigslist business, and I didn't even need the bag for that.

Lift cover to expose zipper:

Shes snug in there! Not too snug though, just PERFECT FIT!

I will point out that these pics were taken with my P&S, and the flash SERIOUSLY faded the camera color! The camera is a LOT brighter and the color is darker and richer. You get the picture though.

 

[ColleenG]

Congrats on the new purchase. That's great that you were able to find something that works so well for YOU! The color sounds great.