New to photography.

[GraphicGr8s]

The manual is a great resource of information

This is the best advice for a starting point. Kelby's Digital Photography series uses both Canon and Nikons and is another good resource. Just not as good as the manual.

[TheGuy]

Hey guys, these aren't tank related but the first actual pictures I have taken in 100% manual mode. Please comment and tell me what should have or could have been done better. Thanks!! Also, these were done without a tripod.

[Kai808]

Originally Posted by TheGuy

Hey guys, these aren't tank related but the first actual pictures I have taken in 100% manual mode. Please comment and tell me what should have or could have been done better. Thanks!! Also, these were done without a tripod.
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Good start on shooting manual! The first picture looks a little over exposed and IMO a little too much water showing. Both of these issues can be fixed in post production. When I started to shoot in manual, my instructor told us to bracket the shots. So we were taking 3 shots of the same subject and shooting +1/-1 exposure inaddition to the correct metered exposure. This is just so we could see the difference between them. Your camera may also have an auto bracketing take a look at the manual and while you're looking at it look for metering modes.

Your second pic is very symmetric. Meaning it's very balanced on the left and right of the subject. I think if you used the rule of thirds and crop, it'll look even better. What you did correct that most newcomers wouldn't do is use the shade. It looks like afternoon to late afternoon in the pictures and that would cause some harsh shadows. Try using your flash to brighten it up a little or edit it after. Also, I see something that I used to do a lot and sometimes still do. Do you see the leaves coming out of the subjects head that look like antenna? Try getting lower or separating the subject from the background to blur it out a liitle more.

The third pic is a great example of the rule of thirds... Actually it's an example of why the rule doesn't always work. I think this is your best shot! Although it's a little under exposed, you have a great subject with very engaging eyes. Great texture in the background and a good contrast of textures between the subject and the background. Once again Great Job on this shot.

The last photo is also a great shot! The only thing I would do is to crop out the road. This shot would make a great aquascape.

I hope I'm not too discouraging on the comments. But believe me, I have hundreds(probably thousands) of photos that needed work when I started. What's really cool is to see the progress I made year after year. Keep it up your off to a good start.

P.S. Hey Do you mind me editing these pics in Lightroom to see what a little post production can do? I'll erase them after I'm done. If not, I understand.

[TheGuy]

Originally Posted by Kai808

Good start on shooting manual! The first picture looks a little over exposed and IMO a little too much water showing. Both of these issues can be fixed in post production. When I started to shoot in manual, my instructor told us to bracket the shots. So we were taking 3 shots of the same subject and shooting +1/-1 exposure inaddition to the correct metered exposure. This is just so we could see the difference between them. Your camera may also have an auto bracketing take a look at the manual and while you're looking at it look for metering modes.

Your second pic is very symmetric. Meaning it's very balanced on the left and right of the subject. I think if you used the rule of thirds and crop, it'll look even better. What you did correct that most newcomers wouldn't do is use the shade. It looks like afternoon to late afternoon in the pictures and that would cause some harsh shadows. Try using your flash to brighten it up a little or edit it after. Also, I see something that I used to do a lot and sometimes still do. Do you see the leaves coming out of the subjects head that look like antenna? Try getting lower or separating the subject from the background to blur it out a liitle more.

The third pic is a great example of the rule of thirds... Actually it's an example of why the rule doesn't always work. I think this is your best shot! Although it's a little under exposed, you have a great subject with very engaging eyes. Great texture in the background and a good contrast of textures between the subject and the background. Once again Great Job on this shot.

The last photo is also a great shot! The only thing I would do is to crop out the road. This shot would make a great aquascape.

I hope I'm not too discouraging on the comments. But believe me, I have hundreds(probably thousands) of photos that needed work when I started. What's really cool is to see the progress I made year after year. Keep it up your off to a good start.

P.S. Hey Do you mind me editing these pics in Lightroom to see what a little post production can do? I'll erase them after I'm done. If not, I understand.

Thanks man, deff not too discouraging. This is the first time I actually did any shots after learning what buttons controlled what and what they did. Please do edit them in lightroom! I have no experience to do so myself... yet lol so you can have at it.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

[Kai808]

I hope they look alright. My monitor might be calibrated a little differently. Basically, I adjusted some exposures, contrast, cropped, and curves. I hope you like them.

[TheGuy]

Look good to me

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

[Nubster]

Get a post processing program if you don't have one already, something with RAW support, and start shooting RAW. It gives you a lot more to work with when post processing your shots.

[TheGuy]

Well just regular ole iphoto supports it, its not the best but it shouldn't be hard to find one. Probably aperture does also and its good. I have yet found how to put camera into raw.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

[Nubster]

You change it under the image quality menu. You maybe able to do it on the camera as well rather than menu diving. I don't know about your particular camera.

[houseofcards]

On the 60D there's a Quick Control button to the right of the LCD, just click that and it will bring up all the vital control options on the LCD. The image quality is the lower right corner. You'll probably see an L,M or S for Large, Med, Small jpeg. You can click on that with the round wheel and than select the option you want. As other's have mentioned, it's best to read the manual or another book chapter by chapter and you'll really learn the camera.