Not signed in (Sign In)

General - Welcome/Introductions: New to photography... and Aminus3

Bottom of Page

1 to 5 of 5

  1.  
  1.  
    Hi All,
    My name is Oscar and I am new to photography. I've had my new Canon Rebel XS for a little over a month now and just recently joined the AM3 community and I feel like I have already learned a lot and the more I read the more I like photography. It is a little overwhelming to see all that there is to know about photography but at the same time I am really enjoying it.

    This is the first time I read the forums and the critiques and I love the fact that people give their honest opinions and actually show others how to make their pictures better, I think that is awesome!

    I will definitely be posting lots of questions and pictures, hopefully the latter will get better with practice ;-)

    Oscar.
    •  
      CommentAuthorjason (Admin)
    • CommentTimeJun 4th 2009
     
    Hi Oscar

    Welcome to Aminus3!

    Glad that you are enjoying the forums and critiques and have found them to be of value. I just had a look through some of you images and it appears you are off to a great start. You have a nice eye for composition which is always a good start. Your exposure and colors seem to be spot on. Are you doing much post processing on your images? Do you shoot in auto mode or one of the creative modes (like Av, Tv, M etc)? Looks like you've been dabbling in night photography as well with good results.

    Since you seem to have a decent grasp of the basics, it might be helpful if you to ask some specific questions about what you'd like to improve on at this phase in your learning.

    Looking at your portfolio, this image jumped out at me


    I like the yellow tones in the grass, the rich saturation and contrast and the right side of the image where the misty ocean falls off into the background and sky.

    Keep shooting and posting and let the Am3 community know how we can help you improve !

    cheers,
    jason
  3.  
    Hi Jason,
    Thanks for your comments!
    I am starting to do a little post processing with Photomatix and Photoshop but I'm still learning both so I can't really do much. I shoot mostly in Manual mode because I want to learn how to use it and even though it takes me several tries to get a decent picture I think it helps me understand how the different settings work.

    It is interesting you picked that image. Even though I like the end result, I always thought it was kind of "bad" that the background was so foggy-looking and that you couldn't tell where the ocean ends and the sky begins. Also, I just realized that I could have tilted it a little to the right to straighten it up (see, I'm learning already :D )

    What did you think about the other images? I know that some of them are a little over saturated (those are my first attempts at HDR) but I'm learning that "more" is not always better :-)

    Thanks again!
    Oscar
    •  
      CommentAuthorjason (Admin)
    • CommentTimeJun 5th 2009
     
    Shooting on Manual is a great way to learn - good to hear you are breaking away from auto (and your photos are looking much better as a result).

    One thing I find with a lot of new photographers here on Am3, is their images seem to lack contrast or are over-exposed. This could be a result of shooting in Auto mode as even expensive dSLR's often get tricked.

    It is funny to see how different people prefer different types of images. Often times there is an image that I am reluctant to post on my blog and end up getting a lot of comments that I would not have expected.

    I tend to like saturated warmer images better - again everyone's taste is different! I am not a huge fan of HDR that looks super processed - you stuff still seems fairly subdued compared to a lot of HDR images which I prefer :)

    Some of your other images that I like are
    http://oscarmoncada.aminus3.com/image/2009-05-19.html
    vivid colors and crazy birds - a winning combo !

    http://oscarmoncada.aminus3.com/image/2009-05-11.html
    this is the type of saturation I like - I think it's HDR but it still is within the realm of a realistic exposure

    http://oscarmoncada.aminus3.com/image/2009-05-20.html
    nice composition (rule of thirds) - good mix of vertical elements, nice colors and tranquil image
    • CommentAuthorandrewgould
    • CommentTimeJul 5th 2009 edited
     
    Welcome to am3!!! I really like the colours and the content of that shot of yours that Jason has posted here!

1 to 5 of 5

  1.