Newbie

IrishWhite

Hi Guys

Firstly let me introduce myself the name is Robbie and I run a website www.coasters-remembered.com dedicated to shipping and commercial fishing. I have been out and about the coastal towns of Ireland for the past couple of months with my digital still snapping away at trawlers and ships and the results have been mediocre. I recently decided to invest in a better camera and wanted to ask your opinions on a couple of things.

I purchased a Canon 400D with an 18-55mm lens off ebay with a 4gb flash card, case, tripod etc for 450 euro was this too much?

Secondly should I take classes to learn how to use it or just go out and experiment.

What kind of upgrades should I be looking at given the subject matter.

The first picture I took can be found here http://www.coasters-remembered.com/photoplog/images/1/1_Eblana.jpg pretty rubbish I know any immediate tips to improve would be greatly recieved.

Regards Robbie

Borderfox

Nice shot of the Trawler Robbie, welcome to Boards.ie. Price sounds grand for what you bought, just keep taking pictures and post them up and you will improve from that.

IrishWhite

Thanks for the welcome Borderfox

Ricky91t

Welcome also,
Best way to learn is keep shooting when you have a problem ask us boards members..
Start in auto(if you want)and begin to move over to manual experimenting with settings and you'll see different effects
Like more of less DOF
Pictures where all the action is frozen or where only some is.

I got my first DSLR around 2 years ago i started using auto and watched how the camera was setting up the photo's and what effects they produced,Then i moved to manual and used these setting and produced better photos because i had full control of the camera,Also through that time i was reading through boards.ie and photogrpahyireland.net about ISO aperture and shutter speeds,and soon after i knew what they all meant and how they work better for certain thing.

The ship photo is very good nice and sharp and well framed wouldn't do anything to it

CabanSail

Hi Robbie & Welcome.

I cannot see your image as it's blocked here.

Try to avoid the myth that you will get better photographs by buying more expensive equipment. Spending time to learn how to compose images & training your eye to imagine what you camera "sees" will pay dividends. In that process you will also find limitations to the eqipment you have & then be able to make better decisions on what you need for your type of photography.

The Camera/Lens you have is a really good starting point & great for general photography. This forum is generous with it's advice & offers of assistance. There are books you can read & websites with lots of information out there to learn more. If there are courses available close to you (where are you?) they can also be useful. It's fun to learn & mistakes are valuable too.

IrishWhite

Hi Ricky and CabanSail

Thanks for the advice lads, I am in Dublin 15 by the way. I guess you guys are right keep shooting and learn by my mistakes I suppose the advantage you have with DSLR is you can take as many shots as you like and chuck away what you dont want. Anyway this is all new to me and I have to say you all seem like a friendly bunch and expect lots of annoying questions from me. By the way if any of you lads are out and about and come across any nice little harbours or vantage points for shooting let me know. Thanks again.

Regards Robbie

CabanSail

We run a Beginners Photography Course at Dublin Camera Club if you want to do one. There is a thread here if you are interested. The next course starts in January 2009.

IrishWhite

CabanSail wrote: »

We run a Beginners Photography Course at Dublin Camera Club if you want to do one. There is a thread here if you are interested. The next course starts in January 2009.

Thanks for that CabanSail, I would like to take such a course the problem is I work a rotating shift of morning then evenings so I would only be able to attend every two weeks. Something similar on a Saturday would be ideal, but thanks for the info anyway.

sheesh

I have a 400d and it will be fine for what you want to do.

The Picture: nothing wrong with it. it's clear it gives all the details well. I think its good. The light is a bit harsh for a more aesthetically pleasing shot you might try taking it when it is lower in the sky and look out for harsh shadows but on the whole its a good photograph I suppose ideally you would want it dead on but a good informative photograph nevertheless.

IrishWhite

Thanks for that Sheesh here is another I took this one is more pleasing to me. What do you lads think.

PixelTrawler

Try this.

Put the camera mode dial to Av. Set the f number to about f6.3 or f5.6 and retake the shot. Maybe setting the lens to 18mm would let you go to all the way down to f3.5

You could get a better shot by blurrying out the background as much as possible, emphasising the boat.

You can control depth of focus (how much of the shot is in focus) with the f number.

For example with landscapes you want more in focus, so increase the f number... google apeture if you arent familiar and also depth of focus or bokeh

IrishWhite

Thanks for the tips Solyad I will give it a go