nitex- nice picts.. yah, wat he heck is that thing? good question. :D lol at green crab posing naked. :icon17:


so i took snaps of my piano keybed yesterday only to find quite obvious dust on the keys. i didnt even see it while taking the snaps. i need to dust it off and re-take. :icon14: doh...

do you find that's better than trying to frame right from the get go? i've usually been taking my shots using rule of thirds and putting the object off-center. i know when i was still point and shooting i'd just shoot object central but since i got the d5100 i've been much more adamant about framing before taking the shot.

also nitex, what settings did you use for the fish, and was it moving at any decent pace? i tried taking a photo of a fish at my grandparent's place, the damn thing wouldn't sit still, so i had to go for a really fast shutter speed, and use exposure compensation to get the light in

^

I generally shoot it how I want it, but leave myself enough room to play with the crop if I need to. Also if you crop something to tight, and then want it in an 8x10, you're out of luck.

This is really how I would go about doing it. If you can get the composition right on the fly then perfect. If you have to do a little cropping that's ok too. But posting pictures on the internet and printing are TOTALLY different as far as image quality goes.

Always frame for the shot you want, because post processing can't solve everything. The rule of thirds is a good method, but I usually take multiple compositions of the same shot. This is what narrows the gap between the pro's and amatures. Back in the day, most of us were limited since we couldn't go through rolls of film like the pro's. With memory cards, you can shoot away without needing a huge payroll. This is something most people can't grasp right away. Your odds of getting the shot greatly improve if you take A LOT of pictures, not just a few. It's gets tiring and it feels like you shouldn't have to, but this is how the pro's get "the shot."

For most moving shots like that fish shot, you need a lot of light or a larger aperture. Use a diffused speedlight, strobe or even a flashlight and you can "freeze" the action with a faster shutter speed. Raising the ISO should be a last resort since it will start to get noisy at ISO 800 and higher.

I totally agree. Ill take a ton of shots of the same subject with different compositions and from different angles. Its amazing how many shots come out terrible. Im no pro so its very nice to be in the digital age where I can shoot away. Im always experimenting.

I used a wrong word there, I should have said if you frame something to tight, then you are out of luck if you want to print an 8x10. It use to happen to me a good bit when I first started taking pictures, I would frame something up in the viewfinder exactly how I wanted it, not thinking that if someone wanted an 8x10 of it... it would have to be cropped in on each side.

i take a ton of shots because i typically get a few that are blurred b/c i'm tensing up when i press the shutter button.

i know, i know, for a really sharp pic i should use a tripod, but when i'm vacationing, i'm not lugging that thing around with me!

just turn him into sushi and then take the shot. :tup: i thought you were into taking shots of food?


and i try to frame my shot with 3rds in mind but im not there yet. no cropping for me.

Aslong as you are using a reasonable shutter, there is no need for a tripod. Its only when you get into slower shutter speeds that you should start to worry about that.

i am into taking shots of food, but when i was on vacation i took a lot of active shots as well.

SPEAKING OF WHICH - anybody have suggestions on how to take really good food photos?

parker - my shutter speeds, in hindsight, were typically pretty slow as i took a lot of lowlight. during the day, yeah, no problem, but closer to twilight...yeesh.

Do you ever bump your iso up?

Something I was told once was its better to have a grainy pictures than a blurry pictures.

I used my 50mm in close up setting (no manual settings here). He was nice enough to slow down. He was thinking... hey guy... are you going to feed me?

yes, i bumped up my iso, especially when i tried to take pictures out of a moving car at night...that was ridiculous.

i agree, i'd rather grainy than blurry, at least i can run some noise reduction filters!

my daily visuals...
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...egianjewel.jpg
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...n/grafitti.jpg