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First C700 Photos! Suggestion/Advise Please...

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Irene Chang

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Hi all,

I've just bought my digicam (C700) about a month ago, and haven't had many chances to play around with it yet. I was only a straight point-and-shooter before, but I thought that a digicam would be a great tool to learn photography.

So.. don't expect a lot from my first pics, they are nowhere near Daniella's pics quality.. :-)

Below is the link to the pics taken from my first outing with the camera ( I just got around to post them to pbase a couple of days ago):
http://www.pbase.com/irene_chang/pond__geese

It was quite a cloudy day, not really a perfect day to take pics, but well.. I gotta start somewhere, right.. :-)

I would like to take as many input as possible.. how could I improve my picture-taking? Composition? Setting? Editing? Anything else?

Thanksss... :-)

Irene
 
Your photos look very good. You do have an eye for photography. The one duck swimming is good but the composition on something like that is you want to lead and give more space in front of the duck, not behind him. As far as editing is concern, we are all learning that. For now I would say play with the unsharpen mask to make photos sharper, contrast and brightness to make photos more punchy if that is your taste. Play with color saturation if you like. All these things are a matter of taste. Composition is something you learn over time. But basically when you look at a painting or a photograph, your eye should stay within the frame and flow around the picture without the eye getting tried. There are a lot of rules on composition, and all of them can be broken and a picture still works. It is a never ending learning process and I think this is why we all love it. Enjoy the camera and have fun. You're off to a great start.
Irene Chang said:
Hi all,

I've just bought my digicam (C700) about a month ago, and haven't
had many chances to play around with it yet. I was only a straight
point-and-shooter before, but I thought that a digicam would be a
great tool to learn photography.
So.. don't expect a lot from my first pics, they are nowhere near
Daniella's pics quality.. :-)

Below is the link to the pics taken from my first outing with the
camera ( I just got around to post them to pbase a couple of days
ago):
http://www.pbase.com/irene_chang/pond__geese

It was quite a cloudy day, not really a perfect day to take pics,
but well.. I gotta start somewhere, right.. :-)
I would like to take as many input as possible.. how could I
improve my picture-taking? Composition? Setting? Editing? Anything
else?

Thanksss... :-)

Irene
Click to expand...
 
Gene,

thanks for taking the time to look at the pics and wrote the tips.

I have an eye for photography?? Wow.. that's a greatest compliment that I could hope for.. Will surely spur my interest in photography more and more.. :-)

And thanks for all the tips. I especially like the particular tip, that, when you look at a painting or a pic, your eye should stay.. without the eye getting tired. I never thought of it that way! That is really an eye opener.. :-)

Many thanks.

-- Irene
Gene Miller said:
Irene Chang said:
Hi all,

I've just bought my digicam (C700) about a month ago, and haven't
had many chances to play around with it yet. I was only a straight
point-and-shooter before, but I thought that a digicam would be a
great tool to learn photography.
So.. don't expect a lot from my first pics, they are nowhere near
Daniella's pics quality.. :-)

Below is the link to the pics taken from my first outing with the
camera ( I just got around to post them to pbase a couple of days
ago):
http://www.pbase.com/irene_chang/pond__geese

It was quite a cloudy day, not really a perfect day to take pics,
but well.. I gotta start somewhere, right.. :-)
I would like to take as many input as possible.. how could I
improve my picture-taking? Composition? Setting? Editing? Anything
else?

Thanksss... :-)

Irene
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
hello Irene,

Your photos are pretty good. I tend to disagree about the geese photo being to much on the left. Most people will prefer to have more room in front of the geese and it kind of look a bit better some time..but some time you also want to keep the motion trail in the water. I had the same comment as you when i took this photo:

http://www.pbase.com/image/1266058

people said that i should have left more space in front of the duck..but i was actually not even focusing on the duck...but on the motion trail in the water. The duck was swimming very fast and i liked the trace that he left in the water. I think you wanted to show the same effect in your photo from what i can understand?

Looks like the water in your photo is very muddy? yellow, as i can see that the geese is very white so this is not a white balance problem but simply the water is of this color.

The red bird is totally out of focus and its almost impossible to focus on a small bird like that when there is lots of branches in front like you had in this photo. My suggestion in this case, if the bird stay there long enough of course, is to half press the shutter button to prefocus..then while still holding the shutter button half way, press and HOLD the OK button, this will bring you in manual focus with the prefocus already set...all you have to do is fine tune the focus so not the branches but the bird will be in focus.

To return back to auto focus, simply press and hold the OK button and then move the selection to AF instead of MF with the left button next to the OK button.

The Peaceful Surrounding is nice, although it look more to me like something not so peacefull is coming your way :)
Irene Chang said:
Hi all,

I've just bought my digicam (C700) about a month ago, and haven't
had many chances to play around with it yet. I was only a straight
point-and-shooter before, but I thought that a digicam would be a
great tool to learn photography.
So.. don't expect a lot from my first pics, they are nowhere near
Daniella's pics quality.. :-)

Below is the link to the pics taken from my first outing with the
camera ( I just got around to post them to pbase a couple of days
ago):
http://www.pbase.com/irene_chang/pond__geese

It was quite a cloudy day, not really a perfect day to take pics,
but well.. I gotta start somewhere, right.. :-)
I would like to take as many input as possible.. how could I
improve my picture-taking? Composition? Setting? Editing? Anything
else?

Thanksss... :-)

Irene
Click to expand...
--Daniella http://www.pbase.com/zylenC7OO discussion group: http://www.homepet.com/cgi-bin/c700/UltraBoard.cgi
 
No suggestions, no advice...just praise of the pics I like the best. I'm not a pro but I know what my eyes like. Someday maybe I will learn to have a professional eye...

I love the "bathing geese", the "grasses on a cloudy day", and swimming in style the best.

C700's are great aren't they?--Stormi I'm not great, but I'm havin' a good time!C-700 UltraZoom http://community.webshots.com/user/stormi007
 
Hello Irene,

I like your photos, they have a very pleasant feel to them. It makes me want to see and be in that place you photographed and I think that's the ultimate goal of this kind of photography, yes?

One general suggestion, though - try to zoom in closer on your subject, like the red bird, for example. That usually improves the composition.

Please post more pictures.

Bill
 
Hi Daniela,

thanks for the constructive comments.

Yes, the pond is very muddy, but it does have some nice geese. About the geese photo, I think both views have their own merit. Either showing the goose/duck coming your way, or like you said, exposing the trace left behind. I was trying to show how she swims with her grace and elegance, so peacefully... :-) That's why I thought, in that case, the trace/trails should take part of the pic as well, to illustrate the smoothness.

I love your goose pic, he certainly is a lot colorful than mine.. :-)

About the red bird, yeah.. I agree, no focus there.. hahaha... I consider myself lucky to even landed that pic though, because the next second after I pressed the shutter, he's already gone. I just saw him in an instant, leaping here and there, so, I thought, just aimed and shoot. It was taken in a pretty long zoom, I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't come out blurry. I didn't even realize that the bird has this black accent around his face.. :-)

The peaceful surrounding, yeah, that's a nice neighborhood, and I was lucky it didn't rain until after I got home... :-)

-- Irene
Daniella said:
Your photos are pretty good. I tend to disagree about the geese
photo being to much on the left. Most people will prefer to have
more room in front of the geese and it kind of look a bit better
some time..but some time you also want to keep the motion trail in
the water. I had the same comment as you when i took this photo:

http://www.pbase.com/image/1266058

people said that i should have left more space in front of the
duck..but i was actually not even focusing on the duck...but on the
motion trail in the water. The duck was swimming very fast and i
liked the trace that he left in the water. I think you wanted to
show the same effect in your photo from what i can understand?

Looks like the water in your photo is very muddy? yellow, as i can
see that the geese is very white so this is not a white balance
problem but simply the water is of this color.

The red bird is totally out of focus and its almost impossible to
focus on a small bird like that when there is lots of branches in
front like you had in this photo. My suggestion in this case, if
the bird stay there long enough of course, is to half press the
shutter button to prefocus..then while still holding the shutter
button half way, press and HOLD the OK button, this will bring you
in manual focus with the prefocus already set...all you have to do
is fine tune the focus so not the branches but the bird will be in
focus.

To return back to auto focus, simply press and hold the OK button
and then move the selection to AF instead of MF with the left
button next to the OK button.

The Peaceful Surrounding is nice, although it look more to me like
something not so peacefull is coming your way :)
Irene Chang said:
Hi all,

I've just bought my digicam (C700) about a month ago, and haven't
had many chances to play around with it yet. I was only a straight
point-and-shooter before, but I thought that a digicam would be a
great tool to learn photography.
So.. don't expect a lot from my first pics, they are nowhere near
Daniella's pics quality.. :-)

Below is the link to the pics taken from my first outing with the
camera ( I just got around to post them to pbase a couple of days
ago):
http://www.pbase.com/irene_chang/pond__geese

It was quite a cloudy day, not really a perfect day to take pics,
but well.. I gotta start somewhere, right.. :-)
I would like to take as many input as possible.. how could I
improve my picture-taking? Composition? Setting? Editing? Anything
else?

Thanksss... :-)

Irene
Click to expand...
--
Daniella
http://www.pbase.com/zylen
C7OO discussion group:
http://www.homepet.com/cgi-bin/c700/UltraBoard.cgi
Click to expand...
 
Yes, they are great.. :-)

I love mine, and I agree with your motto.. I'm not great, but I'm having a good time.. :-)
Stormi said:
No suggestions, no advice...just praise of the pics I like the
best. I'm not a pro but I know what my eyes like. Someday maybe I
will learn to have a professional eye...

I love the "bathing geese", the "grasses on a cloudy day", and
swimming in style the best.

C700's are great aren't they?
--
Stormi I'm not great, but I'm havin' a good time!
C-700 UltraZoom

http://community.webshots.com/user/stormi007
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Bill.

This is the pond in front of the public library near my place, I love the surrounding, I find it to be very peaceful. I've been to the library a few times, just to read a book, and take a look at the pond and the surrounding from the big window glass.. And that's really the essence that I was trying to convey through the pics. It's good to know that message came across.. :-)

The bird, yeah, as I said in my reply to Daniella, I could have done better on that pic, although, since it's taken in an instant moment, I'm just glad that I did make it. I'd try to remember the advise from you and Daniella the next time then.

Many thanks.

-- Irene
Bill Yuey said:
Hello Irene,

I like your photos, they have a very pleasant feel to them. It
makes me want to see and be in that place you photographed and I
think that's the ultimate goal of this kind of photography, yes?

One general suggestion, though - try to zoom in closer on your
subject, like the red bird, for example. That usually improves the
composition.

Please post more pictures.

Bill
Click to expand...
 
Forgot to mention this to you and all other C-700 enthusiasts - I like to invite new C-700 users to our Yahoo C-700 users group. We're growing by leaps and bounds and it's a very friendly, outgoing group. You can find us here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/C700

There is also Daniella's group which you can find at the bottom of her signature.

Bill
 
Irene Chang said:
Yes, the pond is very muddy, but it does have some nice geese.
About the geese photo, I think both views have their own merit.
Either showing the goose/duck coming your way, or like you said,
exposing the trace left behind. I was trying to show how she swims
with her grace and elegance, so peacefully... :-) That's why I
thought, in that case, the trace/trails should take part of the pic
as well, to illustrate the smoothness.
Click to expand...
Yes i think i also prefer your photo as it is..not cutting anything in back.
Irene Chang said:
I love your goose pic, he certainly is a lot colorful than mine.. :-)
Click to expand...
Mine had the environement advantage of being in a very clean and shallow pool, they just cleaned the pool completely and put fresh water in it..so the later afternoon sun was making nice caustic effect because of the clear water was reflecting the sun ray all the way to the bottom...just like in a normal pool.
Irene Chang said:
About the red bird, yeah.. I agree, no focus there.. hahaha... I
consider myself lucky to even landed that pic though, because the
next second after I pressed the shutter, he's already gone. I just
saw him in an instant, leaping here and there, so, I thought, just
aimed and shoot. It was taken in a pretty long zoom, I was
pleasantly surprised that it didn't come out blurry. I didn't even
realize that the bird has this black accent around his face.. :-)
Click to expand...
yes that is also the problem i had, birds usually don,t spend much time at the same place! I practice from time to time the technique of doing this prefocus combined with pressing the OK button to get into manual focus quickly and doing fine tuning quickly, just in case this will happen agian. I had my share of strugling with this :)

you should try it just to see how it works, its interesting feature.
Irene Chang said:
The peaceful surrounding, yeah, that's a nice neighborhood, and I
was lucky it didn't rain until after I got home... :-)

-- Irene
Daniella said:
Your photos are pretty good. I tend to disagree about the geese
photo being to much on the left. Most people will prefer to have
more room in front of the geese and it kind of look a bit better
some time..but some time you also want to keep the motion trail in
the water. I had the same comment as you when i took this photo:

http://www.pbase.com/image/1266058

people said that i should have left more space in front of the
duck..but i was actually not even focusing on the duck...but on the
motion trail in the water. The duck was swimming very fast and i
liked the trace that he left in the water. I think you wanted to
show the same effect in your photo from what i can understand?

Looks like the water in your photo is very muddy? yellow, as i can
see that the geese is very white so this is not a white balance
problem but simply the water is of this color.

The red bird is totally out of focus and its almost impossible to
focus on a small bird like that when there is lots of branches in
front like you had in this photo. My suggestion in this case, if
the bird stay there long enough of course, is to half press the
shutter button to prefocus..then while still holding the shutter
button half way, press and HOLD the OK button, this will bring you
in manual focus with the prefocus already set...all you have to do
is fine tune the focus so not the branches but the bird will be in
focus.

To return back to auto focus, simply press and hold the OK button
and then move the selection to AF instead of MF with the left
button next to the OK button.

The Peaceful Surrounding is nice, although it look more to me like
something not so peacefull is coming your way :)
Irene Chang said:
Hi all,

I've just bought my digicam (C700) about a month ago, and haven't
had many chances to play around with it yet. I was only a straight
point-and-shooter before, but I thought that a digicam would be a
great tool to learn photography.
So.. don't expect a lot from my first pics, they are nowhere near
Daniella's pics quality.. :-)

Below is the link to the pics taken from my first outing with the
camera ( I just got around to post them to pbase a couple of days
ago):
http://www.pbase.com/irene_chang/pond__geese

It was quite a cloudy day, not really a perfect day to take pics,
but well.. I gotta start somewhere, right.. :-)
I would like to take as many input as possible.. how could I
improve my picture-taking? Composition? Setting? Editing? Anything
else?

Thanksss... :-)

Irene
Click to expand...
--
Daniella
http://www.pbase.com/zylen
C7OO discussion group:
http://www.homepet.com/cgi-bin/c700/UltraBoard.cgi
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--Daniella http://www.pbase.com/zylenC7OO discussion group: http://www.homepet.com/cgi-bin/c700/UltraBoard.cgi
 
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