New to photography

How are you guys? I'm new to the forums as well as new to photography.

I recently purchased a Canon T1i (500D). I was finally able to take it out today after being busy the past week. I went out to the mounds in hopes of catching the Lufty A380 coming in. I met another spotter there and two other gentlemen who I believe were police officers. Unfortunately, the runways got switched ON us and we were not able to catch a shot.

I did manage to snap of few photos of the other aircraft coming into JFK. Here are the ones I liked the most. I did edit them a bit because the exposure was a little high due to the cloudy weather.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4120/...bc916c14_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/...7268a61e_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5175/...d857de7c_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5011/...c93d463a_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/...ab417fba_b.jpg

The last one is just a random shot that I took in the Costco parking lot.

The photos of the Austrian 767 appear a bit soft to me.

Any criticism and tips are welcome.

Another question. Can you guys point me in the direction of some good resources for people just starting out in photography? I have found a bunch of material online already but would sure love more!

I'm hoping to get out some more after class this week and snap some more photos.

Hello and Welcome! Around here we like to talk to each other using real names and mine is Manny. What's your name?

My first tip for a great photography resource would be dpReview Forums. They are a WEALTH of information and are really very busy and have lots of folks from all around the world. They have very broad coverage from all aspects of photography.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/

Here are two more links

http://photo.net/learn/

http://photographycourse.net/learn-photography

So, as for your images above... they look a bit underexposed to me. As an example of what they should look like in my opinion, here is one of your images with a slight retouching.

http://manny.smugmug.com/photos/1202043719_9puaN-O.jpg

and your original for comparison...

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5011/...c93d463a_b.jpg

Hey Manny. My name is Mat.

Thanks for the links. That second edit looks really nice! The raw files were a bit over exposed and it looks like I may have under exposed them in Lightroom just a tad too much.

Mat, a pleasure for sure. :cool: I say take a look at your histogram. The fat meaty part should be on the middle or right of the histogram with a very thin spike to the right side against the wall of the histogram and maybe touching the ceiling of it ... that would likely be around the right exposure... which is usually subjective when it is close enough... if it is over or under everyone will agree... if it is close, you will get varying opinions, then you know [you] got it right :tongue:

Welcome Mat,

Nothing beats investing in a good beginning book and after getting your feet wet a book a little more advanced. Both from reputable photogs. For my advanced I chose some stuff from Ansel Adams and boy they are worth their weight in gold. Also get some good reading material on what editing software you are going to use. The digital age has required a good working knowledge of this to get the most out of your shots.

Nick, great point... I was getting him some quick satisfaction... but for true in depth learning of the craft, The set of books by Ansel Adams are invaluable. Indeed I have three of them which I've read cover to cover multiple times :-) My favorite is "The Negative: Exposure and Development, 1948" which was reprinted in 1995 with some edits. The way he explains exposure from the point of view of density is, in my believe, the best way to learn basic technical photography.

NO ONE can teach you creativity but you can learn basic concepts that will improve your techniques and take you in the right direction for you to explore your own feelings and expressions.

Yep Manny I have those too, for my first book I think I chose Rick Sammon. He was very easy to follow and really posted some good examples and how things worked. If I can find it I will post the title.

Welcome aboard Matt.....there are some basic books about photography and then there are specific books dedicated to your camera.

Here's a book I would recommend: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Rebel-Di...8951031&sr=1-4 (it's a field guide/users manual in my view). These books are an easy read, and provide pictures as well.

Manny just recently wrote a very informative response regarding exposure. You might want to check out this thread: http://nycaviation.com/forum/threads...ra-Mathematics

Thanks for all the excellent resources guys! I just order the T1i field guide and I'm looking into the other books you guys are mentioning as well.

I thought I should upload this as well. This is what the original photo looked like. Shot at a shutter speed of 1/200 and F10. I couldn't really experiment with a bunch of different settings due to being limited on time.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5058/...0248cee3_b.jpg

Mat too slow a shutter for handheld. I would suggest you just learn to shoot manual while you are beginning. I wish I did. Results are much better though it's more practice. In those conditions you would have needed to be F7 or so and bump your ISO. From there you could use a faster shutter. To have an easier time shoot with good lighting. This will allow you to shoot at F8 and a lower ISO which will let you be 1/640th or 1/800th. Then you can do some damage!

Yeah, I was shooting manual. Like I said before, there was another photographer there who I believe is also member of the forum. I believe he was shooting at F10.
I based my settings around what he was shooting. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to play around with and adjust the settings to suit my camera set up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by v1rotate

Yeah, I was shooting manual. Like I said before, there was another photographer there who I believe is also member of the forum. I believe he was shooting at F10.
I based my settings around what he was shooting. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to play around with and adjust the settings to suit my camera set up.

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Well a beginners book will help. F10 on a cloudy day will be tough. You need more of an opening (aperture). Manual is tough in the beginning but stick with it because down the road you will be thankful. Again try to shoot with good light and start at F8 with a ISO between 100-200 and go from there. Then just experiment and get feedback. With digital the feedback is instant and your learning will be much faster than the film days so get at it.

I know this will run, to some degree, contrary to much of the above advice, but there is no need to shoot any higher than f/9 unless you want to - especially when shooting into the sky. If you're shooting side on's you can easily go down to f/4 or even f/2.8 (what do you need the depth of a higher stop for - especially when mixed with compression from a zoom lens?). Quarter angles can easily do f/4 & f/5.6 and still maintain sharpness across the entire aircraft. The only time I shoot above f/7.1 anymore is if I'm panning or the subject is super large or close and has a lot of depth. Otherwise, you're bumping up your ISO or limiting your shutter speed needlessly.

So I guess a simpler way of putting it - I recommend starting your aperture settings at f/7.1 and lower/faster...especially in low-light / cloudy situations where you need shutter speed!

Moving further up the scale of complexity and the confusion factor :tongue: you will also eventually (hopefully) find that your lenses all have a "Sweet Spot" where a particular aperture or limited range of them give the sharpest most contrasty images. For "most" lenses, the range is between f/5.6 and f/9 with very rare exceptions... we can get into the why if you'd like :cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jerslice

I know this will run, to some degree, contrary to much of the above advice, but there is no need to shoot any higher than f/9 unless you want to - especially when shooting into the sky. If you're shooting side on's you can easily go down to f/4 or even f/2.8 (what do you need the depth of a higher stop for - especially when mixed with compression from a zoom lens?). Quarter angles can easily do f/4 & f/5.6 and still maintain sharpness across the entire aircraft. The only time I shoot above f/7.1 anymore is if I'm panning or the subject is super large or close and has a lot of depth. Otherwise, you're bumping up your ISO or limiting your shutter speed needlessly.

So I guess a simpler way of putting it - I recommend starting your aperture settings at f/7.1 and lower/faster...especially in low-light / cloudy situations where you need shutter speed!

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True I use F7.1 all the time but wouldn't go down to F2.8 unless like you said the light was crap. F2.8 in bright sun would mean a faster shutter and I think the shot tends to look a little grainy with super faster speeds but your right no need to ever go over F8 unless your trying the ultra low shutter speed pan.

The range is there for a reason: WHEN you need it... if you don;t need it, my philosophy is to stick with the sweet spots. On my older D2Xs, the damn thing is super sensitive to high shutter speeds. It just sucks when you raise the shutter above 1/2000th sec. But at 1/500th and below it sings... so I dial it to ISO/Whatever and f/6.3 to f/9 (usually f/8 summer sunny, f/7.1 weak winter sun) for normal shooting.

My D3 can handle higher shutter speeds much better so I don't mind throwing her around more. My other rule is go as low as your lens will allow before going up on the ISO... unless it is full daylight and you want a higher shutter with a tight aperture and then you're forced to use a higher ISO. Higher ISOs in full sunlight are not bad at all... typically there are enough photons in the air to fill in the shadows and keep noise to a minimum.

After aperture is maxed open, I either use a monopod/tripod (which should be used always but sometimes you just can;t or don't feel like it) and then finally use up the ISO... Sensitivity for me is the last to go. Shutter speeds are usually dictated by the subject and what you are trying to accomplish. Aperture and Sensitivity are usually more controllable regardless of the shooting situation than shutter speed is.