Photography School

[Captain Fabio]

Sorry I have been a little inactive in here, I got my camera stolen so, my photography has been at a zero and anything to do with it has just made me rage!
But that shouldn't impact on you lovely students, so sorry for the delay.

Thank you Toujours for getting the ball rolling.
First picture
It is a very nice picture. The flower stands out nicely in the picture and the colouring is nice. The things to improve on, I would say, is your focusing and lighting. You might say, "without them, I don't have a picture, so my picture is rubbish?!" I don't mean that. Focusing and the correct lighting is a very tough thing to get right all of the time; even I forget to put the correct setting on every so often.
With your focusing, you have a good attempt at DoF (Depth of Field), but the very top of the flower is slightly blurred. It is only very small, but it is highlighted by the overpowering glow from the sun. You should look to have lighting like the bottom half of the flower. For me, that is spot on; captures the colour beautifully as well as any additional things, in this case, the water droplets.
Take some time to just check your focusing, it takes time to get the correct focus, so don't feel angry if you can't get it the first, second, third or whatever time. It took me a while to get them all right to the point I was happy with.

Second Picture
Personally, I think it is too fuzzy. I think maybe the movement of the Pony caused the focusing to change for the worse. The best thing to do when you have moving targets, is to increase the shutter speed, increase the ISO and if it is in dark places, include a flash. You might want to play around with some sports settings, meaning, just set the shutter and ISO to high and take some test pictures of moving animals, people, cars and so on.​

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[vaporeon7]

This is a picture I took on holiday a few weeks ago. One of the few minutes when there wasn't a boat flying past.

Spoiler:

 

[Brane]

Username: brane
Camera Type: I use a Kodak compact digital camera, but only rarely because I borrow Camera's from my High school. Over there I usually grab a Nikon Coolpix (I think) DSLR and a Fujifilm compact digital camera.
Experience (If any): I've been taking Photographs all my life, though my two years of Photography class have really made me smarter.
What you would like to learn: I just want to touch-up my skills, there is not much I don't know about using a camera, more just in what situations to use certain settings and how to use them.

Some of my work is in my Photography thread, which I will be posting up right after this :P.

 

[Captain Fabio]

Sorry for being so inactive over the past few weeks my students, I have been very busy with University. However, the end is coming soon, so I will be able to set some lovely tasks for you all.

@brane. Welcome to the school. I am looking at your photography thread now and will post my thoughts in there!

@vaporeon7. The picture is good. The framing, however, is a little strange, as well as a tiny bit of the focusing is off. The leafs on the left hand side of the screen are in and out of focus. The camera is getting confused with the DoF (Depth of Field). One thing I would suggest is experimenting with the focusing. You could do a few things with that picture, for example, having the branches completely out of focus and focusing only the background. Would add a funky feel to it I think. The best thing to do is just to play around and see, but one way or the other, you MUST alway nail the focusing correctly.


As for the tasks/classes that will be coming up, next week is my target, one of the first lessons will be focusing. You might think it is a little basic, but trust me, it can't hurt to go over it. I might include some DoF as well.​

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[Silver]

Hmm, I'd like critique on this if people don't mind:

Spoiler:

My main issue with it is the sky, it was an overcast and cloudy day, but that still shouldn't have given as white a sky as it did I think. I seem to have this problem a lot with my architecture photos. =/

 

[Brane]

I don't know if that focus/DoF thing is actually a task, but here you go anyways.

Spoiler:

 

[Captain Fabio]

@Silver - Your focusing seems to be fine but your level framing and white balance are incorrect. As you most likely noticed, the picture framing is wonky. Although, he could be the angle that you were standing at, but that could be one thing to look at, your positioning when you take the picture. The second is the white balance, hence the white sky. If it was an overcast day, then nothing much can be done, but you can try and get definition from the clouds by changing your white balance to set as 'clouds'. Try that.

brane - First picture - Yeh, your DoF is a good attempt, but the I think your focus field is a little too shallow. If you had the focus on the cats head, then it would stand out more having the background out of focus, but good idea!

Second picture - Nice idea, but the light is wayyy too overpowering. I would have either changed your ISO (lower), your shutter speed (faster) or if you used a flash gun or flash, not used it.


ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS
I am now setting you your first lesson.

Todays lesson is going back to basics, focusing. I will want you to focus on different objects in your house or outside. Things that I would like you to see is:

A flower with everything in focus (No depth of field, just concentrate on the focusing)
Extra: A flower WITH depth of field. (Much like THIS.

An object of your choice with everything in focus (can be a glass, a bottle or whatever)
Extra: An object of your choice with depth of Field (Much like the previous)

Those are the basics that I want to see. Remember, if you hav any questions, feel free to ask and if you have any problems, feel free to VM/PM me! :3

I know this might be basic, but we all have to start somewhere.​

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[Careful With That Axe Pichu!]

Hi, I would like to join!

Username: Careful With That Axe, Pichu!
Camera Type: Nikon D3100 (18-55 VR & 55-200 VR Lens)
Experience (If any): I have film experience with lighting and blocking, but my photography is still raw.
What you would like to learn: To be awesome? Anything!

 

[Captain Fabio]

Welcome to the classroom!
Can't wait to see your homework! :P​

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[Oryx]

Sooo, almost a month later, here are some pictures. Fabio knows my issues with plant life in the ghetto so this was the only plant-related one I got. xD

Spoiler:

But I did both of the second part :3

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

The last one showed me how much trouble I have with lighting that I don't know how to fix. It looks great on the camera display until I actually take the picture, then it looks different (usually darker) when I actually take the picture, no matter what I do with flash or without.

 

[Captain Fabio]

Better late than never! :x

First Picture
Well, you do have the depth of field here which is good. So you passed that. The picture as a whole could do with a 'focal point'. What I mean by this is something that the picture concentrates on. I know you have the first front of the leafs are in focus, but why not try focusing on the edge of the plant and getting depth of field on that!

Second Picture
First off, awwwwwwww!
But like you said in the second, lighting is an issue here. I don't know the lighting control on the Samsung so I can't help you too much! :/
I will look into it.

Third Picture
You see, you say you had problems with the lighting, but I rather like it in this picture. The only thing I could really say is the framing. This is pure nit picking, but at the bottom, the curve shadow is off slightly; the right bigger than the left, due to the card not being center. But that is very fine picking.

All in all, not bad! I say C+ for your homework!​

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[Brane]

I'll be getting my Canon 550d in a few days, so I'll finally be able to take some Photographs!

It's been a while 0.0

 

[Captain Fabio]

Oh nice brane.
What made you choose the Canon 550d?​

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[Careful With That Axe Pichu!]

I took some photos for my homework on my way across school today. I hope they satisfy the requirements!

Shallow depth of field / flower

Spoiler:

Larger depth of field / SMB figurine

Spoiler:

I can still percieve DOF in this wider photo of the figurine, even though I tried to get everything in focus. Any tips on that? What did I do wrong? D:

Shallow depth of field / SMB figurine

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

I love how Yoshi and Peach both are in focus when they're on the edges, while Luigi is just a tad out, between them. XD

Spoiler:

So yeah, that's about it! *leaves an apple on Captain Fabio's table*

 

[Captain Fabio]

Good effort on getting the photos in quickly!

First Picture
Nice depth of field!
Now, to make the flower stand out, you need to make it seem defined in the picture. To do this, you need to have as much as the flower in focus as much as possible. Are you using AF (Auto Focus) there? I know you have a DSLR so, I would say, if you are using AF, switch to MF (Manual Focus). This way you will be able to tweak the focusing because the AF can get confused in this situation since you are trying to focus on two items that have different depths. Take your time, it isn't a race, I have stood over something for a good minute before I am happy with the focusing when I was starting out.

Second Picture
Nice wide focus. I would say the only thing you have wrong here is the artificial lighting coming from behind you, since it is most evident on Yoshi's nose. ><
Do you have a flash gun? You could experiment with that and try get the light bouncing from the ceiling, then it won't be as harsh and you won't get those light glares on the shiny parts of the figures.

Third Picture
Again, lighting is your problem here, but not just the glare, I think the picture is too dark, personally. However, your DoF is very nice. This is a nice blur to have in pictures! Also, if I was picking, I would try and have the whole of Yoshi's head in focus, instead of the nose. This might have only happened because of the AF...

Fourth Picture
It seems like the focus is on the hand of Mario, because everything in line with it is in focus and Luigi is out of focus, but he is infront. The lighting is better here, slower shutter speed?

Fifth Picture
Like I said before in the Third Picture, try getting the whole of Yoshi's head in shot, since that will add a better focal point than just its nose! :3

All in all, well done. Things to take away? If you are using AF, try and switch to MF, more control and you will like the pictures better. If you don't have a flash gun, fair enough, not much can be done, but just look out for how that artificial lighting is hitting your subject.
But your depth of field is lovely!

Mark? B.

Keep it up!​

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[Brane]

Oh nice brane.
What made you choose the Canon 550d?​

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Mainly the 18mp, which is hard to turn back on.
But atm, I'm tossing up between getting the Canon 550d with a 55mm lens or something close, or the Nikon D5100 with a 55mm lens, or I could grab the Pentax K-R which I hear is really awesome despite it's small price tag and 12.4mp, which would leave me with enough money to get 1 50 or 55mm lens and also a 250 or 350mm but also a bag, sd card and possibly some filters and a monopod :D

But yea xD

 

[Captain Fabio]

Mainly the 18mp, which is hard to turn back on.
But atm, I'm tossing up between getting the Canon 550d with a 55mm lens or something close, or the Nikon D5100 with a 55mm lens, or I could grab the Pentax K-R which I hear is really awesome despite it's small price tag and 12.4mp, which would leave me with enough money to get 1 50 or 55mm lens and also a 250 or 350mm but also a bag, sd card and possibly some filters and a monopod :D

But yea xD

Fair enough!
One thing I will say is, make sure you try any camera that you have in mind. So try the Canon and Nikon in the shop and see how they feel; sometimes you just know which one is best.​

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[Silver]

Fair enough!
One thing I will say is, make sure you try any camera that you have in mind. So try the Canon and Nikon in the shop and see how they feel; sometimes you just know which one is best.​

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I'll just add to this (personally I'm a Canon fan), but go to a shop and try out both models and see which one feels better for you to use. The stats are almost identical but body (shape) can feel way different ergonomically. That said, I love how my 10D feels. The body just fits into your hand perfectly.

In other news, looking to buy a new lens, just looking for personal advice etc. I want a prime so I'm looking at the 50mm f/1.8 because it's such a great price, but I'm worried that since I have a crop sensor the FoV on it might be a little to 'shallow' for lack of better term for say general walk around photography. Thoughts?

 

[Brane]

Finally got my 550D and am extremely happy with it :D (Got the 18-135mm lens with it).

So I just had a little play with it, but factory battery** is only minorly charged so I didn't want to play around with shutter speed and ISO too much cause it might die on my midway. But here are some nifty little black and whites I came up with.

First one: One of my favourites ;D I didn't get around to fixing it up on my computer though (cause I most likely would have darkened the mirror a tad).

Second one: A bit too soft in my opinion.

And Silver, just go with the Canon 135mm f/2 L cause it's so leet xD

 

[Captain Fabio]

Sorry for the late reply, seems like I am the only teacher now! XD
Brane, I like the second picture, it is just well executed in my opinion.
Silver, I will get back to you on that one when I find that VM you sent me! XD

There will be a new task coming up guys, however, only if you are all interested. Can you please let me know if you would like the school to carry on, since the activity has been down a lot. Just post here or VM me.​

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