Wen I fist saw C&C on these forums I initially thought it was about Command & Conquer (the game) but I assume it's comment & criticism

Anyways, I decided to take my K100D Super with me on my "daily" cycling trip to make some nature shots along the way.

These are my first shots ever with a dSLR or SLR camera (not counting the playing shots I made yesterday and tomorrow to test the diffrent settings of the camera and learning howto handle it).

anyways, any C&C is very welcome since I'm willing to learn to improve my shots in the future.

All photo's were made with the K100D Super in Manual mode with the 14-55mm Kit lens and a Sigma multi-coated UV-Filter and Kenko Circular Polarizing Filter (most shots in ISO 400 and some in ISO 200) I forgot to use the sun cap for most images (don't even really know when it's needed so if anyone can tell my I would appreciate he info)

here they are :

First photo I made (actually the 2nd since the first was underexposed since I forgot that I needed to adjust the shutter speed)


I wanted to capture the contrast between nature and industry ( the structure in the horizon is a heavy factory) unfortunately either the field is to dark or the factory is to bright).


don't really have comment for this photo


Picture of the "highway" taken from a bridge, I wanted to see how well the Polarizer would enhance the sky (I didn't make a photo without to compare though).


Another one but with some dark spots on the top left and right (some more images have this, is this due to the angle of the sun when making the picture or caused by not using the sun cap ??)


I personally like this view very much, I made a few photo's with different aperture settings, the only thing I don't like is that I somehow included the "barbwire" in the shot when I didn't want to include it (it's not really barbwire but I don't know the exact English word for it).

I like the 2nd one better since it lacks the black spots on the corners and it's a bit darker (looks more natural IMHO but I can always post-process the 1st image to make it a bit darker)

Focal Length: 18.0mm (35mm equivalent: 27mm)
Exposure Time: 0.0013 s (1/750)
Aperture: f/4.0
ISO equiv: 400


and

Focal Length: 18.0mm (35mm equivalent: 27mm)

Exposure Time: 0.033 s (1/30)

Aperture: f/22.0

ISO equiv: 400




a crusefix I found on my route


A swan and some ducks, I was happy to see these guys since when I passed there last Saturday they were sitting in the middle of the road and I was a bit disappointed that I didn't have my camera yet to make some photo's.


a bit overexposed ? (swan) the "problem" was that the clouds were blocking the sun and then suddenly the sun came from behind the clouds and it was a lot brighter.


an old WW II bunker (we have loads of them at our canals, they are all filled with concrete to prevent children from entering them and having an accident).


another attempt to capture nature vs industry. You'll also see another bunker at the left bank of the canal).


Something you will see here a lot (but less then when I was young) when you ride around our streets (this one has a bench and table to the right for cyclists to rest). It's what we call a kappel (chapel) and mostly has a statue of mother Mary. This one is to remember WW I (it has 1914-1918 on the plaque)


Joe's bridge (better known by us locals as Bridge 9, I was told it was bombarded/detonated during WW II to prevent the Germans/allies from crossing it, but another source claims that bridge 10 was destroyed and never rebuild which makes sense since the next 2 bridges are brigde 11 and 12 so there is no bridge 10)


a closer shot or Joe's Bridge (I also added a white border and some text).


Well that's it (a "small" selection of the 89 photo's I made, but many were doubles so I guess that doesn't really count, I tried to post the ones that I think were the best ones and I left out some generic nature shots).

I hope you had the stamina to read/view this entire thread and the time to post some C&C on the photo's.

[slip]

all your shots are a fine try for a begginner. I am not a pro but can give you a few tips.
Ist tip: shoot at a different time of day. choose morning before the sun gets to bright or in the evening when the sun is softer. proper lighting is very important in a shot. I am going to guess that these shots were taken near mid day?
early morning and evening will give your landscapes and nice warm glow.
tip 2: find the center of interest for a photo. I don't mean put the subject in the middle, I mean pick something to shoot and try to include only things in the photo that make the main subject more interesting.
for example shot 3 there is to many things competing for your eye, and not one of them is the center of attention.
tip 3: don't be afraid to get up close and crop in on an interesting subject.
the duck photo works as it lets your eyes flow from one side of the frame to the other although better lighting would have helped this shot.

hopefully others with more experence can add some tips as well.


cheers

randy

[darkstorm82]

Another one but with some dark spots on the top left and right (some more images have this, is this due to the angle of the sun when making the picture or caused by not using the sun cap ??)

Those dark spot on corners is vignetting, some lens will vignette at wide focal lenght, like the 18-55mm kit lens when used at 18-20mm, it is easy to fix it in most graphic softwares..

The lens hood must be used when the sun is on your sides to limit flare/glare that would kill contrast in your image... Its better to keep it on all the time when possible, as it will also protect the lens front element if the camera falls on the ground

[little laker]

I really like them all Patrick.

I'm looking forward to seeing your next batch.

In my opinion you should only listen to slipchuck's advice at this moment.
You don't need to learn everything all at once, just take what your doing properly and slowly expand from that.

I hope that that makes sense.

[Fritz]

All photo's were made with the K100D Super in Manual mode with the 14-55mm Kit lens and a Sigma multi-coated UV-Filter and Kenko Circular Polarizing Filter (most shots in ISO 400 and some in ISO 200) I forgot to use the sun cap for most images (don't even really know when it's needed so if anyone can tell my I would appreciate he info)

So you are using a UV filter and a polarizing filter? If you are using both filters at the same time, this is most likely the cause of the bad vignetting in the corners at 18mm. If it were me I would only use the polarizing filter when needed for glare. Otherwise I would leave them off. The kit lens already will vignette at 18mm without filters. The filters will only make it worse. If you really want to run the filters, just stay a way from the 18mm zoom setting and you will probably be fine. Try 20mm+ and see how that works.

The lens hood is very helpful to reduce the chances of sun flare while shooting outside. It can also help to protect the front of the lens.

[Cloudy Wizzard]

all your shots are a fine try for a begginner. I am not a pro but can give you a few tips.
Ist tip: shoot at a different time of day. choose morning before the sun gets to bright or in the evening when the sun is softer. proper lighting is very important in a shot. I am going to guess that these shots were taken near mid day?
early morning and evening will give your landscapes and nice warm glow.

Yes, they were made around 1pm, maybe I'll go out after posting this reply (it's 9.30am so that will probably be around 10am) to see if I can make some more shots.

tip 2: find the center of interest for a photo. I don't mean put the subject in the middle, I mean pick something to shoot and try to include only things in the photo that make the main subject more interesting.
for example shot 3 there is to many things competing for your eye, and not one of them is the center of attention.

Hmm, so even with a generic landscape picture you need to search for something you want to include ? like the 1 tree in the middle of the field ?

tip 3: don't be afraid to get up close and crop in on an interesting subject.
the duck photo works as it lets your eyes flow from one side of the frame to the other although better lighting would have helped this shot.

so IF I understand your tip, I should for example with the ducks, do a real close shot of the ducks or when they are centered in the picture crop them so I only have the ducks and only a small bit of other landscape stuff ?

hopefully others with more experence can add some tips as well.


cheers

randy

Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it.

[Cloudy Wizzard]

Those dark spot on corners is vignetting, some lens will vignette at wide focal lenght, like the 18-55mm kit lens when used at 18-20mm, it is easy to fix it in most graphic softwares..

HMm, saw something about vignetting on the internet (thought that SMC coating and stuff were also to prevent this).

Anyways, thanks for the explanation now I know what it is and howto prevent it

The lens hood must be used when the sun is on your sides to limit flare/glare that would kill contrast in your image... Its better to keep it on all the time when possible, as it will also protect the lens front element if the camera falls on the ground

The "problem" is that I've got a Lowepro Rezo Topload zoom 2 (or something) so only the camera with kit lens will fit (the cap just makes the camera to big to fit in the bag).

but can you explain "sun on your sides" that's sun from left/right is that correct so not in front (your eyes) or in your back ? I thought it was for when the sun was almost in front of you (like 2 or 10 on the clock)

[Cloudy Wizzard]

I really like them all Patrick.

I'm looking forward to seeing your next batch.

In my opinion you should only listen to slipchuck's advice at this moment.
You don't need to learn everything all at once, just take what your doing properly and slowly expand from that.

I hope that that makes sense.

Yes, I guess it's like riding a bike, you want to learn it step by step (so If I try to mix other stuff like macro I would get to much information at once and that would be negative since that would be harder to remember).

[Cloudy Wizzard]

So you are using a UV filter and a polarizing filter? If you are using both filters at the same time, this is most likely the cause of the bad vignetting in the corners at 18mm. If it were me I would only use the polarizing filter when needed for glare. Otherwise I would leave them off. The kit lens already will vignette at 18mm without filters. The filters will only make it worse. If you really want to run the filters, just stay a way from the 18mm zoom setting and you will probably be fine. Try 20mm+ and see how that works.

Well I bought the UV filter for protection of the lens and I decided to use the Pol filter to make the sky look better (more blue) so maybe I should (in my case) replace the UV filter with the Pol filter when outside to prevent this a bit more ?

also WHY can you rotate the pol filter ? (it has an arrow on it) I tried rotating it when making shots but I don't really see a difference in the images ?

The lens hood is very helpful to reduce the chances of sun flare while shooting outside. It can also help to protect the front of the lens.

ok, thanks for the information.

[J.Scott]

The dark corners are an example of 'vignetting'.


Vignetting is simply described as a loss of light in the corners of the picture compared to the center of the picture. The lens coating has nothing to do with this effect.

The reason for the vignetting in this example is because of the combination of filters that you placed outside the lens. By your description you have 2 filters stacked on top of the lens.

14-55mm Kit lens and a Sigma multi-coated UV-Filter and Kenko Circular Polarizing Filter

See the picture below that I borrowed from this website.

Althought not completely accurate you can imagine that the filters you placed outside the lens are represented by the blue lines on the picture on the right. Light entering the lens at the edges is clipped off by the edge of the protruding filters.

Pictures taken at longer focal lengths or pictures taken without the 2 filters will be unaffected by the vignetting effect in this incidence.

[darkstorm82]

The "problem" is that I've got a Lowepro Rezo Topload zoom 2 (or something) so only the camera with kit lens will fit (the cap just makes the camera to big to fit in the bag).

What i do is, when i'm about to put the camera in the bag, mount the lens hood in the opposite direction (reversed) and then put the lens cap on the lens..

[slip]

Yes, they were made around 1pm, maybe I'll go out after posting this reply (it's 9.30am so that will probably be around 10am) to see if I can make some more shots.

I think if you shot a bit earlier, say the first 2 hours after first light, or the last 2 hours near dark. this isn't a rule only a suggestion.
a tripod helps with landscapes.

Hmm, so even with a generic landscape picture you need to search for something you want to include ? like the 1 tree in the middle of the field ?

that is a good start. possibly have the tree a bit closer?
I would go to a site like Photography: Digital Camera Reviews, Learn Photography, Photo Galleries - photo.net and study what makes landscape shots work... you can learn a lot by doing this

so IF I understand your tip, I should for example with the ducks, do a real close shot of the ducks or when they are centered in the picture crop them so I only have the ducks and only a small bit of other landscape stuff ?



Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it.

this group of ducks work well..... eventually you will learn about seeing patterns in nature, landscapes etc. for now pick something of interest, say like a tree, and get up close and see if there is some interesting shots to take. try finding a pattern in the leaves and crop into that, for example a circle of them that is only seen when you take a hard look.

hope this makes more sense.

cheers

randy

[Fritz]

Well I bought the UV filter for protection of the lens and I decided to use the Pol filter to make the sky look better (more blue) so maybe I should (in my case) replace the UV filter with the Pol filter when outside to prevent this a bit more ?

also WHY can you rotate the pol filter ? (it has an arrow on it) I tried rotating it when making shots but I don't really see a difference in the images ?

J.Scott summarized what I was trying to say quite nicely. I believe your vignetting (dark corners) are caused by stacking filters. It only shows at the wider settings, for example 18mm. Use one filter at a time and I don't think the problem will be as noticeable.

Here is my ever simplistic understanding of polarizing filters. I'm sure someone else could offer a better explanation, scientific and all that. On the polarizing filter you can rotate it to eliminate glare coming in from different angles. Try pointing the camera with the filter on at a highly reflective surface, such as water, glass, or glossy painted surfaces. Rotate the filter element and you should see a shift in the reflection. It has something to do with effecting the light waves. All you really need to know is that it is useful in reducing reflections and glare. And can also result in skies that are more blue.

HTH

[Cloudy Wizzard]

What i do is, when i'm about to put the camera in the bag, mount the lens hood in the opposite direction (reversed) and then put the lens cap on the lens..

you can do this (put the cap on reversed ?) I didn't even think of that (I did try and I actually CAN put the camera in the bag with the sun cap present (barely).

I did notice that a portion of the cap can be removed, but why ?? (underside of the cap).

[Cloudy Wizzard]

And can also result in skies that are more blue.

That's why I bought the Pol. filter