Well, I'm just getting into this whole DSLR and I'm one of those people who can't learn without doing. So, I'm starting to fool around with the camera and I'm needing some critique. I have taken a few classes locally and am just learning the basics. I'm just starting to understand aperture and shutter speed settings, along with iso. Just today I downloaded the trial version of Adobe Lightroom to play around with some RAW pics. It seems like a nice program, but it might be a bit advanced for a new user like me. Anywho, here is a pic that I took this morning that I would like you guys/gals to pick apart. Seriously, do not hold back, there is no way for me to learn if I do not know what I m doing wrong.

About the pic, I shot this just this morning under cloudy skies. The camera settings were as follows:

Aperture: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO: 200
White Balance: Auto
Focus: Manual (hence the out of focus bird)
Lens: Pentax SMC F 80-200 zoom

If you need any other info just let me know. And right off the bat, I think I needed to set the aperture smaller for a pic like this correct??

[Ole]

I would suggest to crop it tighter: More bird, less background. However, the bird isn't tack sharp as you pointed out so you should probably retake the shot - if you can find the bird again .

On another note, try to not post wider pictures than about 800-900 pixels so that the photo fits on the screen for most users, or use the IMGWIDE tags when you have a wider picture.

[mr tibbs]

Sounds good. I just refilled the bird feeder so I'm sure there will plenty more oppertunities to take pics of the birds.