Beyond the friend and family facebook likes.

[tealgreen1985]

I feel like I am in the stage where friends and family love my photography but I don’t know if they are saying it just because they love me. So here I am! I  shot with a point and shoot (nikon coolpix l120) for a a few years and just upgraded to my first DSLR (t3i no judging, that’s what was in my budget). I have been doing nothing but taking photos for the past 3 months since I have been visiting Germany and there is nothing else to do. I would love to get some outsiders opinions. I am definitely not a faux because I don’t charge, and don’t every really plan to, I have only taken photos for friends as favors. I didn’t have a facebook set up for public viewing so I added what I think are some of my better shots into a flickr account.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/95728912@N02/

I understand that some of them have watermarks, I don’t like them but those were photos that were entered into either photo contests or photo challenges and I wanted my name on them.  Alright ready, set, GO!

[Thom]

Hi Teal,

I like your work. And it seems like you like to do children’s photography. But you don’t have enough images to make an assessment about consistency. They look good though. If Flickr will be the site of your portfolio, may I also suggest (as you have a romantic image there) to separate into categories.

Best,

Thom

[Worst Case Scenario]

I don’t love you so here’s an honest opinion!  The shot of the kid on the bed with the dummy  ( pacifier if you’re  from over there! ) is great. Love the framing, the light and the kids expression. Only problem with it is the DUMMY. The other shots are okay, but none of them have any WOW factor. A good start, keep shooting. With a little practice you’ll soon have some great images.

[Sarah]

I see iso issues with some of the child photos. Your cameras iso was set too high and I see color noise. A way around this is a faster lens to let more light in or add some artificial light to the scene by flash or hot lights so your iso can be lower.

[tealgreen1985]

@thom I only added a few images to flickr for examples but once I add more and explore the site a little more I will be sure to make categories 🙂

@ Worst case I do love that photo,  I actually only just took it yesterday and it was more of me just liking the light where my daughter was sitting so the “dummy” (we call it a choopie) was not really what I was thinking about, but I agree that is the only thing I don’t like about that image.

@Sarah I am working on my ISO issues, I seem to  keep turning it up because I think it looks good on the screen but once they are larger on the computer monitor I see all the noise… Thank you for pointing it out.

Thank you all for your input! I am still pretty new at this so it gives me encouragement to keep going!

 

[Sarah]

Never trust the screen on the back of your camera. Always look at the histogram and zoom in to make sure the image is in focus and has little noise.

[tealgreen1985]

That is one of those “beginners” things that I have to get out of the habit of lol

 

[nairbynairb]

I love this photo, noise and all.

 

Noise isn’t always a bad thing in this kind of photography… Lightroom can do a pretty good job of covering up the chromatic aberrations too.

 

The only thing I actually don’t like about the photo is that the lines aren’t level… (My OCD doesn’t let me get past that)

[tealgreen1985]

@ nairbynairb  The wall behind her is actually on a slant. Our apartment was the attic in a big house so the paneling comes down at an angle, if that makes sense. I straightened it up a bit but I agree its not perfectly straight and it bothered me at first.

[cameraclicker]

I only looked at the photo nairbynairb added into the thread.  The mattress edge tips down to the right.  The lines on the wall tip down to the left.  The left and right edges of the headboard converge slightly at the top.  Perspective affects horizontal and vertical lines, and a wide lens makes the effect more apparent.  In your photo the effect is backwards!  Lines usually converge as they move away from the lens, it seems yours are diverging.  In a photo like this, figure out which line should actually be either horizontal or vertical and use that as a reference.  Let the rest of the lines go where they may.  My inclination would be to use Lens Correction to get the sides of the headboard parallel and the top level, since it is the most likely object in the photo to be square and level.

[iliketag]

Heya Teal,

The T3i was the first camera I bought on my own, I had previously learned on an older Rebel XTi. Those are fantastic entry-level dslr’s and are great for starting out on! The great thing about Canon is that as you start to experiment with manual, the live view can show you how it’s adjusting (to a point, of course) and what your final product will roughly turn out looking like. This can be a great tool for a visual learner and I encourage practice practice practice! It seems to me you already have a fair understanding of lighting and how to take advantage of gorgeous, natural window light. What lens are you shooting with at the moment? If you’re using the kit lens, I would highly recommend (as I’m sure others here would as well) a 50mm prime. I started with the 1.8 II but know many that chose to invest a bit more and spring for the 1.4 for a sturdier, higher quality build (I recently upgraded to that one myself, sold off my old one). The 50mm can hunt a little if you’re working with auto focus but it’s a great prime!

The grain is something the T3i definitely struggles with, as will many other APS-C (crop sensor) dslrs. One alternative to having to crank that ISO up is to work with a black and white image. It’s not a perfect solution but it really does clean it up and, in really severe conditions, at least lend to a photo-journalism look.
Since you picked up a less expensive body, I would really encourage you to begin to invest in the glass. A good lens can outlive a body around 5 to 1 or even more! That’s part of why you see those super high price tags. Through avenues like craigslist, shopping sales and deals, and just good old fashioned saving; I have managed to establish a collection of lenses I am very proud of and that offer a lot of versatility. I really encourage you to grow and experiment – or even just rent lenses as you go to get a feel.

You have a lovely subject to continue to practice with 🙂

[tealgreen1985]

@Iliketag3

Currently I have just the kit lens 18-55 that the T3i came with and I also have a 28-90 kit lens from a canon film SLR I use to use before film and developing got so expensive :/ I use the 28-90 mostly because it just seems to work better then the one the T3i came with. I am looking into more lenses and a 50mm is first on my list. I switch back and forth a lot between auto and manual focus because most of my photos (as I am sure you noticed) are of my daughter and trying to manually focus on a moving toddler I think would result in no focused shots lol.

Thank you for the encouraging words 🙂

[Author]

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