Just got my camera

[marshal]

Photography was always a pasion for me but I was never able to afford it.

Recently I was given a used Nikon D90 and started to shoot.

I am looking for some creative criticism on the very few pictures I released on the web (5 so far)

http://500px.com/ValentinGeorgescu

I have no gear to speak of, and a very limited budget.

So my question to you guys is in what should I invest?

My plan in the near future is to take some classes in January adn by a 50mm 1.8 Nikon prime lens

[cameraclicker]

You should get gear that helps you shoot the subjects you are interested in.

If you are interested in macro photography, for instance, you could use a 50 mm lens and extension tubes, or for some subjects, a dedicated macro lens might work better.  But for grasshoppers a 400 mm lens with extension tubes and a 2X teleconverter gives closer focus and magnification to fill the frame with a single grasshopper from a distance that the grasshopper feels safe and does not take off.

Possibly the next things to get are a tripod, flash, reflector, remote shutter release, spare battery, extra memory cards?

Comute does not look as sharp as I expect it should.  That may be due to processing but I suspect camera movement based on the tower’s red light.

I like Coridor but try cropping the bottom from the edge of the blur, around the bigger green leaf.  See how it looks.  The trees on the right are not that sharp.   Look up Hyperfocal Distance.  It may have worked better at a shorter focal length.

Autumn Trunk is not doing anything for me.

Honda Shadow … does not do that much for me either but I am not that into bikes.  It does not look very sharp.  Post processing may need some work.  Look into sharpening, there are many ways, some easier than others.  All can be over done.  Good sharpening makes a difference.  Sharpening for printing is different than for the web.  Your camera has a low pass filter over the sensor to reduce the possibility of moire effects.  Post processing sharpening reverses the effect of that filter.  That’s the 5 second intro to a complicated subject.

I’m not sure how I feel about Portret.  Her eyes look odd.  The light is interesting.  She is obviously showing off the artwork on her finger.  She has a dent in her forehead.  The lighting may be more suitable for a male.  My eye jumps between her right hand and left eye.   I think it shows a mischievous character.

[Nightrose]

They’re pretty good for a start, just keep practising and you’ll continue to improve, as we all do!

A 50mm 1.8 lens is a good one to begin with, as it works well in low light, and for the low price you really can’t go wrong.  The D90 is a solid body and should do you well until such time as you can afford to upgrade.

Good lenses are worth their weight in gold, but they also cost a LOT. The lens I get the most use out of is the Nikon f/2.8 24-70mm. It is fantastic!  I also have the 70-200mm lens which is also beautiful, but both of these are really expensive so they would have to be something you’d look at getting later on. They’re also FX lenses, and the D90 only requires DX (though you can use full frame ones too).

For something that is more of an all-rounder, plus is quite a lot cheaper, how about the Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens.  This would give you a great variety in zoom range, from wide angle to really close-up.  Obviously this lens isn’t going to work as well in low light, but for general outdoor photography and travel it would be useful.

 

[marshal]

Thx for the comments,

All of the photos are as shot with no processing, but maybe I should start doing it.

Right now I am pretty interested in the more gimmicky side of photography as light painting because for now it has a very low gear requirement, and as soon as I get some lights I want to start exploring rear curtain synk  flash photography.

But before any of this I want to get a lot better at using my camera, and get the photo I want in as fewer tries as possible and not shoot 20 times to get the exposure and shutter speed right, WB is set mostly to auto for now unless I want a wormer/ cooler image.

Thank you for your comments, very appreciated.

[Author]

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