First camera and pictures

[Razor]

Been playing around with my new camera and very, very impressed with myself . It's my first proper digital camera, ever and i'm really loving them. All pictures were taken on manual mode with a 70-300mm lense and on a d40x. The only thing i'm annoyed about is that so much is lost by converting to jpg, i only take raw images with the camera so i can modify them easier.

Suggestions and critics welcome

 

[jondy]

Lovely, a good camera, and the pictures are great, too. Shooting in RAW is an excellent decision. What are you developing the files in?

It's very tempting when you've suddenly got access to shallow depth of field to go nuts with it, but to me the best picture was the cat sleeping, because there was some context there to explore - it was the picture I looked at the longest. It's a shame the lighting was a little flat, some low sun would've really made the picture, although perhaps a warmer white balance would help, the scene is a little cold and stark for something as relaxed as a sleeping cat

The composition in all of these photos is good, nothing's centered and it's generally satisfying to look at. Keeping subjects in line with the 'golden rule' sometimes helps the picture sit well with our western eyes; we read from left to right and it's the same with photos, so placing your subject, if possible, in the right side or lower right hand corner of the frame can sometimes make a picture easier to 'read'. I found a mirror image of the sleeping cat picture easier to look at, but it's all horribly subjective

Keep taking lots of pictures, they look great! I hope this thread gets the Maxikana treatment before long

 

[Jintor]

Damn yeah. That cat schleepin' was aweshem.

 

[Xendance]

That first one with the cat is fantastic.

 

[CyberPitz]

I really like the yellow...tree...one.

Pretty ace.

 

[Razor]

Thankyou all for the comments, it's nice considering how much i spent on both the lense and camera lol. The picture with the cat on the log was just me leaning over the fence and snapping a picture of one of my cats in the neighbours garden. Getting Photoshop soon to start altering some of the pictures soon i.e. brightness adjustments and tones.

 

[Qonfused]

What camera?

 

[Razor]

It's a Nikon D40x 10.2megapixel.

 

[ktimekiller]

Great quality

 

[MorganFreeman911]

That sleeping kitty picture is awesome. Excellent job!

 

[sinkoman]

Try to stay away from lenses that have an "umg HUGE" range.

And the pics are kind of flat to be honest. The only one I really liked was the flowers one. Had a nice and warm summer feel.

Keep going though. Maybe read up on film photography. Once you know the general concepts behind what your camera is doing, you gain allot more control of your shots, weather you are taking them on a digital or film camera.

 

[3ssence]

I know the feeling Razor, i just bought a Canon EOS 400D and i'm really enjoying learning how to use it properly. Best way to learn is just to get out there and snap away like a nutter, come back home, look at the pictures and pick out what could have been done better etc, and read up on anything you don't understand on the internet. As Sinkoman mentions, it helps a lot to understand the concept of how the camera works, what each setting means.