As the title suggests I am new to photography and went and bought my first ever SLR which is the Canon 1100d.  I've been told that it's a good starter point and a very good entry level SLR.  Last weekend my cousin wanted some photos of his car* so we went out local to us and got the following images.  *Please be aware it's not Skoda related

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C&C welcome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flower shots are not too bad for just starting out...

Thanks, that was just macro setting with on the camera, think about getting the macro lens as it is one of my favourite shots.

Nice one mate.

 

If we are both on the PS4 at some point, I will chat to you about a few things that can help you.

Nice one mate.

 

If we are both on the PS4 at some point, I will chat to you about a few things that can help you.

 

Thank you mate, will be on Sunday if that helps.

A few nice pics -  like the composition of number 2, a bit of C&C if thats ok (sorry if this ends up as long winded but so many different possibilities and settings)...

 

Top three images are a challenge for most cameras to cope with as there is a wide dynamic range i.e. dark green shadows and white car with dark tints and bright skies. I'd be interested in the exif / camera setting for the pics to comment properly on each.

 

Second shot is possibly biggest test for range but you/the camera has coped pretty well - the sky is blown (and possibly the car bonnet). Worth having a play with the metering modes - you'll have spot, partial, or evaluative. You're probably in evaluative as standard and partial may have just concentrated on the car. Best way to take this shot is either using cokin type ND graduated filters (basically sunglasses on the sky bit) OR use a good weighted tripod and remote release (these are cheap), then taking two 'exposure bracketed' shots (look up how to use 'AEB' on your camera) and merging post capture - which is the original and most basic HDR method.

 

In the goats image the focus is on the shed behind and not the goats (which i guess you wanted), i tend to change from multiple point focus to single centre point so i know what i'm locking focus on. Not sure if you are exploring any of the M A S P dial settings or sticking with the preset modes for exposure? I tend to shoot in Aperture Priority (A) most of the time - this allows me to control depth of field  (depth of focus) using the fastest setting such as F2.8 or F3.5 (depending on your lens) will give you a shallow focal length - great for portraits, but a slow setting such as F22 will give you a lot of things in focus - great for landscapes but you need to watch out at this kind of setting - the reason it is a 'slow' setting is because aperture is set to very narrow hence it takes longer for the quantity of light required to achieve the desired/required exposure to hit the cameras sensor - hence you are more likely to get camera shake from handholding or blur if something moves in the frame. A lot of people might set the Aperture somewhere midway (F7-F9) to avoid camera shake and get a reasonable depth of field, but i think this is missing the creative possibilities of a DSLR - having said that it is probably suitable for image 2.

 

In A mode, i'd also personally put the ISO setting into Auto - this should allow you to control the creative depth of field you want and the camera will take care of the sensor 'sensitivity' to help prevent the shutter speed creeping into handshake territory.

 

Sorry i could 'bang on' forever as the possibilities are endless- depending on what you actually want to achieve (everyones opinion of a 'good' photo is different!) - but i've always thought its helpful to find a photo that someone has taken that you like / want to recreate simllar and then try to work out how it was achieved with what settings.

 

Best thing to do (it sounds sad though) is to thoroughly read the manual - probably online version I'm guessing - as these not only have the functions but normally explain what it does to your photography. The book 'Understanding Exposure' is one of best if you want to look at more info on settings and photography. Hopefully the above is of help - but best to google anything i've mentioned if interested and you should find video/tutorial explaining further.

 

PS Also on all my Canon DSLRs so far i always change the annoying 'focus achieved' bleep as i find it very annoying.