New bird using EOS 550D

[Lacus21]

Could be due to various reasons such as
Night shot - mount on tripod but IS is on, didn't set 2 second timer b4 taking to further prevent camera shake(or using wired or wireless remote)
Skate - could be shutter spd is too low or af isn't on skater etc
As e above posts, more info is required on Ur settings b4 a definite reason could be given

Btw e kit lens is capable of taking great pictures, take more pics and after knowing which genre u r interested in then decide to get other lens to replace it.
18-55 n 55-250 is a good combi ^^

 

[rhino123]

Looking through those photos... there is a couple of things that I would like to know,

1) What is your apperture for the night shots.
2) What is the shutter speed for the skateboarding shoot?
3) Did you mount your camera on a tripod for either shoot
4) Did you use a remote control (wired or wireless) to fire off your shoot?
5) What ISO are you using (bcos for the skateboarders, I think I see some noise setting in already)?

From the first night shot, it seemed abit hazy... where is your focus point? Which subject are you focusing on? The third photo seemed abit slanted though...

I think you might need post sharpening of your pic...

 

[Andrew Tay]

I was hoping that you share the EXIF with the pictures too...

My little wild guessing....probably due to camera shake when you pressed the shutter.

I'm using 2sec timer setting, with tripod. What is EXIF ??

 

[Andrew Tay]

Could be due to various reasons such as
Night shot - mount on tripod but IS is on, didn't set 2 second timer b4 taking to further prevent camera shake(or using wired or wireless remote)
Skate - could be shutter spd is too low or af isn't on skater etc
As e above posts, more info is required on Ur settings b4 a definite reason could be given

Btw e kit lens is capable of taking great pictures, take more pics and after knowing which genre u r interested in then decide to get other lens to replace it.
18-55 n 55-250 is a good combi ^^

Thks for comments. Recently I read some notes on lens, then I realized IS must be off when mounted on tripod. Will there be a significant diff if IS in on ? Maybe a pro can tell. Can a layman tell the diff ?
Night shot - IS is on, set to 2sec timer.
Skate - Maybe my shutter is too low
Will send u my setting later.
I'll take more pics to improve myself. Thks again.

 

[Andrew Tay]

Looking through those photos... there is a couple of things that I would like to know,

1) What is your apperture for the night shots.
2) What is the shutter speed for the skateboarding shoot?
3) Did you mount your camera on a tripod for either shoot
4) Did you use a remote control (wired or wireless) to fire off your shoot?
5) What ISO are you using (bcos for the skateboarders, I think I see some noise setting in already)?

From the first night shot, it seemed abit hazy... where is your focus point? Which subject are you focusing on? The third photo seemed abit slanted though...

I think you might need post sharpening of your pic...

Hi, will sent u my setting later. What is post sharpening ??

 

[Andrew Tay]

Welcome to Clubsnap! Have fun.

Thanks. It's encouraging !!!

 

[gundamseed84]

Hi, will sent u my setting later. What is post sharpening ??

Post processing e.g. using photoshop to improve the image...it is ok if you don't use it at this point in time. Don't be mistaken: getting sharp photos need not be done through photoshop. One way is to go back say Marina Bay and try again once you have identified pointers to improve. See if things get better, if not then review again and see how to improve further.

 

[tyho]

You might not be aware that DSLRs often take pictures with less sharpening than a point and shoot by default. (this is because it allows the user to do more adjustments to the picture later) You can increase the sharpening later using software life Photoshop or Picassa OR you can increase it in-camera through your menu settings. I must say though that your pictures still look too soft even taking this into account. The kit lens should be able to be much sharper than this. Looking at the settings of aperture and shutter speed would help the other readers here understand what went wrong.

 

[Lacus21]

Thks for comments. Recently I read some notes on lens, then I realized IS must be off when mounted on tripod. Will there be a significant diff if IS in on ? Maybe a pro can tell. Can a layman tell the diff ?
Night shot - IS is on, set to 2sec timer.
Skate - Maybe my shutter is too low
Will send u my setting later.
I'll take more pics to improve myself. Thks again.

I'm not sure if it will have signi diff but my understanding is that it might/will intro camera shake, if shake is introduced then pictures might not be sharp so dun think need a pro to tell the differences
Dun worry, jus learn from mistakes and shoot more, u will definitely see improvements. ^^

 

[Andrew Tay]

Looking through those photos... there is a couple of things that I would like to know,

1) What is your apperture for the night shots.
2) What is the shutter speed for the skateboarding shoot?
3) Did you mount your camera on a tripod for either shoot
4) Did you use a remote control (wired or wireless) to fire off your shoot?
5) What ISO are you using (bcos for the skateboarders, I think I see some noise setting in already)?

From the first night shot, it seemed abit hazy... where is your focus point? Which subject are you focusing on? The third photo seemed abit slanted though...

I think you might need post sharpening of your pic...

For the 1st pic :
Aperture 3.5
Shutter 5
Tripod
2sec timer
ISO 100
one shot AF
Manual mode

For 2nd pic
Aperture 3.5
Shutter 2
Tripod
2sec timer
ISO 100
One shot AF
Manual mode

For 3rd pic
Aperture 4
Shutter 0.8
Tripod
2sec timer
ISO 400
AI servo
Manual mode

Skateboard
TV mode
Shutter 1/3200
Aperture 5.6
ISO 5000
Shot shot AF
Continuos shooting

 

[Andrew Tay]

On behalf of the TS...

For the 1st pic :
Aperture 3.5
Shutter 5
Tripod
2sec timer
ISO 100
one shot AF
Manual mode

For 2nd pic
Aperture 3.5
Shutter 2
Tripod
2sec timer
ISO 100
One shot AF
Manual mode

For 3rd pic
Aperture 4
Shutter 0.8
Tripod
2sec timer
ISO 400
AI servo
Manual mode

Skateboard
TV mode
Shutter 1/3200
Aperture 5.6
ISO 5000
Shot shot AF
Continuos shooting

 

[engrmariano]

i think those night shots are 'out of focus'. take a look at the 2nd image, the reflection of mbs on the water at lower-left looks sharper. did you use MF or AF?...

not to high jack your thread, just want to share with you my quite similar shoot using 550D & 18-55 IS...

f/5, ISO400, (for some reason, the exif doesnt have shutter speed)

 

[rhino123]

Post sharpening (I think I got it wrong, the correct term should be post processing) is that you do some post processing such as sharpening of your pics, increase or decrease your contrast, colour tone, satuation, etc.

But before that, you must first know where to focus on and what aperture to set... and that would depend on your lighting condition... I do not have one to show you that is taken from a 550D with a 18-55mm lens (unlike bro engrmarino).

Aperture:F11
ISO:200
Shutter speed: 20sec
Camera use: 40D

The above photo is taken around 1 year ago. I did some sharpening later on and that was it. I set a smaller aperture because I wanted more of the pic to be sharp.

As for your skate board pic, I am not sure what is the lighting condition, but at ISO 5000, there are sure to have quite a bit of noise, which can eat away your detail. You might want to try smaller ISO value so that your pic can be cleaner.

 

[Andrew Tay]

i think those night shots are 'out of focus'. take a look at the 2nd image, the reflection of mbs on the water at lower-left looks sharper. did you use MF or AF?...

not to high jack your thread, just want to share with you my quite similar shoot using 550D & 18-55 IS...

f/5, ISO400, (for some reason, the exif doesnt have shutter speed)

I use MF. Out of focus ? So next round where shod I focus at ? Always at the center ofbthe view finder ??
Btw, the pic u posted is really nice .... Sharp & clear.

 

[Andrew Tay]

Post sharpening (I think I got it wrong, the correct term should be post processing) is that you do some post processing such as sharpening of your pics, increase or decrease your contrast, colour tone, satuation, etc.

But before that, you must first know where to focus on and what aperture to set... and that would depend on your lighting condition... I do not have one to show you that is taken from a 550D with a 18-55mm lens (unlike bro engrmarino).

Aperture:F11
ISO:200
Shutter speed: 20sec
Camera use: 40D

The above photo is taken around 1 year ago. I did some sharpening later on and that was it. I set a smaller aperture because I wanted more of the pic to be sharp.

As for your skate board pic, I am not sure what is the lighting condition, but at ISO 5000, there are sure to have quite a bit of noise, which can eat away your detail. You might want to try smaller ISO value so that your pic can be cleaner.

Hi, your pics at shutter 20sec, why the pic is not over expose ?? Is it bcos u set the aperture at F11 ??

 

[Andrew Tay]

I use MF. Out of focus ? So next round where shod I focus at ? Always at the center ofbthe view finder ??
Btw, the pic u posted is really nice .... Sharp & clear.

Hi, for night shooting, to get a sharp image, is it better to set long shutter (20sec), high aperture (F11) THAN short shutter (2sec), low aperture (F3.5) ???

 

[SkyStrike]

I use MF. Out of focus ? So next round where shod I focus at ? Always at the center ofbthe view finder ??
Btw, the pic u posted is really nice .... Sharp & clear.

The focus depends on what is the focus of your shot. If you use MF, I recommend that you use Live View x10 magnification to aid you in focusing.

Hi, your pics at shutter 20sec, why the pic is not over expose ?? Is it bcos u set the aperture at F11 ??

I believe rhino used the black card technique for this shot. It's one of the popular technique to shoot for this composition as the "palm" is always overexposed.

Hi, for night shooting, to get a sharp image, is it better to set long shutter (20sec), high aperture (F11) THAN short shutter (2sec), low aperture (F3.5) ???

I think you may also want to revisit the topic of the aperture and the effects.
- The bigger your aperture, the thinner your dof (it may not be very visible in this scenario). Normally smaller aperture will give you more depth in the picture.
- Aperture also controls the light entering, if your aperture is small, your exposure time will be longer than if you are shooting at aperture wide open.

 

[Andrew Tay]

The focus depends on what is the focus of your shot. If you use MF, I recommend that you use Live View x10 magnification to aid you in focusing.

I believe rhino used the black card technique for this shot. It's one of the popular technique to shoot for this composition as the "palm" is always overexposed.

What u meant is if using Live View x10 mag, I can see clearly whether the pic will be clear or not. Is that what u mean ??
I ever ask myself that every pic I take, it show "perfect" on the display screen.

 

[SkyStrike]

What u meant is if using Live View x10 mag, I can see clearly whether the pic will be clear or not. Is that what u mean ??
I ever ask myself that every pic I take, it show "perfect" on the display screen.

Your lcd screen is 3" big as best...so most shots in fact looks sharp eventhough the fine details are not. Many times, unless it's blown up to x5 or x10, you won't be able to see it. Which is another reason why sometimes there are post like "I looked at my camera LCD it's tack sharp, on my 21" LCD, it's blurred"

 

[Andrew Tay]

Your lcd screen is 3" big as best...so most shots in fact looks sharp eventhough the fine details are not. Many times, unless it's blown up to x5 or x10, you won't be able to see it. Which is another reason why sometimes there are post like "I looked at my camera LCD it's tack sharp, on my 21" LCD, it's blurred"

So, next time I'll know what to do. Thanks.
Btw, the 3rd image, I took from my client $15million dollar penthouse. Not many people hv the chance. I shld hv do it correctly.