Im still learning the ways to do things i have done lots of reading up etc but would like an opinion of this photo i took today. now the sun was behind me. i dont know if there is a way to not capture the sun in the photo but i thought the photo looked cute.
What do you think? Is there something else i could of done?
Auto ISO should choose the lowest ISO it can without introducing significant camera shake. So in scenes like this it would choose ISO 200 (if that's the lowest for your camera), and in darker scenes it will choose a higher value.
Note that the way that it does this means that you generally need to have good technique to hold the camera still -- it assumes a good technique in holding the camera. Also, it doesn't know if you're using a tripod, so if you do night shots with auto ISO it will introduce unnecessary noise.
It's better to control this manually if you can, it's a lot to remember but you'll get used to it if you practice (and won't if you rely on the automatic settings). We've all been in the situation where we shoot an entire day's photos on a stupid setting, and it's experiences like this that prevent us doing it next time :)
Having said all that, the ISO is not a major concern for me in this photo -- the high ISO will freeze the motion, and at the size it's displayed on the website, I'm not seeing any problematic noise. Sure, it's not the setting I would have used, but it's not a particularly big deal.
First, let me say what I like about the photo. The capture is an excellent moment in time, you have caught it just as the bubbles start to break free, and that's been very nicely done. You have kept the sun behind the camera, which means you have the light on your son's face and haven't put him into silhouette. The focal length is good -- you could maybe have got in a little closer, but it's not a big deal.
The biggest issue for me with the photograph is the focus -- there's no part of the image that's sharp. While that can occasionally give interesting effects, in this case I think it would have been a much stronger image had your son been in focus.
It's hard to figure out what you necessarily did wrong just from the photo -- I suspect you pre-focused (by pressing the shutter button half-way), and then either you or your son moved. With the default settings on most cameras, when you pre-focus, you lock that setting, and want to avoid either you or your subject moving after you do that. When photographing moving subjects, it's best to take the photo as soon as you've focused, to prevent this happening. (You can also enable tracking focus on your camera, but that's getting into more complex areas).
Additionally, there's quite a lot of over-exposure in the image -- this is the effect that is causing parts of your son's face and hair to be totally white, and resulted in losing the detail in most of his hair and around his ear. Again, this may be a result of pre-focusing and then the subject moving -- most cameras will also lock the exposure as well, so if you were pointing the camera at a darker area when you pre-focused, you will achieve this. However, sometimes the camera simply cannot automatically get the right settings -- this is why it's very valuable to check the image on the screen once you've taken it. This would show both the focusing and the exposure issues, and allow you to try and correct them.
Finally, it's always worth considering the composition of the photo. The capture of your son is great, but is that the best background you had? Obviously I don't know as I wasn't there, but it's worth looking around to find an interesting background, be it a tree, some stairs, a barbeque, etc.!
I hope that's not too overwhelming or discouraging -- it's a great photo, but there are some areas which can be improved. It often feels like there's so many settings and things to think about that it's impossible to actually take a photo, but my recommendation would be to just try and improve one thing at a time, rather than try and fix everything at once. You may wish to choose to concentrate on focus, or exposure, and decide that you're going to work on better understanding that over the next few photos you upload (and challenge yourself to find difficult situations). If you can't figure out why it's not working, ask for more advice! Once you have that aspect sorted, you can move onto something else!
@abirkill WOW thats very much for all that information. That really does enlighten me to try more ways of doing it. Thank you for your likes about the photo aswell :) thats encourging..yup i did hold the button half way until i saw him blow the bubbles then i clicked.
I will def try again with other photos with the sunlight behind me etc and see what else i can achieive...i might do one tomorrow and pop it in here too :)
I wonder if the camera was setting the ISO for the dark doorway behind - if your camera is mostly seeing that area it's possible.
A point and shoot will assume that you're focussing on the central portion of your picture, so to get a composition with something off to one side, as here, it's going to struggle to work out the focus on something that's only a part of that focussing area. Another possibility is to use the spot light metering to focus on the bubbles / your son's face.
@shanne i cant remember where my square box was i dont think i had it on my sons face i think i had it on the bubble wand...but it wasnt on auto. but i will def keep trying and hopefully in my 365 i will see a change in the way my photos are :)
I think my biggest thing is getting use to putting my eye up to the camera as i have had a camera that i hold and look at the screen and then click.
Think im more excited about joining this site now is i can get honest opinions on my photos :) and work out where i can improve.
@kiwigirl04 Thanks Sharlene for posting this and asking. @abirkill Thanks for posting such a detailed response. It not only helped Sharlene I learned a lot from reading it. I am guilty of using the auto settings but my camera has auto settings for lots of different scenes and I do change it several times through out the day. One thing I am guilty of is setting the ISO at 100 and not changing it so I can get a low light blurred image if I dont happen to have a tripod handy.
@shanne I bet you're right on the ISO -- I had a similar mishap when I was shooting my sons in and out of our garage -- very different lighting between the two scenes -- and I was just then starting to shoot manual, and had the ISO cranked up to 800 when it should have been much lower. Live and learn (and this site and these types of comments help tremendously, thanks @kiwigirl04) ... here was my similar photo http://365project.org/rockinrobyn/365/2012-05-09
@abirkill That's all such helpful info Alexis! Good reminders for me too :)
Sharlene... It took me about 6 weeks here to get away from auto settings... And after 5 months I think Ive come a fair way, but have a long ways yet to go... But that's ok, cos that's why I'm here :). I'm only just starting to play around w the whole spot metering thing (I think that's what it's called)... I experiment a lot... I think if I were taking shots like the one above I would have tried for a number of different exposures to see what worked best... Also, I always keep my ISO on 100 (lowest for my camera) and setting on aperture mode at f/5.6 (against lowest f stop)... I try to remember to set my white balance for the surroundings every time I turn on the camera... And then adjust as I go depending on what I'm trying to shoot... Practice is definitely helping me... At least, I hope it is!
Don't get discouraged by all the buttons and settings... Just keep playing around w it and it will all come together in time... And by the way, I love how you caught that bubble! Really great timing!
@kiwigirl04 if you were focussing on the bubble wand, most of that box will be on the background and that's what the camera will try for unless you go for point light metering
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Note that the way that it does this means that you generally need to have good technique to hold the camera still -- it assumes a good technique in holding the camera. Also, it doesn't know if you're using a tripod, so if you do night shots with auto ISO it will introduce unnecessary noise.
It's better to control this manually if you can, it's a lot to remember but you'll get used to it if you practice (and won't if you rely on the automatic settings). We've all been in the situation where we shoot an entire day's photos on a stupid setting, and it's experiences like this that prevent us doing it next time :)
Having said all that, the ISO is not a major concern for me in this photo -- the high ISO will freeze the motion, and at the size it's displayed on the website, I'm not seeing any problematic noise. Sure, it's not the setting I would have used, but it's not a particularly big deal.
First, let me say what I like about the photo. The capture is an excellent moment in time, you have caught it just as the bubbles start to break free, and that's been very nicely done. You have kept the sun behind the camera, which means you have the light on your son's face and haven't put him into silhouette. The focal length is good -- you could maybe have got in a little closer, but it's not a big deal.
The biggest issue for me with the photograph is the focus -- there's no part of the image that's sharp. While that can occasionally give interesting effects, in this case I think it would have been a much stronger image had your son been in focus.
It's hard to figure out what you necessarily did wrong just from the photo -- I suspect you pre-focused (by pressing the shutter button half-way), and then either you or your son moved. With the default settings on most cameras, when you pre-focus, you lock that setting, and want to avoid either you or your subject moving after you do that. When photographing moving subjects, it's best to take the photo as soon as you've focused, to prevent this happening. (You can also enable tracking focus on your camera, but that's getting into more complex areas).
Additionally, there's quite a lot of over-exposure in the image -- this is the effect that is causing parts of your son's face and hair to be totally white, and resulted in losing the detail in most of his hair and around his ear. Again, this may be a result of pre-focusing and then the subject moving -- most cameras will also lock the exposure as well, so if you were pointing the camera at a darker area when you pre-focused, you will achieve this. However, sometimes the camera simply cannot automatically get the right settings -- this is why it's very valuable to check the image on the screen once you've taken it. This would show both the focusing and the exposure issues, and allow you to try and correct them.
Finally, it's always worth considering the composition of the photo. The capture of your son is great, but is that the best background you had? Obviously I don't know as I wasn't there, but it's worth looking around to find an interesting background, be it a tree, some stairs, a barbeque, etc.!
I hope that's not too overwhelming or discouraging -- it's a great photo, but there are some areas which can be improved. It often feels like there's so many settings and things to think about that it's impossible to actually take a photo, but my recommendation would be to just try and improve one thing at a time, rather than try and fix everything at once. You may wish to choose to concentrate on focus, or exposure, and decide that you're going to work on better understanding that over the next few photos you upload (and challenge yourself to find difficult situations). If you can't figure out why it's not working, ask for more advice! Once you have that aspect sorted, you can move onto something else!
I will def try again with other photos with the sunlight behind me etc and see what else i can achieive...i might do one tomorrow and pop it in here too :)
Thank you very much
A point and shoot will assume that you're focussing on the central portion of your picture, so to get a composition with something off to one side, as here, it's going to struggle to work out the focus on something that's only a part of that focussing area. Another possibility is to use the spot light metering to focus on the bubbles / your son's face.
I think my biggest thing is getting use to putting my eye up to the camera as i have had a camera that i hold and look at the screen and then click.
Think im more excited about joining this site now is i can get honest opinions on my photos :) and work out where i can improve.
Sharlene... It took me about 6 weeks here to get away from auto settings... And after 5 months I think Ive come a fair way, but have a long ways yet to go... But that's ok, cos that's why I'm here :). I'm only just starting to play around w the whole spot metering thing (I think that's what it's called)... I experiment a lot... I think if I were taking shots like the one above I would have tried for a number of different exposures to see what worked best... Also, I always keep my ISO on 100 (lowest for my camera) and setting on aperture mode at f/5.6 (against lowest f stop)... I try to remember to set my white balance for the surroundings every time I turn on the camera... And then adjust as I go depending on what I'm trying to shoot... Practice is definitely helping me... At least, I hope it is!
Don't get discouraged by all the buttons and settings... Just keep playing around w it and it will all come together in time... And by the way, I love how you caught that bubble! Really great timing!
I will take my camera with me today (if i remember) i have a mums group and then a birthday party to attend