I went for a walk...

[Cutsie]

...And ended up with a couple of images I thought were quite good.

Still using the S5500 so the quality could be better I'm sure. Also the plant shots have been cropped which I believe hasn't helped.

Any C&C would be appreciated though as I'm always wanting to improve...

1.
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee62/crazycutsiepie/bird3.jpg

2.
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee62/crazycutsiepie/drops3.jpg

3.
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee62/crazycutsiepie/drops4.jpg

4.
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee62/crazycutsiepie/leaves1.jpg

Thanks for looking :)

[Grendel]

Hi Julia :)

I love the first one, it's a really well seen shot and I really like the sillouette effect, although it does appear a bit out of focus. I also like the second one, although it lacks a focal point, ie there's no one thing to focus your eye on in the shot. No 3 doesn't really do anything for me I'm afraid. No4 could be quite a nice shot but unfortunatley nothing's really in focus. If you'd focused on the thorny branch in the foreground it would have been a much better shot.

Please don't think I'm criticising your efforts, just trying to offer constructive comment :)

[Cutsie]

Hi,

Anything constructive and I'm happy :) I know I'm on the bottom of the learning ladder, and am really grateful for any comments to help.

I'm not sure whether it's due to my lack of steady hands but I do seem to find getting shots in focus to be a nightmare!

Also, when I was trying to focus on things such as the thorny branch in the last pic, the focus went to the background of the pic instead (which isn't clear in that pic, but it was happening).

Any ideas how to fix this would be invaluable! Thanks again :)

[Grendel]

I'm afraid I'm not at all familiar with the 5500 :( does it have an option to manually focus? Certainly if I was trying to take your No4 shot I would manually focus on the thorny branch in the foreground to be sure I was getting the shot I wanted. With this type of shot, left to it's own devices, the camera will usually focus just where you don't want it to. What you could try (assuming the 5500 will let you) is focus on the branch and half press the shutter to capture the focal point and metering, then without letting go of the shutter, reframe the shot to get the composition you want, then fully press the shutter to take the shot. I hope that makes sense!