Pretty much first shots I've ever taken

akhi

akhi

Messages
57
Name
Benjamin
Edit My Images
Yes
Long story short, my granddad is a photographer and I've always been interested in what he does, but unfortunately I can't spend much time with him at the moment so I decided to try starting up on my own. I've bought a camera (a Nikon D3100) I know it's not the best camera, but it should be adequate for my use at the moment and it's all I could afford!

The first shot I took with my granddads Canon (can't remember what model, but I was using his telephoto lens as I hadn't ever used one and wanted to experiment).

The third photo I understand is absolutely terrible as it didn't turn out anything like I planned, but there is a reason I'm posting it. The look I wanted was to keep my dog completely focused whilst blurring the background. As you can see, he blurred and the background stayed pretty focused. Do I need to use an incredibly high shutter speed? Or is it simply not possible with my lens (standard 18-55mm VR kit lens). I'd love to get a shot like that, so any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

All C&C is taken on board, please don't feel you're being too harsh. Thank you!

5677022423_575582eae4_b.jpg


5677024413_b7238274ea_b.jpg


5677593642_ecdd38f506_b.jpg
 
For dogs running you'll need a reasonably high shutter speed, but nothing incredible... Say 250 or above. As for blur, there's two types. By using the aperture (f stops on the lens), you can throw the background out of focus. But the kit lens won;t be ideal for this.

Or you can step the shutter speed down a bit, pan the camera with the dog, and you'll get a bit of motion blur from the background. Dogs aren't the easiest things to shoot however, at least not if they run around as fast as mine! In the pic above, the dog's running towards you, so he's the only thing moving in the frame, hence the blur. See if you can get a side shot next time, moving the camera with the dog.

All in all, not bad for your first attempt.
 
Believe it or not, he's actually a puppy!
 
Nice shots. Really like the first one.

I wouldn't have said he's a puppy! Looks like he's at least 3-4 years old :|
 
1 & 2 try and aim to get the focus point on the eyes, even if it slightly blurs the nose. Well, try and get both in focus but eyes are the most important

3 looks like you panicked :D Don't worry, there will be plenty of walks for many years to come. A dog running straight towards you really is a task even for the pro AF systems, you'll have to get used to the servo focus mode on your cam for a start.

Then... BG blur, zoom in more and open the aperture as much as possible, try and keep the dog as full in the frame and only zoom out when he is about to escape the frame and just rattle off shots as fast as your cam will let you. You'll figure out what sort of shutter speed you need over time but it should be pretty high with the aperture open by default. You don't necessarily want to remove all movement blur anyway.

Ehm, oh yeh, squinty horizons are a quick fix in post production (though will give a mild quality hit so try not to do that)
 
nano said:
1 & 2 try and aim to get the focus point on the eyes, even if it slightly blurs the nose. Well, try and get both in focus but eyes are the most important
Click to expand...

Is it possible to do this PP? If so, could you point me towards a tut or give me a basic idea of what would need to be done? (my photoshop skills are slightly superior to my photography skills; luckily)

And thanks a lot for all the help regarding shot 3, I'll hopefully get the shot down to a tee one day, as I think it would be really nice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top