I took out my new Rebel XT this w/e. I left it in auto and I didn't set up any shots so I just took a tons of pics and got a few good ones (I think so anyway).

 

Your shots are below amateur.

It's not the camera's fault, but always the person behind the lens. Work on your bokeh shots and your framing. Get a better lens and please turn off the AUTO mode. If you need more help, get a photography 101 book. Good try at least.

 

Thanks...I think I'm working on it when I have time.

 

I didn't mean any real offense But seriously do not use AUTO mode. I don't know if you understand the concept of EXPOSURE because everything pertains to getting the best exposure. Pictures in general are subjective really - what I think is good someone else may think it's shit. BUT there's a rule in general about how to take a picture - especially framing the shot. Everything else such as bokeh, lighting is all purely subjective opinion. However understanding your f-stop shutter speed ISO speed relationships is like understanding how to add/subtract.

Keep taking more pictures - thanks for posting them and having people critic them

 

Makes me want to do a walk around, but there aren't as many cool things here as there are in NY

PS get a Flickr account and listen to DDT-TypeS
Only problem with his advice, from what I have seen, is not really a problem but when you switch from auto to manual you are going to be frustrated for a while when your pictures come out like shit till you actually know something. I still like P setting on my Nikon, its like Auto but different .

 

I get what both you & DDT are saying and I appreciate it, I really do. I took one B&W class 10 years ago and have forgotten everything about taking pictures.

I left it on Auto cus I haven't read the instructions thoroughly and just wanted to start trying out the camera. Once I figure out what buttons & dials to use...I'm sure it'll start coming back to me slowly. Yes, the Rebel has the P setting also but I don't know exactly what it controls.

NY is great for walking around...so many different sites and faces.

 

I have been cheating - I flip it to Auto, look at what the camera picks for settings given my current lighting, then flip over to M and set it the same, then adjust from there for different effects, DOF, Shutter Speed, and ISO, etc. A bit of experimentation - the best thing is you dont have to pay to develop a crappy shot. To learn that way on film would cost a small fortune.

I am starting to get to where I dont need to reference Auto - I can just guess a good starting point.

 

I've done that to some extent but its kinda hard to pick up the differences through the LCD so you have to take a whole bunch or bracketing to see it later on the monitor screen. For me its gonna be a long process which I will certainly enjoy.

 

I also like to look for reference and ideas so I will search flickr with my camera name as the tag and see what others are doing...

An awesome collection of walk arounds are from this guy, press the different cities.

http://www.chrisorwig.com/

 

DDT- TypeS was a little harsh, but he's essentially right. It's really senseless to purchase and SLR, with all it's inherent control, then use it on full auto mode. It's selling you and the camera short.

Understanding exposure is the first thing to learn. Start out trying to use Av and Tv modes, both of which give you better control over depth of field and shutter speed. Get a good photography book or take a class. And practice. A lot. Digital is cheap.

Do yourself a favor and read the manual from cover to cover a couple of times. Modern SLR's are pretty complex, and you'll never full use your XT until you know what it can do. There's a ton of features there. If you're not willing to do that, you may as well go to a compact and call it good.

 

Don't rely on the LCD. Learn to use the histogram...it's invaluable.

 

I didn't take DDT's critique personally at all, I know my pics weren't works of art. But you are right, I really need to read that manual a couple times over.

 

Hey, don't forget to always have fun!

Me personally, I always shoot in A. I honestly haven't seen the need to shoot in M.
If I want the picture or darker I just change the exposure compensation. Can anyone give me an example of a situation where M is preferable to A? What am I missing out on?

If you want to bring out the best in your pictures, though, the most important thing is to be observant. Try different things, and note how they affect the result. Try different shutters/apertures. Try a darker or brighter picture. Try shooting closer than normal, or further back. And Try the same thing from different angles.

For many pictures, I'd say the most important factor is where/what direction you shoot the picture, followed closely by when you shoot it. That determines what is in the frame of the picture. Then the camera is used to max out what you get from that frame.

Once you know how things affect the picture, then you can start using that knowledge to make your pictures better. The bottom line really, is, what do you like about what you see? What is the interest of the photo? And how can you bring out the most of what you like?

Taking a picture that captures an image of something is relatively easy.
Taking a picture that captures how you feel when you are looking at something......
well, that's a whole new game.

 

^^If by "A" you mean auto, there's a huge disadvantage over shooing manually. You're allowing the camera to control and decide on exposure parameters, and you give up a lot of control over DoF, ISO, etc.

There's a reason people who shoot for a living never use auto. The only reason it's on SLR's at all is as a selling point, IMO, an attempt to lower the intimidation factor of SLR's.

If by "A" you meant aperture priority, then the above is moot.

 

"A" I'm assuming you meant Aperture-priority mode (typically Av on Canon's) or you meant "AUTO"? Shooting in either Aperture-priority (Av) will allow your camera to set your Shutter speed based on Aperture(f-stop value that you choose). This is good because you do not need to set the shutter speed yourself to match the f-stop value to properly expose the image. The exposure level is going to be displayed to you inside your viewfinder so you can see if your selected aperture/shutter combo's current exposure level. BUT this is what the camera believes to be the right exposure level based on your subject's lighting condition. You just need not worry about finding the right shutter speed yourself in relation with your f-stop value. This is great if you want to focus on DOP (depth of view). Select "Av" mode and just shoot away at the selected f-stop value - the camera will do the rest for you (that is if you are ok with the exposure level the camera tells you at your selected aperture setting).

The only reason to use MANUAL (M-mode) is if you want to override the combination prescribed by the camera in Av or Tv (shutter priority mode). Just because your camera says you will get a good exposure at f/8 1/125" doesn't mean that it has to be that way. You can get the same thing if you choose other combinations as well (f/2.8 1/1000") to get the SAME exposure level. I normally use Av mode just because I have more than enough ambient light and I need to focus on DOP. But sometimes I need to use Manual because I want to use say f/2.8 at focal distance of 110mm and use a shutter of say something like 1/800", the camera preset combo (f-stop/shutter speed) may not be sufficient enough to my liking. So I adjust ISO speed to a proper setting based on my Aperture/Shutter combination, then shoot the subject at my manually set aperture/shutter speed combination.

I would NOT use MANUAL FOCUSING UNLESS the camera cannot focus. With higher end DSLR's such as on the Canon's, you get AF points (auto focusing points - depending on your type of camera you get 5-15 points to focus), the AF is superb. I use a full frame lens (24-70mm F2.8L) and it's a really fast lens. Just preset your aperture/shutter values, iso speed, then when exposure level is correct, point to your subject and let the AF take over. Click away and most of the time, your subject is in focus. And the best test for a "FAST" AF lens is when you shoot hi-speed moving objects. You can tell if that lens is the bomb if it can give you high quality focused subjects that you expected (motorcycle racing, F1 cars, etc..)

You can compensate the exposure level in Av/Tv modes simply by a button (up or down). You just can't in Manual mode because you are manually selecting the Aperture/shutter speed - you can simply increase the exposure compensation level because you would then have to also change the Aperture/Shutter speed - since you are not in Av/Tv mode, you will have to DO IT YOURSELF. If you were in Av/Tv mode, you simply adjust the exposure level and the camera will also change the Aperture/Shutter values based on your exposure compensation level. Increasing exposure level brightens your image if it's too dark - but being able to manually control BOTH aperture/Shutter will result in an overall better image THAT YOU BELIEVE IS BETTER. Again, it's all subjective. I know one guy who would shoot images that were about -2EV all the time - he thought it was perfect exposure - the guy actually has a medical eye problem. Probably the most expensive thing about photography (digital photography) is the frickin' LENS. You can pay up to $3200 for a lens alone. Having a full frame sensor also helps greatly in details of an image.

To sum it up, I would shoot in Av mode if I want a specific DOP (depth of view). I would shoot in Tv mode (if I wanted to focus on having a fast shutter speed - even if the aperture is smaller than what I want). I would shoot in MANUAL mode if I really want the big aperture (F2.8 on my lens) and I also want to capture a high speed subject in action (a person jumping up to spike a volleyball for example). I will use Manual mode to force the camera to shoot this way so I can get my shot. Remember that you have to compensate whenever you change an Aperture/Shutter combination to get the proper exposure levels. Larger aperture, slower shutter speed or by changing the ISO speed (all these in combination with each other) is one way to allow for "low" light shooting - even without use of flash (you can always de-noise/post-process in photoshop). Having a great DSLR/lens will still require you to post-process your images - just that you have to do very little work

PS-
If "P" is the case, then it's almost the same as "auto" but depending on your camera type, will allow you to shift your "program" combo aperture/shutter to get the same exposure level, change ISO speeds, metering mode, AF point selections, etc. while full AUTO mode will not allow any of these.

Always have fun in what you do - or else why would you do it anyway? There are more than 100,000 photographers on this planet - who gives a shit what I think or what anybody else thinks? If that's the case, then no one would post images up on the net to showcase ;-) It's always subjective opinion

 

Correction to above statement:

"You just can't in Manual mode because you are manually selecting the Aperture/shutter speed - you can simply increase the exposure compensation level because you would then have to also change the Aperture/Shutter speed - since you are not in Av/Tv mode, you will have to DO IT YOURSELF."

I meant to say YOU CAN'T:

You just can't in Manual mode because you are manually selecting the Aperture/shutter speed - you CAN'T simply increase the exposure compensation level because you would then have to also change the Aperture/Shutter speed - since you are not in Av/Tv mode, you will have to DO IT YOURSELF.

 

ok man i cant let you keep trying to help people when you're spouting off incorrect information. lets start with the first one...you use canon dslr's as a reference to many of your examples. currently, the rebel line including the xt, have 7 AF points. next come the 20d, 30d, and 5d with 9. at the end of that spectrum are the 1 series.
these have 45. as you can see, this is no where close to your 5-15 AF points and no matter how i try to decipher it, it still doesnt fit.

2...you use a full frame lens??? tell me where i can find one of these. im sure you just had a slip up in yoru head and meant to say you had a FF sensor. right?

3...im going to take you up on the 'bomb lense' test. your very first reply in this thread stated it's never the camera/gear fault...it's the shooter. now you're telling me all i need is fast glass and all my frames will come up nice and purdy? do i even need to explain this one?

the rest i never read. i figured if an entire paragraph contained incorrect information the rest would only get worse

 

1: 20D,30D have 9 AF points. 5D has (15). 9 visible, 6 within metering circle. EOS-1 series have 45 (but why do you need that many anyway?)

2: Full frame as in full frame sensor. I have trouble writing.

3: When you first learn how to drive a car, a 1986 cutlass supreme oldsmobile is more than enough car for you to start with. Then you move up to an Acura after you gain experience. You start off with a Rebel XT (it's a great starter camera body) but soon you will realise you need better because you have mastered the basic concepts.

Read the rest...and I'm just responding to what Chod asked - why use M over Av mode. The rest were ramblings.