First Photos

A Guru Rinpoche statue I picked up in Chengdu
The laziest still life in history
The view from my window in two parts, West to East (ISO 800 /1.3s exp)
I think I need to learn how to convert files and/or shoot them for web use. A large RAW file is showing as 25Mb and the images as presented on the forum page look pinched. Shots 2 and 3 are in Medium Fine JPEG setting. The sharpening looked great fullscreen (when zoomed in the increased noise became apparent, without sharpening the deepest field objects were fuzzy. Unsure which to go for, except now it looks like I should have sharpened by about 40% of the amount I did))

Orient DBAA, RAW file, 16 Meg, converted to JPEG

Nice photos

Cheers. At the moment I'm just happy when I hear the shutter click!

It was a lovely sunny day on Sunday, so lots of people were out, including brides, getting their photos done by professional crews. I managed to capture a couple of shots then crop the other photographer and lighting assistants out. The woman standing behind the shutters is actually looking straight into the lens, which was extremely fortunate! She is so gorgeous and her facial expression is a perfect example of Oriental reserve. I can't quite believe i got this shot during my first ever day out with a camera.
Opinions/comments are very welcome

Nice photos! I don't really see a problem with oversharpening, but that can be hard to spot in this type of setting. In general, a little sharpening goes a long way, and with a DSLR and a decent lens, there are many shots that won't need any at all.

They look very nice to my untrained eye!

On a side note, that is a very handsome pipe and watch. If you don't mind me asking, what are the specifics on the pipe?

They're a start If you really want to get into photography as a hobby, you must learn to understand exposure, understand your camera, understand composition and visual communication and last, but not least, post processing. If you're shooting RAW, you must post process. Your photos won't get better just by shooting RAW. The RAW format is meant for post processing.

Think of raw format as a digital negative.

I also highly recommend the book "Understanding Exposure". It is a good read on understanding Iso, Shutter speed, and aperture with how they intereact with one another.

The pictures are very nice!

Also +1 on this:

PieRat said:

Think of raw format as a digital negative.

I also highly recommend the book "Understanding Exposure". It is a good read on understanding Iso, Shutter speed, and aperture with how they intereact with one another.

Click to expand...

Great pictures Steve.

I like the bride with the doors.
At least you aren't lacking for good booze variety there, although you seem low on quantity.
How's the tobacco supply for that Peterson and what is the pipe in the solo picture? It's nice looking.

Thanks for the comments. The first Orient pic is looking a little soft, the second one a little harsh in the flash, but at least it's clearly focussed. The pipe is an Aldo Morelli, which I picked up for I think 800 yuan in Suzhou. It smokes well! Tobacco is a real problem around here- everyone seems to smoke mild tobacco and I like the fuller stuff, Mick McQuaide, Full Va Flake and Dunhill Navy Rolls. The worst thing about my tobacconist is....he has no idea how pipes work, so keeps getting in new tobacco at his whim, so you can't buy from him regularly or you'll ruin your cake! I think I cetainly do need to learn a lot more about this hobby to keep improving. My friend from a long time ago got into it and spent a lot of money on gear, but gave it up as he said that despite thoussands of shots, he never could get that indefineable quality of the first rate photograph. I think understanding technical aspects is very important to allow your creative side to come through and exactly why almost the same shot can look quite nice, or incredible. I think I've got the equipment to let me express myself, when I know how. I'll keep this thread going as I get more shots I'm happy with.

I think you've done a good job with the photos. I really like the macro shot of the orient with natural lighting. Keep it up!

Thanks!
The weather's been poor this week and since night is falling about an hour after I get home I haven't been able to get out. There are some really interesting places I want to shoot- street-food vendors galore and lots of life. Just need to get out there, but when it's drizzly with bad air quality, it's not too enticing. I went out on my ebike last night to get some closer shots of Jinji Lake's brilliantly-lit pagoda (shown above next to the Ferris wheel), but it was just too far away and after spending a while trying to get a shot using 1/2s exposures, I looked at what I was personally seeing and realised even my own eyes couldn't make a clear image through the murk! Still, there is plenty of time

Looks like you're off to a good start here.

A good set of books for getting started in digital photograhpy is this series by Scott Kelby:
http://www.amazon.com/Scott-Kelbys-Digital-Photography-Volumes/dp/0321678737
He goes through many different situations and has suggestions for using your camera in them. I found them to be very helpful

here's a far better exposure of the hotel across the street from me and a couple of others.

Chinese made acoustic, all solid wood, sounds and plays beautifully.
And my trusty G with yakskin wallet

er...

Very nice pics

Which digi camera make and model you are using? Very nice night shots..