First Picture and Reguest

[Rogerp]

Hi This is my first picture I have just purchased a Canon SX50 HS. This was taken in the garden in old fashioned money the settings were focal length 834mm Apature 4.97 F Number 5.6 Shutter Speed 1/80...Constructive Criticism accepted, I am still trying to get used to the camera only taken about 50 shots so far.........On another note could I ask everyone who post's pictures, could you please put some information on as to what the camera was used....I have looked at loads of wonderful pictures on hear but ended up wondering if my camera can get good results, I'm sure I'm not the only newbie who would find this useful.

[Rogerp]

Ok so how do I make the picture bigger?

[Bobobird]

Help! How do I post images here?

and you will be posting larger in no time.

[Rogerp]

Bobo

Thank you very much...................easy when you know how !!!

Roger

[Geoff F]

Looks a bit pale to me, Roger. Possibly needs stronger blacks, or a tweak to strengthen the shadows. Several options available.

And I would crop differently. That fairly strong brown twig on the right is distracting for me. Maybe crop to a different size ratio, like 5 x 4 ratio for example, to remove the problem.

Basically a good shot otherwise.

[Rogerp]

Geoff thanks for our comments, that picture was straight out of the camera, I haven't got any fancy software just Picasa...Is this any better?

[Geoff F]

That is better, Roger, although I wouldn't have cropped quite so tight.

I was thinking more like this.



The white area around its neck is slightly over exposed so I have reduced the brightness a little.

[splashy]

Obviously you had low light and you did a good job, at 1/80th an F.5.6 AND 143MM
Normally you take 2 times focus = shutterspeed
Your lens is probably sharper at F between 7 or 8, as you can see on the branch at the right foot about 2 inches to the right it seems sharper.
If the object is obstructed you can use spot focus and aim exactly at the eyes of the bird.
Most of the time if you have a decent picture, you can adjust a lot with PP, consider Adobe Lightroom, but also FastStone Image Viewer can do some decent things to a jpeg.
As you can see a little PP does wonders and the bird looks crispy and almost sharp.
Very good first try.

[rpcrowe]

Even though the SX50HS is a great camera with very good Image Stabilization; I would strongly recommend that you either use a faster shutter speed (which would require a higher ISO) and/or mount your camera on a tripod. Shooting at a long focal length is chancy at best when hand held - even with IS capability. The SX50HS is a relatively small camera and a heavy duty tripod would not be required...

[Rogerp]

Geoff, Thanks that looks a much better picture, I can see I've got a very sharp learning curve, I do appreciate your help. I'm hoping to got o a steam railway tomorrow depending on the weather and will see if anything is worth putting on.

Roger

[Rogerp]

Mike. Thanks for your comments, like I've said I've got a very sharp learning curve, what I didn't say was it was also taken looking through a widow, I will look at Adobe and Faststone.

Roger

[Rogerp]

Richard. Thanks all this ISO F stop's etc area a bit confusing at present I'm a bit concerned about using too high an ISO as in the old film days it used to be grainy, (from memory) but a friend tells me it's not so bad with digital especially if your not printing. So will do some experiments. I have got a tripod several in fact but it was a case of quick grap the camera and shoot.

Roger

[Geoff F]

Roger, have you read all the CinC tutorials? That will give you a good base for your photography.

After that, there are a number of other sites which go into even greater detail. We never stop learning!

[Rogerp]

Roger, have you read all the CinC tutorials? That will give you a good base for your photography.

After that, there are a number of other sites which go into even greater detail. We never stop learning!

Geoff, hands up no I haven't will do