DSLR Beginner - Need critics & advice!

yourenotwrong

I've only recently taken up photography with the eventual aim of doing stop motion work. I got a fantastic deal on a Canon EOS 450D a few weeks ago and have been snapping away since. The lenses I got with the camera are Canon 18-55 IS + Tamron 55-200 F4/5.6 LD Macro Lens

I love the view from my flat window at night (simple streetlamp and trees) and tried to capture it. I used the basic 'night' mode on the camera with the Tamron lens and I'm not satisfied with the results. I know that the creative modes are what I should be using but I'm at a loss where to begin.

I would really like some advice on how to take a better picture, using the streetlamp as an example. I don't like the glow from the street light, and would prefer to capture the atmospheric look that it has.

I've posted three of the images here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50469690@N03/sets/

Thanks!
Tom

Ballyman

I'm not sure what it is you are trying to achieve as it looks like a street light should look like!!

Did you use a tripod? If not then get ourself one as the shutter speed was too slow to handhold. If you use a tripod then close down the aperture to about f14 and you should get a star shape glow around the light.

mrboswell

As Ballyman said closing the aperture will give you a nice star effect.

You could also lower your iso for a longer exposure but you might need a neutral density filter for that (basically darkens the lest so less light comes through and you can use a longer shutter speed). Of course you will need the use of a tripod for that.

You could also try using colour filters (which I'm not too up to date with) or you could also mess around with your colour balance (best to shoot in raw so you can change it later on the pc)

Best of luck with the experimenting!

Misterboyle

Frist take your camera off any off the presets that cheating (as my tutor used to say) only use the shutter speed and aperture setting, that will help you get a feel for how the camera works far better then if you use the presets.

and don't go near filters till you know how your camera works as it only melt you head

Your shot is nice but muck around with it a bit if you have photoshop i say it would look great as a black and white shot or inverst it for sum funkey affects.


best of luck

pixbyjohn

On another night try taking several photos of the same scene of the lamp and change the white balance for each shot. Also use the shutter priority and experiment with various shutter speeds, either use a tripod or rest the camera on something steady. Good luck with it. Those shots are nice.

the_tractor

Congrats on the new camera.

For the shot you have above.
Set up a tripod, put the camera is Av mode, then vary the values.
Take a shot at each of these 4.0, 8.0, 11.0 16.0, 22.0
Look at how the light changes from a blob to a 'star'.

Also as someone said, try changing the White Balance, just use the in camera presets. In most conditions the Auto WB is gonna be ok, but street lights are not gonna be easy for the Auto WB.

Just get out there are try it out, and enjoy it.
It will take a while, but you will start to learn.

yourenotwrong

Thanks a lot everyone. Yes, I have been using a tripod. I think it'll just be a case of trying out all the settings on the camera and figuring out which work best. Great forum and I really appreciate the advice!