What I know and don't know

A couple of years back I was like any other teenager. I wanted to get a DSLR camera, and so I did (after much saving). I got it when I was 13, and since then... Well, let's just say that it hasn't been used much. I am a sucker for new challenges. However, if things get too hard, or there are no answers, I bore easily. Take this example of one of my first photos:

It is washed out, and bland, but I was so happy I understood lens flare! (This is also a good example of how opportunity meets luck)

However I progressed, and learnt that even though nature photos are "nice", I wanted "fun". And to me, fun means straight out life caught on camera! This is an example photo taken a while after winter passed.

An that is what colour coordination looks like. This was in aperture priority mode (AV on my PENTAX), 5.6 F, shutter speed 1/400 sek and an ISO of 200, no zoom, no flash. The light is actually coming from behind Mollie, but thanks to the low ISO, light envelops her even with a relatively normal shutter speed.

Here is another example;

This photo was also taken in aperture priority mode, 4 F, shutter speed 1/40 sek and ISO 1600, with a 18-55 standard kit lens, zoomed all the way in. The high ISO allows for bad lighting, but a high shutter speed as well. The aperture is relatively low, giving a very blurred background, and its manually locked to focus on a very small spot  around eleven o'clock.

This picture on the other hand;

is taken with ISO 400, 8 F, and shutter speed 1/125 sek. It's also worth to mention it's taken with a 55-300 kit lens. The "higher" aperture allows for the black to be blacker. The low ISO makes sure the colours don't get washed out. Shutter speed is balanced to show contrast and definition to the details of the birds and trees. SO. Balance huh? Can't be that hard! 

Everyone loves to see "Don't do this things". Here you go:

The lens is all wrong! This is the 18-55 lens. It is paired with a high ISO of 180, and a too low aperture of 6,3. It was taken in full manual mode, all zoomed out and no flash. Below is comparatively an image taken under the right circumstances:

This was taken with the 55-300 lens, zoomed out, without flash. The ISO is lowered to 800, and the aperture is 5,6. It was take on my cameras "Portrait mode" which means all I change is the ISO, and this is done on feel and trial and error.

This is an example of placement and alignment. The settings are identical. ISO 800, F 5,6, shutter speed 1/2 sek taken at 42 mm zoom with the kit lens. Many times you dont need to photoshop things like this, but to make them more attractive you could tilt them, or add a black and white filter, which is the cheepest editing trick you can do, but it works!

Well that last one might be over done to prove a point, but see what a little shuffling and black and white can do? Here are some examples of over worked photos:

I think that's all for today!