Getting deeper into photography

[My2butterflies]

My husband surprised me and let me have some gifts early Not going to lie, he really spoils me and always gives me gifts early

He went above and beyond this year and got me things to allow me to grow in my hobby. Among the things he got me are a 50mm and 200-500mm lenses, a laptop, editing software, and a 20wk course book on photography!

I haven’t really used a computer in 10yrs So just getting familiar with using one to edit has been a learning curve for me. Thankfully even with technical advancements over the past decade the basics haven’t changed so it’s coming back to me. Haha. I’ve been such a phone and tablet junkie

This will be my journal as I work on improving my skills. After all, most of my pictures will be of my pets, fowl, and wildlife All pictures are taken with my Nikon D5600. I’ll do my best to put lens, F stop, shutter, and iso above the pictures as I go.

To start, these are some shots I took with the 50mm 1:8 lens.
F5.6, 1/200, iso 100

F4, 1/80, iso 160 Shutter could have been higher or iso lower on this one. I feel it is slightly over exposed.

F4, 1/160, iso 200

F5, 1/50, iso 500

F6.3, 1/500, iso 100

This next one is one of a few I took with the 200-500mm lens. The lens is very heavy so I used a short bendy tripod for support. It’s going to take a lot of practice to get better with this lens. I’m not at all happy with my focus at the moment. Even with a tripod taking some weight off I was moving way too much. Ugh.
F5.6, 1/500, iso 400. Not the best settings either. I think I was so concentrated on handling the lens I really didn’t pay attention to my settings. Next time I’ll have a higher F stop to get more in focus.

Criticism is always welcome I can’t grow if my flaws aren’t exposed
Feel free to post your own pictures and share your growth in the hobby too!

 

[Kusanar]

Looking good! I do agree that the one photo was a little overexposed but that's hard to avoid with pure white and pure black both, I always have one or the other not showing the texture I would like.

Might want to also pop to this thread if you haven't already, lots of photo people and lots of good tips and tricks posted.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wildlife-photography.1367815/

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I'm so jealous. I'd love to have a nice camera, but I'm afraid I wouldn't take the time to craft my skills, so I don't want to spend that kind of money

Good luck! Feel free to share your favorites with us!

And Happy Holidays!!!

 

[Sally PB]

Having spent most of my working life in a photo lab, it is great to see people making use of what their equipment has to offer. The detail in the turkey picture is excellent. Nice job!

 

[Kusanar]

Having spent most of my working life in a photo lab, it is great to see people making use of what their equipment has to offer. The detail in the turkey picture is excellent. Nice job!

I know right? I wasn't even aware that turkeys had hair on their bald heads until this picture...

 

[Sally PB]

Focus was my biggest complaint in the vast majority of poor quality pictures I saw at work. One time a coworker asked me why I was so stuck on focus, was it that big a deal? I took of my glasses and said, "$400 to see things clearly. Yep, it's that big of a deal." He wore glasses and I think he got it.

I wanted to say to the photographers, the thing on the front of the camera twists for a reason!

There were VERY FEW good pictures that stayed in my memory that were out of focus. I can remember more that were really terrible, because they were out of focus. Dad walking Bride down the aisle... shudder... Once in a life time shot, and they could have been a salt and pepper shaker, for the lack of focus.

 

[My2butterflies]

Looking good! I do agree that the one photo was a little overexposed but that's hard to avoid with pure white and pure black both, I always have one or the other not showing the texture I would like.

Might want to also pop to this thread if you haven't already, lots of photo people and lots of good tips and tricks posted.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wildlife-photography.1367815/

Thanks! I agree the black and white together is challenging. Being so bright out I couldn’t see that it was over exposed on my lcd screen. Not that I looked very closely.
That thread is great! I really enjoyed the information there

I'm so jealous. I'd love to have a nice camera, but I'm afraid I wouldn't take the time to craft my skills, so I don't want to spend that kind of money

Good luck! Feel free to share your favorites with us!

And Happy Holidays!!!

My husband was initially worried I wouldn’t use a camera enough to make it worth the cost. I’m not sure what changed his mind, but last year he got me my Nikon. I’ve been using it regularly ever since
If you take pictures as much as I do it is so worth it!
And don’t shy away from second hand. I have a 55mm that is a used lens and it is amazing! You’d never know it wasn’t brand new.

Having spent most of my working life in a photo lab, it is great to see people making use of what their equipment has to offer. The detail in the turkey picture is excellent. Nice job!

Thank you!
That one is a favorite of mine already. Mostly because it’s my favorite turkey

 

[My2butterflies]

One of my turtles basking. She was kind enough to hold still for a bit.
50mm, F5.6, 1/160, iso 640

 

[Callender Girl]

As a former newspaper editor, I had the opportunity to work with a few great photographers and quite a few that were less than stellar. In other words, I've seen my share of photos and then some.

I LOVE your photos. You are shooting what you love, and that shows in your work.

The turkey photo is incredible, and I also love your elevation of a lowly turtle into a beautiful image. You are an artist, and your husband is a saint!!

 

[My2butterflies]

As a former newspaper editor, I had the opportunity to work with a few great photographers and quite a few that were less than stellar. In other words, I've seen my share of photos and then some.

I LOVE your photos. You are shooting what you love, and that shows in your work.

The turkey photo is incredible, and I also love your elevation of a lowly turtle into a beautiful image. You are an artist, and your husband is a saint!!

Thank you for such generous compliments!
I definitely agree he is! He always backs me 100% in anything that peaks my interest.