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I have a Canon 40D which I adore and is so much more capable then me! A great camera and a good lens or two (or three of four) is a joy.

I took this photo of my daughter at a recent wedding where she was a bridesmaid. It was late in the afternoon of a long day and she was a bit photo'd out. I wasn't the official photographer, which I really like as you can just hang around on the periphery and get some really nice candids. She just stuck the two posies next to her head and I had about two seconds to compose and shoot.



...and a humble little orb weaver spider from my back yard, that looks much scarier than in real life (taken on my pre-DSLR camera the Panasonic FZ30)

Ian,

The first once is nice, but I think the shadow (under chin) is a bit distracting.

As a newbie myself, I know how daunting your first few posts here are...

The first one is very nice - looks like a real life portrait shot! Also looks like very nice afternoon sunlight there too!

I am sure a couple of the portrait / model gurus here could you give you some cracking tips to turn this into a magazine style shot! Nonetheless I think it is quite nice

ahhh Panania...almost gods country!!

Welcome and thanks for posting your pics.

Some lovely golden light in the first shot of your daughter. As mentioned the shadow is a bit of a distraction but you learn to look out for these things over time. I think you did well.

Do you have a macro lens to play with on the new cam? A macro lens and a speedlight flash work wonderfully together.

Yes, I do. I bought the Canon 100mm macro and I love it. It's sharp and a lot better in low light to the zooms I have. I also have a Speedlight 430ex2. In hindsight I should have bought the 580 but hindsight is always 20 20. the 430 is really good though- I team it with a Canon radio trigger to get it off camera and that's lots of fun too (in a confusing sort of way sometimes). In time I'll get another flash and run them together.

Hello and welcome Ian.
You should like it around here, they mostly play very nice.
There is also a lot of very useful information to be gained from the membership.
I will go with the flow and for #1

Hi Ian. Welcome to the forum. I also like number one. The second would be better with the focus on the spider's head and eyes I think, perhaps coming around to the front. Keep posting, it's a great way to improve!

I can't believe the response rate of this site to postings. Honestly, I have lodged questions, comments etc on other sites and been totally ignored. Thanks for all the input and for the great site.

Welcome to the forum Ian
It's great to see newcomers starting off with an image post. That takes a little courage. Your first image has some nice elements, the light is charming and others have mentioned the distracting shadow. It's the little things that can detract and it takes hard work to critically examine the viewfinder before pressing the shutter. Scan the perimeter of the viewfinder each time until it becomes a habit. Your second image has too little in focus. It lacks depth of field. With macro shots it's very important to set the lens to f11 or f16 in order to gain more depth of field. This greatly reduces the amount of light entering the camera so you may have to work from a tripod or introduce more light via a flashgun etc. Keep at it and please keep posting so that we can help out with tips and feedback.

The subject in the first one is better looking!
Welcome!

Welcome. Nice first shot. I like close crops and this is a good one. There's a huge amount of experience and advice to be found here on this forum, and best of all, it's free. All you need do is ask!

Regards,

Ozi.