An Accident...

[mandaliz8704]

Hi,

I'm not quite sure how I did this. I got a Canon Rebel XT for Christmas, and I was out at the beach the other day messing around trying to "make friends" with this camera.

I'm a very very beginner, and I'm just curious as to what others think of this picture. I just need a push in the right direction. If it's garbage, just tell me.

I have done nothing to this picture other than upload it to photobucket. This is exactly how it came off the camera.

I can post the EXIF data, if needed. Thanks, everyone.

[gahspidy]

Welcome to the forum. This is not bad, but the reflection is too bright. good that you did not include the sun in the shot or the exposure would have really came down and left everyhting very dark except for the sun and reflection. I see that the trees in the bg are not sharp. your shutter speed (1/640) was more than fast enough to hand hold this shot. Your aperture was f16 which would give you a good range of sharpness in the scene. I am guessing that you let the auto focus do the work here and it may have focused on the immediate foreground.
the main trouble here is the sun and reflection are too bright here, and waiting for the sun to come down just below the trees may have created a more intersting scene. This image could also benefit from having another element involved such as a bird flying across the water or some people out in a boat, etc.
Not bad for messing around, thats how we get familiar with the equipment and get the hang of what it does and learn what to expect from it.
Keep shooting and if you don't already know what your aperture and shutter speed is amongst other things it would be helpful to get a book such as the National Geographic Field Guide to Photography to get an understanding of what the camera is all about.

[mandaliz8704]

Great, thank you so much! I'll have to find that book...

I did use the auto focus, and if I remember correctly, it focused on the water. I'll definitely keep shooting... I'm having way too much fun to stop now.

Thanks again.

[Tyson L. Sparks]

I agree with gary, welcome by the way. Something in the background woukld have relly set this one off. Looks like a beautiful place to visit. Keep shooting and posting.

[MB1]

How did it look in color? I'm thinking that strong colors would improve this a lot. OTOH if the colors are washed out because of the bright sun your choice of B&W makes sense.

[mandaliz8704]

I dont know how it would look in color, I took the pic in B&W. I dont even recall what setting the camera was in at the time. I was standing on the end of the jetty, turned around and took the picture. I didnt even know it was B&W until I got home and took the pictures off of the camera. The sun was very bright and I couldnt tell it was B&W from the display.

Thanks everyone for the replies... I'm probably going to go take some more pictures this weekend, hopefully things will go well.

[DrRoebuck]

... I took the pic in B&W ...

That's not something you should get in the habit of. It's easy enough to convert later.

[gahspidy]

That's not something you should get in the habit of. It's easy enough to convert later.

DrRoebuck beat me to it. I agree, shoot in color and convert later in your editing program if you want b&w. The conversion later on gives you alot more options and better results. Also, perhaps you do not want to convert and like it better in color . . .your options are there.