Sunrise

[mbrager]

Hi: I'm new to this forum and to DSLR photography. I seem to have caught the bug and since I bought a Canon 50D have been "shooting" as often as I can.
Following this forum has inspired me quite often and I've found the comments helpful and supportive. I'll try to join in other threads when I can.
This is taken near our house near a walking path where a cross country ski trail has been iced over with the warmer weather and melting snow. I thought the reflections from the early morning sunrise looked very cool.

[casil403]

Hi and welcome to the forum fellow Calgarian! :highfive:
I like the leading lines in this photo but it looks a little soft in terms of sharpness. it may be due to the fact that it the file might have been compressed when you loaded it. How large was the image before you loaded it on the website?
I think the upload max file size is 200kb (?)... so if your file was larger the webiste may have compressed it which would cause the softness. :)

[mbrager]

Thanks for responding, Casil. I've often admired your photos here. I am aware you're from Calgary and there are many other Canadians on this forum.
I compressed the image myself before I attached it. I think the softness is more because it's really out of focus. I don't think I stopped down enough for more depth of field, and I'm not familiar enough with my camera yet to use the focus points properly. Also, using a tripod would probably help. I'm going to keep trying.

[casil403]

Thanks for responding, Casil. I've often admired your photos here. I am aware you're from Calgary and there are many other Canadians on this forum.
I compressed the image myself before I attached it. I think the softness is more because it's really out of focus. I don't think I stopped down enough for more depth of field, and I'm not familiar enough with my camera yet to use the focus points properly. Also, using a tripod would probably help. I'm going to keep trying.

Please do keep trying MB! :highfive: just outta curiosity, what here the settings fstop shutter speed and ISO you used in the photo? A tripod always helps especially if you don't have image stabilization in camera or lens as well.
Ps...thanks for the kind comments.... :)

[Mad Aussie]

Welcome to the forum mbrager!

The shot is too soft, but it does show an eye for basic compostion, and I can see enough to imagine all those highlights from the sunlight that caught your eye.
I'm sure if you hang around here long enough you'll soon see your photography lefting to new levels :)

[Bambi]

HI Mbrager! welcome. Casil and MA summed it up. A tripod would help. Just take tons of pictures and get tons of advice. On one memorable thread here I did processing on one photo about 7 times... well worth it though.

[mbrager]

Thanks for the comments. I will keep taking pictures for sure and posting them.
This was taken at f5.0 at 1/100, ISO 100, focal length 105 mm, which is the limit of my lens, so even with IS, no wonder it's soft.

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks for the comments. I will keep taking pictures for sure and posting them.
This was taken at f5.0 at 1/100, ISO 100, focal length 105 mm, which is the limit of my lens, so even with IS, no wonder it's soft.
Not really mbrager. I know the rule of thumb is the shutter speed should be equal to the focal length at the very least but with IS you should be able to exceed that easily. In fact ... with lower focal lengths you'll get to a stage where you'll exceed that without the IS on if you want.
I think you'll find that you are just still getting used to the camera and lens. I had this problem with one of my lenses. I thought it had to be faulty, it couldn't be me, I'd taken 1000's of photos with lots of lenses over the years. It was me!

Try this next time ... set up the shot and when you are ready to shoot ... take a deep breath and then breath it all out! At the moment you get the breath all out ... gently press the button ... don't push down on it ... it's more an attitude I guess but I found it helped me plenty. Also, look at how you hold the lens ... if you are holding it from the side ... perhaps cradle it from underneath to further thwart any downward movement.

Another thing ... don't be afraid to take that ISO up a little. Even in bright situations you can confidently use 200 and often 400. With those you can get that shutter speed up more. You could have shot that with a shutter speed of 250 or more that way.

[Marko]

Welcome mbrager! Glad you found us.

Please check the filesize of the photo BEFORE you uploaded. It's only 50k now. Is the local copy on your computer also 50k?

Your composition is quite nice here, so we just have to figure out what went wrong technically so that you can avoid this in the future.

Your shutterspeed could have been a bit faster but this level of unsharpness is suspicious which is why I'm 2x checking your filesize prior to upload.

Welcome again - marko

[mbrager]

Please check the filesize of the photo BEFORE you uploaded. It's only 50k now. Is the local copy on your computer also 50k?
Your composition is quite nice here, so we just have to figure out what went wrong technically so that you can avoid this in the future.
Your shutterspeed could have been a bit faster but this level of unsharpness is suspicious which is why I'm 2x checking your filesize prior to upload.

Marko: Thanks for your comments. The file I originally uploaded was about 250 KB on my drive. The original file was 1.4 MB. I am going to upload the original and am noticing that using the attachment utility it was downsized to 143 KB.
In the meantime, as a result of reading further forum threads, I did edit the file using Topaz Adjust for sharpness. This seems to have helped. I'm curious to see what it will look like onscreen. Thanks again.

Mad Aussie: Thank you too for the tips about shooting and steadying the camera. Carrying a tripod isn't always an option.

[Bambi]

much better! I like the detail of the snow. the horizon is still fuzzy but it's getting there. :)

I have found it easier to upload to a site and then link to it here. then i don't have to worry about compression.

[casil403]

much better! I like the detail of the snow. the horizon is still fuzzy but it's getting there. :)

I have found it easier to upload to a site and then link to it here. then i don't have to worry about compression.

Exactly what Bambio said...I use flickr...but there are several other sites such as picassa and photobucket that also might interest you.
Another quick tip I've used when i don't have a tripod is use something to steady the camera and shoot. i notice there are a few benches in the background...if you were near one, try experimenting with steadying the camera on one of the benches and then shoot. Also, I have ramped up the ISO to be able to increase the shutter speed which also seems to help with blur in an image...just a few thoughts....hope they help :)

[Bambi]

also Scott Kelby recommends that using 'burst' will sometimes help you to have at least one photo sharp.

[Mad Aussie]

That 2nd photo really helps us to see what's happening here I think.

About half way into your photo we can see an area that is in focus pretty much but it's not a very big area. Another way to describe this is you got a narrow Depth of Field (DOF) in the centre of the photo.
This tells us a couple of things. One ... you focused in the centre of the photo. Were you using multiple autofocus points or just a single point? And two ... you used a low f-stop (large aperture) which kept the DOF narrow as well. With a higher ISO you would have been able to bump the f-stop up a few stops to about f8 perhaps and gained a larger area in focus.
I think with the buildings in the background I would have used a multiple point setting for autofocus to hopefully get as much of the snow, but also the trees and buildings back there in focus too.

What Bambi has mentioned about burst mode is quite good and does work. Usually this is for when you are forced to use a shutter speed under what you are usually capable of using and still get sharp photos. So you might need 35mm focal length but really need only 1/10th shutter speed. In this case a burst of shots can yield one in the bunch that is sharper than the rest.

[mbrager]

Exactly what Bambio said...I use flickr...but there are several other sites such as picassa and photobucket that also might interest you.
Another quick tip I've used when i don't have a tripod is use something to steady the camera and shoot. i notice there are a few benches in the background...if you were near one, try experimenting with steadying the camera on one of the benches and then shoot. Also, I have ramped up the ISO to be able to increase the shutter speed which also seems to help with blur in an image...just a few thoughts....hope they help :)

Hi and thanks for the tips. I have both Flickr and Picasa Web Albums accounts and tried pasting in the "embed" HTML with no luck. At least, it didn't make my photo show up in the Preview Post. Only the HTML showed up. Can you enlighten me if I'm doing something wrong (or more likely missing something completely obvious :o
Thanks.

[Mad Aussie]

Picasa is a bit difficult but Flickr is very easy.

In Flickr make sure you are veiwing the size photo you want to post (All Sizes, then the size) ... and just below that you'll see 2 choices. Choose 2 ... 'Grab the Photos URL' and copy that.

Then when posting here simply hit the little 'Insert Image' button (2nd to last one along, looks like a couple of mountains in a yellow box) and paste the URL in the field and hit 'Ok' ... Done.

[mbrager]

Picasa is a bit difficult but Flickr is very easy.

In Flickr make sure you are veiwing the size photo you want to post (All Sizes, then the size) ... and just below that you'll see 2 choices. Choose 2 ... 'Grab the Photos URL' and copy that.

Then when posting here simply hit the little 'Insert Image' button (2nd to last one along, looks like a couple of mountains in a yellow box) and paste the URL in the field and hit 'Ok' ... Done.

Thank you so much. I was missing that first step of viewing the size. Worked like a charm. My post is in the birds and animals subsection.