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zepps_apprentice

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Well, I bit the bullet and bought a camera this weekend. I ended up going with the Cannon 60D. After a long conversation with a very knowledgeable saleswoman, we decided that this was easy enough for me to use right away, but also had enough room for growth that I would not get bored of it too quickly. I know Bsprled speaks pretty highly of her 40D (even though she has moved on now), so that helped to seal the deal for me. For now I would be happy to take pictures half as good as some of the ones she took on hers.

I bought a couple of Cannon lenses at the same time - 18-200mm and 50mm. I also got UV filters, an extra battery and a small knapsack for lugging everything around. I have not had too much time to play around with the camera, but from what I have seen so far, I think I will enjoy it very much.

So now my next questions:

How do I learn to take great pictures?

What is next lens I should be buying to give me even more versatility?

Edited by Dandu
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Sunset a couple of nights ago...

sunsetdogwalk2small.jpg

I love this, it's very atmospheric.

My photography is very limited - I've just started doing astrophotography, using equipment belonging to my friend. It helps an awful lot with my studies.

Saturn-SmallC.jpg

This is my first ever piece of astrophotography - Saturn.

Moon-SmallC.jpg

And this is my second, our Moon. :)

I'll just show you an example of what my friend can do - he's brilliant at this type of photography!

M51-Supernova3611cropped-JohnMellorC.jpg

This is a photograph he took of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). The lines show a supernova. He uses an SLR camera of some description or another. :P

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So now my next questions:

How do I learn to take great pictures?

What is next lens I should be buying to give me even more versatility?

For question number 1 I'm afraid its "how do you get to carnegie hall", a good book or reading the net will help but pratice is the main thing.

As far as lenses go what kind of pics do you want to take? the 18-200 is a very versitile lens and if you bought another in that range of focal lenght it would be more about image quality than versatility so perhaps its a good idea to wait and see which range you use the most? The same with the 50 1.8(I assume it was the 1.8 and not the 1.4), wait and see it you like large appature prime lenses and work out what range you buy another.

The main "gaps" I see that wouldnt overlap your current lenses are a macro and ultrawide if you interested in them. Lots of choice in those areas and it really depends on what range/appature/quality you want and how much you have to spend.

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I love this, it's very atmospheric.

My photography is very limited - I've just started doing astrophotography, using equipment belonging to my friend. It helps an awful lot with my studies.

Saturn-SmallC.jpg

This is my first ever piece of astrophotography - Saturn.

Moon-SmallC.jpg

And this is my second, our Moon. :)

I'll just show you an example of what my friend can do - he's brilliant at this type of photography!

M51-Supernova3611cropped-JohnMellorC.jpg

This is a photograph he took of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). The lines show a supernova. He uses an SLR camera of some description or another. :P

Cool looking photos. Last year my daughter was doing a bit of moon gazing and took this photo through our telescope with her cell phone, beleive it or not.

fullmoonoverwildomar72510.jpg

and this one of Jupiter

Jupiter090110.jpg

and Saturn

saturn.jpg

Edited by ledzepfvr
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Greenman,

Thanks for your thoughts above. I think a macro lens is the next thing on my list.

What kind of a macro lens did you use for those dew pictures?

The Canon 100mm 2.8 macro although Sigma and Tamron do good lenses aswell, if you want to do macro I'd strongly recommend a tripod aswell. The depth of field/focus you get with macro photography is very shallow so you often need to use high apertures(those two closeups are both F16) which means long shutter speeds.

I'd say investing in a good quality tripod with a ball head would be worthwhile aswell, I'v been using my fairly basic £50 one which is fine for normal landscapes but and getting the very precise framing you need for macro is a real pain.

Edited by greenman
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Dandu, there's no "formula" to take good pics. But as greenman said: read all you can and practice. I joined two forums of photography as I bought my Canon 40D, I leanrt a lot on them. You already have a good equipment, more than enough to start.

As for macros lenses, I have a Canon 100mm 2.8, I like it a lot.

This pic was taken in Alagoas, on the Northeast of Brazil. Pic taken with a Canon 40D and a Tamron 17-50mm

_MG_1790-1.jpg

:)

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Redrum, thanks so much for your compliments. :) :) And yes, I do get around..... ;)

Another pic, this one taken in Easter Island with the old Canon 40D and the Tamron 17-50 mm lens

_MG_1612-1.jpg

:)

You're welcome. Love the statue pic. I recently started using my panorama feature and this was at a friend's b'day party last week.

The pic should size itself to the screen.

post-503-0-51234900-1317078274_thumb.jpg

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wow, greenman and brspled .... look at your two last posts ..... great photos, but just goes to show the diversity of this amazing planet we live on!

great photos everyone, you are all so talented!

Agree on that. Keep on with good work :)

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Thank you slave to ze, Magenta and Orpheus. :)

Magenta, keep on the good work, read as much as you ca about composition and photography, but above all, take pics. Training is essential.

Another one, takem in Bolivia, on my way to salt flat Uyuni

_MG_1157-3-1.jpg

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