So I got a D5100 for Christmas. I really haven't done anything photography related previously and am really just trying to figure out stuff like exposure, ISO, aperture settings, etc. Most of the stuff I'm taking right now I'm just leaving it in auto mode and trying to work on learning how to compose pictures. I figure the camera is smarter than me at this point so I'll let it do its thing for the most part and work on framing and composing pictures. These are a few I took this past week:
Lamp Post
Snowy Tree
Christmas Carnage
Bounce House
Cold House
The lamp post I wish I had moved around to try to find a position where I had something more interesting than a house in the background. Or at least turned to get my parents' house nicely blurred in the background. I like the lamp post itself, but the background left a lot to be desired. Similar issue with the snowy tree for me. That one I think it would have been better if I had the fence running at a different angle.
Bounce House was a real challenge and I'm not sure I had a chance with this one. Not only was my stock lens not really fast enough, but the lighting in the gym where we had this was terrible. Blasting 1950s lights on one side of the gym and lights completely off on the other half. Maybe if I were more familiar with Photoshop Elements (the editing program I'll be using for the near future) I could make some better adjustments.
Cold House was my favorite. I just liked the composition, colors, etc. With more practice hopefully I'll be able to get better detail on the tree and maybe even some detail on the sky. Although I think the sky may have been pretty gray that day, so that was maybe as good as it gets.
Any thoughts, tips, pointers?