Hello from South Wales UK

[spiderhammer]

Hello. After many years away from photography, I've decided to return.

I spent a few years back in the late 90s doing photos in the music venue TJs (South Wales) and took a lot of pictures of loads of good bands. I managed to get printed on the front of a few local music zines and inside a few CDs for local bands. I also managed to work with some other local bands that have made it fairly big e.g. Funeral for a Friend and Bullet for my Valentine (back when they where Jeff Killed John) and Taint to name a few.

Now, I have a few friends who work as pro-photographers who have tempted me back into doing photography again.

I've decided to completely forget everything I knew and re-learn what I need to become proficient enough to take a good photo.

A few of my pictures from years ago for a reference point: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rumplef...7607372652711/

I hope to improve and make progress not to make money but to take a better picture.

[mediaman]

welcome to the forum....will look forward to viewing your work.

[spiderhammer]

Cheers! Hope to lay low for the moment then build up to posting some work later (need to get my chops up first haha).

[P_Stoddart]

Hello from Essex

You don't need to forget everything

Composition, shutter speed etc is still there but now you get amazing low-light performance 1600ISO can look like 200ISO on film or even better. Especially if you can budget for a full frame sensor like say Canon 60D or Nikon D600.

Once you get the digital setup side down you be grabbing great shots.

[spiderhammer]

Hello P_Stoddart!

I'm only kidding when I say forget haha. I'm trying to get my chops back. Starting a fresh would be a more accurate description of my situation

Just got hold of a Cannon EOS 1100D and was given a Cannon Speedlight 550EX flash by a very good friend. I'm working with the 'auto' function and experimenting around where possible to see what happens I'll be catching up on the theory side of things as I go along.

I also have a copy of 'The Photographer's Eye Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos' by Michael Freeman for a reference manual.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, appreciate the support!

Funny enough, it so happens, my inspiration for taking pictures again is the friend who gave me the flash. Some of his work @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/missionphotographic/show/

[AlexMonro]

Welcome to the AP forums!

I don't think an eye for a picture ever goes away. You'll soon suss out this new fangled digital stuff!

[spiderhammer]

Hi AlexMonro! I've had three days of playing with the camera (got upto all sorts of nonsense ) and today I will be trying to take pictures of my guitar effect pedals.

I'll be using this as an example to aim towards: http://www.stevesmusiccenter.com/MXRM115Big.jpg

[spiderhammer]

A couple of shots here from this afternoons little work out:-)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9041879...85750773/show/

[AlexMonro]

Nice shot of a nice puddy cat, and it's sharp around the eyes!

The effects box looks a little soft at the back corner.

For more critique, you could post in the Appraisal Gallery.

[spiderhammer]

Haha, the cat wasn't that sharp around the eyes, he had just woken up!

I know what you mean by the FXBox being a little soft around the edges. I did about 30 shots of different pedals and they all had that differential focus (I think that's what it's called) blur.

I'll head over to the appraisal gallery for my next set of shots I think. Cheers for the feedback AlexMonro. Appreciated.

[AlexMonro]

I think you need to stop down a bit more for the FXbox. At f/4 and 18mm focal length, the total depth of field at 18" away is only about 5".

You probably know a bit about DoF from your film days, but in case you find it helpful, here's an online calculator, courtesy of Cambridge in Colour (click).