jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

If you look at the histogram you can see that it's a little under exposed because it's more clumped up on the left side of the histogram. It's better to try and shoot a little to the right - meaning a little right of center on the histogram but without blowing out the highlights. If the guy in the sunny background is blown out slightly, that's ok. He's not the subjet; the guy in the foreground it this subject.

coastlawyer Loc: Coastal Mississippi

"Is it that I have a Rebel and that's just how it's going to be until I can afford a better camera,"

The Revel is not an inferior camera. Before you advance to a more expensive learn to get the best from the Rebel.

The person behind the camera determines the difference.

Don is correct on the exposure. (and many more hints as well)

I devpted 4 minutes in PS5 on your photo. I lightened the entire photo one stop exposure. I lightened the subject face only about an added half stop, then used the blur tool on the right side of the photo.

I believe I saw some minor blurring caused by camera shake.

Richard Miller

dennis g

Your show window photo is nicely done. Your own image contributes much bringing it from a photo of shoes to a story of a stunning young woman's interest.
I suggest taking more than one picture as distracting things like cars can suddenly pop into one's photo and are as quickly gone. Another way to get rid of moving objects is a very long exposure in which their own movement removes them.

cristinaberkley Loc: New York

Thanks for taking the time Richard,

I like how that came out.

Blur tool, excellent.

cristinaberkley Loc: New York

I see, you mean the yellow cab. Didn't even notice it.
Gotcha.

cristinaberkley Loc: New York

Interesting, I was advised by a photographer friend of mine to shoot a little to the left on the histogram. I will try going the other direction and see what happens. It seems to be everyone's advice on UHH for me.

paul06

I have read all these posts. They are good and have a lot of excellent information. Each one of us have their pet ways of doing something. I have seen examples here. Unfortunately, when cameras turned automatic, new photographers tended not to learn the principles of photography because of the automation. This has carried over into the digital world. Lets look at some principles,
Exposure is; The amount of light [aperture] reaching the film [or digital] for a specified period of time [shutter]. Thus using the aperture and shutter speed together an exposure is made. Shutter control action or speed. Aperture opening controls depth of field. The faster the shutter speed the more action stopping ability. A wider aperture has less depth of field [area the appears sharp on front of and behind the area focused on [usually the subject].
Exposure choices: Fully manual, Aperture priority, shutter priority, Program. With today’s digital cameras, the built in meter controls the exposure in one of the automatics modes and in the manual mode, lets you know if the meter thinks you are right on, over or under the optimum exposure. Also, the exposure compensation wheel in which you can change the auto exposure factor in F/stops, usually up to two over and under the selected auto setting. In effect the Program [P], Aperture Priority [AP} will give you the same exposure. The difference being that the P mode’s exposure does not take into account depth or action, just exposure. The AP mode the user set the aperture for depth wanted and the shutter is then set by the camera to give the correct exposure. In the SP mode, the user set the shutter to the desired speed for action stopping and the aperture is set by the camera to again give the correct exposure as the camera see it. In the manual mode, the user is free to set both shutter and aperture manually. However the meter will still display what the “correct” exposure is so that the shooter can have an idea if the exposure will be under or over exposed as the camera meter sees it. The exposure compensation wheel allows the user to shoot in one of the auto mode but not be tied to the exposure the camera meter wants to use. Such as for back lighting, for example.

Photography is both an art and science. Even the art can be learned, such as the rule of thirds, composition, ect. The creativity The science are facts that control certain fact of photography and must be learned to master your command of photography. Rulers are made to be broken, but first you must know the rules.
I have just touched on the principles. Learning them will make a person a better photographer. .

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

I would crop at the red "pole" on the right of the frame. Leave that other guy completely out of it-- and then, as others have said, bump the exposure.

dennis g

the flower vendor is enjoying you taking his photo. The bald guy in the shorts is just as well better blurred out as he does not add much to the theme of your photo. There is something to the right of him which is cut in half by the edge of the frame. Avoid that when possible. It can,however, always be eliminated later.

dennis g

I would also crop it at the pole. One problem is that there is a very different color balance in the two sections of this photo. Light in the flower stand is strongly orange which contrasts strongly with the blue shifted indirect daylight.

dennis g

In the days of film one put more forethought into their work, if for nothing else than the expense of film.
Even then, a good photograph for me was the product of a happy accident. It worked best for me to take a lot of them and discard all but the best. Since digital technology removed the film cost that is probably the best way..take a bunch of them, try different angles and exposures and erase all but the best. Christina, you are doing it the right way, thinking about it, asking questions and building an understanding.
You ask about crisp photos. Study the work of Ansel Adams for that...He used large format cameras and small apertures. His large negative size helped a lot. and I think that with the effort that was involved in taking one of his photos, he probably put considerable forethought into it.

webb3040 Loc: California

You are off to a good start and have a nice environmental portrait going here. The problem is that the focal point should stand out in the composition. By lightening the vendor and darkening the surrounding area, you can make the vendor become more visually prominent in the composition. I used Adobe Lightroom to make all these adjustments to de-emphasize the man walking in the background and draw more visual attention to the vendor. Color balance is a little difficult because of the 2 different lighting conditions in the scene. Possibly a little fill flash at the time of the exposure would have created a better balance. Keep on shooting!

Daryl New Loc: Wellington,New Zealand

check out this programme:
http://www.photoscape.org
We use it all the time for tweaking our shots

docrob Loc: Durango, Colorado

5) I always color correct and enhance in post. I usually use levels to add contrast. I typically do not sharpen subjects but for backgrounds it works. I like to sharpen by increasing the contrast of color not by the PS sharpener or plugins.

This is an excellent tip and one few understand.

Newfie-1 Loc: Ontario-Canada

You could always crop out the guy on the right in your 1st pic., but not the cutie on the left in your 2nd pic. Try f 8 snd AV for awhile and like Pale pics said use a little fill flash, it'll make a big difference in your pics... So many answers, so little time...