out4life2016 Loc: Bellingham, Washington

Please tell me what you think about my first outing with my new Canon 50mm F1.8 USM. some photos were done using a exposure time of 4-6 seconds and I was learning to shoot in AV, TV, and Manual mode. Its a big step for me to get out of the presets. Please be gentle but honest.

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gerryh

And what do you think ?

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Good start. I'd watch for blown highlights.
--Bob

out4life2016 Loc: Bellingham, Washington

I was happy with the photos but I'm my worst credit. Being color blind its hard for me to see some shades and I'm not sure I'm getting the most out of my Depth of Field. I guess overall for a 100 dollar lens on a Canon T3 I'm happy.

out4life2016 Loc: Bellingham, Washington

Thank you Bob, I had a problem with flare on some of my photos even though i was using a full hood. Grant it it was a third party hood that came with lens and a UV filter. Maybe i should have used the polarized filter instead.

JimKing Loc: Salisbury, Maryland USA

I like the exposure on the third shot. The other falls shots look overexposed to me. Did you use a neutral density filter on any of these shots? The last shot gives us a nice environmental portrait of the photographer. Thanks for the post. Waterfalls are a favorite subject of mine. I usually shoot a shutter-speed of 0.5 to 2 seconds but I also like to do 1000th of a second and greater to freeze the drops.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Aside from the fact that each person likes various extents of the shutter effects, each waterfall also usually benefits differently from various shutter speeds. Some falls look better with longer times, some with shorter times.
I'm not sure about the first one yet, but the second looks more like ice.
In the third, these falls don't seem to do well frozen in time.
I, personally, like the effect in the fifth shot the best for these falls.

treadwl Loc: South Florida

You are blowing out most of the highlights. In fact,all the shots look a bit over exposed. Even with waterfalls you should still have detail in the water. Water falls are best shot on overcast days or very early or late in the day when the sun is not so harsh. Bright light on water is a bad combination photographically. I suggest you use a polarizer when shooting water, metal, ice and snow--it will really help.

By the way, I'm color blind as well.

If you want to look at waterfalls shot without over exposure try this link to some of my recent efforts. It might give you some ideas. Some of the shot were actually taken in the rain--makes for a cloudy day and less glare.

https://reminisces.smugmug.com/RECENT-ADDITIONS-1/Smoky-Mountain-NP-Waterfalls-in-Spring/

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

This is not an accessory issue. It's an exposure issue.
--Bob

fergmark Loc: norwalk connecticut

It looks like you want to get a neutral density filter so that you can take longer exposures without getting too much light

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

They all seem to have overexposed (blown) highlights. If you aren't shooting raw, you should start. For landscape, it would make sense to measure the highlights using the camera's spot metering function, then add anywhere from 1 to as much as 2 stops to the exposure. Using the highlight warning (blinkies) and the histogram to give you a sense of how close you are to the optimum exposure always helps. The goal is to expose to get as bright an image WITHOUT blowing the highlights. Shooting raw gives you a little bit more headroom on highlights and floor room when it comes to adjusting shadows. I almost never use any automated exposure mode when shooting landscapes, and I have time to compose and nail the exposure. And often, landscapes present some very wide ranges of brightness, making it a challenge to expose correctly.

This exposure determination method will often lead to images that do not have blown highlights, but will look underexposed. Shooting raw, with it's greater dynamic range helps a lot.

In your shots, I would meter the white water, add 1.3 stops and check the exposure. I would avoid using F22 on a crop sensor camera. You will get softness from diffraction when you are shooting landscapes. If you want a longer exposure for flowing water, then put a neutral density filter. I always carry a 5 stop and a 9 stop ND filter for situations like these. For best results with this camera, try and stay below ISO 1250, or even lower if you are cropping, otherwise noise will be hard to deal with, especially in the shadows.

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exposed for to protect highlights, shot as raw

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adjusted for shadows, contrast, noise, detail

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1/8 sec, F11, ISO 200, probably a 5 stop ND,

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out4life2016 Loc: Bellingham, Washington

Thank you, I actually have one for the lens but i am still learning about the different filters. When i buy lenses i also order a set of three filters for it , UV, Polarized, and A Neutral Density. I just never know which one to use.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Unless you are picking out good quality circular polarizers and ND filters, when you order a kit of three, it's likely they will have a negative impact on image quality.

out4life2016 Loc: Bellingham, Washington

Thank You Gene, i thought they were all pretty much the same, any suggestions on ones i should be using?

pesfls Loc: Oregon, USA

As others have pointed out, you've overexposed several. I'd follow others' advice and work on your exposure skills and once you're getting good results then start with new efforts in using/understanding filter options. And also as pointed out, there's a lot of low quality filters on the market that will only degrade your images. So start with the foundation, proper exposure, & then proceed. Good luck and have fun. You're off to a good start.