My new Canon EOS XSi arrived today (thank you UPS). My previous detail photo shoots have all been taken with a P&S so I am very excited to take some higher quality pictures of my work. However, I am a total newbie when it comes to photography (newbie as in a newbie detailer asking what the difference is between a polish and a sealant/wax). I ran a search, but just like when I took an interest in detailing, the amount of information makes my head spin, so I am looking for some starting point advice/resources for a beginner. I'm only about 60 of 190 pages through the manual. Initially my goal is to capture some good reflection shots (inside and outside). I took the XSi out today and took about 100 shots of my personal ride I detailed about a month ago. The vast majority were blurry and didn't capture the crispness I was looking to find. I tried the "Auto", "Close-up" and "Flash-off" settings. Outside blurry example (90% of my outside shots turned out like this or worse): Same angle shot a little better, but didn't capture everything (trees are blurry): Another blurry shot (this was typical): An outside close-up shot that turned out better (I'll change the way I hold the camera and sorry for my ugly mug showing up ). Inside blurry example: Inside better example (I zoomed in a little for this one): When I was in "Auto" or "Close-up" mode the flash kicked in every time, I did notice that when I turned the flash off the shots tended to be a little better. Since I am so new I don't even know if the sun should be behind me, in front of me, etc.. Some shots turned out decent regardless of the sun's position when the flash was off. Any tips, tricks or advice on taking consistently good reflection shots would be greatly appreciated. I will also be taking a class in the next month or two, but would like to get a head start. Thanks!..and sorry for the novel. NOTE: I am using the stock Canon 18-55mm IS lens set to Auto-Focus and the Stabilizer set to "On".
many things factor in to how a photo turns out . . . . . from shutter speed to lens to aperture as well as lighting etc . . . . if you want the most out of your camera you need to shoot in M mode and take it out of auto mode. Don't take photo's so much in direct light. Angles are another big part of things. Your first shot was just a hair over exposed. Your second photo was nice. you might want to stop down your aperture in other words go with a higher F number to to get more of your photo in focus. It's basically your depth of field and what you want in or out of focus. It took me a long time to get down and once i did photo taking was great. Feel free to post up any photos or question or PM me if needed and i'll help if i can.
A few tips: 1. Despite image stabilization you can get blurred images if you are not hold the camera very steady when you push the shutter. Compose, let the camera focus (pay attention to what it is focusing on), take a breath, then push the shutter button. Watch the aperture setting since it will tell what will be in focus in front of and beyond the focus point. You should usually keep it one or two stops off the maximum for best quality and increased depth of field (if that is what you want). 2. Figure out how your camera meters light (center weighted, spot, average, etc). You can change it. If you take a picture of a mostly dark car, your camera will think there is not enough light so it will open the aperture/slow shutter to increase light.\ 3. In most cases, it is always better to under expose so as to not lose detail than overexpose. You can always fix it later. You can set your camera to intentionally consistently under expose with the exposure compensation (like 1/3 to 1/2 stop). 4. I prefer to set the camera on either aperture priority or shutter speed priority and then let the camera decide most of the time. I would use the exposure compensation or bracketing feature to capture the best exposure. 5. Take the manual and read it. Sit somewhere and try to use all the controls. Vary the various settings, take some pics, and see what the camera does. This will give you clues on how you can use them.
As a general rule of thumb (for myself) I'll never shoot under 1/60 (i.e. 1/30, 1/15, etc). For the most comfortable shot without risking any blur I'd suggest shooting no lower than 1/120 or thereabout. If there's blur in your photos, take care to notice the direction the blur is moving in. This way you can eliminate some factors (whether it really was you or something else). There are a lot of resources out there but seeing as how you are finding your way with your new camera I'd say stick with the manual as it actually DOES have a lot of good information regarding general functionality of the camera. There are a few tips and tricks but those usually come up in specific situations. Personally I would say avoid AUTO mode altogether. While its easy to let the camera do all the work and think for you, its also easy to get mediocre results. Switch your camera to M, or manual mode. This will force you to learn the way the camera works just by changing one setting whether its just the shutter speed or if its just the aperture. Practice taking some photos and just changing one of these variables. With shutter speed its easy to see the change in the photo (darker, lighter, movements, etc). With the aperture you'll want to take multiple photos of an object that has a background and see just how stopping down the aperture affects your photo's foreground/background. There's also the issue of changing your ISO when in M mode and you'll find out just when exactly you need to start changing that when you start playing with your camera a lot more. There are a bunch of other folks on here with cameras as well and I'm sure they'll weigh in. If you have some specific questions go on and post them and myself or others should drop in and give you a hand!
I took a 6 week ( one night a week for 6 weeks) photo class at a local comm college. It was pretty nice. I got to learn alot about my camera. We learned about funtions on the camera and camera terminology. That helped alot. Get a tripod and remote shutter. That will help some.
