# frustrated...



## Lisablueeyes (Dec 22, 2012)

What was I thinking asking for a  canon T3I, when I am new to the DSLR world....... Today was my first real chance to play around with he camera. Uggg I need a lot of work!

"If I had the flash on the subject came out to light, and if I had the fash off the subject came out to dark... And I had the camer set on auto {CE} What gives


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## ratssass (Dec 22, 2012)

i'm not likely to have an answer for you,but I would bet if you posted the pics,someone here could give you some ideas....


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## Awiserbud (Dec 22, 2012)

practice practice practice. noone picks up a DSLR and becomes a great photographer. there are many many different aspects that will determine your exposure, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, all will affect how bright or dark your shots will be amongst other things, the best thing you can do is play and learn, the more you use it, the more you will become familiar with it, there is a lot to learn, but the rewards are plentiful.


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## ph0enix (Dec 22, 2012)

Read the manual, then read it again.  If you don't understand something, ask questions in the forum, then read the manual again 
Also look here:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...-forum/267492-info-those-new-photography.html
Don't get frustrated.  It takes time to get good at pretty much anything and photography isn't any different in that regard.


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## Lisablueeyes (Dec 22, 2012)

My brain has gone to mush.... Here is a picture of my Daughter and grandson..




0111 by Lisablueeyes10, on Flickr


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## tirediron (Dec 22, 2012)

I'm assuming that you only have the built-in pop-up flash, which really isn't much use, in fact the only really useful purpose it serves as a place for them to write 'Canon'.  Okay, snarkiness aside, the pop-up flash is very limited in it's power, so it's done about as much as it can do under the circumstances.  Your daughter and her child are reasonably well exposed; a little post-processing brightness wouldn't go amiss, but other than that, it's not bad.


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## Lisablueeyes (Dec 22, 2012)

tirediron said:


> I'm assuming that you only have the built-in pop-up flash, which really isn't much use, in fact the only really useful purpose it serves as a place for them to write 'Canon'.  Okay, snarkiness aside, the pop-up flash is very limited in it's power, so it's done about as much as it can do under the circumstances.  Your daughter and her child are reasonably well exposed; a little post-processing brightness wouldn't go amiss, but other than that, it's not bad.




How do I do {a little post-processing brightness}


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## DannyLewis (Dec 22, 2012)

View attachment 29419A little brighter.


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## DannyLewis (Dec 22, 2012)

It is a good start as it was.


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## tirediron (Dec 22, 2012)

What software do you have for working on your images?  Adobe's Photoshop Elements and PaintShopPro are two of the best entry-level applications.  They both run around $80-120 depending on where you buy them.  Adobe's Lightroom 4 is arguably the best application on the market for dealing with RAW files. If you're on a tighter budget, the Gimp is an outstanding freeware application which does about 95% of what full-fledged Photoshop does, however it's a little more difficult to use.


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## Derrel (Dec 22, 2012)

Lisa, Did your camera come with the Canon DPP (Digital Photo Professional) software disc??? It allows you to adjust or "develop" images, and make corrections like "Adding Exposure" or " + Exposure"...


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## Lisablueeyes (Dec 22, 2012)

Derrel said:


> Lisa, Did your camera come with the Canon DPP (Digital Photo Professional) software disc??? It allows you to adjust or "develop" images, and make corrections like "Adding Exposure" or " + Exposure"...




I Assume this is the same thing.. "EOS Digtal solution disk"


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## ratssass (Dec 22, 2012)

i'm really just learning alot of things,myself,and know absolutely nothing about canon,but it looks pretty good to me.......certainly good enough to explore in post...


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## DannyLewis (Dec 22, 2012)

The white CD that came with the camera...


Lisablueeyes said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > Lisa, Did your camera come with the Canon DPP (Digital Photo Professional) software disc??? It allows you to adjust or "develop" images, and make corrections like "Adding Exposure" or " + Exposure"...
> ...


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## Derrel (Dec 22, 2012)

Lisablueeyes said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > Lisa, Did your camera come with the Canon DPP (Digital Photo Professional) software disc??? It allows you to adjust or "develop" images, and make corrections like "Adding Exposure" or " + Exposure"...
> ...



YES, the DPP program is one of a few on that disc!!!! DPP is Canon's "raw converter" and "image developer" software.


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## sekhar (Dec 22, 2012)

Technical stuff aside, this is a cute, well composed picture...awesome pose/expression from your grandson!


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## keith foster (Dec 22, 2012)

My suggestion would be to forget the on camera flash.  The only thing it is good for IMHO is to fire off your external flash that is set on slave mode.
The best thing you could do after reading your manual a couple of times, is to learn to "see the light".  I am not being a wise guy. When you learn to see where the light is and what it is doing you will vastly improve your shots.
Take the picture you posted here for example.  When you look at this shot where is the light? (Not the flash)
what I see is a big beautiful window right behind them.  There is your light.  Just figure out what direction it is coming through the window and have them sit so the light bounces off something and into their faces.
I realize that sometimes you can't move them where you want them but if you went over to the window and asked them to turn to face you the light would still be much better than it is with the light behind them.  Hope I explained myself well enough and didn't just sound like a babbling old man.  
Read your manual and then go look for the light and somewhere around 10,000 shots you will have it down.


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## Lisablueeyes (Dec 22, 2012)

keith foster said:


> My suggestion would be to forget the on camera flash.  The only thing it is good for IMHO is to fire off your external flash that is set on slave mode.
> The best thing you could do after reading your manual a couple of times, is to learn to "see the light".  I am not being a wise guy. When you learn to see where the light is and what it is doing you will vastly improve your shots.
> Take the picture you posted here for example.  When you look at this shot where is the light? (Not the flash)
> what I see is a big beautiful window right behind them.  There is your light.  Just figure out what direction it is coming through the window and have them sit so the light bounces off something and into their faces.
> ...


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## keith foster (Dec 22, 2012)

I know exactly what you mean.  It happens to me all the time.  I was taking picture at a high school basketball game this week.  One of the teams has a bunch of very tall kids who can all dunk.  I went to that game with the purpose of getting a shot of a dunk.  I was positioned well had already locked focus on the rim and was just waiting for the dunk.  The game was so good I totally got into it.  The tall team got a steal and made a long pass to one of two of his team mates coming right at me.  It was a thing of beauty and I was into the game.  The kid with the ball made a perfect bounce pass just past the defender leading his team mate perfectly.  The player went up and made an awesome jam.  It was awesome.  I didn't take a single picture or even think to bring my camera up.  Nobody dunked the rest of the game.  I made a 100 mile round trip and watched an entire game and didn't even take the shot I went there to get! 

Sorry for the long story but I know about losing focus on the picture and getting wrapped up in the subject.


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## snowbear (Dec 22, 2012)

One step at a time.  Get to know the basic camera controls first, then add the technicals when you can.  For a first couple of shots, these are not bad, at all.


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## Lisablueeyes (Dec 23, 2012)

snowbear said:


> One step at a time.  Get to know the basic camera controls first, then add the technicals when you can.  For a first couple of shots, these are not bad, at all.



Thanks


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## TamiAz (Dec 23, 2012)

Lisa, DSLR's aren't as easy to use as people think. I was quite surprised at the amount of work it took to learn to use my camera. It took me a good 3 months just to learn how ISO, aperture, and shutter speed work together. Adding flash into the equation is more work.. I would try to learn to use your camera in natural light and once you get comfortable with that you can start playing with the flash..I tried to learn too much at one time and I was getting extremely frustrated.. Take one step at a time and you'll get there!!


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## Lisablueeyes (Dec 23, 2012)

TamiAz said:


> Lisa, DSLR's aren't as easy to use as people think. I was quite surprised at the amount of work it took to learn to use my camera. It took me a good 3 months just to learn how ISO, aperture, and shutter speed work together. Adding flash into the equation is more work.. I would try to learn to use your camera in natural light and once you get comfortable with that you can start playing with the flash..I tried to learn too much at one time and I was getting extremely frustrated.. Take one step at a time and you'll get there!!




 I've always thought myself as a gadget girl... Well, once I finally had the camer in my hands.. I was oh "S^*#" what was I thinking... For now I will leave the setting on auto, and learn as I go!  Hmmm I just read that I can add music to slide shows/movies! hmmm now to learn how to do that...


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## JohnWDavisJr (Dec 31, 2012)

One of the best things out there now is YouTube, there a thousands of tutorials on lighting and dslr usage and just about anything photography. It was a good way for me to learn.

JD


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