my first photo - my bull

[lynnma]

I am just starting out with my beautiful new Canon Rebel Digital. I find I'm gravitating to animals so far and have a couple I'd like to share to hear your thoughts (I need all the help I can get)

Thanks so much
Lynn

[lynnma]

I love this picture but want to know how to improve please
Lynn

[lynnma]

I won't bore you with more, this one I took through glass so I'ts not as crisp as it should be...

[wxwax]

Lynn, you're not boring anyone! What lens are you using?

I really like that bull shot, the softness of the low sun really works well. The second shot is too dark (on my crummy monitor, anyway.) Either open up the lens (lower f-stop #) or lengthen the exposure time (which might be tricky with an animal, 'cause they like to move.)

[wxwax]

I just cropped a tiny bit off the bull shot. Any different to your eyes?

BTW, if you get into this and like to post photos, check out this (http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=92) thread. It explains the options for posting pics. Baldy, who runs this message board, also runs www.smugmug.com It's a very low cost way to put your photos on the web to share them with others, and also to link them to this place without any real limitations.

[lynnma]

Thanks Sid,

yes I like my bull too.. I used a 18 - 55 lens and have no clue what I did, only that I saw the bulls fur, saw the sun and tried to get it. Since then I've learned a bit more about fstops so hopefully I'll have more control over my camera. I will check out the url you mentioned...looks like fun. Your slight crop did make a difference...balanced it more. Thanks.

Lynn

[Shay Stephens]

I love this picture but want to know how to improve please
Lynn
It looks to be a stop underexposed. This is a simulation of what the photo would look like 1 stop brighter:

http://forums.shaystephens.com/graphics/ponyweb.jpg

Other than that I like the photo. The only other thing I would caution against is cropping. If you want to print this as an 8x10, you will be potentially cutting off some important parts of the image. However, if you go to print a 4x6, you have no trouble at all.

The bull shot looks awesome.

[fish]

Funky eyes on that pony, huh? The bull is cool. Looks absolutely cuddly.

[Tuesday]

Love the Bull!

Very Cool

:tuesday

[lynnma]

Thankyou both for input. Yes the pony would have been much better with the proper settings.. now I know a little bit more about stopping I'll go back and take another, he's a friendly little guy but those eyes...

Thanks for the tip on cropping. I've been cropping away without a thought in the world and wondering why it won't fit in any frames... dah.

I'll have another go at the pony and maybe get a couple of goats in as well...
thanks again
lynn:bow

[lynnma]

Now I'm getting so much input ..what happened to this cats face.. is it overexposed? looks funny
Lynn

[Shay Stephens]

Now I'm getting so much input ..what happened to this cats face.. is it overexposed? looks funny
Lynn
It is almost a stop overexposed, probably 2/3 of a stop, and it looks like kitty has a case of feline "red eye" which isn't red like on humans but still the same phenomena, that is, light bouncing back out of the eye.