dslr newbie

[gothy]

Hey guys, last week I got myself a Sony Alpha A290 - cheap, beginner dslr
Then went mad and bought a load of accessories for it.
Tripod, bag, filters, telephoto lense, brush, spare battery...etc

Im loving it so far, its a great camera to get started with, brand snobbery aside

It came with a standard 18-55mm Sony lense
The telephoto lense I bought was a cheapo £100 Tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6 LD Macro 1:2 - had some good reviews, and im happy with it.

I would like a 10-20mm lense, but they are so expensive
As this is a beginner camera I dont want to spend loads of money on something that cant be used when I upgrade to a Nikon or Canon later on.
Some shots I've seen on here with them look amazing, I havnt seen a cheap one with sony fitment yet.

I've tried practicing a few different types of shots out,
Getting the sea to look misty didn't work as well as I'd hoped, getting the shutter speed at the right setting is difficult so its not pure black or white.

Another thing that didn't work was at night streetlights shots - but im going to use the self timer for night streetlights next time.
But using macro and Aperture modes is fun and produces some great photos. So does taking waterfall shots with different shutter speeds.

Here's some shots that I like, and a few that need improvement

over exposed photo

Mist effect? or is it just the swash/backwash?

would be better on a timer so it doesnt get jogged

 

[Whisker biscuit]

Love this pic ....

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

You don't need an expensive camera to get good shots. You just need to know what to do with it !

Practice, practise, practise !!!

Learn what changing the aperture and shutter speed do to the image. White balance makes a huge difference too.

Composition, and rule of thirds are important. If you've no idea what I'm talking about, then if nothing else, read the tutorials on the top of this forum

I spent a lot of time looking through this site: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/digital-photography-tips-for-beginners

Give it a go and see how you get on.

:evil:

 

[gothy]

Thats my favourite photo I think.

Thanks, I've been practicing everyday.
I've read the stickied links on the forum - which have been good, and I've got an old book from my Dad to read but thats film style slr's.

Does anyone know where I can get a cheap 10-20mm lense?

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Cheap doesn't normally come into play with D-SLRs !

Looks like £330 is the best with 10 seconds on google: http://www.onestop-digital.com/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=33644