First trip with the DSLR

[Mr.MouseFan]

Just thought I'd share some pics taken from my trip to the world Nov. 11-14. This was my first trip since purchasing the Olympus E450. Please feel free to comment, either positive or negative..I'm always looking for opinions and advice. Thanks for looking!

 

[xipetotec]

Fantastic shots!! I particularly love the shots of the lit up castle.

 

[Stephanie218]

I love the first one - just gorgeous! Great job.

 

[chill15]

I have got to look into that camera. Those are some great evening shots.

 

[Marlton Mom]

Really great shots! Good job!

Did you use a tripod? I'm thinking yes.....

I also think you did a great job with the fireworks exposures. You got good color on them and the rest of the shots as well.

Did you bracket any of these pics, do any post processing or HDR work??

Spill, spill!! Spill the beans!

Also what lens did you use?


Marlton Mom
( Who went a lil nuts with the smiles today!)

 

[Mr.MouseFan]

Thanks everyone! This was my first foray into DSLR so I'm pretty excited with the results! Marlton Mom, yes, I did use a tripod on most shots. The shot of Mickey and Minnie in front of the castle was hand held, as were the pics of Spectromagic and Main Street USA. I didn't do any bracketing or HDR work, as for post processing, just auto levels and adjusted the hue/saturation and of course a little cropping. As for the lense, most shots were taken with the 14-42mm f3.5 kit lense. Mickey and Minnie were with the 40-150mm kit lense. I must get a 50mm!!

Oh, and btw, I goofed, I have the Olympus E450!

 

[mycutiepatooties]

Wow! Fantastic photography!!!!!!!! I loved them all. They are so crisp and have beautiful colors!

 

[Frantasmic]

Bravo. Well done. That one that's about 3-4 in your posting stream with the color fireworks is really good.

 

[scoot241]

Awesome job!

The one thing I might suggest for in the future is a different exposure for the SSE and Fountain of Nations shot. The fountain seems blown out to me. Might have been a good spot for an HDR, or maybe spot meter the fountain so it's not as blown out.

 

[Mr.MouseFan]

Yes, I agree about the fountain. Thanks for the suggestion, I never even thought to meter the fountain! I have to ask though...what exactly is HDR?

 

[Mr.MouseFan]

Wow! Fantastic photography!!!!!!!! I loved them all. They are so crisp and have beautiful colors!

Bravo. Well done. That one that's about 3-4 in your posting stream with the color fireworks is really good.

Thank you both Yes, I am particularly fond of the pyro pics..lol

 

[scoot241]

Yes, I agree about the fountain. Thanks for the suggestion, I never even thought to meter the fountain! I have to ask though...what exactly is HDR?

It stands for High Dynamic Range. It's a process where you combine 3 (or more) exposures taken at different levels (for example, exposure compensation set to -2, 0, and +2). There are a number of programs (Photomatix is one of the most popular) that will combine the three exposures to make one picture with a higher dynamic range.

I used HDR (actually took one RAW file and created the multiple exposures in Lightroom) to make this one a much better picture. The sky was blown out and the buildings were underexposed in the original.

 

[Mr.MouseFan]

THanks for the explanation! I'm going to have to try this eventually!

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Beautiful photos! Tell me: was the first photo at 1/5" hand held as well or tripod? If it's hand held, then kudos to the Oly image stabilization feature. I could never hand hold something like that due to shaky hands.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Beautiful photos! Nice job.

 

[Mr.MouseFan]

Beautiful photos! Tell me: was the first photo at 1/5" hand held as well or tripod? If it's hand held, then kudos to the Oly image stabilization feature. I could never hand hold something like that due to shaky hands.

Thanks! The pics that were taken handheld were the Spectro pics and the one with Mickey and Minnie. Unfortunately, my camera does not have image stabilization in body so I am amazed that they turned out as well as they did!

 

[Mr.MouseFan]

Beautiful photos! Nice job.

TYVM! Loving the Oly! lol

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Thanks! The pics that were taken handheld were the Spectro pics and the one with Mickey and Minnie. Unfortunately, my camera does not have image stabilization in body so I am amazed that they turned out as well as they did!

Oops sorry, I thought all the Oly's and Sony DSLRs had in body stabilization. They are beautiful photos and kudos to you for your skill!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Oops sorry, I thought all the Oly's and Sony DSLRs had in body stabilization.

The Olympus 4xx series (ie the "world's smallest dSLRs") don't have in-body IS as the 5xx series, the 6xx series, the E30 and the E3 (basically all dSLR models except the 4xx series) do.

The 4xx series do, however, have what Olympus calls Digital Image Stabilization:

The Digital Image Stabilization Scene Select Mode allows high ISO sensitivity and faster shutter speeds so you can freeze the action to capture sharp, blur-free images even if you or your subject is moving.