I could use some photography help....?

L

lily

New member
What kind of camera do you have? Does it have manual capabilities?

If you want quality close-ups, you may need a macro lens, which can be purchased for any slr camera.

White balance and composition are two things you need to work with when shooting flowers. Also, never use a flash. Mount your camera on a tripod if you can. Does your camera have a manual focus? Don't zoom, if possible. Zooms often degrade the quality of the photo. You may need to select your flower carefully - don't pick one growing amongst a ton of things with the garden hose and the blurred tail of a dog in the background... i.e. composition is really important. Try to find a flower that has a simple background (sky, grass, other flowers) and see if you can blur it by focusing just on the flower you're shooting.
 
There seems to be some kind of disconnect between what I want my pictures to look like and what it actually turns out looking like.

For example I walk outside and I see the flowers in my garden, and I think oh I want to take a picture of them these:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=cosmos&w=all
now when I actually go to take the pictures they do not turn out anything like the pictures that I linked to. It is really frustrating.

I am 16 and I have not taken any kind of photography classes or anything. I know the basics and I know a little bit about Aperture and white balance but I guess I don't know how to achieve the result that I want.

Here is some of my photography if you would like to see it:
http://flickr.com/carrierox4ever13
 
Well, I see what you want your photos to look like, but what do your photos actually look like?

A lens is never as accurate as the human eye obviously, so a lot of people come out with photos that disappoint them. I would say try to focus some more, make sure you are not shaking your camera with your hands, adjust the exposure, white balance, and ISO on your camera.
 
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