Some of my latest shots from the garden.

[Maestro]

Morning Glories





Along the wall...



Some sort of decorative bush. I have no idea what it is.



Wonderful honeysuckle





And what would a garden be without a spider?

[lakemonster11]

1. Wow, what kind of spider is that?

Is he just really big or are you using a macro lens?

[Maestro]

2. No that big

I was just zooming in with my stock lens kit.

[F.Gordon]

3. Very nice shots!!!

It's strange to see flowers blooming when everything here is kickin' off for the winter.

Love the Blue :P in the first shot and the Red in the "mystery" berry bush. I always screw up the berry bush snaps. Fave is the first Spider shot. Great bokeh (always wanted to say that :silly:), very sharp, focus point.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

courious'.. do you use a polarizing filter?

[Maestro]

4. No filter

But I think you've noticed that one of the spider shots is darker than the others. I like using manual mode to set up shots and I was playing with the aperture and ISO so think I hit a combination that didn't let in as much light. I'd have to look at the EXIF data to make sure though.

Thanks for the comments. Much appreciated.

[F.Gordon]

6. Get thy self a filter

If for no other reason than to protect your lens. A polarizer will knock down your exposure a notch or 5 and will make some colors really pop.

Below is one of my screwup snaparoopis. (I have a ton of them) I posted it because this has the exact same settings as your first flower shot. I was chasing this friggin' butterfly. I should have switched to ISO200 for my focus point but I was too busy just trying to focus on the little "tease with wings".

The reason I post this? Look at the left side. It's "hot". Look at the color difference. You were shooting in the worst possible light. There are no flowers round' here now, but I carry a piece of cardboard (real "hi-tech" stuff) around with me now when I'm snappin' flowers. You should see the looks I get.



A couple of things I've learned the hard way I'll pass along to ya'.

1. Break out your owners manual and look up "exposure compensation". It can be a great little in-camera tweak when you're unsure of the lighting.

2. Always shoot in RAW. It eats up your flash card but.... you can do a software adjustment of exposure that can correct over exposed or underexposed shots. Most photo editors can handle RAW, but you should have got a CD from Canon with your camera.

I'm not pickin' on ya. I know you're really getting into this and you got some great shots here.

Awhile ago I took about 45 snaps before I realized that my camera was set at ISO 1600 (was doing very low light "basement stuff" the night before). Those 45 snaps were beyond repair.... but it was a good learning tool for me. Always check your ISO before pushing the button. :eyes:

And my attitude? Even if I go out and everything I snap sucks 100%... at least I had fun and hopefully I'll learn something from it. Sometimes yes. Sometimes no.

Geez... and I'm not even on a coffee overdose. Too many words. Must.Step.Away.From.Keyboard.

:hi:

[Maestro]

8. Please, keep advising.

I will look into buying a filter soon. That is relatively cheap. I've never shot in RAW mode and Photoshop CS2 I believe already can handle Canon's RAW mode so I will give it a shot.

I also know how you feel about a bunch of wasted shots. I was outside on a very bright sunny day. I took a bunch of shots of the kids, but when I got back to my computer all the shots were extremely overexoposed. I was shooting with an ISO of 800. :mad: Oh well, like you say, check that ISO. :hi:

[BamaGirl]

5. Those are great

I love the spider shots!

[Maestro]

9. Thanks -nt

[Blue_In_AK]

7. Flowers and spiders -- a distant memory...

:cry: Five degrees here.

[Maestro]

10. Here in Texas

we have record heat, high 80's currently.