Canon 55-250mm lens woth buying?

[blockburner28]

These are the pictures I took of my daughter while at her preschool ceremony.
I used my 55-250mm on this one with the flash shooting forward

18-55mm

now I do recall leaving my iso at 100. Is that the mean reason my pictures came out dark?

 

[mtbdudex]

Family looks nice, kids are so precious!

I saw in another thread you recently bought the 430 - I assume these were shot with that, honestly I bought the 530 2 months ago so I'm still a newbie with it.
Many others here can offer you advice on flash usage and exposure techniques.

"Painting the scene with light for correct exposure" is one of my 2010 goals.

fwiw, I've resorted to taking pictures indoors w/o flash until I'm comfortable with the 530.

 

[funkboy]

now I do recall leaving my iso at 100. Is that the mean reason my pictures came out dark?

The subjects in your photos are actually properly exposed, it's the backgrounds that are dark because the flash tries not to overexpose the subject.

If you want to dive right in & lean how flash works on Canon cameras, this guide is the right place to start.

After that, head over to the Strobist to learn lighting technique. I think you'll find that playing with lighting can become habit-forming quickly!

This was one of the first test shots I made a couple weeks ago with my new umbrella diffuser on a stand with remote flash:

Get an off-camera cord, dig up a crappy old tripod to use as a stand, and start playing.

 

[blockburner28]

Family looks nice, kids are so precious!

I saw in another thread you recently bought the 430 - I assume these were shot with that, honestly I bought the 530 2 months ago so I'm still a newbie with it.
Many others here can offer you advice on flash usage and exposure techniques.

"Painting the scene with light for correct exposure" is one of my 2010 goals.

fwiw, I've resorted to taking pictures indoors w/o flash until I'm comfortable with the 530.

Thanks man! the little girl is my daughter and the big one is her cousin. I left the the iso @ 100. That was the reason the pictures came out so dark. I have time to learn until I shoot in that party of their church again.

 

[blockburner28]

The subjects in your photos are actually properly exposed, it's the backgrounds that are dark because the flash tries not to overexpose the subject.

If you want to dive right in & lean how flash works on Canon cameras, this guide is the right place to start.

After that, head over to the Strobist to learn lighting technique. I think you'll find that playing with lighting can become habit-forming quickly!

This was one of the first test shots I made a couple weeks ago with my new umbrella diffuser on a stand with remote flash:

Get an off-camera cord, dig up a crappy old tripod to use as a stand, and start playing.

Thanks for the information. Nice picture btw! I love the sharpness in it. May of this year they will be having another ceremony in their cathedral. During that the the place will be swarming with people, so I wouldn't have any room for the tripod What else can I do to get good pictures in that place with only the speed light? I ordered a canon 50mm 1.8 for 70 dollars today. Is this enough to get me over the hump? Thanks

 

[Full of Win]

You need more ambient light to reach the sensor by either a larger aperture and/or a longer shutter speed or you can amplify the signal out of the sensor more (by increasing the ISO). The first image was done at f/4, the lens cannot get any faster, so this will not help. It was done at 55mm, but this is a crop sensor camera, so this will be about 80mm (effective); but your images was done at 1/125th of a second. The typical school of thought is that your shutter speed should be at least the reciprocal of your focal length (1/80 of a second); you can fudge this a little since your lens has IS. If you had a well braced camera or were careful with your hand holding, you could try 1/8 to 1/60 of a second while keeping the same f/4 aperture and 55mm focal length; if you have a tripod, this can be 1 – 2 seconds (assuming your subject is not moving)
It all depends on the situation.

You may have to reduce the flash composition if the subjects are coming out too bright when you decrease the shutter speed and/or ISO

Oh, and the minimum shutter speed in P mode is 1/60 of a second.

File name: IMG_2585.jpg
File size: 201948 bytes (4752x3168, 0.1bpp, 224x)
EXIF Summary: 1/125s f/4.0 ISO100 55mm

Camera-Specific Properties:

Equipment Make: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS REBEL T1i
Lens Size: 55.00 - 250.00 mm
Firmware Version: Firmware Version 1.1.0
Serial Number: 1270507126
Lens Name: EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

Image-Specific Properties:

Image Orientation: Top, Left-Hand
Vertical Resolution: 72 dpi
Image Created: 2010:03:15 20:43:36
Exposure Time: 1/125 sec
F-Number: f/4.0
Exposure Program: Manual
ISO Speed Rating: 100
Lens Aperture: f/4.0
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash, Compulsory
Focal Length: 55.00 mm

 

[blockburner28]

You need more ambient light to reach the sensor by either a larger aperture and/or a longer shutter speed or you can amplify the signal out of the sensor more (by increasing the ISO). The first image was done at f/4, the lens cannot get any faster, so this will not help. It was done at 55mm, but this is a crop sensor camera, so this will be about 80mm (effective); but your images was done at 1/125th of a second. The typical school of thought is that your shutter speed should be at least the reciprocal of your focal length (1/80 of a second); you can fudge this a little since your lens has IS. If you had a well braced camera or were careful with your hand holding, you could try 1/8 to 1/60 of a second while keeping the same f/4 aperture and 55mm focal length; if you have a tripod, this can be 1 – 2 seconds (assuming your subject is not moving)
It all depends on the situation.

You may have to reduce the flash composition if the subjects are coming out too bright when you decrease the shutter speed and/or ISO

Oh, and the minimum shutter speed in P mode is 1/60 of a second.

File name: IMG_2585.jpg
File size: 201948 bytes (4752x3168, 0.1bpp, 224x)
EXIF Summary: 1/125s f/4.0 ISO100 55mm

Camera-Specific Properties:

Equipment Make: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS REBEL T1i
Lens Size: 55.00 - 250.00 mm
Firmware Version: Firmware Version 1.1.0
Serial Number: 1270507126
Lens Name: EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

Image-Specific Properties:

Image Orientation: Top, Left-Hand
Vertical Resolution: 72 dpi
Image Created: 2010:03:15 20:43:36
Exposure Time: 1/125 sec
F-Number: f/4.0
Exposure Program: Manual
ISO Speed Rating: 100
Lens Aperture: f/4.0
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash, Compulsory
Focal Length: 55.00 mm

Thanks for the information. I will try to practice this

 

[blockburner28]

These are some of the pictures I took of my daughter today with the 55-250mm is

 

[mtbdudex]

I like this series, your daughter has great facial expressions.
The only thing I'd say is practice "rule of thirds", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

Many threads here on that.

 

[blockburner28]

I like this series, your daughter has great facial expressions.
The only thing I'd say is practice "rule of thirds", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

Many threads here on that.

thanks man! I will look at this information and study it

 

[gkarris]

I like this series, your daughter has great facial expressions.
The only thing I'd say is practice "rule of thirds", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

Many threads here on that.

Who says you have to do this for great photos?