canon eos 550d twin lens kit questions

[mangoat]

hi everyone

i recently bought the 550d twin lens kit, i am new to the slr industry, although have always loved photohgraphy.

ok, here is my questions.

1. a lot of my pics, are out of focus in more places than they are, eg: when itook a pic of a train, the whole thing was out of focus except for the exact front end of it. which looks good in a way, but not in another, depends on how i feel when i look at it whether i like it or not.

and yet when i take a similar shot, slightly different angle, everything in the imahe is in focus.

how do i get more of the shot in focus.

2. i got a polarising filter, there is an arrow on the rim of it, what is this, and how do i aim it? it is a circular polarizing filter.


well, i think this is about it for now, ill ask more as i need to.

regards.

[tanz]

I am only new to photography myself but it sounds like you don't have a fast enough shutter speed. If you post one of the pics that you are unhappy with and put down what settings were used then the members on here will be able to help you more.

[Analog6]

This is not focus but Depth of Field. If you go to the new to photography section of the forum you will find tutorials.

But in a nutshell, the smaller the NUMBER of the f stop on your lens (eg f.2.8, f 4) the larger the aperture and the shallower the depth of field.

From f8 and upwards (bigger NUMBER, smaller APERTURE) the greater the depth of field.

Use your camera in aperture mode for a while (Av) and set the aperture to f8 or more if you are shooting scenes where you want most of the image in focus. Watch what shutter speed it is giving you though, anything under the length of the lens (eg an 80mm lens you want a shutter speed of 1/80th or faster) when handholding.

To shoot things like flowers and close up objects where you want only the object sharp and the bacjground blurred, set a wider aperture (smaller NUMBER).

But do go and check the New to Photography section for lots of hints and tips. And post some pictures for constructive criticism, it will help you to improve.

[ricktas]

Post some sample photos of what you are experiencing, it will help up greatly to advise you on the cause and the solution

[tanz]

What Odille said makes sense and therefore you don't want a faster shutter speed like I said but actually a slower one which will give you are smaller aperture (higher number), so if you are shooting in the Tv mode then change your shutter speed, but if you are shooting in Av then you can change the aperture and the shutter speed will change automatically.