Getting into photography
 

I've been taking pictures for a long time, but never really got serious about it. Going from a point and shoot to a DSLR was my first big step. Been shooting with a Canon Rebel XT for a while with just the stock 17-85mm lens.

Here's a few unedited pics from today. All taken in manual with various exposure/ aperture settings. Still messing around trying to see what works. All criticisms welcome.

http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/w...e/IMG_9915.jpg

http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/w...e/IMG_9917.jpg

http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/w...e/IMG_9922.jpg

http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/w...e/IMG_9929.jpg

http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/w...e/IMG_9842.jpg

Shoot in M mode and just play around with your aperature, shutter, and iso... if you need a guide line go in P mode aim at your subject and shoot... see the results then if its not too your liking go to M mode and change your settings if its under exposed have a longer shutter speed... if its over exposed have a faster shutter speed... hope that helps...

or shoot in aperture and shutter modes individually for a while to learn what each does, then when you have the hang of that incorporate it into shooting in M mode.

That's pretty much exactly what I was doing. Any recommendations for a decent lens to upgrade to?

something with an L in it :)

1. clean your sensor
2. if you upgrade your lens soon, buy a circular polarizer (recommendation: Tamron 17-50 f/2.8)
3. wait longer and shoot closer to sunset for the 10 minutes "golden lighting" - lighting in those photos are a little harsh.
4. clean the car - photos of a dirty won't do much for the photo itself

Thanks for the input

In the first shot, you can see black spots/speckles. Those are dust particles on your sensor.

It looks like the car needs a good buff. A good detailer can bring it back to life.