First shots with first dSLR.

I bought a secondhand 30D yesterday and a new 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens.
Today I went out for some pictures and here are 3 of them.
I'm looking for some tips, so I added the EXIF info.


- Exposure: 1/250
- Aperture: 10
- ISO: 800


- Exposure: 1/500
- Aperture: 16
- ISO: 800


- Exposure: 1/640
- Aperture: 16
- ISO: 800

The 17-40 is an excellent lens. I used mine as a general walkabout lens before I got the full-frame 5D; it's rarely used now, but you've reminded me to dust it off and get back to using it for landscape and nature scenes for which it is ideally suited.

I'm not sure what you're asking us to comment on here, but for starters, you should adjust down the ISO. The 30D still takes relatively noise-free images at 800 ISO, but with the shutter speeds that you are getting there, I would reduce it to at least 400, if not lower.

Whenever I put my camera away, I always replace with a fully-charged battery, an empty card, and reset to my default settings which include the ISO at 400. When I go out at mid-day in clear weather, the ISO gets adjusted to 200 or 100 ISO.

not bad. and a very nice setup for your first dslr.
i used an xt w/the 18-55

but pretty nice shots for your first time out.
id recommend a smaller dof for most of the shots to make your subject stand out a bit more. and maybe add some saturation to the flowers in the first one.

Great setup, especially for your first DSLR! Some decent shots too, although as anmoldagreat said, a smaller DOF (depth of field) would improve them. To achieve this, open up your aperture a little more (maybe around the 5.6 - 7 area). Also put the ISO down - the 30D is pretty good when it comes to grain but there's no point shooting with a high ISO in broad daylight.

If you need any clarification on what your ISO does or what DOF is, PM me or post in here. Not sure how much you know about photography really, so I'm just trying to cover all bases =)

Well, I had a p&s for 2 years with some manual controls. So I know a bit about ISO, EV, etc. But I couldn't adjust my aperture on that one though. I'm experimenting amap with the 30D .