FOCUSING IN CLOSEUPS WITH KIT LENS.

welcome to forum......My opinion differs here regarding your photograph.... IT IS NOT THAT U BROUGHT 550D in front of the flower and shot only one photo....What I feel here, if anybody wants good flowers photographs, focus on the stamen...the judgement of sharpness begins from stamen and the stamen in ur flower is diffused. IT is the case of simply not focusing correctly.
U r new to DSLR...however there is LCD screen to check sharpness and exposure....even with kit lens at 5 inches u will get good focusing on this type of flower at 5.6....however since it is a closeup photography, f8 and f11 r necessary.
--I recommend Shobin's point of underexposing by half stop....As I set my all cameras at  half stop minus compensation....In low light I may change to 0 compensation....so it is a matter of choice and lighting conditions....You keep on aperture priority, u shd have to check the aperture each time u remove the lens cap. Otherwise for learning photography and correct exposure setting with Shutter speed and aperture, which play main role, try in MANUAL settings....Once u master and keep reading the light, aperture priority will certainly of great help, finding out the DOF importantly and for high speed shooting Shutter priority I prefer....all the best, Anand.

It is simple Anand...ur autofocus system told u that the flower is in focus...yes, the petals look sharp and there are many points of autofocus on the screen in viewfinder...I generally keep set the point in centre...so I feel less worried...As M_BHAKT says u might have went too close to flower......In closeup focusing with kit lens we move up and down and here ur autofocus system, u thought is working.....I tried with my kit lens, that when I went below the fixed range of focusing, say 5'', there is autofocus signal but no BEEP. Just went above to 5 inch, the beep was heard and that confirmed that the subject is in focus........just remember and pl go through the manual as many times u can...There are assortment of features...Definite they help a lot so we are more confident while shooting.....macros,closeups to landscapes, portraits..and and......just guess??....(with due apology to Anand)....JJmehta forum.

WHITE BALANCE IN CAMERA

Vimal, as I mentioned I will explore the morning portrait, after viewing Krishna's portrait by u in the morning light with White Balance set on Cloudy.....However, u may hv taken at around 8 a.m., but I took, my grand-son, Vishesh,s portrait, with same setting at around 9.30 a.m. and found out that the yellow persists in 'Cloudy' WB...as I felt and elaborated in www.selfupp.blogspot.com, the yellow is present in morning and evening, and the yellow meant lower temperature was dominant in cloudy WB of higher 8000K temperature set in the camera in morning sunlight...Next this portrait I shot on AUTO WB and got good skin tones and a nice backlighting effect, which persists from Oct to Feb in India. May help many interested membersthnx Doc., Vimal, Aroon, Hansrajji, Ataz, Hellwrath, Sri, Mukund, Udayan, Shobin, Vikram, Mbhakt for your kind words.....
Doc...I feel u have got the answer in the posts above. In digital photography, with lots of features in the camera, many modes become a myth for the common men....For enthusiasts and Pro, where conditions differ, they read the light and do accordingly in camera in JPEG mode or in RAW and rest in pp....However, I agree with Hellwrath,Udayan and Vimal on their use of WB. 
--90 per cent users do have compacts and bridge cameras, they hardly feel understanding the utility of WB, except in Auto mode...Even the studio people do use Auto WB while usung electronic flashes, and flash light in marriages and other functions, including outdoors, becoz many of them do not know the use of WB...Yes the serious amateurs r interested to understand the need of changing WB...as I hv noticed in many forums....The next door friend do not bother and the WB remains set on Auto.
-Few yrs back, I cared to use with films, the light blue filter in the evening light and pink filter while in fluorescent....Rest even in Industrial photography, with halogens, I used two, three flashguns and the slight yellow is cut by the printer. ....another blog...www.photogroups.blogspot.com,www.photoblog.com/gop2211.

CROPPING - TO IMPROVE PHOTOGRAPH-AN OPINION.

Hellwrath....thnx for input& liked ur thinking....However,as I saw A LONG PERIOD with cameras,so when  we inserted the b&w neg in the enlarger, every up and down of the enlarger head wud make a different photo, therefore, we made several photographs from the same negative....However there is no hard & fast rule, it is sometimes liking the image as it is or making more photos....This was possible in b&w printing and now again the tools in our hand,in the computer. While getting colour prints done, we had the printer guy at his leisure time to get crops....the photography is multifaceted art and provides opportunities for various type of experimentation...to be a purist, a realistic or an abstractist---Photo of Saanvi by Hellwrath--jjmehta forum.

PANASONIC DMC FZ 150

I do not say them as new breed of cameras, but yes they are high powered zoom BRIDGE cameras. U can enjoy the SLR design with bigger zooms. So this dream-come-true LUMIX DMC FZ 150 from PANASONIC is worth a buy. I remember its long time old FZ50 with 10.1 MP and 12x zoom with 35-420 focal length. But now technology has enhanced the zooming power with good image quality. And I think you will feel proud to own one, if you have DSLRs or even compacts in your gear.

2) This high end camera comes with  12.1 MP resolution, with the advancement of technology bringing the zoom more wide to cover large area and great telephoto range---24x zoom with 25-600 focal length. CMOS sensor for better quality pictures....It has to its credit the 'nano surface coating' to reduce the effects of internal reflections in its long zoom lens....The camera shoots in RAW as well as JPEG formats. It captures 1080p60 HD movies and has optical image stabilisation, a boon for the shaky hands. Besides 24x optical zoom, it has built in 4x Digital zoom too, to extend focal length further, though with some loss in quality, which, in my opinion, can be rectified in photoshop, if u wish. It also has electronic viewfinder for shooting in broad daylight, if LCD panel is too bright to view. Macro facility comes near to 1 cm and the number of focus points are 23, which is the latest trend, with other cameras too. The lens has f2.8-5.2.  A 3'' LCD screen with 460,000 dots and Shutter speeds range from 30 sec to 1/2000. Yea, it has pop-up flash with an hot-shoe for external flash, (it is a bonus for me). The built in flash has a range of 9.5 m coverage....this too is good for pro-photography. U will have Aperture, Shutter priority and Manual modes to control the light reaching the sensor to give optimum quality exposure....70 MB internal memory, with facility of now much in vogue the SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards. It is powered by Lithiom-ion rechargeable battery and weighs 528gms....a good support in hand to handle big zoom for sharp pictures.

3) It comes with 16GB memory card, camera case, table-top tripod and spare li-ion battery. So just try at a nearby Cam shop. The cost is approx.$500.

HEADS OFF---MIRRORLESS CAMERAS

WHY I TITLED HEADS OFF....There is no reflex mirror and pentaprism to provide u a viewfinder,as hitherto has been made in FSLRs and DSLRs....so the design is flat....Do u love new design...Yes I do love....It is a new thing in interchangeable lens cameras...They are more close to compact design cameras, which too do not have mirrors in between lens and sensor, as is found in FILM SLRs & DSLRs. You can view this  Samsung beauty, which is a super 20.3 MP mirrorless interchangeable camera with a kit lens--NX200, and has APS-C CMOS sensor, yielding outstanding image quality. In 20.3 MP, the resolution will come to 5472x3648 pixels....With OIS, it has ISO speeds in Auto, 100,200,400,800,1600,3200,6400,12800. The good thing is that it shoots in RAW and JPEG formats. Have 3 inch LCD monitor...and no built in flash, but alternatively has hot-shoe for external flash (my choice)...Other features include optional electronic viewfinder, because there is no reflex mirror and u can view pictures on LCD panel....Shutter speeds from 30 sec to 1/4000 of a second. Shoots high quality HD video and audio channels provide stereo effect, will shoot in high speed continuous i.e 7 fps.also...Samsung has provided magic frame technology, which the user can encapsulate their pix with 13 different stylized frames for magazine covers to holiday themes for fun photos..Storage media is as generally used - SD/SDHC/SDXC....

-Now I feel there are and will be more mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras from other manufacturers, so there will not be any necessity to lock up the mirror to get shake-free photos, as is envisaged many a times, while shooting handheld.....SO WHEN U R GOING FOR A MIRRORLESS CHAMP?

PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY DISCUSSION IN FORUM

thnx Henry for input....reg the inner personality attitudes, I hv gone thru ur post like, low angle:most powerful, dominant,commanding; high angle-submissive etc; eye level-approachable,friendly etc....and the verb 'could be perceived' is not clear to me relating to the adjectives.

-For a novice closely using high angle may either LOOK image distortive i.e. foreshortening....particularly nose reaching out from the face...Portraiture, with angle of view and focal length is a matter of practice. For a full length going 6 feet is still a problem for a photographer for a full length portrait,whether to stand, half bow down or sit down and which focal length (it comes 35mm in 35mm format, which in my opinion is not ideal for full length portrait, as shown in the sketch in the beginning of the post)For bust, it may be alright.



-Reg perspective: this is the art of making some objects or people in a picture look further away than others....here I agree with ur point of space....but if a photographer determines different lengths from the subject, then focal length play a great role rather than moving closer or further from the subject as with prime or fixed focal length lenses....so zooming in and out and changing the focal length maintaing from his particular chosen place makes it necessary to get a correct perspective of the person being photographed. That may define the point of space between the subject and his background. Once again I thnk u.

NOISE /GRAINS IN MODERN SENSOR DCAMs

The photo uploaded here is shot with a compact dcam at ISO 400, which inevitably shows the grain when enlarged to 100%. The face of my grand son I picked up from the full frame. The details look merged. My point here is that in compacts if we go above ISO 200, the noise appears. The compacts are sold more so concern for general public. However, if you use prosumers or DSLRs, this problem will arise at ISO 800 and above. During film days the photographers generally got the film rating at ISO 100 for most purposes and for professionals ISO 200 and 400 were readily available in small towns too. So most of photographers used ISO 100 film and got best results and enlargements in weddings, travels and all functions, with good sunlight and bright shadows or indoor or outdoor with good brands of powerful flashguns....

The improvement I made in the image by denoising and slight sharpening it, so my worry of getting a grainy/noisy pic is reduced
and I can get a good enlargement of the full image shot on the small sensor of a compact camera....The sensor size is the main issue of having noisy results because of the compactness/thinness of the small cameras. SO IF YOU shoot with a compact, shoot at the minimum noise level set by the manufacturer i.e. may be ISO 80 or 100. The pros who use DSLRs are aware of the problem and therefore set and shoot according to their requirements.