Learning basic photography - Me again another question please

[40piggies]

Thank-you for the links and reading suggestion. That was most thoughtful. I have also ordered Understanding Exposure and another book on portraits by Bryan Peterson... they also came recommended, what do you think?

The camera is still in the box! So I hope today the kids are co-operative enough so I can start reading and hopefully get the battery charged. I am bursting to start!

[tegan]

Thank-you for the links and reading suggestion. That was most thoughtful. I have also ordered Understanding Exposure and another book on portraits by Bryan Peterson... they also came recommended, what do you think?

The camera is still in the box! So I hope today the kids are co-operative enough so I can start reading and hopefully get the battery charged. I am bursting to start!

Definitely a good place to start. The basics of portraiture are posing, framing with the camera, lighting and accurate colour. The challenge for a beginner is also a background free of clutter and one that does not distract from the person in the portrait.

In a television and film course I took way back when, I always remember being told that "A good camera person has square eyes." It applies to still photography as well. What it means is that a good photographer pays close attention to everything within the camera frame and does not tunnel his/her vision only on the person in the portrait for example. In that regard as well there is a rule about space close to the frame.

Tegan

[40piggies]

Thank-you again Teagan. Camera is ready to go, but I am more than baffled and feeling like I am in way over my head. Posing, colour, lighting and the like do make sense when I am read about it... so much to learn, but it is in plain english. I have yet to take a picture because, and I could be very wrong here, I don't want to shoot in automatic mode... I may as well have bought a P&S. ??? Truthfully though, with my extreme lack of knowledge is this area I feel overwhelmed. I read a sentence in the manual and then reread and still have ???. A course is definately in order, but until that point how to start? F stops, ISO, and on and on, I am most eager to learn, but it is almost like I don't know how...lol. If there are any tips or websites you could direct me to I would be most grateful.

[Marko]

Hi there 40piggies,

I'd suggest learning about the relationship between ISO-F-stops-and shutter speed to start. This relationship is essential and not that hard to understand, but a bit to lengthy for a forum post.

In a a nutshell - start off in manual mode. Right on! Don't use flash until you understand how the camera works without it.

ISO refers to 'film speed'. Use low ISO ie 100 for bright light (day) and use higher ISO ie 800 for night and indoors when the light is low.

F-stops - referes to the size of the hole through which the camera shoots the scene. YOU the photographer choose the size of that hole. You can choose a large hole like F-2.0 or a small hole like F-22. MANY people get confused at this point because the smaller # is a larger hole. Thinking of the F-stops as as a fraction helps to remember this. So 1/2 is indeed larger than 1/22

Shutter speed - in front of the hole is a shutter. Think of it as a flap. How long the flap stays open to let light (the scene you are photographing) in, is the shutterspeed. If you are shooting at night, you'll need a long shutterer speed because it's dark and more light needs to get through the hole to properly expose the scene. In bright light the shutter speed will be much faster.

Now your camera meter will tell you if the scene is correctly exposed.

But you as the photographer can change things up by changing either the ISO, shutter speed or aperture (F-stop). Just know, that when you do you have to make adjustments.

There is a crazy amount of info on the net...but here are 2 or 3 links from this site that may well help you to further understand these basics.

This first one was written a few years ago but all the rules hold for digital photography.
http://www.photography.ca/phototips/trinity.html
http://www.photography.ca/blog/?p=56

This is a podcast (audio recording that you can listen to on your computer)
On exposure in general - http://www.photography.ca/blog/?p=13
On Depth of field - (F-stops) - http://www.photography.ca/blog/?p=5

Hope that helps - and of course feel free to post some pictures if you want us to comment on them.

NB - I edited the thread title to be of help to future visitors.

best!
Marko

[40piggies]

Thank-you for all the information! I have been trying to fiddle around with the ISO, aperature.... but going very bumpy, to be expected. I don't want to use the flash at all yet, but broke down and did as my pics were very dark. I still need to set up the computer so I can transfer the pics in (I suppose I will use the camera program for now... thinking of purchasing Elements?) Yesterday I took some of the kids around 4pm... snowy overcase day but the light through the window felt bright enough... gently hitting their faces. Tried putting the light on above them and then another to the opposite side of the window... still fairly dark. Used the flash and MUCH clearer, but too bright? I forget where I had the camera set now... lets see aperature 10, ISO 400... I think I tried 800 too? I didn't do anything with the shutter speed... I think I forgot that..lol. I am going to work on getting the photos uploaded as I would greatly appreciated any and all comments... I just feel I am so new that you all won't know where to start! I am amazed that you would take the time, and I am grateful.

[tegan]

(I suppose I will use the camera program for now... thinking of purchasing Elements?) --40 Piggies

I would suggest that you compare Elements with Paint Shop Pro X2. Both are Photoshop-like, but PaintShop Pro X2 has more Photoshop features than Elements for a lower price.

Tegan

[40piggies]

Thank-you for that Teagan.