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please help... I need a good how-to

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Derrick #43079

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Ok I had a coolpix 950 but had to sell it due to some circumstances. I'm planning now to get a 990 or a 995 to replace it. Either way I am looking to get more advanced with these camera's. I'm familiar with point and shooting a lot, and my 950 did ok on automatic. While I am good at composing my pictures, I need a better understanding of how to figure out, on my own, what adjustments I should make to the aperature, iso, shutter speed, etc. to get the most ideal pictures. I know this will also require trial and error on my part but can someone suggest a good resource for building myself a foundation. Taking into account that I'm only using digital.

Any help is much appreciated, I don't wanna be a point and shooter forever.

-DZ
 
Peter Inova's Ebook (Mastering Nikon Compact Digital Cameras) is a fantastic resource for the 990/950 or any digicam. Covers Photoshop and just about every aspect of photography in general. It should help with the 995 as well. To get the most from it, you should also get a copy of Photoshop to cover the digital darkroom aspects.

Regards,
Trent
Derrick said:
Ok I had a coolpix 950 but had to sell it due to some
circumstances. I'm planning now to get a 990 or a 995 to replace
it. Either way I am looking to get more advanced with these
camera's. I'm familiar with point and shooting a lot, and my 950
did ok on automatic. While I am good at composing my pictures, I
need a better understanding of how to figure out, on my own, what
adjustments I should make to the aperature, iso, shutter speed,
etc. to get the most ideal pictures. I know this will also require
trial and error on my part but can someone suggest a good resource
for building myself a foundation. Taking into account that I'm
only using digital.

Any help is much appreciated, I don't wanna be a point and shooter
forever.

-DZ
Click to expand...
 
Derrick said:
Ok I had a coolpix 950 but had to sell it due to some
circumstances. I'm planning now to get a 990 or a 995 to replace
it. Either way I am looking to get more advanced with these
camera's. I'm familiar with point and shooting a lot, and my 950
did ok on automatic. While I am good at composing my pictures, I
need a better understanding of how to figure out, on my own, what
adjustments I should make to the aperature, iso, shutter speed,
etc. to get the most ideal pictures. I know this will also require
trial and error on my part but can someone suggest a good resource
for building myself a foundation. Taking into account that I'm
only using digital.

Any help is much appreciated, I don't wanna be a point and shooter
forever.

-DZ
Click to expand...
http://www.digitalsecrets.net/

The Ebook written by Peter Inova is ideal for your situation. The price may seem a bit steep but at $50 it's about the same as a good photoshop book.

It has many extras and Mr. Inova is very knowledgable on all things digital and notably these Nikon digicams.
Brad
 
Thanks for the advice so far. $50 doesn't seem all that steep for a book, that might be mostly because I'm in college though (just a whippersnapper, 19 yr. old) and am used to buying high priced books every semester.
 
call my cynical but gee Derrick, are you really 19? me thinks you already own that nikon e-book or maybe ever wrote it yourself.
Derrick said:
Thanks for the advice so far. $50 doesn't seem all that steep for
a book, that might be mostly because I'm in college though (just a
whippersnapper, 19 yr. old) and am used to buying high priced books
every semester.
Click to expand...
 
Trent Mulkern said:
Regards,
Trent
Derrick said:
Ok I had a coolpix 950 but had to sell it due to some
circumstances. I'm planning now to get a 990 or a 995 to replace
it. Either way I am looking to get more advanced with these
camera's. I'm familiar with point and shooting a lot, and my 950
did ok on automatic. While I am good at composing my pictures, I
need a better understanding of how to figure out, on my own, what
adjustments I should make to the aperature, iso, shutter speed,
etc. to get the most ideal pictures. I know this will also require
trial and error on my part but can someone suggest a good resource
for building myself a foundation. Taking into account that I'm
only using digital.

Any help is much appreciated, I don't wanna be a point and shooter
forever.

-DZ
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
What he said.
John
 
Derrick said:
actually i can get photoshop 6 for about $270, still a lot but
reasonable.
Click to expand...
You may want to go with PhotoShop Elements first. Only $99.00 (or maybe less to a 19 yr old student :^). Get PS later when you have more time and money. You should be concentrating on you studies now, not messing with photography! THIS IS YOUR MOTHER SPEAKING! PatiO.
 
haha thanks PatiO. I'm going to have all of this summer off of school, though I will be working 40 hours a week. I was planning on spending a lot of my time after work trying to get to know Photoshop. For some of you that are Photoshop vets, would 3 months of good time be enough to get me into PS 6, or would you think Elements would be a better goal to tackle?

again thanks for the help
 
I have read where PS Elements is somewhat limited in capabilities. Your student price for PS v6.0 is a great deal. You can certainly learn the basics of PS in three months, but it is such that someone is always coming out with a new technique or plug-in to add to the capabilities. Plus there are a lot of free plug-ins and tutorial help on-line.

The Ebook by the way is a CD with some free software tools, demo software packages including PS v5.5, and a bunch of PS plug-ins that are used and explained in the book/CD.

Regards,
Trent
Derrick said:
haha thanks PatiO. I'm going to have all of this summer off of
school, though I will be working 40 hours a week. I was planning
on spending a lot of my time after work trying to get to know
Photoshop. For some of you that are Photoshop vets, would 3 months
of good time be enough to get me into PS 6, or would you think
Elements would be a better goal to tackle?

again thanks for the help
Click to expand...
 
Derrick,

Don't worry about the money...take out another student loan. That is what I usually do (I have several student loans to support my photography habit).

:)

Charles
Derrick said:
haha thanks PatiO. I'm going to have all of this summer off of
school, though I will be working 40 hours a week. I was planning
on spending a lot of my time after work trying to get to know
Photoshop. For some of you that are Photoshop vets, would 3 months
of good time be enough to get me into PS 6, or would you think
Elements would be a better goal to tackle?

again thanks for the help
Click to expand...
 
Derrick,

There are plenty of online sites that can help--many are FREE! Try this one for starters: http://www.shortcourses.com/how/contents

Blaine....
Derrick said:
Ok I had a coolpix 950 but had to sell it due to some
circumstances. I'm planning now to get a 990 or a 995 to replace
it. Either way I am looking to get more advanced with these
camera's. I'm familiar with point and shooting a lot, and my 950
did ok on automatic. While I am good at composing my pictures, I
need a better understanding of how to figure out, on my own, what
adjustments I should make to the aperature, iso, shutter speed,
etc. to get the most ideal pictures. I know this will also require
trial and error on my part but can someone suggest a good resource
for building myself a foundation. Taking into account that I'm
only using digital.

Any help is much appreciated, I don't wanna be a point and shooter
forever.

-DZ
Click to expand...
 
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