Overwhelmed! How did you learn about photography?

Feeling a little overwhelmed!! I guess we're so used to just the plain ol' point and shoot and then question later why the picture didn't turn out right. Please tell me the secret to learning even just the basics. I've read lots of threads on here the past few days and I walk away just shaking my head! Half of the lingo I don't understand-----white balance? noise? etc. How do you know what settings to change?

So where does a beginner like me start? Just trial and error? Take a class? Buy a book? Find a site? You've really made me want to take "great" pictures. This site is great!!

Vayle

I got my first dig camera A 70 last December. I only knew point and shoot before. The first thing I did, reading the camera user guide as many times to know it by heard. That gives you a good basic idea how the camera settings work. You'll understand " white balance" and many other "strange" photo terms in no time.

Those are the words of a true beginner and I am learning day by day, reading and asking questions in this forum. I joined a month ago and I pick up something new every day.Visit my photo gallery and you can see what I am able to produce after the short time with this forum.
http://www.pbase.com/terif/galleries

hearthetunes said:

Feeling a little overwhelmed!! I guess we're so used to just the
plain ol' point and shoot and then question later why the picture
didn't turn out right. Please tell me the secret to learning even
just the basics. I've read lots of threads on here the past few
days and I walk away just shaking my head! Half of the lingo I
don't understand-----white balance? noise? etc. How do you know
what settings to change?

So where does a beginner like me start? Just trial and error?
Take a class? Buy a book? Find a site? You've really made me
want to take "great" pictures. This site is great!!

Vayle

Click to expand...

you surely can take "great pictures" with a point and shoot cam
i'm glad that my canon s45 has a full automode
i try to leave it in that when i put it back into the bag
when something fast is happen that i want to shoot
i often dont have the time for manual settings
otherwise many situations i could handle much better
with manual settings (when theres enough time i almost only use
the m mode)

for learning such things like white balance or noise
i'd recommend a good personel teacher
this could save u alot of time
(i wished i had one when i started computing with dos 5)

but trial and error can produce interesting results

hearthetunes said:

Feeling a little overwhelmed!! I guess we're so used to just the
plain ol' point and shoot and then question later why the picture
didn't turn out right. Please tell me the secret to learning even
just the basics. I've read lots of threads on here the past few
days and I walk away just shaking my head! Half of the lingo I
don't understand-----white balance? noise? etc. How do you know
what settings to change?

So where does a beginner like me start? Just trial and error?
Take a class? Buy a book? Find a site? You've really made me
want to take "great" pictures. This site is great!!

Vayle

Click to expand...

jismo said:

for learning such things like white balance or noise
i'd recommend a good personel teacher
this could save u alot of time
(i wished i had one when i started computing with dos 5)

but trial and error can produce interesting results

hearthetunes said:

Feeling a little overwhelmed!! I guess we're so used to just the
plain ol' point and shoot and then question later why the picture
didn't turn out right. Please tell me the secret to learning even
just the basics. I've read lots of threads on here the past few
days and I walk away just shaking my head! Half of the lingo I
don't understand-----white balance? noise? etc. How do you know
what settings to change?

So where does a beginner like me start? Just trial and error?
Take a class? Buy a book? Find a site? You've really made me
want to take "great" pictures. This site is great!!

Vayle

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--Buying a book is a great idea. When I first started, Kodak had a book called "The Joy of Photography", which was soon followed by "More Joy of Photography". By the time my ship moored in Singapore in early '84, there was nothing left to do but receive my Nikon FA and zoom Nikkor 35~105 in the first mail call.

It's the same now. By all means, exploit a few books for the straightforward knowledge that they impart. Get a camera that you can apply yourself to, like the S60, G5, or ??? and indulge yourself completely in "The Joy of Photography" It is one of few long term relationships that remain vibrant and rewarding.

If your ship is headed that way, stop in the Philippines, and have your name engraved in your first "real" camera.
http://www.procabbie.com
Who am I to blow against the wind? -Paul Simon

hearthetunes said:

Feeling a little overwhelmed!! I guess we're so used to just the
plain ol' point and shoot and then question later why the picture
didn't turn out right. Please tell me the secret to learning even
just the basics. I've read lots of threads on here the past few
days and I walk away just shaking my head! Half of the lingo I
don't understand-----white balance? noise? etc. How do you know
what settings to change?

So where does a beginner like me start? Just trial and error?
Take a class? Buy a book? Find a site? You've really made me
want to take "great" pictures. This site is great!!

Vayle

Click to expand...

--
. . . http://www.shortcourses.com/mustsee/mustsee.htm

Good luck, and . . .

Happy Shooting !

Mike Chinnock
-----

Sanyo VPC-X350 HP C912 Fuji S602 Canon S50
Kenko VC-200HI Oly TCON-17
Sunpak 611 Vivitar 91
HP Photosmart P1000, 7550

For good, free lessons on photography, go to http://www.photo.net and read all of Phillip Greenspun's old articles on learning photography. Then grab one of the books from the dead trees section and leave it on your nightstand, reading some of it every night before you go to sleep. (The Barbara London one is very good.) Lastly, go buy a camera that gives you manual controls, and take 100 pictures every day.

One thing that will not help you is to get in some of the useless arguments over camera superiority that so often happen in this forum.

hearthetunes said:

Feeling a little overwhelmed!! I guess we're so used to just the
plain ol' point and shoot and then question later why the picture
didn't turn out right. Please tell me the secret to learning even
just the basics. I've read lots of threads on here the past few
days and I walk away just shaking my head! Half of the lingo I
don't understand-----white balance? noise? etc. How do you know
what settings to change?

So where does a beginner like me start? Just trial and error?
Take a class? Buy a book? Find a site? You've really made me
want to take "great" pictures. This site is great!!

Vayle

Click to expand...

hearthetunes said:

Feeling a little overwhelmed!! I guess we're so used to just the
plain ol' point and shoot and then question later why the picture
didn't turn out right. Please tell me the secret to learning even
just the basics. I've read lots of threads on here the past few
days and I walk away just shaking my head! Half of the lingo I
don't understand-----white balance? noise? etc. How do you know
what settings to change?

So where does a beginner like me start? Just trial and error?
Take a class? Buy a book? Find a site? You've really made me
want to take "great" pictures. This site is great!!

Vayle

Click to expand...

--
fredyr
http://www.camera.canon.com.my/frames.htm

someone sent it to me once and there is so much you can learn from this. i think it was Canon Singapore which supplied these lessons.

Vance Fry said:

Lastly, go buy a
camera that gives you manual controls, and take 100 pictures every
day.

Click to expand...

I think that the above statement is one of the most important. During the time you are reading and learning about photography -- take as many pictures as you can -- experiment. Try all the settings, learn what works, what doesn't work. Look at your pictures and learn from them.

And have fun!! There are so many things in this world to photograph and enjoy.

I'm old school in thought but only started a couple of years ago-- still much to learn about tricky lighting situations...

GO SLOW is all I can say from my own experience.

First thing to know is that photography is all about LIGHT. Practice recognising light-- what sort of light is appealing, what time of day/what conditions do I find this sort of light. I often rush out of the house to capture extraordinary light even if the pictures are pathetic snapshots of... well, sky and nothing really. But the quality of the light is magical and one day when I see a great composition with that light I'll recognise it it straight away because I have a "database" of quality lighting... there's technically no-such-thing as bad light...

Second, but equally important "skill" to have is "seeing" in general; that'll do much more for your pictures than anything else. Unfortunately it gets hard to define "seeing"; there are conventions and using them often works well and good understanding of the compositional conventions is a boon. Study other photographs and artwork and look for why they are popular with many people.

Check out some photographers in your genre of interest. If it's landscape look up some famous landscape photographers and study their work. If its nature, likewise etc.

Oh, yeah, then there's all that techical mumbo-jumbo you can pick up reading a book over the weekend but really it doesn't have as much an impact as you'd think it would. Tons of books and webpages explain the technical side of exposure, focus, DOF and so forth. Playing around in the garden with your pets and flower macros will help you nail this stuff.

Understanding what you want to achieve is also an important focussing aid to get you started. Knowing what sort of pictures you want to take.

And practice... lots, all the time if you can. Good luck and have a blast-- it's an incredible journey.

--
Michael King

Who cares how you get the shot; just photograph it and photograph it well

http://www.photo.net/photodb/member-photos?include=all&user_id=816617

I will agree with the statements above, but I feel the most important thing you can do is take many, many shots. You will develope a feel for what works, and what doesn't. I am sure many people here will agree that many of their best shots were the "extra" ones they shot on the spur of the moment, not always the one they spent lots of time working on. If you don't bother to shoot all those "extra" shots, you lose a lot of the best one. That is one of the best things about digital....shoot a lot, delete and save the best. And most important...have fun with it. Best wishes and ask anything you want here and you will get answers. steve