any tips for a beginner?

VThokies03

TPF Noob!
Joined
Jul 25, 2006
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Location
Columbus, MS
I have always loved looking at photography. After seeing the photojournalistic shots that our photographer took for our wedding, I am inspired to learn photography so that I can take pictures like that of my family and future children. I am looking into buying a Nikon D50. But I know that good photography is much more than a good camera. So what are some tips on getting started? Any recommended books to help you learn? I don't really have the money to take any classes, so I'm trying to use all of my resources to teach myself. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
 
Welcome to the forum.

I don't know (or can't remember) any of the good book recommendations but someone will know. I suggest going to a library and checking out some books about photography. They basics are the same whether you are shooting with film or digital...so even older books can be quite helpful.

Of course there are differences and if you will be shooting with a digital SLR like the D50, then you should also familiarize yourself with image editing software like Photoshop.

In the mean time, you can do plenty of reading on the Internet. I suggest starting with the basics. Try a search for 'Basic Exposure', 'Shutter Speed', 'Aperture'...etc.

Classes are a good idea, but they do cost money. At least look into how much it would cost. A few hundred dollars toward a class may be worth hundreds of hours reading books or web sites.

Feel free to ask plenty of questions here. It helps greatly if you do some reading and then ask questions about what you have read.
 
I'm kind of in the same boat as you. Right now I'm reading a book called "Digital SLR Handbook" by Rob Sheppard. It's pretty good but I haven't been reading much lately but I need to start again.
 
Get any one of the many decent books that explain the basic technical part of photography, then visit art galleries, shows, and museums, and spend time looking at real photographs. Inspiration will encourage perspiration.
 
I learn by doing, so my reccommendation is to get a camera and start shooting. As you take more and more photos you will begin to "see" things differently.

as I have questions, i will research on the internet and ask questions here. Reading books, especially technical stuff puts me to sleep. Its more fun to be out in the field and take a photo and say "that obviously didn't work, time to try something different"... definitely a benefit of digital.

Also something that wasn't mentioned here is magazines. I enjoy landscape photography so I subscribe to Outdoor Photographer. Shorter articles keep my attention much better than lengthy textbooks.
 
I would recommend the textbook [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0131896091/sr=8-3/qid=1153949803/ref=pd_bbs_3/103-9569318-8923843?ie=UTF8"]Photography[/ame] by Barbara London and John Upton (8th edition). It's an expensive book (I happened to get a copy for free), but it has tons of information for beginners and intermediates, and deals with both film and digital. Plus it has great examples from various artists to demonstrate pretty much every point they make in the book. It should definitely have enough info to get you started. I'm sure there are plenty of other good books out there, too, but this happens to be the one I used and I found it very informative.
 
i think an important thing to do is learn how the camera works.
learn everything you can about the function of the camera and then just experiment. I find i always learn better by making a mistake myself and correcting it in the future then by reading it in a book
 
I have heard numerous recommendations for the book "Exposure" by Brian Peterson. It is not expensive and has some good information in it. I have found though that I am not picking that much up from reading books but rather just reading here on the forums. I check everyday fo new posts and read them and have learned so much from that alone. LIke others have suggested, get out and shoot, that is the best learning experience.
 

Most reactions

New Topics

Back
Top