Best ways for a beginner to learn some things

[McMom]

Hi everyone! I am completely new to photography and am looking to learn more about it! I became interested after I had my daughter. I took many photos of her, of course, and found myself really enjoying everything about setting things up and taking a photo. I never really took the time to allow myself to do something creative before this and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I have decided to see where photography can take me. I would love to take photos in a professional setting in the future, but for now I just want to learn as much as I can. I truly don't know much, but I just purchased my first camera and am ready to learn. My question is what tools (videos, books, etc) do you recommend I use in order to learn from a total beginners stand point? I do plan to browse the forums often to pick up some things and look into seeing if any nearby classes are available so I can learn some things hands on. Besides that I would love to hear other suggestions too! Thanks so much in advance!

 

[Designer]

My question is what tools (videos, books, etc) do you recommend I use in order to learn from a total beginners stand point?

Hi! In general, I think the most important aspect that beginners should concentrate on is composition. Minor technical flaws are often overlooked if there is a compelling image in the shot.

Therefore I suggest art and composition books. Your local library system (don't forget the interlibrary loaning feature) should have lots of books on art composition. The goal here is not to be able to make wonderful compositions every time you raise the camera, but to at least recognize a good shot when you see one. Most composition fixes take place in post-capture editing, so don't despair of never seeming to get a good shot even once in a while. A truly outstanding shot comes along once in a blue moon, but you've got to be able to know when that is.

Next; learn your gear. Learn your camera, learn your lenses, learn lighting and modifiers, and become very familiar with how to use what you've got. You don't need to spend a fortune on fancy gear when just starting out, so don't do that. Establish a budget and stick to it. As a beginner, you will have your hands full just trying to get good exposures, so resist the notion that you might need some certain fancy chunk of equipment in order to learn photography. You don't.

Yes, there are lots of videos online, but be aware that some are good and informative, some are not good and not very informative, and some are downright misleading, so use caution. Watch some videos, read, talk (on here) watch more videos, read some more, and be sure to ask questions about anything you don't understand.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Get out with the camera and get in some practice. Go back to the manual as needed til you get so you know how to use the camera in a variety of situations. Figure out how to read the meter and adjust settings. Learn how to 'see' everything in the viewfinder, and how to frame and compose shots.

There may be some good videos 'out there' but there's also a lot that's inaccurate information and everything in between. I'd suggest looking up famous photographers and think about what seems good about their photos. Try the book The Photograher's Eye by Szarkowski (not the later one of the same name by someone else).

Don't get ahead of yourself about this becoming a profession. The market now seems saturated and overloaded with people with cameras underpricing. Maybe it will improve in the future, I don't know. Take your time to LEARN first! then be realistic and see where it goes from there. If you take a look at American Society of Media Photographers - Homepage or PPA you could get an idea what's going to be involved in doing any pro work.

It has to become something you love well enough to stay with it over the long haul. Go out and have fun with the camera and see where it takes you.

 

[weepete]

That's great McMom. Personally I found the Scott Kelby books a very good entertaining read when I was learning as an adult. John Hedgecoe is another author spoken highly of here, and though I read one of his the Scott Kelby series on digital photography was better for me personally. Jeff Shewe does great books on the Digital Negative and the Digital Print and is the classroom in a book series for photoshop and lightroom are great.

Websites:
Photography Forum
https://luminous-landscape.com/
Strobist
The-Digital-Picture.com features Canon DSLR Camera and Lens Reviews, News, Deals and Tips

Should keep you busy for the next 2 years or so.

Oh, and most importantly read your cameras manual. Then read it again, then keep it in your photo bag as a guide until you stop needing to look through it. It can then be consined to a place you can always reach.

 

[Solarflare]

[...] My question is what tools (videos, books, etc) do you recommend I use in order to learn from a total beginners stand point? [...]

I recomment David Hobby's (The Strobist) website as a starting point for newbies. Its an excellent read even for experienced shooters, too. For example it has one of the most balanced articles on what hardware to choose that I know of, if not the most balanced of them all.

As camera systems I primarily recomment Nikon F (DSLR) and Fujifilm X (Mirrorless), because AFAICS those are the two best ones right now.

The archilles heel of the Fujifilm X system is the complication of the Trans X color array, the lack of cheap old used but high quality lenses, and the fact this young system progresses very quickly so older camera models still have poor autofocus performance.

The archilles heel of Nikon F is that they recently use the red marker to strike off essential features from their products too aggressively.



If you want to learn photography as a trade you IMHO will need a socalled professional or semi-professional camera.

1. These cameras have a lot of controls on them and allow to change the camera settings quickly, without the so-called "menu diving" you'll get on cameras with less controls, or worse on most cameras that are "compact" or "bridge" which will make some changes heinously complicated.

2. They also have larger sensors than an iPhone or a cheap compact camera. Cameras with large sensors allow better image quality, however with great power comes great responsibility. Shooting with a large sensor camera is a very, very different experience from shooting with a small sensor camera; when I first picked up a DSLR, it took me literally months before I really had figured out how to reliably shoot with them, because the automatics will far too often fail to guess correctly what you want to do.

3. Finally these cameras are most of the time system cameras, i.e. they are part of a camera system. You can at least change lenses, but most likely more things can be done, too, such as adding battery grips and for really expensive digital medium format, even exchangeable sensors. At that level though the lenses are all quite dark primes or 2x zooms and costs thousands of dollars, the camera body costs thousands of dollars, and the sensors cost tens of thousands of dollars.

4. Also these cameras are photographically complete. Entry level DSLRs for example dont offer you HSS (high speed sync, the ability to use flash even in bright sunlight), a feature essential for portrait photography (for socalled fill-flash: light to the shadows when the bright sun is giving really harsh shadows).

Semi professional cameras are those who still offer some newbie automatics, such as the (usually green) "AUTO" mode on the mode dial. As I just explained, their usefulness is limited, but they are still theere.

Old DSLRs like the Nikon D7000 (approx $300 used) or even its predecessor D90 would be such semiprofessional cameras and a cheap entry into serious photography. They of course lack all the newest gimmicks of the computer market. The successors D7100 and D7200 would also be good picks, but are a lot more expensive.

Fujifilm X is a very young system. It has an alternative interface which closely resembles old film cameras. There is no mode dial with a green AUTO mode, but you can set everything to red "A" for automatic and then you'll basically have green AUTO mode. The cameras of most interest are the X-T1 (approx $500 used, this is the previous generation and still has a quite slow autofocus), X-T2 (approx $2000 with the basically obligatory battery grip) and the X-T20. Also if you use a younger camera and want fast autofocus, you need to be picky about what lens to pick; as a general rule old lenses have slow autofocus.



I also recomment that you get the following lenses so you're prepared for every possibe situation:


1. A normal prime (or slightly wide prime) between about 28mm and 60mm, full frame equivalent. For a Nikon DX camera the most obvious choice would be an AF-S 35mm f1.8 DX (the "DX" is important) which is like $120 used. An AF-S 20mm f1.8 would be a LOT more expensive, around $800 new, however still be useable on full frame later, and its great. This lens gives you very high image quality (especially considering the price) and allows you to keep shooting in poor light.

For Fujifilm X I recomment the brilliant XF 35mm f1.4 for this; it is a loud lens and slow autofocus, but its optically so good that Zack Arias (another really good photographer, just like David Hobby; he just communicates a lot less) praised it as a "magical" lens. Its quite affordable on the used market (about $350 used).


2. A wide angle zoom. Unfortunately those are expensive, mostly because lenses made so much advancements in this area, recently. The Tamron 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 II VC (both the "II" and the "VC" are important) is my recommendation for this; its also available for Canon, of course.

Do NOT get the new Nikkor AF-P 10-20mm f4.5-5.6 VR as only few Nikon cameras are full compatible with AF-P lenses (you cannot disable the VR on most Nikon cameras, which is a huge issue since VR can in some situations actually introduce shake instead of suppressing it, so disabling it should be absolutely available as an option, and even on those cameras which allow to disable VR you have to menusurf to do it, which is just riddiculous).

For Fujifilm X theres not much of a choice, the XF 10-24mm f4 is awesome.


3. A telephoto zoom. The cheapest option is the AF-S 55-200mm f4-5.6 VR DX. I would recomment to get the AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 VR for about $300 used instead though. Its pretty cheap on the used market, it can be used on a full frame camera later, and it has a fast autofocus motor for good performance with sports.

Both Fujifilm telephoto zooms are optically great, for sports however the red f2.8 zoom is absolutely prefered.


4. Finally a macro lens. I would recomment the brilliant AF 60mm f2.8 micro for about $250 used. Optically its just bliss and its really cheap for that. It has a very moody autofocus but thats no issue for a macro lens; a macro lens is focused by manually choosing the desired magnification, then moving the whole camera. Thats both faster than any other method but also technically required, because changing the focus will change the magnification of a macro lens. The AF 60mm f2.8 micro is also a great portrait lens on a DX camera. The AF-S G successor has a silent motor thats really fast, but its not as good optically, its cheap plastic too, and unlike the AF version it cannot be used on a extension without losing the ability to set the aperture.

If you need to photograph insects, you might prefer the Tokina 100mm f2.8 macro instead. Its optically hardly worse than the AF 60mm f2.8 micro, and used its basically the same price. For a portrait lens its maybe a bit long on Nikon DX but its still good for that, too.

Fujifilm X: get a Nikon F to Fujifilm X adapter and adapt the AF 60mm f2.8 micro. Or wait until Fujifilm releases the 80mm macro later this year. Or get the XF 60mm f2.4 macro from the used market, but its "only" 1:2.


As David Hobbys page explains very nicely, a camera and a good selection for lenses is only a starting point and depending upon what kind of photography you want to do, you'll need more equipment for that. For example a flash unit and a tripod.

- Flash unit: Having an external flash is very useful for most types of photography; for portrait its absolutely a requirement. Only a news photographer will use that flash on the hotshoe of the camera, for everyone else this is truely horrible lighting. I recomment getting a used SB800 (the old made in Japan top flash from Nikon) and a SC-29 TTL cable (which ironically is half as expensive as the SB800 because you really cant get it used).

I dont know the best flash options for Fujifilm X because they are changing too quickly. A company called Nissin is trying to give people TTL (though the lens; automatic precise exposure with flash through using a preflash) with Fujifilm, however Fujifilm is fightining them but lacking to provide own options; but this might not be accuate information. I've been told one can actually use a SB800 in automatic mode (instead of measuring the flash output through the lens, its measured by the flash itself) with Fuji, though.

- Tripod: The Manfrotto BeFree is an awesome tripod because with the head it comes with its can be packed really compact. Its perfectly fine to get the cheaper aluminium version.

In general, I think the most important aspect that beginners should concentrate on is composition.

With an iPhone or some other small sensor cameras, sure, no problem. See an image, take an image.

With a big sensor camera, no you really need to learn the technology or most of your images will have really gross issues - wrong focus, blurr from shake, etc. Larger sensors require that you know what you're doing.

First thing you should do with a real camera: RTFM - Read the fine manual (this is one of the earliest internet acronyms; originally the "F" of course was meant to stand for something else).

You still have it extremely easy compared to people, for example, in the 1950s. Back then color film was prohibitively expensive and you needed to operate everything by hand. Including a lightmeter, which often was a separate tool from the camera.

 

[McMom]

Thank you everyone for so many tips and suggestions! I will definitely be checking into every suggestion made and will be referring back to this thread often!

 

[MasonRust]

[...] My question is what tools (videos, books, etc) do you recommend I use in order to learn from a total beginners stand point? [...]

I recomment David Hobby's (The Strobist) website as a starting point for newbies. Its an excellent read even for experienced shooters, too. For example it has one of the most balanced articles on what hardware to choose that I know of, if not the most balanced of them all.

As camera systems I primarily recomment Nikon F (DSLR) and Fujifilm X (Mirrorless), because AFAICS those are the two best ones right now.

The archilles heel of the Fujifilm X system is the complication of the Trans X color array, the lack of cheap old used but high quality lenses, and the fact this young system progresses very quickly so older camera models still have poor autofocus performance.

The archilles heel of Nikon F is that they recently use the red marker to strike off essential features from their products too aggressively.



If you want to learn photography as a trade you IMHO will need a socalled professional or semi-professional camera.

1. These cameras have a lot of controls on them and allow to change the camera settings quickly, without the so-called "menu diving" you'll get on cameras with less controls, or worse on most cameras that are "compact" or "bridge" which will make some changes heinously complicated.

2. They also have larger sensors than an iPhone or a cheap compact camera. Cameras with large sensors allow better image quality, however with great power comes great responsibility. Shooting with a large sensor camera is a very, very different experience from shooting with a small sensor camera; when I first picked up a DSLR, it took me literally months before I really had figured out how to reliably shoot with them, because the automatics will far too often fail to guess correctly what you want to do.

3. Finally these cameras are most of the time system cameras, i.e. they are part of a camera system. You can at least change lenses, but most likely more things can be done, too, such as adding battery grips and for really expensive digital medium format, even exchangeable sensors. At that level though the lenses are all quite dark primes or 2x zooms and costs thousands of dollars, the camera body costs thousands of dollars, and the sensors cost tens of thousands of dollars.

4. Also these cameras are photographically complete. Entry level DSLRs for example dont offer you HSS (high speed sync, the ability to use flash even in bright sunlight), a feature essential for portrait photography (for socalled fill-flash: light to the shadows when the bright sun is giving really harsh shadows).

Semi professional cameras are those who still offer some newbie automatics, such as the (usually green) "AUTO" mode on the mode dial. As I just explained, their usefulness is limited, but they are still theere.

Old DSLRs like the Nikon D7000 (approx $300 used) or even its predecessor D90 would be such semiprofessional cameras and a cheap entry into serious photography. They of course lack all the newest gimmicks of the computer market. The successors D7100 and D7200 would also be good picks, but are a lot more expensive.

Fujifilm X is a very young system. It has an alternative interface which closely resembles old film cameras. There is no mode dial with a green AUTO mode, but you can set everything to red "A" for automatic and then you'll basically have green AUTO mode. The cameras of most interest are the X-T1 (approx $500 used, this is the previous generation and still has a quite slow autofocus), X-T2 (approx $2000 with the basically obligatory battery grip) and the X-T20. Also if you use a younger camera and want fast autofocus, you need to be picky about what lens to pick; as a general rule old lenses have slow autofocus.



I also recomment that you get the following lenses so you're prepared for every possibe situation:


1. A normal prime (or slightly wide prime) between about 28mm and 60mm, full frame equivalent. For a Nikon DX camera the most obvious choice would be an AF-S 35mm f1.8 DX (the "DX" is important) which is like $120 used. An AF-S 20mm f1.8 would be a LOT more expensive, around $800 new, however still be useable on full frame later, and its great. This lens gives you very high image quality (especially considering the price) and allows you to keep shooting in poor light.

For Fujifilm X I recomment the brilliant XF 35mm f1.4 for this; it is a loud lens and slow autofocus, but its optically so good that Zack Arias (another really good photographer, just like David Hobby; he just communicates a lot less) praised it as a "magical" lens. Its quite affordable on the used market (about $350 used).


2. A wide angle zoom. Unfortunately those are expensive, mostly because lenses made so much advancements in this area, recently. The Tamron 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 II VC (both the "II" and the "VC" are important) is my recommendation for this; its also available for Canon, of course.

Do NOT get the new Nikkor AF-P 10-20mm f4.5-5.6 VR as only few Nikon cameras are full compatible with AF-P lenses (you cannot disable the VR on most Nikon cameras, which is a huge issue since VR can in some situations actually introduce shake instead of suppressing it, so disabling it should be absolutely available as an option, and even on those cameras which allow to disable VR you have to menusurf to do it, which is just riddiculous).

For Fujifilm X theres not much of a choice, the XF 10-24mm f4 is awesome.


3. A telephoto zoom. The cheapest option is the AF-S 55-200mm f4-5.6 VR DX. I would recomment to get the AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 VR for about $300 used instead though. Its pretty cheap on the used market, it can be used on a full frame camera later, and it has a fast autofocus motor for good performance with sports.

Both Fujifilm telephoto zooms are optically great, for sports however the red f2.8 zoom is absolutely prefered.


4. Finally a macro lens. I would recomment the brilliant AF 60mm f2.8 micro for about $250 used. Optically its just bliss and its really cheap for that. It has a very moody autofocus but thats no issue for a macro lens; a macro lens is focused by manually choosing the desired magnification, then moving the whole camera. Thats both faster than any other method but also technically required, because changing the focus will change the magnification of a macro lens. The AF 60mm f2.8 micro is also a great portrait lens on a DX camera. The AF-S G successor has a silent motor thats really fast, but its not as good optically, its cheap plastic too, and unlike the AF version it cannot be used on a extension without losing the ability to set the aperture.

If you need to photograph insects, you might prefer the Tokina 100mm f2.8 macro instead. Its optically hardly worse than the AF 60mm f2.8 micro, and used its basically the same price. For a portrait lens its maybe a bit long on Nikon DX but its still good for that, too.

Fujifilm X: get a Nikon F to Fujifilm X adapter and adapt the AF 60mm f2.8 micro. Or wait until Fujifilm releases the 80mm macro later this year. Or get the XF 60mm f2.4 macro from the used market, but its "only" 1:2.


As David Hobbys page explains very nicely, a camera and a good selection for lenses is only a starting point and depending upon what kind of photography you want to do, you'll need more equipment for that. For example a flash unit and a tripod.

- Flash unit: Having an external flash is very useful for most types of photography; for portrait its absolutely a requirement. Only a news photographer will use that flash on the hotshoe of the camera, for everyone else this is truely horrible lighting. I recomment getting a used SB800 (the old made in Japan top flash from Nikon) and a SC-29 TTL cable (which ironically is half as expensive as the SB800 because you really cant get it used).

I dont know the best flash options for Fujifilm X because they are changing too quickly. A company called Nissin is trying to give people TTL (though the lens; automatic precise exposure with flash through using a preflash) with Fujifilm, however Fujifilm is fightining them but lacking to provide own options; but this might not be accuate information. I've been told one can actually use a SB800 in automatic mode (instead of measuring the flash output through the lens, its measured by the flash itself) with Fuji, though.

- Tripod: The Manfrotto BeFree is an awesome tripod because with the head it comes with its can be packed really compact. Its perfectly fine to get the cheaper aluminium version.

In general, I think the most important aspect that beginners should concentrate on is composition.

With an iPhone or some other small sensor cameras, sure, no problem. See an image, take an image.

With a big sensor camera, no you really need to learn the technology or most of your images will have really gross issues - wrong focus, blurr from shake, etc. Larger sensors require that you know what you're doing.

First thing you should do with a real camera: RTFM - Read the fine manual (this is one of the earliest internet acronyms; originally the "F" of course was meant to stand for something else).

You still have it extremely easy compared to people, for example, in the 1950s. Back then color film was prohibitively expensive and you needed to operate everything by hand. Including a lightmeter, which often was a separate tool from the camera.

lot of help! thanks bro!

 

[480sparky]

Get out and take photos.

 

[Derrel]

Learning things? So many ways to do that! I like books, myself! Library,used book stores,Goodwill,etc. LOTS of fine books have been written.

YouTube videos, and Channels. Some of the major makers have great channels! Sekonic has a fine channel.

Some of the stores have good channels: Adorama TV might be the absolute best channel I have seen.

Blogs and web sites...thousands of them!

 

[Gary A.]

1) Shoot;
2) Shoot some more; and
3) At the end of the day when you think you're done ... shoot again.