I'm new to it all

cherylann19 · Oct 19, 2006

In the last year I have become fasinated with photography but don't know where to start. Right now I have started in my home with nothing but a black sheet snapping pictures of my kids. I really have no idea what I am doing and I think I take good pics but I just don't know where to start, what I need to learn first, second or third...you know what I mean. Any input would be good.

Iron Flatline · Oct 19, 2006

What kind of camera are you working with right now?

cherylann19 · Oct 19, 2006

A Panasonic DMC-FZ7

Innocence · Oct 20, 2006

hello.

I did a quick search on your camera and it seems you have very high zoom power!

You could try to start taking more control of your camera, and your photography by having a try in manual mode, where you can set your own shutter and aperature speeds (among other things).

there is something called depth of field which I always find fun to play with! Do you ever notice in some [portrait] shots, the background appears blurry? haha I think you can try that! reduce your fstop down to minimum (2.8 - 3.3 on your camera is the range for the minimum - depending on your focal length (zoom)).

And then zoom in !! hopefully have a tripod so that it wont shake! Then take a shot! hehe hopefully the background will be blurry. this phenomena got me really really into photography because it's so beautiful - and shows you that you can do "different" things or create different effects even with a point and shoot!

Torus34 · Oct 20, 2006

Your camera is fine for portrait work. Look at portraits by the better photographers with an eye to the lighting used. Also, keep the phrase 'More than just a likeness.' in the back of your mind. The difference between a good portrait and a great portrait is that the great ones tell us something about the subject.

You seem to be 'people centered.' For inspiration, get hold of a copy of Steichen's The Family of Man photographic exhibit and enjoy.

W.Smith · Oct 20, 2006

Your cam, with its long zoom, is also very suitable for candids, sports, news, events, panoramas! (with autostitch), and even wildlife (tripod!), cherylann. Not just for portraits.

For portraits you'll soon want extra light (external flash) and/or a reflector, and/or some kind of softbox, and/or backgrounds. Stuff you won't need for candids, sports, news, events, panoramas, and wildlife....

cherylann19 · Oct 20, 2006

Thank you all so much.

fightheheathens · Oct 20, 2006

well, i would suggest you go to your library and pick up a book about photography and how a camera works.
I found it helpful to understand how focal length and shutter speed etc worked.

Then just fool around with your camera, take shots with a large Depth of Field and a small depth of field, then with long shutter speed and slow shutter speed.

mysteryscribe · Oct 20, 2006

does your camera have a hotshoe????

cherylann19 · Oct 20, 2006

mysteryscribe said:
does your camera have a hotshoe????

I'm afraid I don't know what that is...

mysteryscribe · Oct 20, 2006

Okay a place on top to set and external strobe light.

Torus34 · Oct 21, 2006

From what I can see, the 7 has no connection for a separate flash unit.

cherylann19 · Oct 21, 2006

Torus34 there is no seperate flash unit, your right.

W.Smith · Oct 22, 2006

cherylann19 said:
Torus34 there is no seperate flash unit, your right.

But if you really want to work with an off-camera flash, maybe there is a way: with a slave unit the on-camera flash can act as the trigger for an external flash.

[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barclay-Flash-Slave-Unit-B109/dp/B00006GSWJ"]Here's one (click!)[/ame].

Caveat:
if the FZ7 works with a pre-flash, the slave could be triggered by it, so the external flash may already have fired before the shutter opens fully. That would be useless of course.
If you take your cam to the photo store where you're considering to buy the slave unit from you can test whether it responds to the pre-flash or not.
I don't know if the FZ7 uses a pre-flash!

Afaik some flashguns can be set to ignore a pre-flash.

The on-camera flash won't have much influence lighting the scene as it is (supposed to be) a lot less powerful than the external flashgun.
But of course it will have some effect. If you want to cancel that out too, all you may need is a tiny strip of developed, but UNexposed slide film: workaround (click!).

mysteryscribe · Oct 22, 2006

You can actually learn a lot from this kind of camera that you won't learn with a more versitile one. For instance you can learn to make a properly exposed outdoor portrait without fill flash.

You can learn to use studio lights that aren't whiz bang flash. A set of studio floods these days with color balance software are pretty ideal. So don't dispare just learn your camera, then learn to use it to 100%, and you will probably end up knowing more than those with more sophisticated cameras.