New here.

crazy_dragonlady · Feb 23, 2008

Well, I guess I should introduce myself as I have been reading the forums here for the past few hours. :mrgreen:

I have always been interested in art and got interested in photography when I bought my first camera... still have it actually and I still use it! It was a point and shoot camera but it did what I wanted it to do.

After I had been approached by a music magazine to take photos for their publication I figured it would benefit me as well as the magazine if I was to go for a more expensive, and more customizable camera. You know, to get the better shots and to be able to be in the back of the concert venues and still get some nice close ups.

So, I purchased a Canon EOS 3000 kit as well as a zoom lens which I believe is the Canon Zoom Lens EF 75-300mm 1:4-5.6 II. I read that directly off the lens

To continue, I haven't taken any type of photography lessons/classes I just learned as I went. Well, now that I am a bit older

(this was about 12 years ago) I am starting to get more interested in just what capabilities my camera has as well as the fact that I would like to learn more about photography... like all the terms and what they mean and how they affect the photos.

So, if anyone can point me in the direction of some article(s) like "Photography for Dummies" ... you know the series I'm talking about... I'd appreciate it. Either that or just answer these few questions to get me started.

The things that I'd like to know to begin is just what is ISO, f-stops, aperature and shutter speed settings and Depth of Field and just how do each of these settings alter the photo(s) and how do they interact with one another to affect the photos? I know, not a simple question but something I really must know in order to begin my photography journey. I always thought that ISO was just the type of film? :blushing:

Maybe if there's a link to some article online that I could read that would explain things I would go there instead of someone having to type a response in here.

Sorry for the extremely long post but I'm just scratching the surface about what I would like to learn ... "inquiring minds want to know!" :mrgreen::mrgreen:

ttfn
CDL.

Sim · Feb 24, 2008

Welcome to the forum!

An article I found really helpful was http://www.berniecode.com/writing/photography/beginners/

Don't worry, you don't have to be a computer geek to understand the article despite the title

Yahoozy · Feb 24, 2008

first off welcome =P
and second, if you dont mind going out and buying a book id recommend The Photography Bible
it has straightforward explanations of basic terms and photography "rules" and some interesting facts as well
itll run ya around $15-20

crazy_dragonlady · Feb 24, 2008

Thank you for the welcomes!

I have continued doing some reading on what I found by searching in Google.. I haven't read the articles/books posted here though.. and I think I am starting to understand some of the basics.

Forgive me for my ignorance here but let me see if I understand the basic concept of the three things I asked about... shutter speed, aperture and ISO.

I never realized before until I was reading just how they interact with each other and just how important each setting is in the overall exposure of the photo. From what I have read this is what I gathered.. first of all the aperture and shutter speed do basically the same thing.. determine how much light is allowed to reach the film. Where the shutter speed determines the length of time light is allowed through the lens, aperture determines the diameter of light allowed through the lens... I also learned that aperture is the major determining factor in depth of field... and this is why so many photographers choose the Av (or aperture priority) setting in order to be able to control the depth of field and allow the camera to select the "best" shutter speed to match the aperture. When using the Tv (or time value) setting you can alter how motion of your subject is captured. I also understand that the ISO is in fact the speed of the film just as I originally thought... but it's more involved than that. The ISO setting is what determines the speed at which the film/sensor absorbs the light that is allowed to pass into the lens. Does this sound like I have a general understanding? (I realize that it's more complicated than that)

Ok, now the ISO part being the speed of the film I understand.. I also understand why you would want to change it with a digital camera but with a regular SLR camera isn't the ISO determined already by what film you are using? Such as, I use an ISO 400 film for most, if not all, of my photography, but I noticed in the owner's manual for my camera it stated that I can change the ISO setting. What would it accomplish if I changed this setting to something different than the film's ISO rating? This part I'm still not clear on although I am searching on Google for some more articles about this specific subject I'd still like to see what you guys say about it.

ttfn
CDL.

Alex_B · Feb 26, 2008

This would be a perfect thread for the WELCOMES AND INTRO section. Could some mod please move it

Anyway, welcome to the forum from a fellow Canon film (and digital) shooter who used to use a similar lens

Alex_B · Feb 26, 2008

crazy_dragonlady said:
I never realized before until I was reading just how they interact with each other and just how important each setting is in the overall exposure of the photo. From what I have read this is what I gathered.. first of all the aperture and shutter speed do basically the same thing.. determine how much light is allowed to reach the film. Where the shutter speed determines the length of time light is allowed through the lens, aperture determines the diameter of light allowed through the lens... I also learned that aperture is the major determining factor in depth of field... and this is why so many photographers choose the Av (or aperture priority) setting in order to be able to control the depth of field and allow the camera to select the "best" shutter speed to match the aperture. When using the Tv (or time value) setting you can alter how motion of your subject is captured. I also understand that the ISO is in fact the speed of the film just as I originally thought... but it's more involved than that. The ISO setting is what determines the speed at which the film/sensor absorbs the light that is allowed to pass into the lens. Does this sound like I have a general understanding? (I realize that it's more complicated than that)

Well, the wording you use is maybe not scientifically precise, but the general understanding seems to be there

Ok, now the ISO part being the speed of the film I understand.. I also understand why you would want to change it with a digital camera but with a regular SLR camera isn't the ISO determined already by what film you are using? Such as, I use an ISO 400 film for most, if not all, of my photography, but I noticed in the owner's manual for my camera it stated that I can change the ISO setting. What would it accomplish if I changed this setting to something different than the film's ISO rating?

With your camera, the camera will determine what the ISO of the film is and will set it accordingly. This means that in any sort of auto mode your built in light meter will try to set exposure accordingly to get a "correct" exposure. So if you use an ISO 400 film and set the camera to 200, then the film will be overexposed as only half of the required light will reach it. If you set it to 800 it will be underexposed by the camera's auto modes.

However, some films can be pushed or pulled when developing them, hence you can compensate for the under- or over-exposure (inducing other effects sometimes though). But there might be reasons to underexpose, if you have a slow film only, and it is rather dark, but you want to capture fast motion, then you might want to pretend your film is faster

Or it might be for reasons of creative play. Hand-setting the ISO gives you more control/freedom.

It can also be used as a poor man's way of exposure compensation.