Newbie

[JFRoberts]

I'm what you would call a re-beginner. I've read a lot of very informative material on the Internet but looking to take some evening courses in my city. I think I'll learn more in a live setting and more likely to prepare by reading the materials carefully.

 

[Nettles]

There's no doubt practising a lot is key -- that and zeroing in on the basics and experimenting with them just to help you learn from your mistakes.

There's good info online, but you can come across less authoritative guidance too. Quality books by very experienced shooters are a safer bet, in my opinion. Cheaper used.

Good luck. Practice!

 

[EIngerson]

Not to say shutter priority won't work, but I ALWAYS shoot motocross in Aperture priority. I like to control the depth of field. Exposure is exposure. It doesn't matter what you're shooting.

Take a look at a recent event I shot. The settings are in Flickr.

Japan MX - an album on Flickr

 

[wfooshee]

Conversely, when I'm shooting things that move I want to control motion blur, so I shoot shutter priority.

An example, 1/125 second is slow enough to unfreeze the wheels, and the background shows movement, but fast enough that panning the camera with the car keeps it sharp.

It's all about which feature is more important for you, as the photographer, to control specifically.