So much to learn that I get lost sometimes

Touching of soufiej's comment above: "To be most efficient at learning you must first build the foundation for learning. Building a foundation for any structure means you first must have a plan to follow and you must begin with the most basic issues of squaring your foundation. You must have an idea of what you are building and just how to best go about layering one level after another. So you must have an overview and a plan."

This is one of the reasons I repeatedly refer people to the many John Hedgecoe photography book--because they show photography broken down into component parts, in logical groupings, with information that shows the student what the field is made up of. The old idea is often reduced to the saying, "You don't know what it is that you don't know." His Complete Photography Course for example, is a good foundation for somebody wanting to understand how photography "works". Camera, lens, lighting, focusing, composing. How to seek out types of lighting. How to make photos better. Where to stand, where to point the camera, how close to be, when to use a wide-angle lens, when to use a telephoto lens, how to soften light for portraits,how light changes over the course of a day, how to bounce a flash, how to make a close-up or macro shot, all of that stuff and much more, broken down into small lessons, with around 1,000 illustrations, drawings, charts, and sample photos.

Books that contain a structure and a thousand illustrations and 350-400 pages offer tremendous learning potential, and they SHOW the structured, interrelated nature to the reader; the book becomes a guide, a reference, a teacher in itself, in a way that videos and on-line courses do differently. The Hedgecoe books show the overview, the plan, the structure of the learning process.
 
Derrel mentioned Hedgecoe, that should be a good resource, and The Photographer's Eye or any other book by Szarkowski (not the other guy lol - haven't looked at that one but for whatever reason it has the same title). (edit - I forgot he's British so maybe originally was published there.)

Or I have found that searching for 'elements of composition in art' rather than photography should give you some resources that might help get you looking at good compositions and how line, shape, etc. work together. I think getting your eyes used to looking at good compositions could help; also you could try looking up famous photographers to see what they did and why it's good.

I was mostly self taught early on and used to do something similar to what Derrel was talking about, learning to make my eye move around and see everything in that rectangle of the viewfinder. I think people tend to see the object or subject and aren't seeing what else is in the frame and what else will be in the picture. You can practice and don't always have to press the shutter release, think about what you're seeing and how you're framing it.

You could also use a subject just to practice seeing DOF using anything, a tree in the yard etc., and shoot it at f11, on to f2.8 or whatever settings you choose, then look at them to see how the depth changes as you change aperture. Try it with different length lenses too.

Try moving even just a step or two and notice how changing your vantage point can change what you get in the frame and in your picture.

You could do the same type thing with exposure, try changing the shutter speed and notice how that affects the aperture, or ISO, then change another setting etc. Write down what you did so later you can look thru the pictures and see what you notice. I think learning to meter a scene is important in getting a proper exposure. I sometimes meter where the subject is, then reframe the shot so the camera's meter is reading the light where I'll be taking the picture.

It takes practice and sometimes learning what didn't work can help you figure out what does work. I still love to take pictures, if you really have a passion for it then I think that helps you stay with it as you get better and better at it.
 
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Stop skipping around. Stop learning piecemeal. Stop taking in data in a manner in which you do not work well.

I have to say soufiej, I don't usually "get" you but in this case you perfectly identified my problem. Thanks for the clarity.

@Derrel , @Designer , @SCraig , @KenC , @astroNikon , @jcdeboever , @soufiej

I really appreciate your taking the time to offer suggestions and insights. I have a lot of info bookmarked and now just need a logical plan! Many, many thanks.
 
I was going to respond automatically that no, I'm not in a hurry but then after thinking about it, yes, maybe I kind of am... I love photography but I don't think anyone enjoys being disappointed in their results. When I have a vision of how I want a photo to look and I find I missed the focus or the exposure or DOF is all wrong, it's frustrating, not fun. I don't think photography is like golf and sex where you can still enjoy it even if you're not good at it, lol.

Thanks for your input about exposure. While I understand the concept of the 3 elements interacting, I do need to take my understanding of it to a deeper level.
Then I accomplished something. A little bit of introspection is always a good thing.

Exposure is soooooooo simple. Simplified and silly example: You have to pay a bill. You have three piles of coins but not enough in any one pile to pay the entire bill. You can pay your bill with coins from any of the piles but they have to add up the total of the bill.

Same with exposure. You have a fixed amount of light on the subject. To get the proper exposure you use a balance of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. You can use as much as you want from one "Pile" however you have to make up the difference from the other "Piles". If you double the shutter speed, for example, you have to provide twice as much sensor exposure using aperture or ISO. If you double the ISO the sensor is more sensitive, so you have to reduce the amount of light using shutter speed, aperture, or some of both. It's all about balance.
 
Learn the absolut basics like holding the camera aperture shutter speed. And ect. Then if you ever need to learn something like say white balance then learn that, I was like that too wanted to learn everything at once but I learned in bits and pieces
 
"Exposure is soooooooo simple. Simplified and silly example: You have to pay a bill. You have three piles of coins but not enough in any one pile to pay the entire bill. You can pay your bill with coins from any of the piles but they have to add up the total of the bill.

Same with exposure."



Maybe that's what I need, a coin operated camera.
 
"Exposure is soooooooo simple. Simplified and silly example: You have to pay a bill. You have three piles of coins but not enough in any one pile to pay the entire bill. You can pay your bill with coins from any of the piles but they have to add up the total of the bill.

Same with exposure."



Maybe that's what I need, a coin operated camera.
Those type of coin operated cameras though offer Vibration Enhancement, not vibration reduction.
So be careful .. the images could come out a bit more fuzzy, but maybe more enjoyable, than normal.
LOL
 
Those type of coin operated cameras though offer Vibration Enhancement, not vibration reduction.
So be careful .. the images could come out a bit more fuzzy, but maybe more enjoyable, than normal.
LOL


MMMMMMMM!

Vibration!


 

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