Is there a must have or "best" field type pocket guide that I can carry around in my bag since I'm new to phtography that would have quick settings for various situations, pointers, etc? Sort of like how bird watchers have those llittle "field guides".
I like the chart I found online called "A great Graphic for Understanding Aperture, ISO, and shutter speed". It would be nice to have this on a little laminated card to carry around until I get the basics down.
If you came to me and asked for assistance, I would have you begin shooting in the automatic/program modes. You likely have a digital camera which can delete all the shots you take if you prefer. So, why not burn a few bits? However, do so with a plan.
Begin with pure Auto shooting and a pad and pen. Your camera will probably take a reasonably decent photo with no input from you other than composition. So work on seeing good composition and letting the camera do what it can technically. If you're working with more than a basic point and shoot, your camera will give you immediate feedback with a displayed image and the data regarding applied settings. Possibly even a histogram. Take a look at your shot as displayed on the LCD screen and quickly jot down a few impressions of what you see; good, bad and what might need improvement. Don't take more than 15-20 seconds on this quick critique then move on. Be sure to keep your journal in synch with the numbering system within your camera so you can return to the individual image with ease at a later date. Move on as quickly as possible to the next shot and repeat the sequence. Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot again and shoot some more.
What you are creating is the analog to an illustrator's "gesture drawing";
How to Practice Gesture Drawing: 7 Steps (with Pictures)
Do not overly concern yourself with perfection or even technical skill at this point. There will be a time for that after you're done for the day. As with the illustrator's image, what you are after is the training of your eye to see a composition or an element of composition and to imagine how it will best be illustrated as you envision it in your mind. The illustrator is looking at the bones and muscles which underlay the movement or the "event" in front of them. The photographer should also, IMO, be mindful of the "event" they see in their viewfinder. For every possible shot, there are probably a dozen choices you could make about how to capture what attracts you to that subject. Can you make us understand why you stopped to take a photo of this subject? What you want from this exercise is the essence of what you see in your mind's eye. Learn to simply see first. Learn to look behind the subject of your image. And in front. To each side. Above and below. Look for those basic elements of composition that make an average shot more than average. See patterns where they are available and when they are interesting. Be open to whatever strikes your fancy but do not spend a lot of time on any one shot. Compose and shoot as rapidly as you can without regard for how many shots you will delete before you find one that is a keeper. Just keep the camera in Auto and move along quickly.
When you are done for the day, take your camera to a quiet spot and with your notes go through each and every photo with a more critical eye. Look at what you wrote and see if, with further study, you still agree with your first impressions. Those images which interest you need some extra time to contemplate. Look at the data the camera recorded for each shot and consider how well the camera did. What would you now change if you had the opportunity? Aperture? Shutter speed? Depth of field? Focal length? What single change would end up telling the viewer a different story about the subject? Look first for the merely technical aspects of your photography and consider how you would alter the setting, if at all. Probably the camera has done a pretty good job of capturing the shot if you have set the focus points of the camera to accommodate the situation. Critique what you've captured and what you've missed in the story telling and make notes of how to correct the next shot. Tomorrow go out and shoot more in Auto mode. Do so for at least a week. Critique your day's work at the end of each session. Eventually work your way through a few of the Program modes and shoot for those mode's purpose. A portrait shot should have data which is different than a landscape. An action shot would have data unlike a night shot. Begin thinking about how the camera is now making unique situations into consistently similar shots. When you can begin to see the limitations of your equipment, you can then make decisions which override those limitations. You do not need to know how to take a shot you'll never have in front of you. You only need to know how best to shoot in the situation in front of you. Until you can see how to alter your equipment to get what you see in your mind, you are eventually doing nothing more than shooting blind.
Shoot every opportunity you have. Buy a few photo magazines or books from the library and get some ideas for how you can create similar set ups in your locale. Maybe just a ball or two on a table is your subject for the hour. Or a vase full of colorful flowers. The houses in your neighborhood. The animals at the local zoo. Imagine how many ways you can make the prop interesting. Begin with static props that won't move if you think too long or won't change the shot if a strong breeze comes through. Shoot a few quick shots and then stop to see what you have and make some critical remarks. Change one setting on your camera only and shoot again then make a different setting of the same value. Try bracketing your aperture, shutter speed and and overall exposure. Take one shot at, say, f8. The another shot one stop higher and one shot lower than your control. If you're shooting in Av mode, the camera will make appropriate changes to shutter speed and vice versa. After about a dozen or so quick shots, slow down and begin to think about how you should change your equipment. Work with ONLY one value at any one time. Change only one thing before you take the next shot. Keep the gesture drawing freedom in mind but take a while to decide how best to capture the event of the moment. At this point, you're still just making sketches, not great art. Spend time looking at and critiquing your shots with pen and pad to make you own cheat sheets based on what you see and what you think. You don't want to neglect good photographic values but, if you're shooting in digital, you can turn a not so good image into an acceptable shot later. As long as the shot is one which rises to the level of being worth the effort. Shoot, shoot, shoot. Shoot in B&W for a day. Turn your photos upside down and determine where the focal interest exists. Work to get the shot without over laboring the shot. Continue to make your quick notes. Take time to critique later. Make your cheat sheets as needed. Soon you won't need them at all.
Begin looking at photos in magazines and newspapers. Think about what technical values went into creating the image you see. Look at the composition and begin the recognize values such as negative space or leading lines. Begin to reverse engineer other people's work. Where were they standing to get that shot? What was the time of day, the quality of natural light (sunny, cloudy, dusk, dawn, etc)? Apply those thoughts to your own work. Trust your camera. Trust your eye. Merge the two over time and you'll find you're no longer looking at your cheat sheets but rather making informed decisions on your own. Every now and then, go back and look at the work you did weeks or months prior. Take note of your progress, it is what will keep you wanting more.
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