hi guys,
are there any resources out there for learning basic photography? I'm about to get a basic DSLR
Nikon D3300 DSLR Camera with 18-55mm VR Lens Black - Fumfie.com
camera and want to start learning photography as a hobby. Please advise, thank you.
If the best photographer is the one having fun, that implies the best photographer will also be the one not becoming frustrated by their equipment.
Whichever camera you select, understand your equipment first and foremost. While the basic rules and formulas of photography are similar and unbending, your camera is unique. Becoming absolutely familiar with your camera will mean you can make setting your camera second nature and without pauses to find the correct settings. That means spending a night or two or three with your camera and the owner's manual. Know what your camera can do to assist your intentions and provide the best results possible. It's fairly easy to sit in your kitchen and focus the lens on various subjects around the room while changing aperture, ISO and shutter speed. You should rather quickly get the idea of what the technical aspects of your camera are about. If you don't, read the manual again. Changing exposure compensation is easily understood in your kitchen, as is shifting focus points or metering values. If you feel it is necessary, copy a few pages to carry with you on your first photography outings.
Whatever lens you are using, read the on line materials regarding that lens. As a student of photography, you don't know what you should learn. Take as an example, the typical zoom lens and its common issues at various focal lengths. Learn to actually look at the corners of your image and at the smaller details of your photo. If you can't look at the correct things to evaluate your progress, then you won't be making much progress at all IMO. If you are using a fixed focal length "prime" lens, then learn what makes it special, at what settings it will perform best and why you would want that focal length. It's all available on line and until you understand the equipment you intend to use, you will be like the carpenter who doesn't truly understand a hammer.
Depending on your chosen equipment, you might come across forum threads such as;
tutorial for Powershot SX50HS - Canon Community
Once you feel you are getting a handle on your equipment and how to quickly access its functions, place the model of your camera into a search engine and add the phrase "tips and tutorials". Now you will have access to dozens of lessons from people using your camera to do something. Some of the things they do may never be what you will do but by watching how they do their lesson, you'll likely pick up a few ideas none the less. By this point, without ever leaving your house or yard, you should have a fairly good idea of what your camera can (and cannot) do to make good photographs. Now you need a plan to put this knowledge to use. If you really need the help at this time, buy a cheat sheet for your camera. From something rather generic like how to attract wildlife;
Wildlife photography in any environment free photography cheat sheet Digital Camera World to something specific about your camera;
PhotoBert CheatSheets
By now you should actually have a fairly good grasp of "photography" though your understanding will be like watching "ET" and thinking you know how to make a film. So get out and shoot some photos. Take what you know about your camera and how it operates and use that knowledge in different settings. Take a bowl of apples out into the yard and take photos of the apples at various times of the day. Move to various angles of view and distances away from or close to the subject. Shoot beyond the apples at a subject behind the bowl. Be creative in how you express the idea "apple".
You may think you understand aperture and depth of field but until, you can see how your camera actually manipulates DOF, you won't really understand DOF. So take your camera out into your street and just shoot the same scene at various f stops. Then, if you have a zoom lens, notice where your lens will shift its aperture setting as you extend the lens. Now repeat the same aperture exercise with that focal length and the next focal length. To understand shutter speed, take shots of moving objects, like cars at an intersection. Your camera will keep track of each shot (if you are using a digital camera) and will record basic image data for you to review later. Keep a small notepad of additional information such as your location or weather conditions which might be useful later. Just as a student musician learns a tremendous amount by recording their own playing, you should be learning by reviewing your photos and paying attention to what changes occur in the image when you change something on the camera. Or when you change your position relative to the subject. Pay attention to what you see; what's behind the subject, in front of the subject and to the sides of the subject. Seeing the environment in which you are shooting is one of the first steps to being a good photographer. By the time you've finished taking notes on all of this specific to your camera, you'll have the idea of what a good photographic recipe, a listing of basic ingredients, should taste like in the end.
Now you can begin learning how various recipes make various meals different from one another.
This is, IMO, a good series for learning the basics - and the advanced subjects - pertinent to photography;
Cambridge in Colour - Photography Tutorials Learning Community It is, however, not where I would tell you to begin. I would say you should begin by learning some classic rules of composition and the manipulation of light and shadow. You do that without your camera anywhere near you. You can do it in books or through a trip to a museum or gallery. Dozens and dozens of ways to learn the classic thought process of making an image or an idea interesting. By looking at other photos by travel journalists, photojournalists, advertising, "fine art", candid photographers, etc and backward engineering what you think they did to get that shot you will increase your thought process which leads to a good image. Now you are watching "ET" with a very different intent, to see exactly how the film was constructed and how the moment to moment actions become a whole with a satisfying end.
Finally, begin to study a program which will develop your hands on experiences and knowledge into your photographic work. However, as you would do by following my plan, you must have a plan of your own. As you would in becoming a cook, you should understand which bits go into the stew first. Learning (and the act of taking a photograph) builds a foundation first and then expands from there. Whichever course you take, follow the course. Don't jump around, just follow the course. If it's a good course, you'll learn about ISO before you are thrown into the exposure triangle. You'll learn about aperture before you need to study hyper-focal distance. You will understand values before you are presented with dynamic range. So just follow the course and always look at what you've accomplished by keeping track of what you've done. In six month's and one year's time and forward you should be able to look at your progress as shown in the continued improvement in your results.
Simple, huh?
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