Canon 600d

[scottishdawn]

Hello, I've got my first dslr camera but because of the weather being so rubbish here lately and work commitments, I haven't had much of a chance to have a play!
I'm going to the west coast of Scotland soon for a visit and was planning taking my camera. I'm a total novice at photography so was wondering if the auto function on the camera would be the safest bet so that I get some decent photos?

 

[Overread17 5]

Auto mode will typically give you generally good exposures in decent light and will pop the flash up the rest of the time when the light is a bit dim.

It will give you "ok" photos, but outside of composing the photo you won't have much control over the settings being used. Even though the weathers a bit rubbish you don't have to limit yourself. Do some reading and experiment around the house and you can quickly start to get a better idea of how to control your camera.
Learn about exposure - about the aperture, shutter speed and ISO in the camera - because those 3 settings are the only things you have to vary to control your camera. That's it - just 3 little settings and most of the time a photo will have only one of them (typically shutter speed or aperture) as the main one that you want a fixed control over.

There are many books and online resources - don't even be afraid to read old film based books - the rules of photography have no changed one bit (barring the fact that now your meter is inside the camera as opposed to on a handheld unit like in the older film days).

The book "Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson" is a popular and often suggested good first read for getting an understanding of Exposure. The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby is another popular series (book 1 is very basic and good for the total novice, you'll grow out of it fast so either then pick up the understanding exposure book or continue on the series of Digital Photography books).

 

[PlanetStarbucks]

What I would say is that you can probably keep your camera on auto when you're in situations where you have no idea what's going to happen, you might have to take a shot quickly without thinking about, etc. But once you have some time to play around a bit, pop it into Av mode and play around with different aperatures to see how it works. That way when you actually read about what it all means it will probably make more sense. For now, in a word...set an aperature that will keep the exposure faster then 1/60th of a second.

 

[joshhuntnm]

it will work fine but your pics will be point and shootish. the pics are only as good as the person holding a camera. you learn by doing. take some. post on here.

 

[rokvi]

While the weather is bad...Read your manual with your camera beside you. read up on exposure, how shutter speed, aperture and ISO relate. Go to the library read about whatever type of photography takes your fancy. Get on to youtube (not red tube) and look at some tutorials. Then when you leave for your trip, you will be a little more prepared.
Have fun!

 

[scorpion_tyr]

Auto modes will work fine for now. I'd pay do some quick research on composition and photo tips, add that to using the auto mode for what you're shooting (portrait, landscapes, etc) and you should get some great shots. Two bits of advise: Read your manual, and don't be afraid to use your flash ;-) Enjoy!

 

[scottishdawn]

Thank you everybody! I will go and buy some books and read the manual and hopefully manage to take some decent pictures! At the minute I know nothing about composition, exposure etc