Greetings from the Himalayas! Newbie questions.

[The Kathmandu Cat]

Hello!

I am from Kathmandu, Nepal from the foothills of the mighty Himalayan mountains. My primary hobby is guitar but of late I've been very interested in trying my hands at photography also. I'm a complete novice to the world of photography and I'm looking for beginners tips and tricks on how to start out as a hobbyist/enthusiast photographer.

Being a complete rookie I don't want to spend too much cash right away on gear. After several weeks research I came to a conclusion that Mirrorless cameras are what I like particularly those retro styled offers from Olympus and Fujifilm (Pen-F and X100F etc). But with my complete lack of knowledge in photography and funds I cannot justify owning a one thousand dollars plus camera right away. So I got an Olympus E-PL8 (no viewfinder and other limitations I know...) as my very first mirrorless ILC to learn the basics on and hopefully upgrade to better cameras as I get more and more into it. Was this a sound decision on my part taking in my context?

Now that I have the basic gear to learn on I'd like to get pointers on how to hone up some rudimentary skills with a mirrorless. Tips, tricks and beginner advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Designer]

Was this a sound decision on my part taking in my context?

Greetings, and welcome!

The exact type of camera is not as important as finding your artistic expression. Learn what is good and what is not so good. Keep the good ones and discard the others. Read whatever you can on the subject of composition and study good photographers' portfolios. Learn to snap a photo whenever you see something that interests you. Try making them better in editing by straightening and cropping. Post a photograph for critique. Keep practicing. Have fun.

 

[jaomul]

Olympus epl models lack a viewfinder and you need to go into the menus for some settings.

What they do not lack is great picture quality and a fab touchscreen interface. They are great cameras

Welcome to the forum

 

[jaomul]

In order to get tips, I suggest asking specific questions, that way you'll get more specific answers.

A good tripod is always a nice thing to have.

 

[photo1x1.com]

Hi and welcome to the forum. You live in a place where many of us would like to photograph, so you are off to a great start .
Your decision not to spend a fortune was wise. First, you need to find out what you like to photograph. Is there anything specific you´d like to shoot? Mountains should definitely be on your list .

 

[fmw]

My recommendation would be to hike up to Ama Dablam, shoot some images and post them. What beautiful mountain it is.

 

[dxqcanada]

Wide, you need wide ... and a circular polarizing filter ... and we really need to see any of your images.

 

[The Kathmandu Cat]

Thank you everyone for the welcome and the responses. I'm slowly learning the nuances of all the features of my new camera and have started taking random photos for fun. I'll start looking online at basic beginner photography skills. I'm now in Africa for the next four months and will be returning back to Nepal end of the year so unfortunately no mountain photos till then but definitely some African safari and Savannah pics coming up.

Many thanks again...I'll keep you posted on my progress!

 

[Gary A.]

Welcome to the forum. We are all looking forward to seeing your images.

 

[Derrel]

Welcome to TPF. The camera will do just fine. Shoot it with care, and use good technique; good focusing, camera support, a decent lens, not "too small" an aperture, and you'll made nice photos with it. As mentioned, a circular polarizing filter (abbreviated as CPL most times) might help somewhat on landcapes, but beware of using a CPL on very wide-angle shots, where it may cause unnaturally dark-looking corners on the sky.

 

[Casey08]

1. Don’t buy very expensive equipment right away.
2. Consider a tripod.
3. Make a list of shots you’d like to get.
4. Take advantage of free resources to learn.
5. Experiment with your camera’s settings.
6. Take photos regularly.

 

[The Kathmandu Cat]

Hey thanks for all the replies so far! I'm slowly getting myself familiar with my new camera and learning the M-manual mode. Love it so far. Will post pics once I feel more confident. Once again many thanks for these helpful tips.