Hello from Buenos Aires

[LizardKing]

Hello!

Just wanted to introduce myself and ask you a question on how to start in the forum.


Until about a year ago I only thought of Photography as a hobby. Now, I'm thinking about buying my first reflex camera and maybe take a few courses.
I'm 28 years old, from Buenos Aires, Argentina. So English isn't my mother language, but I believe you've already figured that out... :mrgreen:


And now the question... I was thinking about writing a thread explaining my situation, ideas, questions and maybe show some pictures. And it seems a good idea to write it all together, so I don't have to repeat the same things in several threads all over the forum. Could you please tell me where's the best 'subforum' to put it? I'd think this is the one, but unfortenately I don't see too much traffic here.


Thank you all in advance! Have a nice day!


Regards,
LizardKing

 

[Trever1t]

right here in the introductions area for general personal info. Welcome to the forum, nice Morrison reference.

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

If you have pictures to post, the best place would be the gallery section, and of course, use the gallery that is most appropriate for the photos you are posting. It's best to keep your posts to one or two photos as a time, especially if you want to get some feed back on them.

For any questions you might have, first use the search tool, to see if those questions have been asked before. If that doesn't answer your questions, then post them in the appropriate section. If you can't decide which section would be best, then I'd suggest using the beginner's section or Beyond Basics.

 

[christian.rudman]

LizardKing was a badass skater a few years back, I wonder if he's still around...

Anyhow, welcome. This is absolutely the best place for that sort of post, and it doesn't matter that this catagory is lightly tread, the newest posts and bumps get put right on the home page! Post up what the deal is, just don't be suprised if you find a few prickly pears in this rose garden of information and advice.

Cheers.

 

[LizardKing]

Well... Thank you for your responses!
I guess I'll try to explain my situation, and hopefully not to bore anyone in the process. In the next couple of days I'll probably open new threads in the correspondent sections of the forum, but wanted to start here where I could get some basic directions.


I'm no professional photographer or anything like it. I currently work in IT and been thinking about doing something different with my life. So, last year decided to take 4 months off my job and go to Europe. And during this trip, realized I liked photography more than I thought. Really enjoyed taking the pictures, trying new angles, playing around with the different parameters, going through the selection process, creating web albums, etc etc... I even let myself experiment a little bit with some basic editing... and bought a tripod during the trip... :mrgreen:


So now I'm thinking about getting a little bit more into the photography world and this forum seems to be the right place to start.


First of all, the camera, of course... Now, this will be my first reflex camera, so I have lots of questions hahaha... My actual camera is a Nikon P80, I bought a couple of years ago.
Have to say I didn't actually researched much about reflex cameras, but I can see it's pretty much reduced to Canon and Nikon. Beyond that, it seems to be a matter of personal preferences or taste.
Can't say I'm disappointed with my Nikon, because it's given me excellent results. But I believe I'd like to try a Canon this time.


Now, I've been thinking about spending about 1000U$s in the camera, and please consider the prices in Argentina are higher. So it would be a camera that's about 700-800 U$s in the US.

Before asking you for recommendations in cameras, I believe you probably need to know what kind of photography I intend to do. And that's easy: I don't know yet... hahaha... No seriously, I'd like a camera which allows me to explore different types of photography and techniques. Something to learn with, but also not thinking I have to change it in the short term. I definitely want a good camera.


After checking the prices and models from Canon and Nikon, I liked the Canon Rebel T3i. Now, I have no doubts it's an excellent camera, but do you think it would fit my needs?


I believe it's important to say I don't have enough money now to buy some good lens, so I'll probably just use the one sold with the camera for some time.


I'll will be taking this camera into several trips, most of them as backpacker. So I definitely need something that's not too delicate and good for traveling.

Any suggestions, comments or recommendations on this matter will be most welcomed.


So... Besides the camera, the other area where I have questions is regarding the learning. I've always liked to learn things in practice, but I also understand theory is equally important. My first question would be about online material and courses you can recommend. I don't know, like websites with short courses, or articles for me to read.


Now, besides the online self-education, I'd also like to take some real courses but have absolutely no idea about where I can start looking hahaha... Been thinking about this crazy idea of taking a trip from Argentina all the way to NY (as a backpacker) and maybe once there, after several months of practicing on the road and online reading, take a good 6-month long course or something like that. I mean, I don't know... Just dreaming about it for now... But maybe some of you know of good places where I can go and study some photography. I obviously realize the world top photography courses are probably pretty expensive, but since I'm just starting I really don't need to aim that high


Anyway... Have lots of questions about other aspects, but this thread is getting longer than I thought and I just hope at least one of you actually read until this point hehehe

Thank you all for the welcoming and make sure you'll hear from me again :mrgreen:

Regards,
LizardKing

 

[LizardKing]

After going through the Begginer's Forum and getting a little more into DSLRs, I realized my questions were vague and hard for you to answer. I apologize for that. Newbie mistake, I guess. :thumbdown:

I started reading Understanding Exposure byBryan Peterson and I'm loving it. Almost finished it in a couple of days. After this one, I'll probably continue with Learning to See Creatively: Desing, Color & Composition in Photography from the same author.

Now, even though both Technical and Creative aspects are -most likely- equally important for any given person wishing to improve its photographic skills, I find far more interesting the Creative side. It seems to be what really tells the difference between a good and a not-so-good photographer. Or, at least, it will help you be different from the rest.

I've been looking around for other books that might interest me and here's what I found:

The Photographer's Eye: Composition & Design for Better Digital Photos by Michael Freeman
The Camera by Ansel Adams
Perfect Exposure by Jim Zuckerman
Langford's Basic Photography by Michael Langford
The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby
Photography Outdoors: A Field Guide for Travel and Adventure Photographers by Mark Gardner
The Photographer's Market Guide to Building Your Photography Business by Vik Orenstein


Unfortunately, I couldn't find that many books exploring the Creative side besides Learning to See Creatively and The Photographer's Eye. So, any recommendations on this matter would be really appreciated.

Now, regarding the equipment, I've been doing a little more research and believe it's best to aim a little higher and go for either the Canon 7D or the Nikon D300s. I've read pages and pages from all over the internet comparing these 2 babies, and it's pretty much a tie... Probably the 7D wins by a nose, for its Full HD Video and the great difference in resolution. Although there're some other differences to take into consideration before deciding.

I'm still a little confused about what's the best choice in Lens for a beginner, but I'll keep doing some research on this later. And probably come back here with the questions.

Thank you all! :mrgreen:

Regards,
LizardKing

 

[Josh66]

For your stated budget, you'll pretty much be looking at something in the Rebel line (if you go Canon), or whatever the Nikon equivalent is. If you can go higher, that's always nice, but don't forget to leave room in your budget for other things you'll need - like spare batteries, memory cards, a lens or two, a bag, a cleaning kit - stuff like that.


For books on the creative side, don't limit yourself to just photography books. Any "art" books would be good to read. Same principles, different tools.