New to the game

[isisjag13]

I've been contemplating photography for a while now and decided to break down and get into it. I just bought a Canon Rebel T2 with 2 lenses. One is a 28-80 and the other is a 70-300. Debated between the T2 and an Elan 7N, but decided to go with the cheaper body until I'm sure that I'm gonna stick with it. Got some filters too....nothing special. I've been doin lots and lots of reading trying to get my things together, but damn does it get confusing. Guess my best bet is to start shooting whenever the camera shows up. I'm really interested in doing landscape/wooded/stream pictures, sunset/dusk pics and old barns/farm architectures. Would love to do the barns in B&W. Where should my head be when I'm thinking about doing any of these shots? (Obviously behind the camera) Guess I'm really just looking for advice from those who have done it before. I've spent a lot of time rooting around the forum already and have found a lot of great stuff. Look for my pics in the bloopers! Whats teh best way to digitize prints? I hate scanners, but if thats the best way, I guess I'll get one. At any rate....thanks for any input....

Josh

 

[Rob]

Hey Josh,

Welcome to TPF. Sounds like you've got the bug already! My best advice for a n00b would be to go out there with your camera and shoot some C41 B&W (just ask for it at a decent photography shop). C41 can be processed by a "normal" 1hr lab and they can put the photos on CD at the same time as the processing for a small amount. You can then convert the images to true B&W in PS and mess around with them cheaply.

This method allows you to cheaply and quickly view your results and to get an idea of what works for you. Once you've had a good experiment, then you can develop your own style and maybe invest in a film scanner or perhaps a DSLR.

Rob

 

[KevinR]

Welcome aboard.. :thumbup:

One item that I would suggest is to get a good tripod. This will help you in working with nature, landscapes, etc.

It makes you slow down and think about your composition. And helps to eliminate any kind of camera shake, so you get sharper images.

 

[LWW]

A good monopod, or even a cheapie, is a good idea as well.

One thing I would strongly advise is to learn PHOTOGRAPHY first and not how to work a high tech camera.

As an example using CN41 B&W, only because it works out cheaper than regular B&W, take several rolls and shoot the same scenic in aperture priority at every aperture. This will let you concentrate on 1 function, the cam will set the shutter, and the scene. Shoot some scenes that are at a distance. Shoot some that up close. Shoot some macro. Shoot some with a strong foreground and some with a strong background.

This will give you hard results to look at showing you the effect of different apertures on depth of field at varying distances. Don't worry about the artistic results, just observe and learn.

Next I would shoot some moving objects on shutter priority and again use every shutter speed you have, even if you have to use some filtration to get perfect exposure or have to live with a little off exposure. Shutter priority will again give you only 1 thing to think about besides the shot. Again study how much blur or how stopped the action is at different shutter speeds. Again don't worry about artistic results, worry about getting an idea in your own mind of what does what and causes what.

Reading books are always good but IMHO nothing replaces viewfinder time.

Expect to make mistakes, it's all part of the process. Even those who post pics and have done it for a long time only show our keepers. From experimenting you will, I believe, come up with a few realy good shots just by accident. THAT is also an important lesson.

Good photography requires thinking outside the box. This is why I encourage everyone to learn photography before they trust their camera to make too many decisions for them. The camera in full auto mode is not adept at thinking outside the box.

Most of all however is to have fun. Getting a critique from another photographer is always good but remember...even if someone else doesn't like something but you really do, that's all that really counts unless you are trying to sell pics.

Once you get the basics like this down and can properly expose and compose a scene to your taste I would start shooting the same scene over and over with different filters and again study the effects which each have on the result.

Bottom line is if you shoot 1 roll a week for 6 months you are going to have a pretty good grip on what's what. If economics allow it of course you can accelerate that.

Once you have the basics down go at it. A good photographer with mediocre equiptment will produce better results than a hack with $10K in their camera bag so don't get all hung up on having the best possible lens in every class. As an analogy I could play Tiger Woods using a $4K set of Pings and let Tiger use an $89 set from WalMart and I'm pretty sure I would still lose.

One last thing is to not be afraid to try anything. Photography is an art of the so. Use both and you will be fine.ul and of the brain.

I hope this helps.

LWW

 

[Meysha]

Get a notepad and for each (or specific difficult) frames while you're starting out, try and write down details like f number, shutter speed, what filter you used, the lighting conditions - sunny? cloudy?, and what focal length you were at.

This will help you understand how the DOF changes as well, and will help show you where you're going wrong. Once you get the hang of your lenses it'll all become second nature and you won't need to refer to old photos to figure out what settings to use. But I found keeping notes really sped up the learning curve.