Totally New

[Chriss]

Alright so I basically just got interested in photography and I received a camera for Christmas and its probably the first camera I have ever picked up (not including camera phones and such). I read a few articles, understand aperture, shutter speed, exposure, etc. but I just wanted to know if you had any advice or really anything you could pass on to me about photography. Thanks!


http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx300/ChrisTheFirst/DSC00563.jpg

 

[DRoberts]

Read Read read....paractice practice practice. To broad of a subject to give specifics. Is there a specific topic you need info on?

 

[themedicine]

play with your camera everyday for like an hour or more. 30 minutes if you are a busy person. just like a musical instrument, the more you do it, the better you get.

 

[Josh66]

Don't get too caught up in the technical details.

I mean, you have to learn it, but after you know it - it doesn't really matter.

 

[Chriss]

Alright Thanks guys. Any comments on the pic?

 

[KmH]

Post 2 or 3 people can comment on specifically.

There's a sticky thread at the top of the Beginners Forum & Photo Gallery page on how to post images

 

[Craig G]

I just wanted to know if you had any advice or really anything you could pass on to me about photography. Thanks!

Find yourself a basic subject, (an apple or a statue or a flower) mount your camera on a tripod or place it on a table and start shooting. Take 200 or so shots using different configurations of the same subject. Play with all the settings. Then when your done move your set up to another area with different lighting (lighter or darker outside or inside) and shoot 200 more shots with different configurations.

Do the above mentioned in P, then S, then A, & again in M. 1500 shots later, of the same stupid subject, you'll have learned quite a bit.

 

[Josh66]

I just wanted to know if you had any advice or really anything you could pass on to me about photography. Thanks!

Find yourself a basic subject, (an apple or a statue or a flower) mount your camera on a tripod or place it on a table and start shooting. Take 200 or so shots using different configurations of the same subject. Play with all the settings. Then when your done move your set up to another area with different lighting (lighter or darker outside or inside) and shoot 200 more shots with different configurations.

Do the above mentioned in P, then S, then A, & again in M. 1500 shots later, of the same stupid subject, you'll have learned quite a bit.

Wow... 1500 shots of an apple?

With that many pictures to go through, I don't really know how you could have learned anything... Kinda like sensory overload, no?

How would you even know which shot was what?
(Yes, you can look at the exif...but for 1500 shots?)

 

[Craig G]

Yes
No
It's not that difficult
Yes

 

[Darkhunter139]

Yes
No
It's not that difficult
Yes

So you have actually taken 1500 shots of the same subject? Are you kidding me?

 

[Craig G]

Honest answer to that question, No. I never had to. I have shot simple subjects hundreds of times without boredom just to experiment. Maybe I should have typed 800, maybe 600. I didn't think anyone would take the totals so literal.

The point is that there are hundreds of different ways to photograph something, most are not ideal, but the best way to know this is to see it as you take them. That I don't believe can be argued.

 

[Josh66]

Honest answer to that question, No. I never had to. I have shot simple subjects hundreds of times without boredom just to experiment. Maybe I should have typed 800, maybe 600. I didn't think anyone would take the totals so literal.

The point is that there are hundreds of different ways to photograph something, most are not ideal, but the best way to know this is to see it as you take them. That I don't believe can be argued.

The point is... In the exercise you described 90% of the shots would be unusable, and the other 10% would be almost identical...

 

[loki05]

keep shooting. watch youtube vids if your not the book reading type. shoot in Manual mode to learn

 

[Craig G]

Honest answer to that question, No. I never had to. I have shot simple subjects hundreds of times without boredom just to experiment. Maybe I should have typed 800, maybe 600. I didn't think anyone would take the totals so literal.

The point is that there are hundreds of different ways to photograph something, most are not ideal, but the best way to know this is to see it as you take them. That I don't believe can be argued.

The point is... In the exercise you described 90% of the shots would be unusable, and the other 10% would be almost identical...

I agree with your evaluation of the excercise, however that is not the point. The point is to experience what can happen in all modes in various settings.

 

[Josh66]

I don't have time to write up an exercise right now (maybe when I get home tomorrow) - gotta go to bed soon (...work)...

If I did though... I would focus on metering...

What does 1 stop over/under do? What do the various metering modes do? How does what you meter on affect the photo?

...That's something you can learn from.