Where to begin..

amomenttintimephoto · Apr 5, 2011

So, I posted a few pictures on here earlier. I'm not going to lie, I got a nice dose of reality. A dose of reality that I probably needed. Anyway, I'd really like to get better at photography. I want to learn how to create stunning images. I've only got a Rebel, and I know that's not a professional camera. But, it's all I have right now, and all I can afford. I just enrolled in a basic photography class (composition, darkroom, etc) for the fall semester at my college (and got some wierd looks from my Biology advisor- I'm a 3rd year pre-med student), but fall is a long time away. Are there any books you'd recommend to help me learn about composition, lighting(!), and focus?

Giuseppe · Apr 5, 2011

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. It's helped me understand so much more about photography in general and how important light is.

photocist · Apr 6, 2011

Shooting in manual can really help.

GraspTheMoment · Apr 6, 2011

Giuseppe said:
Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. It's helped me understand so much more about photography in general and how important light is.

Yes - I agree 100%. The copy I was finally able to find was practically falling apart, but it was worth it

Forkie · Apr 6, 2011

Giuseppe said:
Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. It's helped me understand so much more about photography in general and how important light is.

Agree with this. Also, for composition guidance I always recommend The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman

jth · Apr 6, 2011

Here is a nice site about composition Guidelines for Better Photographic Composition: Introduction
and I bet you can find good reading about the other topics too with bit of search

Einstein · Apr 6, 2011

youtube saved me tons of time starting out... search for exposure triangle. Once you get the basics stick to manual, apperture priority, shutter priority on your camera and go from there.

KenC · Apr 6, 2011

Definitely avoid Auto and P modes and try to use either manual or A or T modes. If you do this you'll be forced to pay attention to aperture and shutter speed (and ISO) settings and will learn much more.

BTW, the Rebel you have (even if an earlier model), if it has a decent lens on it (almost any Canon lens and many others) is capable of taking better quality pictures than most of the cameras used by professionals fifty years ago. You shouldn't feel that it is much of a limitation. The higher models available today will give you more capability in some ways, but it is very possible to make some stunning images with a Rebel.

bazooka · Apr 6, 2011

It's great to hear you took the critique you received well! The above books are good reads, but I think you'd save money and learn faster simply by googling exposure triangle, rule of thirds, photographic composition, etc... read until you feel you are comfortable with terminology and the basics of how the basics works such as aperture, shutter speed, ISO, f/stop (memorize them, it's actually pretty easy), focal range and how it affects compression and perspective, light quality, depth of field, noise, and any other common terms you may run across but aren't sure about.

It sounds like a lot to learn, but it really isn't because everything tends to tie together. I bet after four hours of reading various articles on the above topics on the internet, you would be well on your way to creating much much better images. After a few months, you may even look back at the images you like now and ask yourself "What was I thinking?!?" At this point you'll realize how far you've come. I have images like this, I bet we all do. We hang onto them because we once thought they were great, but now we realize how bad they are. It's a great confidence booster.

Once you feel you've done enough reading (perhaps you already have?), grab your camera, and carefully compose a well lit portrait of something/someone you can control. It can be a person that is willing to be your model, or a stuffed animal. Keep it simple and just do a head & shoulders standard portrait. Think about light quality, light ratio between subject and background, and composition. Are you handholidng? Shutter speed must be sufficient for your focal length. Tripod? If nothing in the frame is moving then for the most part shutter speed is irrelevant in relation to sharpness. How much depth of field do you want? Use your DoF preview button if you have one. Think about these aspects before you release the shutter.

Take the shot. Does it look how you envisioned it? Are you happy with the result? If not, really think about why not. Is there anything you do like about it? Remember to think of things like light on the subject, light on the background, light direction, composition, background color/objects/texture, focus, exposure, white balance. Which of these aspects of the image do you like, which do you not? What can you change to improve a dislike?

Then, when you feel like you're happy with the shot (doesn't have to be perfect or stellar by any means), post it here, let us know you're thought process, what you like, what you think needs work, and we'll let you know how we feel about it, and you will almost certainly have something brought to your attention that you didn't think of... perhaps a problem with the photo, or an easy way to make it better. You need to be your worst critic though before you post for C&C or it's going to hurt more than it should. Don't expect any particular outcome, but offer it for C&C with intent to do it again while taking into account the suggestions that we make (or perhaps we will think it's solid and no changes need to be made, at which point you'll be ready for another lesson, another setup, another type of photo, etc.