Photography..

[Goldspoon]

On modern cameras...

Aperture priority: you set aperture and camera auto adjusts shutter speed depending on light.

Shutter priority: you set shutter speed and camera auto adjusts aperture depending on light.

Manual: you set everything.

There is also usually a "camera does everything" setting.

Bracketing is where you take, say three or five shots. One shot on the recommended setting and then two or four shots either side (one or two darker and one or two lighter). A lazy way of getting a good exposure but useful none the less.

Top tip: research "the rule of thirds" (composition).

 

[DP]

Chris at Plumbing forum is an expert.

 

[joe-90]

Goldspoon,

Despite the impending incoming garbage from Joe

TT

You are just a troll.

 

[joe-90]

Top tip: research "the rule of thirds" (composition).

Sometimes called the Golden Ratio, Golden Mean or several other names.


Expressed algebraically:

\frac{a+b}{a} = \frac{a}{b} = \varphi\,.

This equation has as its unique positive solution the algebraic irrational number

\varphi = \frac{1+\sqrt{5}}{2}\approx 1.61803\,39887\ldots\,

 

[toptec]

Top tip: research "the rule of thirds" (composition).

Sometimes called the Golden Ratio, Golden Mean or several other names.
Expressed algebraically:
\frac{a+b}{a} = \frac{a}{b} = \varphi\,.
This equation has as its unique positive solution the algebraic irrational number

\varphi = \frac{1+\sqrt{5}}{2}\approx 1.61803\,39887\ldots\,

Need I say anymore!!!

 

[joe-90]

Lighten up! It was a joke.

 

[imamartian]

On modern cameras...

Aperture priority: you set aperture and camera auto adjusts shutter speed depending on light.

Shutter priority: you set shutter speed and camera auto adjusts aperture depending on light.

Manual: you set everything.

There is also usually a "camera does everything" setting.

Bracketing is where you take, say three or five shots. One shot on the recommended setting and then two or four shots either side (one or two darker and one or two lighter). A lazy way of getting a good exposure but useful none the less.

Top tip: research "the rule of thirds" (composition).

Goldspoon, you're a star, thank you for your time.

 

[Mickymoody]

My brother was an expert photographer, with expensive kit, so went to take a photo of a train, we both snapped at the same time, but IMHO my photo on a 110 camera had a better shot, more clarity, better colour etc, than his expensive kit, but he sent the pic off, and it was published.

So just get the subject, balance, colour correct, learn your trade. And have fun doing it, really close close-ups, of say flowers or insects, or time delay shots, but just have fun.

 

[tapir]

If you Google 'DLSR basics', 'DLSR for beginners' or 'Introduction to DSLR' there are countless sites that will teach you the basics.

Your other option is to buy yourself a decent entry level camera, get the relevant user guide (most of the popular DSLR's these days have 3rd party 'how to' guides). Learning DSLR photography isn't really that much of a challenge, it's learning to compose your shots that takes the real time.

 

[MarkBarl]

Though mentioned earlier, knowing what flash to use is also important. There are several modes. the most common are as follows.

Auto Flash. the camera decides if it needs flash and will fire it as necessary.
Forced Flash, the flash will go off every time you take a picture.
Red eye reduction, the flash will fire at a lower level once or several times before it actually takes the picture to enable peoples pupils to contract thus reducing the cases of red eye.
Slow syncro flash. A great invention which can be used especially on low light days when you want to have a scenic background but also want the foreground illuminated. Essentially it takes 2 pictures very quickly, with and without flash and combines the 2. E.G. I took a picture of my wife on the Eiffel tower on an overcast day. i wanted the view but also needed the flash to get a decent shot of her.

Hope that helps.

 

[Blasphemous]

trial and error??....just keep taking pics and then adjust the settings accordingly...

ok, tried that, and they either look the same, or i forget what setting was what.... do i really need to understand F-stops and ISO's etc?

With a DSLR you will not have to remember the settings martian, when you preview the photo (that's any photo you've taken that is still on the memory card inside the camera), the settings are all there for you to see. If you use RAW images then all sorts of settings are available to view even when you download the images to a PC. You may well need decent imaging software to work with RAW files though.

I recently purchased a Nikon D5000. It's a great camera but the 18-55mm lens is a bit of a bottle neck. I'll be upgrading that... or Santa will!

Here's a good user guide for the D5000: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d5000/users-guide/index.htm

I'm miles away from being competent but you'll be amazed how easy some of it is martian.

Below are a couple of examples of some shots I took recently. As I've said, I'm no David Bailey but I'm enjoying playing with my new toy.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, you may find this useful martain: http://www.kelbytraining.com/books/digphotogv3/

 

[imamartian]

This is a great shot Blas...

 

[Blasphemous]

Thank you.

Starting from a point of having no experience with a DSLR you could achieve similar in absolutely no time with the Nikon D5000 mate. I'm talking an hour or two.