Photography for dummies

[Jenny3]

Hi everyone

I bought one of those tough cameras for our upcoming trip to Orlando - we're spending time at Universal, Sea World, Discovery Cove and doing one of the gator airboat tours. I wanted something I could slip in my pocket and use underwater / on the boat / on rides, etc that was good quality and wouldn't get trashed, lol. I got the Panasonic Lumix Ts4, which I'm discovering has a lot more to it than I expected!

I'm pretty novice (ok very novice) when it comes to any type of manual settings. Would anyone here be willing to explain all terms and settings? In dummy language? For example, what setting would be best for night photography? (we will be seeing the Harry Potter world late at night) What is best for nature (gators)? What is best for daylight? Fireworks? Underwater?

The camera has quite a few modes and settings - most of them pre-set plus an Intelligence Auto mode. I would love to figure out the best way to use this for my trip, but it really is like learning Greek, LOL

Any tips you can provide is most helpful!

 

[photo_chick]

Learning how shutter speed, aperture and ISO affect your image can help you understand what mode to use when. LIke knowing when you'd need a fast shutter speed tells you that you need to use an auto mode that gives priority to shutter speed. Your camera's manual should have a lot of good information in it as well.

 

[NLD]

Just to add to what photochick said...

A good book for learning the basics of making an exposure is Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. It is a quick, easy read that explains things in ways that make sense to a complete beginner. Once you know how ISO, shutter speed, and aperture work together, the world is wide open to you, photographically speaking.

We can tell you "sports mode" is a good choice for shooting fast-moving action, and that would be true. But then if you use "sports mode" to shoot a fast-moving show at night, or in very low-light, you might get frustrated if the pictures are dark. We can tell you to put the camera on a tripod for pictures of the Hogwarts castle at night, but then you'll still need to know how to make your camera use a long shutter speed to let enough light in.

So read up, learn about exposure, and once you have an understanding how exposure works AND how your camera works, you'll have the foundation you need to figure out what's best in each situation.

Have a great trip!

 

[Jenny3]

Thank you - I will check out that book and dig out the CD that came with the camera!