Practice suggestions?

[dash's dad]

We're making our second trip to WDW in May (first with kids!), and one of my focuses(pun intended) is to try and get as many good pics as possible.

We've recently upgraded to a Rebel XT and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about how to practice up before next year? Or if there were any suggestions of lenses that may be better suited to the pics I'll likely be taking.

I know I've got a lot of reading ahead of me and even more shooting, but if there was anything in particular that would be a good idea to sharpen up on, it would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Suburbanmom]

I recommend getting a copy of Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. It's a great book that explains things in plain, easy-to-follow language. The pictures are beautiful and he tells you exactly what he did to get each shot. Then, you can go out and practice using some of his instructions. It's a really good book.

 

[Master Mason]

Your going to want something that is fast, meaning a very wide apeture. Lots of folks here have the 50mm f/1.8 lens that they use for this purpose.

I would practice low light shots, figure out how to increase ISO and open the apeture so you get the fastest shutter speed you can for moving low light photos.

Practice some long exposure shots, so you know how to set them up before hand, you'll want that for night shots of the castle, fireworks etc...

Basically your trying to understand what different changes will result in, so that you can make fast decisions, and know where and how to make the changes quickly so you don't miss shots.

Another thing is practice moving from low light to bright light, so you get in the habit of checking your ISO speed often since the XT doesn't show it to you in the view finder and you hate to miss shots because you just didn't remember to adjust the ISO...

 

[safetymom]

Every so often I go out practicing with my Nikon. I take the manual and a notebook. I try different settings and note what I did. I only try one feature when I go out. Once I feel comfortable with it I try another.

 

[dash's dad]

These are great tips!! Exactly what I was looking for.

I'll be starting this weekend, so I'm sure I'll have more questions.