The Learning Curve

[MassJester]

I would like to recommend a couple of sources that are serving me well (I say are serving, as I am definitely a dslr user in training):

Camera company's website. Canon has manuals, tutorials and other very good information, and I imagine the other big boys in the market do as well.

Blue Crane Digital training videos--I recently grabbed one for my XTi, and I have to say the quality of instruction and production is superb. If their other offerings are as good as the one I got, then every new user should run (don't walk) out and get one. Cheap too.

Podcasts--I listen to This Week in Photography which you can subscribe to through iTunes. Good stuff here.

Magazines--I read Digital Camera (UK) and Shutterbug for inspiration, some instruction, and a little news.

These have all been great, and I hope some of you will benefit from them.

 

[Groucho]

Lenses were something that really intimidated me; I'd never used a camera with a detachable lens before. I felt like I needed to learn something about them if I was going to use them. I've been studying the basics and I'm beginning to understand.

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned on this thread... something to keep in mind for those who are new to SLRs in general (or DSLRs after using film SLRs) - you really want to minimize the amount of time that the camera spends with the lens off. If you're swapping lenses, have the new lens in one hand while removing the old with the other, and swap them as quickly as you can (while still being careful not to drop anything!)

Dust is a big issue with DSLRs, and the longer you leave it open, the more dust gets inside. Sensors that shake to remove dust are better than nothing but are definitely not a solution.

This was not such an issue with film SLRs, either - since you were using film, you effectively got a brand-new "sensor" every time you took a new photo!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

you really want to minimize the amount of time that the camera spends with the lens off. If you're swapping lenses, have the new lens in one hand while removing the old with the other, and swap them as quickly as you can (while still being careful not to drop anything!)

Dust is a big issue with DSLRs, and the longer you leave it open, the more dust gets inside.

Good suggestion. It does take some getting used to, doesn't it?

Other tips I've read are to hold the camera opening downward instead of sideways; to try to go somewhere inside if it's windy out; and to make sure the camera is turned off so the electrical charge doesn't attract dust.

Now's probably a good time for a mention of sensor dust and cleaning.

Added: A Summertime Tune Up For Your Camera and What is a Liptstick Brush - thanks Dr. Zero

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Several of you mentioned you'd like to learn more about shooting Portraits. It's not something I know a whole lot about either, so I took a look around to see what information is out there. Put it this way: I could sit here all day perusing articles. But since my coffee cup is long cold it's time to share some links I thought gave a good sampling of information to get started. If anyone else has any good books, links or personal experiences, please share. (BTW, it's a neat photography subject.)

First:

What is Portrait Photography, from Wikepedia

Portrait photography (also known as portraiture) is the capture by means of photography of the likeness of a person or a small group of people, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The objective is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. Like other types of portraiture, the focus of the photograph is the person's face, although the entire body and the background may be included. A portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the camera.

Unlike many other styles of photography, the subjects of portrait photography are non-professional models. Many family portraits and photographs that commemorate special occasions, such as graduations or weddings, are professionally produced and hang in private homes. Most portraits are not intended for public exhibition.

Portraiture Links:

Portrait Photography - photo.net

Portrait Photography - Kodak

16 Inspirational Portrait Photography Techniques

Digital Portrait Photography Help and Tips

Portrait photography - PhotographyTips.com

Portrait Photography - A Practical Guide

Investigating Portraiture

31 Lessons in Portrait Photography

Canon Portrait Lens Recommendations

Dis Threads:

Portrait Advice

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

As for your question re: the f/1.8; the camera will always give you a "correct exposure" based on the light that is being read by the meter. So if your in shutter priority at 1/60th and it says that f/5.6 is correct, then thats what it will give you. If you switch to 1/30th then it will change the aperture to f/8, if you switch to 1/125th then it will change to f/4. If f/5.6 is the widest the lens will allow, then it will stay at f/5.6, the reading in the viewfinder and on the LCD will show LO and the meter reading in your view finder will show that the image will be underexposed.

And thats why I like shooting in manual mode for low light photos. Sometimes in A or S mode the camera just can't get it wide open enough for what I am trying to achieve.

Hi everyone,
I hope you don't mind if I jump on board this thread. I just got my D80 in September or October of last year. I used SLR, 35mm film camera years ago and when the digital cameras came out bought a few of those. I hated the shutter lag on my old Oly 4mp c770. Because of that I bought the Panasonic TZ3, which I liked considerably better, but used primarily in Simple mode (an editable version of Auto).
I realized that I couldn't get the kind of night and action shots I wanted w/ a P&S, so I started asking around what everyone else was using. That brought me to the D80. I love my D80. I consider myself a total amateur noob who is hungry to learn how to take better photos. I'm here to learn and contribute where I can. The D80 does take really great Auto photos, but I knew from the get go that if I was going to learn this thing and toget the kinds of photos I wanted/needed to capture, that I would need faster glass.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

(Thought I'd post these from time to time. People new to the thread, please post yours anytime.)

When you first got your dSLR, how did you go about learning to use it?

Include any tools that you used. Did you just wing it? How many of you read your manuals before shooting? Books/DVDs you found helpful? Did you take a class or have someone help you? Let us know!

I read the manual, but I still didn't know what all the different functions the camera had built in were, because they didn't exist when I used my old SLR. So then I bought The Nikon D80 Digital Field Guide, Understanding Exposure and The Digital Photography Book. In all honesty as much as UE is recommended, I like TDPB better. He explains both camera formats (canon and Nikon) when tryingto explain how to get a shot. He gives you specific recipes and explains why you need a tripod or why certain settings in your camera has to be set a certain way. He just touches on it but it was enough so that I could put 2+2 together to figure out the idisyncrasies of my D80. I think some of the Digital Field guide helped me to better understand the dang manual. He also has a few pages dedicated to how to get the kind of shots you want (i.e. fireworks, landscape) but just breifly touches on it. I definitely learned more about fireworks from this forum than from any book! I'm still feeling my way through learning how to better use my camera and take better photos.
I take a ton of photos (I mean hundreds of just one event) so I can scrutinize, reevaluate, change settings and try again to get better shots. I love digital because I can mess up alot and it doesn't cost me anything but my time figuring out how to get it right.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

If you are wanting it for dark rides, then consider something with a wider aperture than f/2.8. IMO f/2 is a bare minimum, but even at f/1.4 there will be challenges.
Kevin

I have had problems at some low light events trying to capture musicians on stage playing an instrument -- and it's not like they're moving around really fast. They're sitting there reading music, FCOL. Even on dark rides, it's not like the POTC boats don't move or bump around. So w/ 1.8 aperture, some of my photos still came out blurry. In fact on my last DL trip, most of my POTC photos came out blurry. I threw out more than I kept. But it made me more determined to be able to get them the next time I go back. I don't know how people can get decent POTC ride shots using an f2.8 lens. They must be super talented or have an amazing camera that can boost the ISO w/ little sacrifice of Noise. I have struggled to get decent low light shots even w/ the 50 1.8 because I didn't want to bump my ISO up past 1600. (I'm still learning to use the camera, can't think about the software yet.) I'm sure as I discovered the other night, that some of it may be focus points when taking the pictures, etc. There's a lot to pay attention to when using an SLR, it's definitely not my old P&S that's for sure!

ETA: So you know what my next purchse will probably be right, Gdad? I'm looking at the Sigma 30mm 1.4.

 

[handicap18]

And thats why I like shooting in manual mode for low light photos. Sometimes in A or S mode the camera just can't get it wide open enough for what I am trying to achieve.

You'll find that a lot of the dSLR regulars here will shoot in Manual, just not all that often. If you do A LOT of low light shooting, then you would tend to shoot in Manual more often than most. Most people don't do a lot of low light shooting.

I'll use manual while shooting fireworks and long exposure shots. Not to much other than that though, but that works for me.

I have had problems at some low light events trying to capture musicians on stage playing an instrument -- and it's not like they're moving around really fast. They're sitting there reading music, FCOL. Even on dark rides, it's not like the POTC boats don't move or bump around. So w/ 1.8 aperture, some of my photos still came out blurry. In fact on my last DL trip, most of my POTC photos came out blurry. I threw out more than I kept. But it made me more determined to be able to get them the next time I go back. I don't know how people can get decent POTC ride shots using an f2.8 lens. They must be super talented or have an amazing camera that can boost the ISO w/ little sacrifice of Noise. I have struggled to get decent low light shots even w/ the 50 1.8 because I didn't want to bump my ISO up past 1600. (I'm still learning to use the camera, can't think about the software yet.) I'm sure as I discovered the other night, that some of it may be focus points when taking the pictures, etc. There's a lot to pay attention to when using an SLR, it's definitely not my old P&S that's for sure!

ETA: So you know what my next purchse will probably be right, Gdad? I'm looking at the Sigma 30mm 1.4.

I did well with the 50mm f/1.8 on the indoor rides. There are area's of PotC that are almost impossible, but mostly pretty good (did even better with the 30mm f/1.4). IASW is easy as there is enough light for an f/2.8 lens (IIRC). I also had good results on the GMR at MGM. Peter Pan with the f/1.4 lens at 1600 only gave me 2 shots that are close to keepers. HM I only got 1 excellent shot. Most everything else isn't even worth trying unless you can get ISO 6400.

Personally, I think focus points are one of the biggest issues that people have that is never really mentioned. I really dislike using anything but single area focus. I spent the first few months getting way to many out of focus or wrong focus images because of Closest subject focus point. With these wide aperture lenses, getting a spot on focus is VERY important. If you let the camera choose the point for you, IMO, you have less of a chance of getting the focus you want.

 

[boBQuincy]

And thats why I like shooting in manual mode for low light photos. Sometimes in A or S mode the camera just can't get it wide open enough for what I am trying to achieve.

I am not sure I understand this correctly. I thought that in "A" mode the settings include every aperture that is available for the lens. In "S" mode any shutter speed can be selected, which usually is enough to cover the full range of apertures?

 

[Mr._The_King]

Personally, I think focus points are one of the biggest issues that people have that is never really mentioned. I really dislike using anything but single area focus. I spent the first few months getting way to many out of focus or wrong focus images because of Closest subject focus point. With these wide aperture lenses, getting a spot on focus is VERY important. If you let the camera choose the point for you, IMO, you have less of a chance of getting the focus you want.

This seems to be the problem I always have but I haven't yet learned how to remedy it short of manual focus (which is fine sometimes but often given my inexperience means I miss the shot). Is there any way to set the camera to a different auto focus setting? I have a Canon XT and I know I need to read the manual but I was just wondering if this is something that may even be possible.

 

[handicap18]

I'm not completely sure of Canon's termonology, but I believe there are 3 options with the XT: One Shot, AI Focus & AI Servo. Servo is used to track a subject as it moves around the frame, or toward and away from the camera. AI Focus will choose which of the 7 points to focus on based on subject distance. One Shot allows you to move between the 7 focus points and you can choose which one the lens will focus on. I believe it is found in the menu under camera 1 then AF mode. In One Shot you use the 4 buttons on the back to move between the 7 focus points in the view finder.

If I'm wrong, please correct me. I'm just going by pictures and reviews on one of the review web sites.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I am not sure I understand this correctly. I thought that in "A" mode the settings include every aperture that is available for the lens. In "S" mode any shutter speed can be selected, which usually is enough to cover the full range of apertures?

All I know is that I do a lot of low light photography. When I try to shoot in A mode the camera defaults to what the camera thinks shutter speed should be, and when I shoot in S mode the camera defaults to what it thinks the best Aperture setting should be -- and it may or may not be what I want for the shot. (Sometimes it comes out too dark or too blurry still.) In manual mode, I can override both and make it take the picture the way I want it.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Personally, I think focus points are one of the biggest issues that people have that is never really mentioned. I really dislike using anything but single area focus. I spent the first few months getting way to many out of focus or wrong focus images because of Closest subject focus point. With these wide aperture lenses, getting a spot on focus is VERY important. If you let the camera choose the point for you, IMO, you have less of a chance of getting the focus you want.

I agree. I read and see a lot of people talk about everything else under the sun, but rarely see anyone mention how important the focus points are. (Other than to rarely point out to someone that their focus point was focusing on the wrong thing in a photo.) I remember last year I posted a photo that was OOF, didn't understand why, and someone basically just told me my focus point was off. But I didn't know what that meant, how to change it or how important it is to getting the shot right.
I also use single area. I learned from this last week shooting pics of my son, that even though I had the focus point on him in the first place, moving it a spot over in the viewfinder can make all the difference between getting a nice shot and just getting a shot that's just ok. It not only makes a difference regarding whether or not the photo is in focus or focusing on the right thing in the picture, but is also makes a difference as to how the camera interprets the available lighting for the shots. I was taking low light shots, handheld, (and in this particular venue flash photography was allowed, but I tried to go w/out and then switched to the on camera flash) and I still struggled using my 50mm 1.8 to get good shots, until I started changing the focus points. I was still getting shots that were either too dark or too overexposed. I tried A, S, P and yes, even Auto mode, in addition to Manual. Once I started seeing the difference in the photos by changing the focus points, it clicked. It's a very important aspect and not mentioned near enough. How many trip report picures have we all seen in which the poster writes something like, "Sorry, I was trying to get a picture of the dinner we were served", but the camera was actually focused on the glass just behind it? Their focus point(s) was/were off.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Personally, I think focus points are one of the biggest issues that people have that is never really mentioned. I really dislike using anything but single area focus. I spent the first few months getting way to many out of focus or wrong focus images because of Closest subject focus point. With these wide aperture lenses, getting a spot on focus is VERY important. If you let the camera choose the point for you, IMO, you have less of a chance of getting the focus you want.

This seems to be the problem I always have but I haven't yet learned how to remedy it short of manual focus (which is fine sometimes but often given my inexperience means I miss the shot). Is there any way to set the camera to a different auto focus setting? I have a Canon XT and I know I need to read the manual but I was just wondering if this is something that may even be possible.

Sorry I don't know anything about Canon cameras, but setting the camera to the right focus point is something that is hardly mentioned and it should be mentioned more often. Where are all the Canon users? How do you change focus points in the Canon DSLRS? How do you select Single area, Dynamic Area or Auto area in Canon cams?

 

[MassJester]

Sorry I don't know anything about Canon cameras, but setting the camera to the right focus point is something that is hardly mentioned and it should be mentioned more often. Where are all the Canon users? How do you change focus points in the Canon DSLRS? How do you select Single area, Dynamic Area or Auto area in Canon cams?

Not sure about the XT, but on the XTi, the autofocus point selection button is on the back, upper right.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Sorry folks, had a family tragedy this week so I haven't been able to keep up.

It sounds like the next subject ought to be Focus. I'm not sure myself where to start. Anyone want to give it a whirl? I'll also try to find some links.

ETA: here's one to start. (Please post others if you know of any.)

Area Focus

Dis Threads

Are these in focus?

 

[Mrs. The King]

Oops. Sorry, Mr. The King posted here as me. It's kind of embarrassing, like I caught him wearing my shoes. Please stand by for his actual post.

 

[Merrywheather]

Thanks, Pea-n-Me, for posting the portraiture links. Those will keep me busy for a while

 

[Mr._The_King]

I'm not completely sure of Canon's termonology, but I believe there are 3 options with the XT: One Shot, AI Focus & AI Servo. Servo is used to track a subject as it moves around the frame, or toward and away from the camera. AI Focus will choose which of the 7 points to focus on based on subject distance. One Shot allows you to move between the 7 focus points and you can choose which one the lens will focus on. I believe it is found in the menu under camera 1 then AF mode. In One Shot you use the 4 buttons on the back to move between the 7 focus points in the view finder.

If I'm wrong, please correct me. I'm just going by pictures and reviews on one of the review web sites.

Thanks for the explanation. I have seen those settings on the menu before but never looked them up to see what they meant . I start an intro to photography class tomorrow night so hopefully I'll be able to ask some questions there as well. Thanks for getting me pointed in the right direction

Where are all the Canon users?

Not sure about the XT, but on the XTi, the autofocus point selection button is on the back, upper right.

Thanks

Sorry folks, had a family tragedy this week so I haven't been able to keep up.

It sounds like the next subject ought to be Focus. I'm not sure myself where to start. Anyone want to give it a whirl? I'll also try to find some links.

ETA: here's one to start. (Please post others if you know of any.)

Area Focus

Thanks for the link You are doing a great job and no apologies should be made at all.

Oops. Sorry, Mr. The King posted here as me. It's kind of embarrassing, like I caught him wearing my shoes. Please stand by for his actual post.

Lovely Darling Thank you ever so much for your assistance

 

[DebºoºS]

..... Focus. I'm not sure myself where to start. Anyone want to give it a whirl? I'll also try to find some links.(Please post others if you know of any.)

Sorry it's taken me so long to post. Real life getting in the way of the DIS again.
I like this link http://www.nikonians.org/html/resources/nikon_articles/body/multi-cam2000_af/index.html
Very helpful not just for Nikonians but any DSLR user. It explains basic to custom settings in great detail. Why you would use a particular setting and why not. Helped me with my custom settings hope it helps you too.