Best way for a begineer to learn

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studioworks

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Well ive just got myselt a dslr and after years of normal point and clicks i`d like to really learn what i was doing.
I tried going to the local college about courses but the only one that seems to cover everything is the AS level and thats daytime only so i was just wondering what would be the recomended route. Wether its worth a distance learning course of perhaps a couple of good books to study through?
 
I found reading a few books and asking questions on here and reading other post's here very helpfull. You will learn a lot this way and by getting out there and just practacing. I would say read your cameras manual and play with camera settings so you understand how your camera works.
 
Take pictures, of EVERYTHING and in diffrent places i.e. inside, outside, in dark places in bright places, see how the camera responds to the environment its in. Dont use the AUTO modes if you want to:

(a) understand how shutterspeed, aperature and ISO work together
(b) want to be creative

Experiment with the aperture, shutterspeed and manual mode and understand what they are doing. when you have a long list of questions come back here and get them answered then go out again! :)
 
Join a local camera club,they'll probably have trips out with the camera,thats what i did and its helped me improve my photography.
 
The internet is your friend :) There is a huge amount of information right in front of you. Read, take pictures, ask questions here, look at pictures and try to understand them, take pictures and try to understand what the camera is doing, read some more, ask some more questions and take some more pictures.

Start with some of the tutorials on here. This is an especially good one :D written for peeps like you http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=99841 It's wordy, but all the basics are in there so stick with it :)
 
I'd highly recommend the book: Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson
I got it out of my local library and thought it was great. He clearly explains exposure, gives advice for specific situations, and best of all it's got some great photos in to inspire you (which strangely is something that is often missing from photography books).

I'd also agree with the previous comments of get out there taking photos to work out what works and what doesn't, then ask questions to find out why.
 
I'd agree with the comments about reading but what has really helped me really REALLY get into DSLR's was this online course: http://creativelive.com/courses/digitalphotography/

I was fortunate enought to stream it live when it was being recorded (fortunate because they don't charge when it's live) but found it so incredibly well done that I did then buy it at the end and have it all on my iPhone when I'm bored on trains. The slides are all animated and done very very well - abnormal for animations in a presentation!

When I first got my DSLR everywhere I read the same things "just go out and practice", "try playing with the settings" etc. etc. What that course showed me were the basics so that I knew what I was practicing and which settings to play with. I think you can watch snippets on that link so thoroughly recommend you do that and maybe ask for the online course for birthday/christmas. It's a lot of money but worth every penny - and hell, it's only a little bit more on top of what you've spent on a camera!

PS. just wanted to say I'm in no way affiliated with creativelive, but that course by John Greengo was amazing.
 
Cannot a prime lens change its aperture
 
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Thanks for all the tips, defenitly a lot online that will be useful, just thought it might be handy having a book or two to read through at lesuire. Ive seen Scott Kelby's books recomended a couple of times now so i`ll look into them, perhaps pop down the libary and see what they have to offer.

Riz- I had hoped their might be local council or adult education courses around here but ive had no luck finding any that seem to cover everything other than one that ran in the daytime.

I`ll defenitly be getting out and about taking diffrent types of photos to see what does and doesnt work, sure i`ll have plenty of questions afterwards though.
 
Being a newbie myself, I found the best way was to play....with the camera!!

I took the same shot using different settings, different light, and looked at the results and remembered what worked best.

Also found rule of 3rds helped and googling 'depth of field'.

A mass of info is available on here and internet.

Just use your camera, remember what went wrong and what went right.
 
studioworks said:
perhaps pop down the libary and see what they have to offer.
Click to expand...

Definitely a good move. Get all the books you can, they do not have to be up to date or about digital cameras to explain the basics. Also if you think that you need really basic information check the children's section, there are sometimes a few good clear books there.
 
classcams said:
Cannot a prime lens change its aperture :D
Click to expand...

Are you trying to confuse DLSR newbies classcams? I'm not sure if that's a smile or a smirk!

TO those uninitiated, on almost all lens you can change the aperture (the A on your dial if you've got a Sony like me, or possibly "An" on others?) which impacts the amount of light going through the lens:

Larger aperture = small f number = more light

If there's more light going through your lens, then the less time you need it flowing through the lens to make your picture = quicker shutter speeds = steadier shots = sharper pictures

Large aperture also impacts on the depth of field (dof) - the amount of your photo that's in focus and the amount that's blurry:

Larger aperture = small f number = shorter depth of field = more blurry background


With zoom lenses, the maximum aperture (small f number) changes as you zoom in. So as you zoom in, the aperture decreases (f number gets bigger), your shutter speed needs to slow down = less steady shots, and dof gets longer (less blurry back grounds).

So if you're getting used to taking photos at one zoom length with a certain shutter speed and depth of field, and then try again at another zoom length you could get confused.


With prime lenses, this isn't a consideration as you can't zoom!


To be honest, I'd recommend using primes to start with
- you get sharper images because the lens is designed to be perfect at one length rather average at varying lengths
- you can play with aperture and compare easily (you know it's not the zoom changing the pictures)
- they're cheaper
- they typically have high maximum apertures so youi can really tell the difference in DOF and shutter speeds

my 10c anyway...
 
I would say the best way at this point to just get out there and shoot anything and everything. If it stands still for long enough take a photo of it, and if it wont try anyway :D


Keep EVERY photo that you take, Look back in say 6 months and see how they have changed / got better. The Main thing is to enjoy photography for what it is, Experiment and dont be afraid of breaking the rules every once in a while.

As others have said, A Prime lens can be of great benefits. This is not only because of the image quality but it will also get you thinking about movement and interacting with the space around you. Having to say step back to get a slightly wider shot can reveal so much potential for a shot or even a different shot to the one you was originally concentrating on,
lean to look with both eyes.

People here are very helpful and are always willing to steer you in the right direction, As I said the main point at this moment in time is

enjoy your self......
 
I agree with the comments about go out and shoot. When I first started I took thousands of pictures, it cost me nothing! Digital is great for that. BUT, I didn't just take thousands of pictures for the heck of it, I went out and shot a few hundred pictures with a goal in mind.

So, I would say to myself, today I am going to see what the different shutter speeds do on still targets, moving targets, in bright light, in dark light, etc. I would then analyse the pictures on the computer and learn from the results.

Important to mention at this point is that I started in full manual. I wanted to learn how to fully control the camera and why the results came out the way they did.

Then I would do the same for aperture and then ISO.

That then gave me the basics to take the next step to look at metering, then flash and flash control and the relationship of flash against the aperture and ISO.

Whilst I was taking all these shots and working out what the controls on the camera meant, I was also thinking about composition as I was taking the shots. There are some basic guidelines for composition, not rules, such as the most common one known as the "rule of thirds". Again, it's not a rule :)

So I would validate the other comments and agree that you should go out and shoot many different types of subjects, whilst using a learning method that suits you.

Best of luck and have fun.
 
There's also the Open University course, though it's not aimed specifically at dslrs, more at making the most of your creativity.
 
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