Hi guys, new to the forum and to photography. Is there such thing as a day course to learn the basics for an absolute beginner? I have just purchased a canon eos 750d and there is so many features that i am struggling to get to grips with. Any replies appreciated!
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Beginner Day course for newbie?
- Thread starter Matty
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I'm not sure what you would learn in a day but you could try your local college and see if they are running any courses.
Go to your library ( if it still exists ) or buy an copy of understanding exposure by Bryan Peterson ( its very expensive on Amazon, there are copies selling for a couple of £-google it).
Remember that memory is cheap and now you have bought a camera take lots of photos of the same object but in a structured manner. you need a camera a computer and a piece of paper to record what you have done.
Change one parameter at a time, Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO and look at the pics and see the effect of altering each parameter.
Don't get hung up on shooting in manual mode all the time, modern cameras are very clever and 99% of the time are cleverer than you are.
After many years unless I want something special like when I am shooting Architecture with a manual focus TS-E lens I stick mine on Aperture priority and auto ISO and usually get what I want.
BTW I will probably get shot down in flames for this but unless you want to get hung up on Post Processing ( Lightroom/ Photoshop) shoot in .jpg, its easier and works in the majority of cases, move on to RAW files when you understand the basics.
Go to your library ( if it still exists ) or buy an copy of understanding exposure by Bryan Peterson ( its very expensive on Amazon, there are copies selling for a couple of £-google it).
Remember that memory is cheap and now you have bought a camera take lots of photos of the same object but in a structured manner. you need a camera a computer and a piece of paper to record what you have done.
Change one parameter at a time, Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO and look at the pics and see the effect of altering each parameter.
Don't get hung up on shooting in manual mode all the time, modern cameras are very clever and 99% of the time are cleverer than you are.
After many years unless I want something special like when I am shooting Architecture with a manual focus TS-E lens I stick mine on Aperture priority and auto ISO and usually get what I want.
BTW I will probably get shot down in flames for this but unless you want to get hung up on Post Processing ( Lightroom/ Photoshop) shoot in .jpg, its easier and works in the majority of cases, move on to RAW files when you understand the basics.
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Yes Matty, why not find a course in your area and give it a go. Having direct first-hand interaction with a tutor makes the whole process of becoming better at photography so much easier.
As someone who gives photography tuition, I repeatedly find that those who attend courses make a marked improvement in their understanding and skills. I think the main advantage of personal tuition in particular, is having the ability to focus on specific issues and goals at a pace that suits the individual. Good luck.
As someone who gives photography tuition, I repeatedly find that those who attend courses make a marked improvement in their understanding and skills. I think the main advantage of personal tuition in particular, is having the ability to focus on specific issues and goals at a pace that suits the individual. Good luck.
Tringa
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Hello Matty and welcome to TP.
If you prefer learning with a tutor then definitely have a look at what your council has to offer. Check out a local library they are a good source of info. If your council produces a newsletter/magazine have a look there for courses. However, as said above, there might not be many one day courses.
Also have a look online. Google for "Exposure triangle" and you will find a lot of info, for example - http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-exposure.htm. If there is something you don't understand, just ask here.
As Chris has said memory is cheap, and every photo is almost free so take lots. Every shot comes with the EXIF data so you can see what settings you used. If a photo does not come out as you wanted try to work out why. If you can't work out what went wrong, post the photo up here and someone will help.
Agree about manual mode. Manual mode (where you choose the aperture, shutter speed and the ISO) definitely has its place but the semi-automatic modes are excellent and I guess many photographers use one or more of these modes most of the time.
Dave
If you prefer learning with a tutor then definitely have a look at what your council has to offer. Check out a local library they are a good source of info. If your council produces a newsletter/magazine have a look there for courses. However, as said above, there might not be many one day courses.
Also have a look online. Google for "Exposure triangle" and you will find a lot of info, for example - http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-exposure.htm. If there is something you don't understand, just ask here.
As Chris has said memory is cheap, and every photo is almost free so take lots. Every shot comes with the EXIF data so you can see what settings you used. If a photo does not come out as you wanted try to work out why. If you can't work out what went wrong, post the photo up here and someone will help.
Agree about manual mode. Manual mode (where you choose the aperture, shutter speed and the ISO) definitely has its place but the semi-automatic modes are excellent and I guess many photographers use one or more of these modes most of the time.
Dave
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Agree with all the suggestions above. You could also join a local camera club, check whether they offer tutorial nights and/or learning field trips. I have to say my fellow club members have taught me so much by just being out with the camera and getting advice on the job so to speak!! Someone also once suggested that a good way to help learn what effects the different settings give an image is to first take a shot in full auto, check the settings used and then play around with variations on those settings!
Most of all enjoy!!
Most of all enjoy!!
DG Phototraining
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This ^^^
You've provided us with your date of birth info (and no I'm not sending you a birthday card !!!) but you've not provided a clue as to where in the World you live - do that and we may be able to suggest someone close to you worthy of spending a day with
Dave
DG Phototraining
Woof
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I got sick of people recommending this, so I bought it - bored me to tears and its pretty heavy going I found
When all you really need is Aperture Priority and blinkies
Works fine for me
Dave
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I got sick of people recommending this, so I bought it - bored me to tears and its pretty heavy going I found
When all you really need is Aperture Priority and blinkies
Works fine for me
Dave
Horses for courses, I found it very useful when the old 350D was fresh out the box.
Maybe you found it boring because you already had the knowledge when you read it.
Its been a help to a great many beginners and really shouldn't be written off as rubbish just because you didn't like it.
DG Phototraining
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I never said anything about it being rubbish, nor is it, but OMG its boring to read
I got my early info from a book and still would recommend a book in preference to the net, books are so much easier I reckon
Dave
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I never said anything about it being rubbish, nor is it, but OMG its boring to read
I got my early info from a book and still would recommend a book in preference to the net, books are so much easier I reckon
Dave
Yeah it's dry, I'll give you that.
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Groupon often advertise 1-day photography basics sessions. Have a look what's available on Groupon in your local area and then do a bit of research (online reviews etc.) to see how others have found the experience and if it's worth your time and money.
Otherwise, split your time between reading the manual, watching Youtube videos (I'd recommend Mike Browne's channel as a great place to learn stuff in a friendly and accessible way), and most importantly getting out and taking pictures. Don't worry if they don't turn out how you expect at first, a big part of learning is figuring out WHY they didn't turn out as your expected.
Otherwise, split your time between reading the manual, watching Youtube videos (I'd recommend Mike Browne's channel as a great place to learn stuff in a friendly and accessible way), and most importantly getting out and taking pictures. Don't worry if they don't turn out how you expect at first, a big part of learning is figuring out WHY they didn't turn out as your expected.
+1 for the book. Never found it boring either. In fact the opposite and so much so that I have invested in some of his other books (second hand from Amazon).
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I actually hate the book, it completely misses the really important tools we have to understand exposure in the digital age (ETTR, blinkies, live histogram). It's a shame it's still the best 'one place' to learn exposure when it's so poor.
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You know, I've always attempted to expose as centrally as possible and wasn't even aware of ETTR as a concept. Seems to be fairly polarising in terms of its acceptance. Do most ETTR or is it fairly split on here also?
/hijack
DG Phototraining
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I'm defo in the ETTR camp, and I was in that camp for well over a year, maybe 3, before I discovered it wasn't standard practise !!! Its just what I did as it seemed so bleeding obvious when I switched to digital
I NEVER bother looking at histograms either, they tell you something is blown but not where its blown or if it matters - blinkies is all you need, especially if you shoot raw as the blinkies warning doesn't mean its lost at all, just its nearly blown (unless the screen is white of course lol)
Dave
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I'm not a zealot re ETTR but if you understand that lost is lost at both ends of the instagram - and that you want as much information at the taking stage as possible - then having the histogram end close to the rhs is obvious.
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I always seek to keep the graph away from either extremity within the Instagram so as not to lose anything as you say.
What I hadn't understood was that given two graphs of the same shot but at slightly different exposures and without any clipping in either, the graph to the right will capture more info?
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It will give more latitude for processing.
Think of each sensor site as a bucket and photons as ping pong balls. as each site gets more light into it the buckets fill up with balls, a completely empty bucket has no info and is black, a completely full one is white. By exposing to the right you're capturing the maximum number of photons. So the very dark areas will get more photons giving you the maximum information to process.
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That is why you need to use BOTH blinkies and the histogram (NOT instagram!).
The blinkies will tell you if any areas are overexposed and, more importantly, which areas and by how much and you can then decide what to do.
For instance if you have a little bit of sky overexposed (quite common) but the histogram shows that you have a full range of exposures right down to the shadows then you may decide to put up with it as unimportant.
However if the histogram shows that you have some latitude on the left hand (shadows) side, then you could underexpose a bit without losing detail in the shadows.
Having said that there is more detail in the shadows that can be recovered than most people realise - especially with the Nikon D750.
.
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How embarrassing. I KNEW 'instagram' wasn't right and hit enter anyway [emoji33]
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I'm with Dave DGP. We have a multitude of exposure options and modes, and they all have their very valuable uses, but in reality what I invariably use to determine final exposure is blinkies (highlight over-exposure warning that flashes black/white on the LCD image). It's all you need, and mostly it's all that I use. It is the most reliable guide to what you've actually got on the sensor, very easy to read in an instant, and once you get to know where the limits of your particular camera and processing regime lie (with a couple of simple tests*) it is extremely accurate and a lot more reliable than anything else.
Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure book was originally written for film and even the latest edition is very poor on digital. Blinkies and the histogram are gifts from the Gods of Exposure, yet he dismisses them in a single sentence! And then tells everyone to set white balance to Shade so all our pictures come out nice and warm looking
*Blinkies show what parts of the image are either over-exposed (blown and unrecoverable) or are on the brink of blowing. In practise, if you shoot Raw, most cameras will have at least one stop of headroom above the point where blinkies just begin to flash, and for optimum exposure and dynamic range it's important to know just how much headroom there is. Bear in mind that blinkies (and the histogram) are generated off a JPEG processed in-camera and the camera settings (Picture Styles in Canon parlance) have some influence on that, mainly the Contrast value, so it's best to stick to one Picture Style.
Take a picture and adjust exposure until blinkies are just flashing over some areas, note those areas, then reduce exposure by 1/3rd stop. Now take a series of pictures keeping the framing identical (tripod is good) increasing exposure by 1/3rd stop each time, say half a dozen images. In post-processing, check which image first shows as actually blown in those areas and now you know where you are
Edit: sorry to go on, but if you use blinkies in this way, then you will almost always find that that there is some small area of the image that shows as blown - maybe a bit of sky, or specula highlights (reflections of the light source/sun). This is unavoidable, no matter what exposure setting method you use, so you have to make a decision, a judgement call. If these areas are important, such as bright reflections off someone's face and forehead, then adjust exposure to stop them blinking. But if they're not important, say a few bright reflections off white paintwork, then let them blow.
Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure book was originally written for film and even the latest edition is very poor on digital. Blinkies and the histogram are gifts from the Gods of Exposure, yet he dismisses them in a single sentence! And then tells everyone to set white balance to Shade so all our pictures come out nice and warm looking
*Blinkies show what parts of the image are either over-exposed (blown and unrecoverable) or are on the brink of blowing. In practise, if you shoot Raw, most cameras will have at least one stop of headroom above the point where blinkies just begin to flash, and for optimum exposure and dynamic range it's important to know just how much headroom there is. Bear in mind that blinkies (and the histogram) are generated off a JPEG processed in-camera and the camera settings (Picture Styles in Canon parlance) have some influence on that, mainly the Contrast value, so it's best to stick to one Picture Style.
Take a picture and adjust exposure until blinkies are just flashing over some areas, note those areas, then reduce exposure by 1/3rd stop. Now take a series of pictures keeping the framing identical (tripod is good) increasing exposure by 1/3rd stop each time, say half a dozen images. In post-processing, check which image first shows as actually blown in those areas and now you know where you are
Edit: sorry to go on, but if you use blinkies in this way, then you will almost always find that that there is some small area of the image that shows as blown - maybe a bit of sky, or specula highlights (reflections of the light source/sun). This is unavoidable, no matter what exposure setting method you use, so you have to make a decision, a judgement call. If these areas are important, such as bright reflections off someone's face and forehead, then adjust exposure to stop them blinking. But if they're not important, say a few bright reflections off white paintwork, then let them blow.
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Instagram was my fault. Or should I say I never noticed Apple correcting me.
Apple wouldn't correct you because the spelling was perfect - it was just the wrong word and as far as I know AI has not yet advanced sufficiently to read, and understand, what you had written.
.
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Michael Freeman's 'Perfect Exposure' is much better IMO. There's a lot of padding - inevitably, 'cos the subject can be covered in a fairly small number of pages - but it's worth picking up from your local library.
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I can't make it do it now, but IOS always 2nd guesses based on the letters we type (or mistype). I don't even use Instagram so it's not a word near the front of my mind.
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Well, considering I don't know what half you lot are talking about... Then
OP, I've booked a days course, which is 1-2-1 tuition, there will be a max of 3 students with 2 tutors who know the area very well indeed (Exmoor) in just over a fortnight, and I give you feed back to what I thought about it, what and if I learnt something...
But going by the reviews, from past customers I'm in for a very enjoyable day..
OP, I've booked a days course, which is 1-2-1 tuition, there will be a max of 3 students with 2 tutors who know the area very well indeed (Exmoor) in just over a fortnight, and I give you feed back to what I thought about it, what and if I learnt something...
But going by the reviews, from past customers I'm in for a very enjoyable day..
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I contacted our local college and embarked on 8 evening classes, and yes basically it was to get off "Auto" and this it achieved, the most important thing I felt was being spaced over 8 weeks provided time in between for me to practice what I had learnt,
I have just completed a 10 week basic intro to using a digital camera course at Durham college. I am now following it up with a 4 week top up course covering slightly more advanced topics. The main course dealt with the usual elements of using a camera in a gentle way with one new topic covered per week. For instance, aperture, white balance, ISO, manual mode, etc etc. The ten week period of the course has given me time to practice after each lesson whilst more importantly discussing progress, issues, solutions etc. with 12 lovely people all in the same beginners boat as me as well as with a very knowledgeable tutor who went out of his way to make things as simple as possible to understand. A chat with fellow students over a coffee or whilst we were stood outside trying to take a pic or two was priceless. I now feel confident enough to start thinking more and more about photo composition and the subjects that I actually want to take photos of rather than "how do I turn this damn camera on "
I appreciate courses etc are not everybody's cup of tea but it was a priceless experience for me and I recommend it if you can find the time and a suitable course.
"I appreciate courses etc are not everybody's cup of tea but it was a priceless experience for me and I recommend it if you can find the time and a suitable course.
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Sounds very similar course, in fact I believe it used to be a ten week course, but all in all I too found it invaluable, I,m also looking for something to take me further in respect of the genre I,m leaning toward.
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I know our college does a 5 week course, but alas I work not only a 12 hour day, but a floating rota, so I work 3 days a week, which could be any day from Monday to Sunday! So not practical for me
I'm on the count down, and will report back to what sort of day I had, and how much I did learn in the time I had..
I'm on the count down, and will report back to what sort of day I had, and how much I did learn in the time I had..
shreds
Slushy
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Try reading some of these:-
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/learn-photography-concepts.htm
whether you are planning to follow a course or not.
Some really good info there.
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/learn-photography-concepts.htm
whether you are planning to follow a course or not.
Some really good info there.
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Thank you. It realy good information for some newbie, like me)