Where do i start :)

scott199

scott199

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Hi peeps, new here posted in the intro thread, i am very new to photography, so was hoping i could ask a few basic questions to get me on the right path.

First off i have a fuji hs10, want to upgrade but first thought i would get the basics down before i go out and spend 1000's on seperates that i may or may not be able to get the best from.

So i'm intrested in action type shots, sports and such, but also like landscapes and intresting colours, flowers birds anything really so first off.

1. Should i decide what type of shots i want (sports, static and such) and just try to perfect that, or is it better to try everything nad learn that way ?

2. am i expecting to much from the hs10 or is it more that ample to get some good basic shots from most sports with vibrant colours at speed ?

3. The other problem is filters, i have got basic CPL, FLO, and a Uv i use as a protector, they are only cheap but i notice no differance, so can someone give me the basics of how to use them, settings and such, does it matter, i dont really use the hs10 on full manual, usally let the cam do one of the setting (shutter or aperture) to learn how things work, could this be throwing setting in their to make up for the cpl ? or is that not how it works ?

:bonk: i think i better stop their before i go to far, i have so much to ask and learn.

thanks for your time and input, and sorry for all teh questions
 
I can only give two pieces of advice:

1. Stick to photographing what you enjoy photographing; you'll naturally progress as far as you can if you enjoy doing it. As soon as something is no longer fun, stop and move on! I find my tastes change over time and are somewhat cyclical. I think I'm the very embodyment of 'Flavour of the month'!

2. Personally, I'd stick with the HS10 until you find out for yourself where it's limiting you - then you'll know what to look for in your next camera. I wish I'd heeded that advice myself, I'd have saved thousands!
 
Hi

i would agree with the above.Try to take photos of what you enjoy and play with the manual settings and different setting such as aperture priority and speed priority modes.If you want to know more about the modes there is plenty of information in the tutorial section in the forum.
 
Furtim said:
I can only give two pieces of advice:

1. Stick to photographing what you enjoy photographing; you'll naturally progress as far as you can if you enjoy doing it. As soon as something is no longer fun, stop and move on! I find my tastes change over time and are somewhat cyclical. I think I'm the very embodyment of 'Flavour of the month'!

2. Personally, I'd stick with the HS10 until you find out for yourself where it's limiting you - then you'll know what to look for in your next camera. I wish I'd heeded that advice myself, I'd have saved thousands!
Click to expand...

This!

1 - I found shooting things that I'm really interested in (action sports/cars) made emote motivated, these sorts of images were also better due to me having a good understanding of the subjects and seeing lots of related imagery in magazines etc. Having said that I also enjoy landscape photography, you don't have to specialise in one or two things, but being a bit more focused would be better than shooting everything.

2 - I'm not sure what a HS10 is, but if it has manual controls etc then it won't hurt to carry on using it, so if/when you do get a DSLR you're not jumping in at the deepend. As me turned above it will also give you a better idea of what you will be looking for in a DSLR, say better auto focus or a longer lens.

3 - UV filter - just put it on your lens to protect it, CPL filter - swap for the UV filter if you want to cut out reflections (in glass/water/anything shiny) or make the sky bluer. There aren't really any magic settings, just twist it round until you get the effect you want! I'm not rea
Ly sure what an FLO filter is...
 
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  1. Point the camera at something interesting
  2. Press the button
Stick to automatic settings to begin with, concentrate on taking interesting photos. Rushing to manual mode without learning to be interesting first and you'll just end up with a competent but deeply-dull portfolio/album. It doesn't matter what the subject is, just make it interesting :thumbs:

If you shoot subjects you enjoy, that will show through. But if the opportunity arises, have a go at anything that piques your interest.
 
thank you so much, makes me feel better.

i do take quite alot, and i tend to try and use manual as much as possible, for anything family related a alwasy go with auto.

Is their a plce to post pics so i could get some idea's of where im going wrong or what i can do to step from basic family type pics, to something a bit more.

Also i have looked through a lot of stuff and i notice, that editing in a program seems to be a massive part of getting a shot looking good, is this a must or can good shots be acheived just from the cam ??

the reason i say this is i dont really understand or have any knowledge of photo software, is this an area i have to learn before i go on ?

is their an area here where i can look at pre and post editing shots, just to get an idea of how your shots come out and then what or how you change them to look as good as they do ?

again thanks
 
Hi Scott, for a great free editor and photo reviewer try Faststone:
http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

I used it for a few years before paying out for lightroom, just remember to save your edits somewhere else (and at high quality).

For what to do with it, the CIC tutorials are pretty good:
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/photo-editing-tutorials.htm

You want to look at understanding the histogram and using curves/levels/lighting to make the best of what you shot with the camera.

Just have a play about with some photos you like to see how much more you can pull out of them...but remember not to save over your originals and don't re-save an edited file (assuming your using jpeg's for now). Lightroom and other non-destructive editors let avoid this worry :)

Oh, and on action-type shots have a look for your motor-drive settings, then look up panning and pre-focusing - great for moving action shots of e.g. cars. Get the shutter speed right and you'll freeze the car and blur the background nicely - takes some practice though!
 
archstanton said:
Hi Scott, for a great free editor and photo reviewer try Faststone:
http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

I used it for a few years before paying out for lightroom, just remember to save your edits somewhere else (and at high quality).

For what to do with it, the CIC tutorials are pretty good:
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/photo-editing-tutorials.htm

You want to look at understanding the histogram and using curves/levels/lighting to make the best of what you shot with the camera.

Just have a play about with some photos you like to see how much more you can pull out of them...but remember not to save over your originals and don't re-save an edited file (assuming your using jpeg's for now). Lightroom and other non-destructive editors let avoid this worry :)

Oh, and on action-type shots have a look for your motor-drive settings, then look up panning and pre-focusing - great for moving action shots of e.g. cars. Get the shutter speed right and you'll freeze the car and blur the background nicely - takes some practice though!
Click to expand...

thank you kind sir :thumbs:, looks like i have been set some homework, :eek: but had a quick look and cant wait to get into the rest.

i did get a raw editing program with the fuji, not really had a good look yet, (comps away being fixed) i have tried a few in raw, so do have something to play with. Pre-focus i have down fairly good i think, have used that quite a lot, got practice trying to catch the kids doing flips on the trampoline, found that really hard as i had to go low to lose the fence and bits in the background, but that gave me the bright sun/sky problem.

As for histogram, panning and motor-drive settings :thinking: you kind of lost me with that ??
 
To be honest, it took me years to start shooting raw, jpeg's fine when you're learning unless you can't recreate the photo later. RAWs eat your disk drive space like nothing else!

Panning and motor drive I just found great for fast-moving cars, just a fun-shot suggestion.

The histogram's the key to how your image is exposed, worth reading around - you can also use it and the levels/curves tools in post-prod to give bland images more punch...makes the photo more like what your eye saw. Just don't go too far with them or the saturation controls, you can make hideous creations taken too far!

The histogram'll also tell you immediately if you've over/under exposed the image if you look at it just after you shot it, usually it's shown on pressing something like an info button when the camera's in image review mode.
 
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cheers mate, just gone through the histogram tutorial, spot on.

as for the histogram, yes i do/have used it, just didnt really undestand, and i do now :clap: :thumbs:

Also got a live histogram when i hold the aperture button, which is going to make life much easier to give me some idea of whats going on before i take a shot.

Really cant thank you enough, just spot on site and plenty for me to be getting on with :D
 
Thanks for the thanks! I don't generally post much on forums, nice to have helped out :)

Live histogram's a great tool, you may also have a "shadows & highlights" mode that shows blown highlights in red on-screen (depends on camera, i'm on an Olympus Pen).

One reason many people move over to raw is it gives you more rescue room when the image is too far to the right. Raw will have more scope to rescue highlights...
 
think i will dive it at the deep end and go raw for some, then i will try and revive them from my poor exposure settings :D , its all good pratice, might as well learn at the beginning.
 
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