Where to start from?

[amar_singh2]

<p>Hi, <br>

I'm Amar, I live in New Zealand. I just bought my 1st dslr camera (canon ESO 1000D) about two weeks ago, I went through the user manual and lots of books, Unfortunatly I couldn't understand anything. <br>

It would be great if someone can please explain me how to take my first step towards taking great pictures?<br>

Many Regards,<br>

Amarpreet Singh. </p><div></div>

[howard_m]

<p>'anything' is a strong word. maybe you need book(s) that are more fundamental? Or do you know *why* you didn't understand what was in the books?</p>

<p>Your image lacks both technically (too much blocking in the foreground shadow and the sky should be darker) (both of those are hard to do in-camera and could be handled post-processing) and compositionally (there's nothing to pull a viewer 'into' the image, no focal point, nothing to give a sense of depth). You want to try to tell a story w/ your image.</p>

[jaydesi]

<p>I suggest starting out with the learning tab on this website, and reading all the basic info there. Once you get a grip on the terminology and the basic functions of your camera, the books you read might begin to make more sense. You'll likely need to reread them, since you probably weren't able to retain much without being able to understand it.</p>

<p>Two excellent books to read after you've read and understand enough of the information in the learning tab are Understanding Exposure and its sister, Understanding Shutter Speed, both by Bryan Peterson.</p>

[b_christopher]

<p>Amar, the first step to making great pictures is to learn the tools. You must be able to use the camera properly to consistently capture the image in technically sound manner. So, even if you don't understand a lot of it, be persistent and diligently read, and put into practice, as much of the technical information as possible. </p>

[dan_south]

Put the camera in Auto mode, and then go out and shoot some pictures. Shoot whatever you think might be interesting.

 

When you get back home, figure out how to load the pictures onto your computer if you have one. You can use Canon's

EOS Utility software that came with the camera if you con't figure out an other way to transfer the photos. Then look at

the photos in Digital Photo Professinal, which also came with your camera. This software is free.

 

Review the results and think about what you might like to do better next times.

 

If you can't get the files onto your computer right away, your camera came with a wire that lets you view images on your

television. Try that if you have no other way to view them.

 

Let us know if you have trouble.

 

The important thing is to go out and shoot and have some fun.

[mark_drutz]

<p>It's a lot to digest all at one time. Take small bites. Learn one thing at a time. If you have a good basic photography book you can start at the beginning at learn one subject at a time. It's going to take time. The photo industry would like you to think that all you have to do is buy their camera and you'll be shooting like a pro as soon as you take it out of the box. It doesn't work that way. Like anything else, it takes time, studying, and practice. Start with page 1 and if you have specific questions on what you are reading, ask us for help.</p>

[KenPapai]

<p>Learn the basics of the rules of composition then learn how to break them. You need to know and understand the basic rules before you can break them with purpose.</p>

<p>#1 rule -- do not bisect your frame -- you pretty much broke that rule Amar.<br>

#2 rule -- level horizon. You aced that one.<br>

#3 rule -- don't center your subject. You sort of broke that one (with the bisection).</p>

<p>...and many more. Practice makes perfect! Time flies like an arrow...</p>

<p><a href="http://www.photographymad.com/blog/post/10-top-photography-composition-rules">http://www.photographymad.com/blog/post/10-top-photography-composition-rules</a></p>

<p> </p>

[luis_g]

<p>Start by re-reading the manual. This time with the camera by your side, and trying everything before advancing.</p>

<p>Then go here:</p>

<p>http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetProductArticlesAct&productID=209&articleTypeID=48</p>

<p>Your pictures will still be about the same, but you will be much better positioned to learn something as you go. The camera <em>will not </em>make you a better photographer. Only you can do that.</p>

[simon_hickie1]

<p>Dan's advice is very sound. The more you shoot, the more you'll learn. There are eight magic words that can help you:</p>

<ol>

<li>Light</li>

<li>Composition</li>

<li>Colour</li>

<li>Tone</li>

<li>Shape</li>

<li>Form</li>

<li>Pattern</li>

<li>Texture</li>

</ol>

<p>Each one needs exploring individually. However, try choosing one in the first instance and take as many pictures as you can with that word as the theme. As Dan suggests, put the camera in full Program mode with evaluative metering and see what happens. For a start, why not try 'Pattern' - e.g. patterns in nature, patterns in architecture etc. Then move onto another word - e.g. 'Shape' - and look for interesting shapes (both of objects themselves and implied shapes between several objects).</p>

<p>Of the 8 words, Light, Composition and Colour (and by implication Tone), will have many sub elements which in turn can be explored.</p>

<p>Hope this helps!</p>

[James G. Dainis]

The most important thing that a beginner can learn is rules of composition. Just setting the camera to A (AUTO) and following the rule of thirds would be a good start.

 

http://www.colorpilot.com/comp_rules.html

[dan_south]

I would forget about the rules of composition for now. First of all, they're not really rules but loose guidelines. It

takes a lot of experience to apply them effectively. Sometimes it's good to put the subject off center, but there are plenty of brilliant

photos that defy this rule emphatically. Was the Mona Lisa off center? Or the famous green-eyed Afghan girl?

 

Here's another one. Typically, it's best to simplify the composition, but sometimes a complicated frame is more interesting. Think of a picture of a protest march or a big city train station at rush hour. These images are not simple.

 

A beginner should concentrate on more global and practical matters.

 

1. Learning how to use autofocus effectively so the most important part of the photo is always in focus (your friend's face

instead of some distant tree).

 

2. How to deal with the contrast between light and dark objects. Which one are you willing to sacrifice, and what would have happened if you had made the opposite choice?

 

3. Appreciating light. What looks better on sunny days and what looks better on cloudy days (or at sunset or at night)? Why do trains look so interesting in gloomy weather?

 

4. How the direction of the light source changes the look of the photo. I.e. Your friends don't always have to face the sun.

 

5. How to make people look good in a photo. E.g. Finding flattering light, and how to keep tree branches from growing out of their heads.

 

6. Developing your own vision. Some people like flowers and bunnies. Other people like rusting machinery and piles of garbage. What looks good to YOU?

 

And the good news is that you can learn all of this without having to read a single page of your owner's manual. Have fun!

[amar_singh2]

<p>I'm so happy to see the response.. Thanks a lot guys!<br>

I'l be out soon to practice.<br>

Best Regards to all <br>

Amarpreet.S</p>

[James G. Dainis]

I often see beginners wig wagging their cameras up and down trying to figure out where to put the horizon. To tell them to put it either on the top third or on the bottom third is a blessing. People often tell beginners to ignore the rule of thirds, but then when I check out those people's gallery photos, surprise, surprise, most of the image elements fall on the thirds. If I confront them with that, they say that they didn't do it on purpose, the photo just looks better that way. The green eyed Afghan girl? I shan't violate copyright by posting the photo here but draw the rule of thirds lines on it and the face falls exactly in the thirds.

 

Amar, there may not be any main element of interest in your photo but just moving the horizon to the bottom third improves it. Having the horizon in the middle really makes it look boring, a badly composed shot.<div></div>

[dan_south]

James, we need to be careful, first of all, because there are a lot of different crops of the Afghan girl photo. The cover of

the magazine was a crop of a more square image. When I look at the original square image I notice at her left eye falls

on the right thirds line. What makes that eye so special? Why wouldn't you put her nose or her mouth or her right eye on

that line? And why not one of the other three lines? Because the rule of thirds is completely subjective in this case and

probably wasn't even considered when the photo was taken.

 

You look at the girl and say "Aha! Something falls on the thirds line!" But unless you can explain why that particuilar

detail was placed on that particular lline and why the other three thirds lines were not employed, then the 'rule' is of no

pratcical use to the inexperienced photographer. Imagine them taking a portrait and trying to figure out which part of

someone's face to put on the thirds line. It doesn't help them at all and probably results in a contrived composition rather

than an organic one.

 

I do agree with regard to the horizon line. That is the one place where the rule of thirds almost always works. Almost always. But for

placement of things like animals, buildings, and facial features it's far less useful.

[bj_larsson]

<p>Everyone learns differently. Some folks only learn by doing, others do well reading, most need to read a bit, then apply what they just tried to grasp.</p>

<p>Take small steps, work on one concept at a time, try to understand why something makes an interesting or a non-interesting photo. </p>

<p>Repeat.</p>

<p> </p>

[James G. Dainis]

I don't know where you saw an "original square image". The original was shot by Mr. McCurry on Kodachrome using a Nikon FM2 35mm camera. Most portraits are done vertically with the sides of the face on the thirds. That is an automatic for advanced photographers but beginners should be given that guideline so they don' t have to waste time finding it out by trial and error.

 

Most people glance at a photo the same way that they read, from top left to bottom right. One should be aware of that when setting up a shot - taller person on the left etc. That was done here with Mr. McCurry and his Afghan girl photo ($4,500):

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef012875803e90970c-pi

 

(BTW. Notice how the middle of his face also would fall directly on the thirds grid line.)

 

To tell a rank beginner to ignore or not learn composition is to tell him to simply point his camera in the general direction of the subject and snap the shutter.

[dan_south]

James, I'll discuss the Afghan girl photo with you in a separate discussion. I don't want to hijack this beginners thread with

a side discussion.

 

I don't recall where I suggest not teaching beginners about composition. In fact I mentioned in my list making people look

better in photos by not having tree branches grow out of their head. Avoidance of merges is a critical compositional

concept in 3D to 2D conversion.

 

What I suggested was not burdening them with confusing and difficult to apply guidelines like the rule of thirds. Yes, it

works for horizons, but you can put a horizon just about anywhere except dead center. Five percent from the bottom, ten,

fifteen, twenty-five, forty, they all work, and none of them are on the thirds line.

 

Placing an object is even more confusing, Imagine a house on a hillside. Does the house go on a lateral thirds line or a

top to bottom thirds line or both? What goes right on the line? The center of the house? An edge? A door? A window?

Way too confusing!

 

I'd rather encourage beginners to think for themselves. Do you need a lot of foreground in front of your subject or would

less be better? Do you.need a lot of sky above someone's head or would less be better? Can you frame the subject?

Can you emphasize it by having it interact with similar objects? Can you add an object of known size for the purpose of

showing scale? Can I arrange objects to imply a diagonal line in the frame? Should that diagonal line lead to a corner or

an edge? How can I use leading lines? Would it be useful to exaggerate perspective with a wide-angle lens? Can I

emphasize my subject by placing it dead center in the frame? How much open space should I leave in either side of my

subject? Can I use selective focusing and depth of field to highlight my subject? How can regions of color or different shades of light and dark be arranged and balanced? Can you arrange regions of a photo into a sandwich of layers (think of the French flag as a three layer sandwich, for example)?

 

There's a heck of a lot more to composition than the rule of thirds.

[James G. Dainis]

Amar,

 

As you can see there is indeed a lot to learn about composition. But trust me, the rule of thirds is a good place to start. A zoom lens makes it a lot easier to place elements on the thirds than it used to be. Take your camera, go out and practice shooting various scenes adhering to the rule of thirds whenever possible. It soon should become second nature.

 

If you do a Google search for " rules of composition in photography " you will find a lot more with photo illustrations. Not surprisingly, the first rule (or guideline if you prefer) on 4 out of 5 sites is the rule of thirds).

[diane_madura]

<p>Hi Amar. Congratulations on your new DSLR! Everyone learns differently. I find it helpful when I learn something new but I'm not sure if I understand the concept correctly, to discuss it with someone who does. So I would suggest finding someone who has photography as a hobby and bouncing new ideas off of him/her. Maybe that might help you.</p>

[macpherson]

<p>Congrats on your purchase!</p>

<p>I'd recommend not reading the manual (at least not at first). Camera manuals tend to be poorly written in the tiniest font imaginable. I've been shooting since 1973 and still have a hard time getting through them.</p>

<p>Start by doing some web searches on the three things you'll want to learn to control your exposure:</p>

 

<ol>

<li>Shutter speed</li>

<li>Aperture</li>

<li>ISO</li>

</ol>

<p>You camera will report the settings it has chosen for all three of these when you look in the viewfinder and at the EXIF data (web search this too) in your images.</p>

<p>These three items are like a three-legged stool upon which rests your exposure. Change one and at least one of the others has to change along with it in order to maintain the same exposure. They all work together in concert.</p>

<p>Next, work on understanding the effect shutter speed has on blurring / freezing motion. And the effect aperture has on depth of field. (more web searching...). These two items are critical to letting you create the image you have in mind.</p>

<p>Those few items will let you move control of the image from the camera's brain to yours - that's a liberating experience! </p>

<p>Once you have a basic grip on these key items, then move on to reading the manual - it will start to make more sense after you have your feet wet.</p>

<p>You might also visit my blogs - every week I do one on general photography teaching and another on wildlife photography. You should find the first especially helpful.</p>

<hr>

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[johnw63]

<p>Depending on the topics, there are different books to help out the beginning photographer.</p>

<p>If you like nature and scenic shots, take a look at John Shaw's books.</p>

<p>For learning how to get the exposure and many other things right, I like Bryan Peterson's books. He has a new "Field Guide" that condenses what he says in a few other books. I might suggest that one, first.</p>

<p>For Composition, there are quite a few.</p>

<p>I got Michael Freeman's " The photographer's Eye" , which is very detailed, and well done, but it might be a bit TOO deep as an intro.</p>

<p>I recently got "Creative Nature and Outdoor Photography" by Brenda Tharp. ( It's a new edition ) I found that book covered the basics of composition while talking about making creative shots. That might be the better book, for the novice.</p>

<p> </p>