jim_simon5 Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 OK, So I finally took the plunge and ordered a G2 (price was right and all the reviews sound great). I've never used a digital camera before, so even though I kind of understand the purpose of histograms and white balance and all that, I've never actually put any of it into practice and I haven't done much post-processing in the computer either.So any advice as to where to go - websites, books, etc. - for info to get me started would be greatly appreciated.Thanks, Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Just set it on automatic and shoot lots and lots of pictures. Delete the ones you don't like, and save the others on your computer. After the first two or three thousand, go to the Luminous Landscape web site, and learn some of the technical garbage; until then, don't worry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_larson1 Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 1) This is a good forum for learning :) 2) Shoot "RAW". After you learn how to *really* use the camera and the software, you will have an easier time adjusting RAW files than JPEG files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_vancosin Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Portrait Enhancement http://www.photoepix.com/photoshop/ http://www.mediachance.com/digicam/cleanskin.htm (software) Vignettes, Borders and Edges http://www.espressographics.com/text/edges.html http://members.aol.com/azpixels2/projects-edges.html http://myjanee.home.insightbb.com/tutorials.htm Gaussian Blur Overlays (Dream Filter) http://www.luminous-landscape.com/gaussian.htm Watercolor/Painting Effects http://www.reallyusefulpage.com/50techniques/html/sample-tutorial.htm http://www.myjanee.com/tuts/painted2/painted2.htm http://www.myjanee.com/tuts/painted/painted.htm http://www.myjanee.com/tuts/painted3/painted3.htm Realistic Pencil & Pastel Sketches http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=2850428 One Water Color Technique http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=2835802 Another Water Color Technique http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=2852724 Blending Mode Definitions http://www.rrcc-online.com/~lenm/16101blends.htm Infrared Tutorial & Actions http://www.caughtintimephotography.com/demo.html http://www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/ir.htm http://www.cocam.co.uk/CoCamWS/Infrared/INFRARED.HTM http://www.naturfotograf.com/index2.html http://www.pixelagogo.com/infrared.html# http://www.fredmiranda.com/DI/index.html (action) http://www.digitalfocus.net/downloads.htm (action) http://www.photocollege.co.uk/stepbystep/sbsframe.html (channel mixer) Digital Graduated Neutral Density Filter http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=1333399 http://www.luminous-landscape.com/blended_exposures.htm Digital CC Filters http://www.mediachance.com/digicam/filtersim.htm Contrast Masking http://www.luminous-landscape.com/contrast_masking.htm Panorama Tools (Free Plug-In) http://www.fh-furtwangen.de/~dersch/ A Digital Watermark Signature Tutorial http://www.robin-beck.com/digital/watermarks/aps/aps.htm Grain Aliasing (film scanner) http://www.photoscientia.co.uk/Grain.htm The High Bit Advantage (film scanner) http://www.creativepro.com/story/news/7627.html?cprose=I20 Image Softening Technique http://www.carolsteele.btinternet.co.uk/soft_focus/soft.htm Unsharp Mask Quick Tips http://www.lonestardigital.com/photoshop_quicktips.htm http://www.luminous-landscape.com/smart_sharp.htm http://www.bythom.com/sharpening.htm http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/11242.html Shooting the Moon (w/links to astrophotography and solar/lunar tables) http://www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/moon.htm RAW File Management Tips http://www.kleptography.com/notes-workflow.htm http://www.colorshots.com/cs101e/html/tipps_raw.html A Few Scanning Tips http://scantips.com/ Digital B&W Printing http://www.luminous-landscape.com/digital_b&w.htm http://www.inksupply.com/index.cfm?source=html/quadtone.html http://inkjetgoodies.com/Piezography_Questions.html PS Actions, Filters, Brushes, Plug-Ins, etc. http://xchange.studio.adobe.com/axBrowseProduct.asp?p=2 http://www.deepspaceweb.com/download.php?op=viewdownload&cid=1 http://www.deepspaceweb.com/download.php?op=viewdownload&cid=2 http://www.deepspaceweb.com/download.php?op=viewdownload&cid=4 http://www.ephemeralvisions.com/... .../tutorial_lineless_brushes.html http://www.teamphotoshop.com/photoshop/tutorials/ps_tut.php Digital Photography FAQ (superb site!) http://www.cs.duke.edu/~parr/photography/faq.html Battery Info. http://www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/batteries.htm http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM PaintShop Pro Tutorials http://the-internet-eye.com/HOWTO/PSP.htm PS Elements Tutorials http://www.arraich.com/elements/psE_intro.htm http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/... .../photoshop-elements.html http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/photoshopelements/ http://www.adobe.co.uk/web/tips/phselcolorcor/main.html Misc. PS Instruction & Tutorials (in no order) http://www.arraich.com/intro.htm http://www.gurusnetwork.com/tutorials/photoshop/ (Links) http://www.intelinfo.com/free_photoshop_training.html http://www.carlvolk.com/photoshoptips.asp http://www.jtgraphics.net/all_digital.htm http://www.photoepix.com/ http://www.computer-darkroom.co.uk/ http://the-internet-eye.com/HOWTO/Photoshop.htm http://www.davrodigital.co.uk/tutorials/how.htm http://www.davrodigital.co.uk/tutorials/how2.htm http://www.davrodigital.co.uk/menu/menu-htm/mainmenu.htm http://www.espressographics.com/text/menuph5.html http://members.aol.com/azpixels2/projects.html http://www.webmasterbase.com/tutorials/Photoshop/ http://rainworld.com/psworkshop/ http://www.planetphotoshop.com/tutorials.html http://www.phong.com/tutorials/ http://www.mccannas.com/pshop/photosh0.htm http://www.deepspaceweb.com/sections.php http://www.magicpixel.com.au/html/workwel.html http://www.geocities.com/nessele/ http://myjanee.home.insightbb.com/tutorials.htm Assorted Digital Imaging Sites http://www.imaging-resource.com http://www.steves-digicams.com http://www.dp-now.com http://www.dcviews.com http://www.dpreview.com http://www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/index.htm http://www.robgalbraith.com http://www.luminous-landscape.com/ http://www.ekdahl.org/digital.htm http://www.megapixel.net/html/issueindex.html http://www.outbackphoto.com/ http://www.a-digital-eye.com/ http://groups.google.com/... ....photo.digital&hl=en&safe=off&btn G=Google+Search&meta=site%3Dgroups http://www.jtgraphics.net/all_digital.htm Whew!! Anyone else have some good stuff to share? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholas_wybolt Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Jim, Don't know if Canon has anything similar; but shortly after I bought my Olympus digital I attend the "Olympus School of Digital Photography." It paid for itself. It was a full-day session where the morning's subject matter was on digital photography -- Resolution, file formats, white balance, and all that cool stuff. The afternoon was divided between basics (e.g., depth of field) and printing ala' the Olympus dye sublimation printer and using their Camedia image editting software. I must confess that I found the afternoon to be a bit tedious. The morning session was worth the price of admission. So, you might poke around to find Canon-sponsored or whomever's similar courseware. The other thing that I attended was the Epson Print Academy - I filed a book report on it that you can find in the Digital Darkroom Forum archives. This was a great companion session because it touched on all the salient points of getting a competent print. Reading websites and books is great; however, I find sitting in a half- or full-day seminar to be very valuable. When starting out these sessions improve the overall accessibility of the books and websites. Good luck. -Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theo_papageorgiou Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Hi,<p> Try <a href="http://www.pixtool.com/Default.asp?CategoryID=12">PixTool resource directory</a><p> Cheers,<p> Theo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd frederick Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 I have said this over and over again, here and on other forums, that I have been involved with serious film photography since the 1950's and just started in with a digital camera...an Olympus C5050...but that doesn't matter...and qaulity digital camera will do a fine job. The learning curve is steep, lots of new concepts, I bought "Digital Photography For Dummies" (which really helped!), and just set most everything in programmed mode but did turn off the default functions. I am using auto focus and auto exposure, I usually do not use flash inside or out, I have not adjusted such items as sharpness, saturation, and such, and I am using the top 1/4 resolution....really very simple...do keep your resolution high. ...And I am getting beautiful images. I have a $99 Epson 820 printer and started with 5x7 prints and I'm now making 8x10 prints, and they look like my Medium Format film images...REALLY! I am looking at getting an 11X14 printer. I am also burning some CDs of special images and I want to send them to West Coast Imaging to have some large traditional photo paper prints made in 16X20 plus sizes. My advice (and my digital expert level is not much more than 1+ on a scale of 10): 1. Use a camera with 4.0 or 5.O mega Pixels...don't go below 3.0. 2. At first, keep everything very simple and in "P" mode. 3. Be VERY patient with yourself and delete duds. 4. At first, take your digital camera card to Wal*Mart or such, and have them make prints/CDs for you, because... 5. The image editing and the printer software can make or break your printed image, and just add more confusion to the whole process...this is NOT like film. 6. My camera is an Olympus C5050 and the Camedia Master software produces beautiful prints. I also bought Photoshop 7 and can't get a decent sharp/detailed print from it...I need to study... So... 7. Keep it very simple and work step by step, and don't give up. Each bad print is a step up the ladder to success. 8. Ask for help here...most of use will be patient and very willing to help...ignore the jerks. Digital is the way of the future of imaging so work on it. The above photo: About two weeks ago I was faced with a wedding job in a very small and dark chapel. My Nikon N90s with 800 film would not handle the job without too much noise and grain, so, I said, "What the heck, I'll use my tiny digital!" I have never had such fine ceremony photos. I set the ISO to 400 and just took the shots in "P" mode. When I enlarge the above image, I can count the diamonds on her bracelet! Sorry for this long response, but I think the key to this is: 1. Be patient, 2. take it step by step, 3. do some research (buy a book or two and ask questions here), and 4. Experiment with different functions when you feel you are ready. Much success to you.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig_gillette Posted July 11, 2003 Share Posted July 11, 2003 People learn in different ways. If you need to understand and digest everything before you try it, by all means, follow the various books, websites, etc. If you are one to just try every button to see what it does? Why not? It's free. Read the various forums because you could well come across your questions already asked. While this talks about scanning, it's all useful information that will apply to post-processing and printing. A good site!! http://www.scantips.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_simon5 Posted July 11, 2003 Author Share Posted July 11, 2003 To everyone that responded - a thousand thank-you's - this is what makes Photo-Net great. There's always someone that's willing to help. Photography has been a hobby/passion for a number of years and this is just a new direction. Again, thank you for all the responses. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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