Topic Wiki

Quick tips on random subjects that come up in between classes (will add as we go along):

Food photography tips
Newborn photography tips

Table of Contents (I'll change each line to a link as we go along.)

Introduction

1) Choosing a camera: Point and Shoot vs. Mirrorless vs. DSLR
2) Camera specs: What do they mean, and which ones matter to me?
3) Exposure Basics Part 1 - the shutter speed/aperture/ISO triangle
4) Exposure Basics Part 2 - getting to know your mode dial, and other exposure controls
5) All about memory cards
6) Using ultra-wide lenses





Lenses 101 - technology, terminology, and specs, zooms vs. primes, basic/advanced/unique lenses

Lighting 101 - focusing specifically on easy to afford and easy to use setups
Small flash - on camera, off camera, modifiers and accessories
Studio strobes
Continuous lighting - fluorescent, LED, and halogen
Basic light modifiers - umbrellas, softboxes, gels, reflectors
Basic supports - lightstands, umbrella brackets, backgrounds, etc.

All about accessories - memory cards, tripods, bags, filters, remotes, adapters, grips, geotaggers, and more)


So I bought all my stuff - now what?

What makes a compelling photograph?
Depth of field
Composition basics - rule of thirds, perspective, framing
Advanced composition - negative space, inclusion and exclusion, compression
Light - natural, golden hour, basic flash usage.

Let's start shooting...

Kids:
In the park
Playing sports
At home

Landscapes and wildlife:
"Grand" landscapes
"Intimate" landscapes
Seascapes
Waterfalls
Cityscapes
Wildlife
Birds in flight
Shooting in bad weather

Portraits:
Babies and newborns
Single person - indoors
Single person - outdoors
Families/siblings/groups
Natural light
Artificial light - simple
Artificial light - complex
Mixed light

Others:
Close up and macro
Product photography

How do I...? (Some specific scenarios/techniques - Basic)
Shoot out of a plane window?
Shoot underwater?
Shoot compelling black-and-white?

How do I...? (Some specific scenarios/techniques - Advanced)
HDR
Long exposures
Light painting
Twilight landscapes
Milky Way
Star trails

Basic editing concepts:
Exposure
Contrast
Clarity/sharpening
Color
Layers and masking

Poll

What type of camera do shoot with?

Point & Shoot - basic (Canon Elph style) or Smartphone
122 (36.9%)
Point & Shoot - advanced (Canon S100 or G Style)
52 (15.7%)
Mirrorless
26 (7.9%)
DSLR - consumer (Up to a Nikon D5200 or Canon Rebel)
74 (22.4%)
DSLR - prosumer or pro (Nikon D7000 or Canon 60D and up)
29 (8.8%)
P&S, but I plan on getting an SLR or Mirrorless in the near future
28 (8.5%)

Total Members Voted: 275

Author Topic: Learn Photography Master Thread  (Read 357941 times)

Offline Dywert

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1400 on: January 31, 2017, 10:33:00 AM »
Does anyone know of someone who can fix camara's in Lakewood NJ ( I dropped my sony a5000 and it is giving me a "can't recognize lens" error).  Thank You!!

Offline springles

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1401 on: February 01, 2017, 09:34:41 AM »
Sorry, but this is really, really bad advice.

Composition is useless if the picture looks like crud. Settings are useless if the composition makes no sense.

The answer is - shockingly - to learn both at once. If Ush was smart enough to become a dentist I trust he could walk and chew gum at the same time. Learn the basic settings as well as the basic composition ideas. Exposure triangle, exposure compensation, metering modes; rule of thirds, stay away from the center, move around and explore the scene before you begin shooting. That's 90% of what any budding photographer needs to know and can be learned and understood in a couple of hours and some experimentation.

Locking yourself into "rules" and "this before that" will get you nowhere.

In regards to the initial question: don't go around changing all the settings in your camera until you know what they mean, especially not someone else's personal "laundry list" of settings. Keep things on the default and with a little bit of experimentation you'll learn how to set your camera so that it works right for you.
interesting.
Ive read Peterson's understanding composition and have been reading up on the exposure triangle. I think I have the basics down and while I will need to solidify the knowledge Ive learned in the last couple of weeks I went out to experiment and I struggled with using the information I have to get the right settings on my a6000. I got decent pictures, but missed some great ones due to poor exposure (dark setting, using a slow shutter speed, maybe should have adjusted aperture or ISO instead to get in more light without a slight blur in the sky?). Have been playing around with aperture priority, shutter speed and some manual on the camera but there are many settings and learning the camera seems to be a very important part of the process.

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1402 on: February 01, 2017, 12:11:02 PM »
Does anyone know of someone who can fix camara's in Lakewood NJ ( I dropped my sony a5000 and it is giving me a "can't recognize lens" error).  Thank You!!

Before you pay to repair it try taking the lens on and off a few times and cleaning the contacts (both on the camera and lens) with a q-tip dipped in some alcohol. Worth a try, I've seen come cameras come back to life after doing that.

You may also want to consider sending it in to Sony, there's a chance they'll fix it for free.
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Offline Work-for-ur-muny

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1403 on: February 01, 2017, 01:40:15 PM »
I'm putting together a group to buy a http://kelbyone.com/ subscription. Training on photography, Lightroom, Photoshop, and all kinds of related subjects. My cost is $139/yr. The more people we get, the cheaper it'll be for everyone. Multiple people could be logged in and watch videos at once; I've done it last year already.

Anyone want to join?
BUMP

Starting this group this year again!!!

Details and joining here:)

Offline ari9

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1404 on: February 01, 2017, 07:48:36 PM »
Hoping someone can help me with this -
A few years ago my wife read through this thread and then ordered the sony a5000 (with kit and 55-210 lenses) to take pictures of our kids at home and on trips - and it's been great.
Recently she has been learning and practicing and has even been asked by friends/neighbors to take pictures of their families. Now she feel limited by the a5000 and those lenses, most specifically by the low light capability, inability to get wide apertures, lack of viewfinder and hot shoe.
Where do we go from here?
Do I buy into the e mount system and start with a portrait lens? Sell whatever I can and switch systems? My wife says she would like to upgrade to full frame one day (far down the road  ;)).

Offline Work-for-ur-muny

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1405 on: February 01, 2017, 07:56:25 PM »
Hoping someone can help me with this -
A few years ago my wife read through this thread and then ordered the sony a5000 (with kit and 55-210 lenses) to take pictures of our kids at home and on trips - and it's been great.
Recently she has been learning and practicing and has even been asked by friends/neighbors to take pictures of their families. Now she feel limited by the a5000 and those lenses, most specifically by the low light capability, inability to get wide apertures, lack of viewfinder and hot shoe.
Where do we go from here?
Do I buy into the e mount system and start with a portrait lens? Sell whatever I can and switch systems? My wife says she would like to upgrade to full frame one day (far down the road  ;)).
If the upgrade to the full-frame is inevitable then why waste the money the entire way till you get there. If she sees a potential for parnassa and/or hobby, then it's an investment decision. In the meantime you can buy equipment that will bring up the quality of the pictures being taken with the a5000 that will also be compatible with a full-frame (perhaps soft box etc.).

Offline ari9

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1406 on: February 02, 2017, 12:20:28 AM »
If the upgrade to the full-frame is inevitable then why waste the money the entire way till you get there. If she sees a potential for parnassa and/or hobby, then it's an investment decision. In the meantime you can buy equipment that will bring up the quality of the pictures being taken with the a5000 that will also be compatible with a full-frame (perhaps soft box etc.).
precisely my dilemma.
with an eye to full frame, is mirrorless the way to go? or better to switch to dslr system?
lens would be the preferred next purchase

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1407 on: February 02, 2017, 12:22:15 AM »
precisely my dilemma.
with an eye to full frame, is mirrorless the way to go? or better to switch to dslr system?
lens would be the preferred next purchase
Key words: If full-frame is inevitable.

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1408 on: February 02, 2017, 02:39:48 PM »
BUMP

Starting this group this year again!!!

Details and joining here:)
FINAL CALL!!!

I'll wrap this up in about an hour.

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1409 on: February 02, 2017, 05:14:16 PM »
FINAL CALL!!!

I'll wrap this up in about an hour.
Closed. I will PM participants with details as soon as I have them.

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1410 on: February 25, 2017, 11:30:32 PM »
Short, sweet, and useful.

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1412 on: March 18, 2017, 10:06:24 PM »
There is also the new XQD card, which so far is used only by the Nikon D4 camera.
SF
For SD cards, I have always stuck to Sandisk. Now I'm in the market for an XQD card for recording 4K video on a d500, it seems that the only two brands on the market are Lexar and Sony, would you recommend one over the other in terms of quality/reliability?

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1413 on: March 18, 2017, 11:16:42 PM »
SF
For SD cards, I have always stuck to Sandisk. Now I'm in the market for an XQD card for recording 4K video on a d500, it seems that the only two brands on the market are Lexar and Sony, would you recommend one over the other in terms of quality/reliability?

Both are fine, but if they're the same price I'd go with Lexar.
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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1414 on: March 18, 2017, 11:58:25 PM »
Both are fine, but if they're the same price I'd go with Lexar.
Thank you for the input!!!
Appreciate it!

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1415 on: March 24, 2017, 03:19:40 PM »
Both are fine, but if they're the same price I'd go with Lexar.
Going back to look at the specs, the d500 records 4K at 144 mbps which is 18 MBPS. Is there any real-world reason not to just use good SDXC cards like SanDisk Extreme Pro that claims to have min write speed of 30 MBPS which is well above the 18 MBPS necessary?
Will the XQD function better than the SDXC, or will they essentially do the same job?

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1416 on: April 16, 2017, 01:24:01 PM »
I bought the Sony alpha a5000 and gave up my Canon g15, the quality of the pictures was much better on the Canon g15  is it because I just  don't know how to set it right or I have to buy a more expensive lense in order to get good shots?
money doesn't talk......      it SCREAMS !

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1417 on: April 16, 2017, 01:40:23 PM »
I bought the Sony alpha a5000 and gave up my Canon g15, the quality of the pictures was much better on the Canon g15  is it because I just  don't know how to set it right or I have to buy a more expensive lense in order to get good shots?
What do you feel was better on the G 15?
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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1418 on: April 16, 2017, 01:45:28 PM »
What do you feel was better on the G 15?
I can't pinpoint in a specific feature all I can say is when I print out the pictures the Canon g15 pictures are much sharper and better colors.
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