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 357920 times)

Offline noturbizniss

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #640 on: August 10, 2014, 02:03:32 PM »
It means a little female shoe-like accessory that goes into your camera strap. Holds shoe-mount accessories what the real shoe is in use.
Would this or this mount to a strap?
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Offline freddy

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #641 on: August 15, 2014, 04:42:43 PM »
what's thdifferance beetween PowerShot A2400 IS  and powershot a400
"Judge me by the enemies I make"

Offline lubaby

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #642 on: August 15, 2014, 04:49:07 PM »
what's thdifferance beetween PowerShot A2400 IS  and powershot a400
Is that a serious question?
A400 looks like it's 10 years old, it only has 3.2MP and 2.2x optical zoom.
A2400 is a solid P&S camera, featuring 16MP and 5x optic zoom. Plus the hardware looks much nicer and it comes packed with tons of nice features.

ETA put it this way, Amazon trade-in values the A400 at $.50, while the A2400 is worth $52.20 (more than x10 the amount).
« Last Edit: August 15, 2014, 04:52:39 PM by lubaby »

Offline freddy

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #643 on: August 15, 2014, 04:51:49 PM »
Is that a serious question?
A400 looks like it's 10 years old, it only has 3.2MP and 2.2x optical zoom.
A2400 is a solid P&S camera, featuring 16MP and 5x optic zoom. Plus the hardware looks much nicer and it comes packed with tons of nice features.
Thanks I'm trying to sell a A2400 refurbed and tring to figure out value. Thought it might be same as A400...
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Offline EJB

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #644 on: August 21, 2014, 11:57:18 PM »
Paging SF: Is this a good deal for my nex-6?

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #645 on: August 22, 2014, 12:10:59 AM »
Paging SF: Is this a good deal for my nex-6?

It's a better deal than usual, but it's still a fair amount of money for a lens like this.

Did you consider used?
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Offline EJB

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #646 on: August 22, 2014, 12:37:05 AM »
It's a better deal than usual, but it's still a fair amount of money for a lens like this.

Did you consider used?

Where's a good place to buy it used (besides amazon, which doesn't have it much cheaper)?

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #647 on: August 22, 2014, 12:40:37 AM »
Where's a good place to buy it used (besides amazon, which doesn't have it much cheaper)?

Ebay, B&H, Adorama...
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Offline jaywhy

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #648 on: August 25, 2014, 12:07:17 PM »
@SF. How do I blur out faces in LR?

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #649 on: August 25, 2014, 12:08:19 PM »
@SF. How do I blur out faces in LR?

As in depth of field, or privacy?
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Online Joe4007

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #650 on: August 25, 2014, 12:08:48 PM »
@SF. How do I blur out faces in LR?
Someone is getting us a TR  :D

Offline jaywhy

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #651 on: August 25, 2014, 12:14:57 PM »
As in depth of field, or privacy?
Privacy, as in your Alaska TR.

Offline jaywhy

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #652 on: August 25, 2014, 12:15:15 PM »
Someone is getting us a TR  :D
Yup. Hope to have part 1 up today.

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #653 on: August 25, 2014, 01:40:07 PM »
Privacy, as in your Alaska TR.

LR is extremely limited in that respect. You could use the brush and knock the clarity and sharpness down all the way, but that will make it more hazy than blurry, and not at all pixelated. You could also try the radial blur tool, but again, you won't get much privacy that way.

What I do for my TR is use Photoshop. Open image, duplicate layer, apply mosaic, then use a layer mask to paint in the areas I want pixelated. The level of mosaic depends on the subject matter and image size; five minutes of experimentation is enough to get the hang of what works for what.

I've also made an action which does this all automatically except the painting, so it takes me just a couple of seconds each picture.
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Offline jaywhy

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #654 on: August 26, 2014, 05:35:47 PM »
LR is extremely limited in that respect. You could use the brush and knock the clarity and sharpness down all the way, but that will make it more hazy than blurry, and not at all pixelated. You could also try the radial blur tool, but again, you won't get much privacy that way.

What I do for my TR is use Photoshop. Open image, duplicate layer, apply mosaic, then use a layer mask to paint in the areas I want pixelated. The level of mosaic depends on the subject matter and image size; five minutes of experimentation is enough to get the hang of what works for what.

I've also made an action which does this all automatically except the painting, so it takes me just a couple of seconds each picture.
Thanks. It works well.
I used imgur for my images and it looks like it's degrading the quality. What hosting service can I use that doesn't degrade IQ while keeping the images a reasonable size?

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #655 on: August 26, 2014, 05:36:52 PM »
I use Flickr.
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Offline Here to learn

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #656 on: August 31, 2014, 12:14:28 AM »
I use Flickr.

Is this a good deal:
New Canon EOS Rebel SL1 18 MP Digital SLR Camera 18-55mm + Extra 75-300MM Lens
$549.99

Offline chucksterace

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #657 on: August 31, 2014, 12:16:47 AM »

Is this a good deal:
New Canon EOS Rebel SL1 18 MP Digital SLR Camera 18-55mm + Extra 75-300MM Lens
$549.99

Link?
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Offline Centro

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #658 on: August 31, 2014, 12:16:52 AM »
Is this a good deal:
New Canon EOS Rebel SL1 18 MP Digital SLR Camera 18-55mm + Extra 75-300MM Lens
$549.99
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/50591

Offline zale

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #659 on: August 31, 2014, 11:51:46 AM »
SF, one of my kids smudged the lens on my RX100 camera. What is the best way to clean it?

Thanks