The other thread, although really cool, is more of a place to just post pretty pictures, I wanted to start a thread for those interested in actually learning photography and maybe down the road, doing something with it.
I am currently a professional photographer in Boston, and don't know it all and still have tons to learn, I learned so much over in the other pink world, that I wanted this thread to come back.
So a few rules,
1. Don't be intimidated... its scary but if you want to learn you have to jump in head first.
2. No question is a dumb question, so ask away!
OK, so lets start with a few definitions.
F-stop or Aperture - This is the number that controls the Depth of Field or DOF The blur on the photo, when you want part of your subject in focus you use a LARGE f-stop (or small number 2.8) They range from 1.4 to 32. If you want say flowers to be in focus and the background to blur, you would use 2.8. Everything depends on the light. You can't use 2.8 in bright blaring sun, or you need a shutter of 4000th of a second....
Shutter Speed- is the amount of time a shutter remains open to allow light to reach the digital camera sensor. Its measured in seconds, or fractions of a second
ISO/ASA- This is the speed of the film or digital sensor you are using. This ranges from 100-3200. The higher you go the more noise or grain you will get on your picture.
Those three elements are the key to great photographs. Photography is a great balencing act of light, shutter speed, ISO and F-Stop. You will always have to comprimise one, to get the picture you want- its a huge juggling act to keep it all straight all the time.
A few boards to gain more information: www.photo.net
There are tons of resources to learn photography. One of the biggest hurtles of photography is learning what the heck an F-stop is, and how it relates to your picture.
Here is an example of Fstop- 5.6
Here is the same picture with a SMALL aperture or LARGE number F32
Now a lot of people say when you do formals, you HAVE to be shooting at F/5.6 becuase if you shoot at 2.8 with a very shallow, DOF your portrait won't be in focus.
OK, thats all for now. Ask away!
Last edited by Little Angel '77; 02-11-2006 at 08:25 AM.
Very cool thread. Thanks for starting this! I was trying to get my butt in gear to take a photography course but something always comes up that prevents me from diving in (I should also probably find the manual to my digital camera one of these day as I have no idea how to use the manual functions ). I'm definitely going to be following along!
"He who knows he has enough is rich" - Lao Tzu --<--@ Tiffany @-->-- LJ ~ Chart
oK, START WITH THIS:
Put your camera on Manual, and a shutter speed of 125. F stop of 2.8. Then go outside and take a picture, but the f stop up and take another picture, then go get the developed. You will see how everytime you change the f stop number, you are closing the whole in your camera (your aperture) and causing less light to hit the film or chip (if you are digital). You will see the pictures get darker and darker as you close the number down.
I should mention that FILM is way more forgiving then digital pictures.
You can over expose with fim by two stops, and still recover the picture. With digital you really can't. You lost information when you have blown out a picture.
Yeah I know... I was thinking about getting a film Rebel as they're rather cheap compared to digitals but the cost of developing is so high here in Europe that I think I'd probably drag my feet about actually taking the film to be processed which would defeat the purpose ya'know?
"He who knows he has enough is rich" - Lao Tzu --<--@ Tiffany @-->-- LJ ~ Chart
Okay, I have no idea what you're saying but I have a simple question:
With my digital camera, if I take the flash off manually, I have to use a tripod or stand of some sort or else the longer shutter speed makes my photo all blurry.
Is there a way around that? I love natural light photos, but my camera seems to think that anything less than blinding sunshine requires a flash.
Thanks!
"...human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves."
The reson you are getting slow shutters is because you aren't getting enough light into the camera to get a proprer exposure. *You probably know that, but some people might not.* When you are shooting in a dark location, you need to have a long shutter in order for enough light to hit the film or the chip to have the picture expose properly.
So how do you get faster shutter speeds so you don't need a tripod? Well first, if you are shooting film, you can use 800 speed film. This allows film to be more sensative to light. On some digital cameras, you can raise the film speed or ISO, to make the camera chip or more sensative to light. At ISO 100 its not very sesative so you need slower shutter speeds in dark situations. On your camera I bet there is a setting to raise your ISO to 400 or even 800 or depending on the camera, you can go to 1600 or 3200.
Going to these higher ISO (film speed or chip sensativity) numbers, you are able to get faster shutter speeds, avoiding the camera shake.
If its super dark, you need to go to ISO 800, but by doing that, you will intordocue more digital noise or grain (if you are film) into the picture. Some people like that effect.
Honestly I've been interested in Photography for a while. I don't have a camera (unless a 35MM counts), but I think I have an "eye" for good snapshots. I'd like to invest in a nice quality camera without breaking the bank. Could you offer suggestions? Nothing top of the line since I'm just fooling around right now, but something other than my generic camera would be nice. And price range...what an average for an average camera? Where would be the best place to take classes? A community college?
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). I'm definitely going to be following along!
but I have a simple question:
