What is Digg?78 Comments
- yunus, on 12/18/2008, -4/+4134 Tutorials? Isn't that a bit overkill to "get started"
- WRXSTimulated, on 12/18/2008, -6/+25Nice collection of tips, this'll come in handy with my new camera!
- Mjuboy, on 12/18/2008, -0/+17Better glass > better bodies.
- steviesteveo, on 12/18/2008, -1/+11Dugg for the buying guide mention:
It's always handy to have some advice on how to buy your first anything. You can't rely on knowing an expert in everything to advise you and the last person I know who asked a salesperson about what they should buy is ruing his solid gold laptop.
That said, there's a lot of benefit that comes from actually just going into the park at the weekend and taking hundreds of photos of squirrels to work out how your settings change an image.
The comment box is moving by itself here - has to be a vaguely entertaining bug. - BrettFromTibet, on 12/18/2008, -8/+17Great list!
- inactive, on 12/18/2008, -0/+8Why would you want pictures of tops?
- aparkerw, on 12/18/2008, -2/+8This was a good post, if you shoot at all, take a look at the posts. Chances are at least one of the 34 will be helpful to you.
And here are a few more for the list.
More on ISO:
http://blogs.adamparkerphotography.com/blog/What-d ...
Shooting RAW:
http://blogs.adamparkerphotography.com/blog/Make-y ...
Light Metering Modes:
http://blogs.adamparkerphotography.com/blog/Meteri ...
Dealing with Sensor Dust:
http://blogs.adamparkerphotography.com/blog/Ive-go ... - Rikkochet, on 12/18/2008, -0/+6You can get a very decent point and shoot that will do most of what you want for under $200 (I just got a new Nikon Coolpix for my gf and it blows away the $500 cameras of 5 years ago), but even the digital SLRs are plummeting in price.
What are you trying to do? Just take nice "family" pictures? Buy just about any camera and just learn how to capture images - the camera doesn't have nearly as much to do with it as you'd think.
Go mid to high-end if you're interested in more advanced/uncommon things like night photography, manual focus, macro. In general, if you're not trying to take artsy pictures and just want the photos of your life to look better, you don't need all the bells and whistles.
And since it bears repeating over and over: megapixels mean nothing. A 100MP camera with a ***** sensor will lose to a 5MP camera with a high quality sensor. Check a review site like www.dpreview.com if you're unsure where to start. - wontstoptalking, on 12/18/2008, -0/+6Oooh, ooh! What kind???
- IvanB, on 12/18/2008, -0/+5How did I lead you to believe that? If you're talking about the thumbnail being on the left, then that's just part of Digg's small redesign.
- Cerialthriller, on 12/18/2008, -1/+5ive always been interested in Photography but have been intimidated by it, and also do i need one of those $2000 Nikons to get some decent pictures? If anyone could suggest a decent starter camera thats under $200 it would be awesome, i have an old 2 megapixel Kodak EasyShare camera that is pretty crappy. (2 Megapixel was serious business in the $200 range when i bought it, lol)
- btbluesky, on 12/18/2008, -1/+5The buying guide was wrong. "The higher the mega pixel range, the better quality the pictures. " This is the misconception generate by years of advertising. Sensor size makes or breaks the qualities, and in general, bigger sensor can have higher pixel count. BUT at our current10+Mp cameras generation, this is no longer true. Take a look at the review by dpreview on G10 and LX3 http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong10/page9.asp .
- lettertokristin, on 12/18/2008, -2/+6Photography can be intimidating because you feel like there is so much to learn. This guide is an excellent source to get answers to some of your most basic questions but also provide you with answers to more in-depth, complex photography dilemmas. Great read!
- britblogger, on 12/18/2008, -1/+5fantastic article. the Photographer's Rights piece is particularly interesting - I've been approached before by various security personnel around New York City about the viability of my shooting certain public areas. It's always good to have a copy of your rights on your person at all times when shooting just in case you're approached.
- WRXSTimulated, on 12/18/2008, -0/+4I just got a Canon XSi with the kit lens and the 55-250 IS. I've been snapping shots and playing around in Photoshop ever since I got it two weeks ago.
I'm actually starting up a website soon and I bought the camera to take all the photos for it. The "Illuminating Tabletops" section will help me out with a lot with the shots I need to take. - Gravey9, on 12/18/2008, -1/+5Very useful for beginners.
- aparkerw, on 12/18/2008, -0/+3Much appreciated, only trying to help.
- clclark33, on 12/18/2008, -0/+3Forgot to add that you can get a very decent DSLR for close to $500 now. The lenses can set you back a lot. But one of my favorite lenses for my Canon is the 50mm f/1.8 which cost me around $80. Nikon also has a nifty fifty at around $90ish I think. I've spent $1800 on a lens before and I use my $80 50mm much more than the $1800 lens. Just don't drop it... a friend of mine is on his third 50mm lens.
- kerouac906, on 12/19/2008, -0/+3Great info, especially the legality of taking pics one, but I feel a mention of RAW format should be warranted as it is increasingly available on cameras. It is sooo much more powerful being able to change white balance, sharpness, contrast, etc. in a lossless compression file with 100% undoable changes at any time.
- clclark33, on 12/18/2008, -0/+3The best advice I can give is that you should go ahead and try to get an inexpensive DSLR, but the most important part of a camera system isn't the camera; it's the lenses. A DSLR let's you choose different lenses for different jobs, so just get a camera that lets you pick what you need and you'll be set as your skillset grows. The second thing is either avoid using onboard flash or just don't use flash at all. The majority of my family snapshots look a lot better just because I don't use the crap onboard flash that washes everything out and flattens the image. I generally shoot without flash, but when I use flash, I use a hotshoe flash and typically bounce off a wall or ceiling to get better depth to the images.
Both Nikon and Canon, and others, (I'm a Canon guy) make great cameras and they are generally on par with each other, though Nikon currently has the best camera. Not that I want to spend $5,000 on a camera. - FlyingPhotog, on 12/18/2008, -0/+3Getting your hands on a camera is really the best way to learn photography. You can read books to learn about camera settings (aperture, shutter speed etc) and composition, but trail and error while shooting will teach you the most.
- joshr03, on 12/18/2008, -0/+3Yeah it really depends what you want to do. There are some point and shoots that can crank out some really great shots, but they don't have the versatility of a dslr. They usually won't be able to shoot RAW which is very useful for post processing, and most of them won't have the zoom capability you can get with a dslr and a telephoto lens. Checkout dpreview like Rikkochet mentioned and also checkout flickr, you can search by camera or topic and see how the pictures really turn out.
- Cerialthriller, on 12/18/2008, -0/+3thanks, im interested in taking pictures that are artsy i guess, i mean the one i have is fine for family pictures and typical myspace crap, but after seeing all the photography stuff that pops up on digg im getting more and more interested in it. Like the long exposure stuff and the macro stuff looks neat but im assuming those kinds of things are out of my price range
- MidnightHour12, on 12/18/2008, -0/+3You might need to raise your budget a bit if you are looking at digitals. A used Nikon D40 with lens could be found for $350. The original Canon Digital Rebel can be found for around the same price.
I would personally recommend looking at a used film camera with AF as a first *starter* camera. Sure, the instant playback is great to have with a digital camera, but when you learn REAL photography with film it tends to cause the photographer to slow down and pay more attention to all of the details like lighting, composition, back ground, colors, etc. I learned on an N90s with a 50mm f/1.4. You can find N90/s all over for $75 and under.
After I learned the ropes on the N90s I bought a Nikon D70 and eventually a Nikon D200. I am the head of photography at a local magazine and I use the D200 with an assortment of lenses for 100% of the photos I take for the magazine.
For someone just started I would recommend getting an older film camera and a 50mm prime lens to start off with. Once you use that for a while you will get the feel of what you really want in a camera and what other lenses you would like.
Here is one photo I took with the N90s and 50mm f/1.4:
http://midnighthour.smugmug.com/photos/48069802_5v ... - CrushThemTorg, on 12/19/2008, -0/+3I didn't see the phrase "f8 and be there" at any point, therefore this is written by noobs.
- farfegnugen, on 12/18/2008, -0/+3I bought a DSLR back in March but haven't used it much recently because I really have no idea what I'm doing. Thanks for the additional info!
- MrWally, on 12/18/2008, -0/+3I don't care if he's linking to his own blog, these are still nice tutorials.
Dugg. - bullrassler, on 12/19/2008, -0/+3Practice. Take ten pictures a day for a week, and every day, look at all the pictures so far and honestly critique them. What were you trying to do with each picture, and how did it succeed? How did it fail? Were there elements of composition/lighting/background etc. that you didn't even think about when you took the picture? Think about them next day, eventually it will become second nature to do it.
Then do it again for another week. There is a rule of thumb in psychology that it takes 10,000 hours to make an expert. Trust me, I'm no expert, but actually getting out there and _mindfully_ taking pictures will do as much as reading another tutorial; that's why everything from acting to driver training to medicine has both instruction and practice. - boner79, on 12/19/2008, -0/+3man the hourly rate for photographers must have plummeting now that everyone with a digital SLR thinks they are a pro
- aparkerw, on 12/18/2008, -0/+3What are you shooting with now? Glass is usually a better investment, but 5D over an original rebel is a big jump too.
- TheKingInYellow, on 12/18/2008, -1/+4yeh, back in the day we didn't have tutorials. we just had to get out there in the real world and learn from our mistakes.
- joshr03, on 12/19/2008, -0/+2I find that highly unlikely, you must have received a soft copy of the 17-40
- soopafly, on 12/19/2008, -0/+2http://letmegooglethatforyou.com/?q=%22top+picture ...
- joshr03, on 12/19/2008, -0/+2I'm shooting with the rebel xti
- steviesteveo, on 12/19/2008, -0/+2Oh, that's such a shame - I had a Pro account thanks to BT Yahoo and I thought it was the best thing ever. I'll be sorry to lose it.
- chicagojacobs, on 12/18/2008, -1/+3That is awesome info and a great list to get you going in the right direction
- steviesteveo, on 12/19/2008, -0/+2It's true, you can utterly see the difference between a guy who's just pressing a button and someone who thinks about what they're doing. Having a bit of innovative vision is not going to hurt.
The hourly rate is still reasonably even because really you're rated on your interpersonal skills as much as your portfolio when you're taking wedding photos and as such if you're totally horrible to people even if you own a dSLR, they're not going to take you own for their wedding. Even in more traditional areas - like glamour or whatever, if you're bad interpersonally and people refuse to work with you you're not going to get work. It's a service industry.
The rate per image, though, has crashed through the floor because everyone with a camera is suddenly able to submit work to stock photo libraries. People can hardly break even, even if they have reduced their costs thanks to digital technology, now. - milkmit, on 12/18/2008, -1/+3For anyone new to digital photography (or any photography, for that matter), all the crazy buttons and ***** shouldn't be as intimidating as they may seem.
The first thing I'd suggest is to learn how to shoot manual. Aperture priority is good for some things, and shutter priority is good for some (less, generally) things, but shooting manual is where you'll really get control and actually learn what's going on inside the camera.
There's basically only 3 things that determine the exposure, and they're all relative to each other on a 1:1 basis: ISO (100, 200, 400, etc), shutter speed (1/125th, 1/60th, 1/30th, etc), and aperture (f/2.8, f/2, f/1.4, etc). Learn their relationships to each other and how they all effect the resulting image (and why you'd want to use one combination over another for different circumstances) and you'll be well on your way. - inactive, on 12/18/2008, -0/+2I'd get the 5D.
- FreshPineSent, on 12/18/2008, -1/+3See that button that says "digg it"?
- Garay002, on 12/19/2008, -0/+2Get yourself a tripod if you haven't yet. They really come in handy. :)
- wontstoptalking, on 12/19/2008, -0/+2I had a Flickr Pro account for free since I had SBC Yahoo internet services, and you get plenty of Yahoo services free with that account.
Their ties with Yahoo kind of ended, and so now my Pro account is going to end, along with all other people who had free Pro accounts, on February 20th (I think that's the date...sometime in February). Now I realized how much I relied on Flickr....I guess I'll have to pay the $30 a year now.... - Gowey, on 12/18/2008, -0/+2Not if you don't have any decent lenses to use with it.
- MrTito, on 12/19/2008, -0/+2Agreed. Sometimes these kind of guides can give you an idea or a spark. But you can't teach vision and quality, or pick those things up from a tutorial. Only being out in the field putting your knowledge into practice can improve your work.
- Musicmonkey34, on 12/18/2008, -0/+2fantastic. First circuit city gives me a nikon d40x for 225 this morning, and now this.
say what you will about our economy, im enjoying the going out of business sales. - kerouac906, on 12/20/2008, -0/+2Even if you save a copy of a file with a bunch of adjustments in Jpeg under a different name, 1) You don't really have a record of what thos changes are that you made 2) You can go into that copy and undo just one of the changes, such as white balance, while leaving the other adjustments intact. Picasa is viable for light/beginner users, but there is a disk space issue over time with the backups.
- xptoast, on 12/18/2008, -0/+2Canon Powershot is pretty good. The one I have I can get about 1 hour or so worth of good resolution video with sound on a sd card that is like 4 GB. If you buy some rechargable AAs then it will do you well. Good good camera. I looked and they are on 10 MegaPixel now. Mine is 8. Still wonderful. You can get like 30x zoom if you are using the digital zoom to the max.
- TheKingInYellow, on 12/19/2008, -0/+2regardless of there always being books and magazines we did not have the luxury of having access to them. we were poor high school students and then we were poor college kids. we learned by doing.
- Bamboolemur, on 12/18/2008, -1/+3WHy? Were you born during Ansel Adams time? There's always been books and magazines to give you tutorials.
- sloach, on 12/19/2008, -0/+2I agree with Canon Powershot. If you want to learn it's useful to have something with aperture, shutter speed and full manual control. By the time I bought a dSLR I was completely familiar with these controls from my Powershot.
Also I just printed some photos recently and the guy at the shop was saying he liked the photos a lot and asked me what camera I used. I said my Canon dSLR, but when I got home I looked at them and realised I'd actually taken them with my old 4MP Canon Powershot. I also still prefer to use my Powershot for macro photos because it takes them wide. I never use the expensive macro lens I bought for the slr :( -
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