Photography Advice

nolegsinmiami · September 2011

I am new to photography - I just purchased a Canon Rebel T2i bundle with an extra lense 55-250mm; this my first "real" camera so know nothing. What else do I need for taking basic outdoor photos and family shots?

WaterEngineer · September 2011

Photography can be as simple as point and shoot or a life long, and complicated pursuit.

A great place to start is with the camera operations. There is a ton of this type if info on the net. I would suggest tapping a bunch of the videos on this YouTube channel.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=canon+rebel+t2i+tutorial&aq=3&oq=canon+rebel+t2i

Learning a little about photo or art composition would be helpful in getting you up the learning curve more quickly.

Lastly, I definitely agree with a statement made by the famous photographer Robert Capa, "If your photos aren't good enough, you are not close enough."

So.....with family, friends, fish..... get the subject close to the camera.

Mostly, just keep shooting.

Good luck and post a photo once and a while.

bmarkey · October 2011

Both of your lenses are fine to start. Neither will offer much use in low light or do really well for action (except maybe in very bright light), but shoot like crazy, get close, use wider angles, experiment with higher ISOs in low light, consider buying an external flash that will allow you to bounce flash off the ceiling, etc., read about your camera's features at sites like www.dpreview.com and enjoy.

kudzu · October 2011

Put the camera on a tripod and take the same picture over and over while adjust the shutter speed and aperture. This will help give you an understanding of how the two work together to control aspects like exposure and depth of field (how much of the image is in focus). A good flash is a great suggestion and you definitely want one that allows you to swivel the head for bouncing. Of course this can be a double-edged sword. On one hand it's a great way to soften the light and make a very natural image. On the other if you bounce against a colored surface you can easily introduce a color cast that you'd have to remove. Practice using fill flash to open up the shadows around the eyes.

Composition goes a long way. Learn about the rule of thirds but don't be afraid to break it. Don't put the horizon in the middle of the image. Try to keep your horizon straight.

Man, this answer really can go on and on. I think the biggest thing is to shoot and experiment a lot. Put it in Program mode and take a picture. Look at the settings the camera picked for you. Now take the same picture in manual mode and vary the settings. As you get more comfortable start making your own decisions. Decide what's more important, shutter or aperture? Then pick that mode. If you're trying to capture action set it to shutter-priority and set it about 1/500 or higher. Then see what aperture it picks for you. If you're taking a portrait and want to blur the background set it to the highest aperture your lens allows (the lower the number the larger the aperture) and then see what shutter speed it picks. Eventually you'll start learning how these numbers work together.

mississippi mac · October 2011

there is some great advice posted here to get you up and running....

probably two of the best points are to understand the relations of "f stops" to shutter speed...
the other is a composition and the "rule of thirds"...

i'll toss in another...carry your camera with you all the time...you never know when the "kodak moment" will jump out and smack you in the face...
you intuitively know those moments because your first thought will be...."****, i wish i'd had my camera"....

sometimes simple things may grab your eye and as you learn, you'll see these images in your minds eye....

there used to be a stickie thread here that went on for years that a lot of us posted to...a lot of those members have moved along but left their mark....
it was a great thread because you could see posters evolve and others offered ideas and info for the good shot....

i would go through ALL the images posted here on different topics...there are a lot of incredible images....
some are from pros and semi-pros, others are from serious ametures...

tim