First SLR camera

[congorobot]

I now have an SLR camera but only a little idea of how to use it. Is there a good instructional book anyone would recommend for the beginner?

 

A couple of snaps I took today.

 

http://www.dropbox.com/s/3hmgnn5jek4f2jg/DSC02116%20%282%29.jpg?dl=0

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ruepv6r89dvkplj/DSC02119%20%282%29.jpg?dl=0

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tevegqdi75thrn3/DSC02102.JPG?dl=0

[Pistol Pete]

Just Google, there's lots of online guides to taking pictures. Try to understand the appature setting first take a few photos and download load them to see the effect. Then play with the exposure time setting and finally play in manual mode where you control both.

Once you have the above sorted you should be half way there.

Enjoy.

[Pistol Pete]

Just had a quick look at your trial photos and looking good. Always try and have the light behind you, vary the height you take the picture from and if you look at clegg's photos you will see that sometimes less car is more.

Finally try tilting the camera 45'.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

What camera is it - the standard manuals for many aren't too bad nowadays, though sometimes you can get a small paperback sized version written independently of the manufacturer, they're often better still as they will explain various techniques while referring to your model of camera.

In particular, on the technical side, the things to get your head around are the exposure controls and the focusing side of things. Knowing how you're camera model tries to deal with these will help you take control yourself.

The beauty with digital cameras is the instant feedback, so you can have a play with different modes and see immediately what effect they will have.

[congorobot]

Just Google, there's lots of online guides to taking pictures. Try to understand the appature setting first take a few photos and download load them to see the effect. Then play with the exposure time setting and finally play in manual mode where you control both.

Once you have the above sorted you should be half way there.

Enjoy.

 

Will have a look

 

What camera is it - the standard manuals for many aren't too bad nowadays, though sometimes you can get a small paperback sized version written independently of the manufacturer, they're often better still as they will explain various techniques while referring to your model of camera.

In particular, on the technical side, the things to get your head around are the exposure controls and the focusing side of things. Knowing how you're camera model tries to deal with these will help you take control yourself.

The beauty with digital cameras is the instant feedback, so you can have a play with different modes and see immediately what effect they will have.

 

Its not brand new but new to me. A Sony A200, with two lenses, one medium sized and one massive. That's about the extent on my photogra

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

OK, the Sony's have a good reputation I seem to remember, though I suspect you might not get quite as much technique type info from the manuals as some of the Canon, Nikon etc manuals, not to worry though, it's no biggie!

As I say, exposure is the first thing to probably start trying to get to grips with, Pete's suggestion of starting with the AppStore is a good one.

I've not read a photographic "how to" for years, so wouldn't know what the current crop are like, but as Pete said, google a bit! Practically every other topic seems to have loads of YouTube "how to's", I dare say photography is the same.

The other thing to look into is framing and composition. This is perhaps on of the trickier areas in certain ways, as it's probably the biggest area where technique and artistic talent meet! It's also an area where there's no substitute for taking lots of photos and for looking at lots of photos, as somewhere between the two you start getting your "eye in" and being able to see the shot that you'll take a photo of with your naked eye when you look at a view in front of you.

[pistonbroke]

Snag with big tele photo  lenses  camera shake can become  a problem  unless you have image stabiliser  ,

 

Not too good in low light either without using a big apperture lense , using any stop below say f4 - f2.8 and the depth of field is massively reduced , OK for effects but not good for overall sharpness  

 

You will find all this stuff out with practice , main thing , get out there and play around .

 

Have fun   

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

those shots look good so you are on your way

 

lightroom is very easy to use and if you shoot in RAW file (or whatever the standard is on Sony) then you have full control but really depends on how much you want to get into it 

 

first thing would be to learn how to adjust the ISO, aperture and shutter speed independently and how they are all connected and what they do

 

I spend most of my time in (A) aperture mode and then (M) manual mode if I have a bit more time to set the shot up  - and dip into (S) shutter speed mode when shooting cars on the move -I would forget the (P) programme mode and Auto modes

 

Focussing modes and metering modes would perhaps come next

 

I personally found that watching youtube tutorials the easiest way to learn - there are hundreds of them covering just about everything you could ever need to know

 

Good luck in your journey - there are lots of great photographers in here who know their stuff so if you have any questions I am sure we can help (edited to add that I am not classing myself as a great photographer)

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

oh and google rule of thirds which can be used as a guideline for a more interesting photo - but certainly not a rule!

 

once you know what it is you will start seeing it in photos and even when watching tv