Digital Photography Forum
Hello all,
I just bought my 1st slr camera. I am a mom of 2 with a love for photography. Up til now I have only had cheaper point and shoots so this is a big jump for me. I purchased the Olympus Evolt E-510 kit. All the new info is a bit overwhelming, any ideas where to start?
Don't feel lost.
Hello Vicki
First of all, allow me to welcome you to Illustrated Photography.
I had a look at your look at your album and love the dogs, are they all your own? You are amongst a group of dog lovers, as I have had ones all my life, and Felipe, one of the site moderators, also has one.
Now then, back to business, congratulations on the new purchase, it is a very good buy at a very good price and an excellent camera to learn on. It allows you to manually overide all of the important functions, so that you can experiment.
As for where to start, I am sure you have come across our Basic photography tips section.
These articles, to which I add as often as I can, form the basis of the theory of photography.
Of course, if you try to read them all in one go, you will no doubt be overwhelmed.
I would suggest that you take them one at a time, perhaps starting with the one on shutter speed. Then try to take a few shots in shutter priority mode and see how different shutter speeds affect your picture. (Shutter priority mode is indicated by the big S on the right hand dial, on top of your camera.)
You can for instance try to get a shot of one of the pooches running to fetch a ball at a high shutter speed, and then another at a low speed.
Try it, and let me know how you get on.
In the mean time, let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
Ed Sutton
Mr Sutton, ¬¨¬®¬¨¬Æ¬¨¬®¬¨?Ü‚Äö?Ñ????ë?????´‚Äö?Ñ????ë‚Äö?тĆ
Mr Sutton,
Thank you for the warm welcome. It is much appreciated. Yes, all 3 pooches are mine. although my passion is German shepherds. I also volunteer with a local Shepherd Rescue here in Wisconsin. So, its wonderful to here I am among other dog lovers.
I plan on taking the pack out for a run on Sunday so i will take your advice and try my shutter priotity mode there. Thanks for your help.
Vicki
Good choice
First of all, welcome to the boards and to the community.
I was looking at some reviews of your camera, and they are quite good.
You have some lovely dogs and you seem to have a good eye for photography.
I have a dog my own, but I don't have yet a good photo session with her, I hope to have one soon.
Ed is right on his pointers to get started, take one subject at a time and you will soon get a good grasp of all that it takes to get a good photography, at least from a technical point of view, the rest is up to you.
You can use this forums and ask for advice in what you are doing, Ed is very good as a teacher. Getting critics from others is a very good way to see those little details that you miss.
Hope to see you around and if there is anything I can do to help, don't hesitate.
Best regards,
Felipe
Be the change you want to see in the world
-- Mahatma Gandhi
Felipe, ¬¨¬®¬¨¬Æ¬¨¬®¬¨?Ü‚Äö?Ñ????ë?????´‚Äö?Ñ????ë‚Äö?тĆWhen
Felipe,
¬¨¬®¬¨¬Æ¬¨¬®¬¨?Ü‚Äö?Ñ????ë?????´‚Äö?Ñ????ë‚Äö?тĆWhen I was doing my research I was down to my Olyumps EVOLT and the Nikon D40.¬¨¬®¬¨¬Æ¬¨¬®¬¨?Ü‚Äö?Ñ????ë?????´‚Äö?Ñ????ë‚Äö?тĆ The reason I chose mine is because I am partially color blind and have rather bad eyes, so the "live view" looked as if it may help a bit more the the viewfinder. *LOL* I was wrong. I auctually find myself taking more pictures without it.
Looks like your girl is a Boxer? Very sweet dogs, my brother has 2.
I will definitely be sticking around for awhile and checking out some of the articles and photos.
Thanks for your kindness,
Vicki¬¨¬®¬¨¬Æ¬¨¬®¬¨?Ü‚Äö?Ñ????ë?????´‚Äö?Ñ????ë‚Äö?тĆ ¬¨¬®¬¨¬Æ¬¨¬®¬¨?Ü‚Äö?Ñ????ë?????´‚Äö?Ñ????ë‚Äö?тĆ ¬¨¬®¬¨¬Æ¬¨¬®¬¨?Ü‚Äö?Ñ????ë?????´‚Äö?Ñ????ë‚Äö?тĆ ¬¨¬®¬¨¬Æ¬¨¬®¬¨?Ü‚Äö?Ñ????ë?????´‚Äö?Ñ????ë‚Äö?тĆ ¬¨¬®¬¨¬Æ¬¨¬®¬¨?Ü‚Äö?Ñ????ë?????´‚Äö?Ñ????ë‚Äö?тĆ ¬¨¬®¬¨¬Æ¬¨¬®¬¨?Ü‚Äö?Ñ????ë?????´‚Äö?Ñ????ë‚Äö?тƬ¨¬®¬¨¬Æ¬¨¬®¬¨?Ü‚Äö?Ñ????ë?????´‚Äö?Ñ????ë‚Äö?тĆ
Hello Vicki. Indeed a Boxer,
Hello Vicki.
Indeed a Boxer, some may say "the clown of the dog fraternity", I don't think that she knows what the word serious means, I just love her!
I am sorry to hear that the live view was not as helpful as you thought, when you are using SLR's this feature is used only in certain situations (like when you want to preview the DOF and to review your photos of course), for some reason it is just magic to use the viewfinder.
I really hope that you like this community and find us helpful in your journey.
Be the change you want to see in the world
-- Mahatma Gandhi
My best friend
Vicki,
I have to say I was a little taken aback to be called Mr Sutton.
We're a pretty informal bunch here, so informal, in fact, that I have decided to drop the capital letter from my first name. So feel free to call me "ed".
I am a Great Dane lover myself. I've always had one, since boyhood. But when I recently immigrated to England, I had to leave the old boy behind. He stayed at the family home with my parents in South Africa, but he sadly passed away.
I got the news one cold, rainy winter's morning and believe me, England had never felt quite so far from home as that day.
"Money will buy you a pretty good dog, but it won't buy the wag of his tail." - Henry Wheeler Shaw ( http://www.dogquotes.com )
ed....
ed,
¬¨¬®¬¨¬Æ¬¨¬®¬¨?Ü‚Äö?Ñ????ë?????´‚Äö?Ñ????ë‚Äö?тĆI'm sorry to hear about your Great Dane. I lost a dog many years back, it was very hard. Ironicly I have a photo of him right here next to me. It always brings a smile to my face...I hope you have something similar.
¬¨¬®¬¨¬Æ¬¨¬®¬¨?Ü‚Äö?Ñ????ë?????´‚Äö?Ñ????ë‚Äö?тĆIt is so cool to hear you are in England! And raised in South Africa? Wow, I live in the "dairy state" lol. Its only a dream to see more of this beautiful world some day.
A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.
- Ansel Adams
Vicki
Manchester at the moment
I certainly do have a picture of him, I'll post it here as soon as I get back to my home computer (I'm in Manchester on assignment at the moment, typing on my laptop.)
That's the great thing about the internet, isn't it. Not only would I never have been able to fulfill my dream of publishing a photography magazine, but I would never have been able to meet photographers from all over the world.
I love your Ansel Adams quote, he was a great photographer, wasn't he, and one with any number of quotable phrases, I often refer to him in my posts.
My 1st gsd/husky mix...
I decided to post the dog I spoke of, Boart aka Bo in my album. It's a very old picuture filled with wonderful memories.
A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.
- Ansel Adams
Vicki
You never forget them
I can only see a small picture, but he looks great. I like grey shepherd a lot.
You never forget your first dog, they will be with you for the rest of your life.
My mother had a boxer when she was little, she says that she looked very like mine today. The funny thing is that sometimes she will even call mine by her old dog's name, same thing with my my uncles/aunts, they just loved that dog.
Be the change you want to see in the world
-- Mahatma Gandhi
Cats rule.
Speaking of dogs, I just realised there seems to be a bit of a Dog Theme in the contest this month. At last count there were three dogs entered in the competition.
Me, I'm a cat person myself.
You are right about it, it
You are right about it, it may be good to give contests an specific topic.
Do you own any cats? Lets see them?
Be the change you want to see in the world
-- Mahatma Gandhi
Her name is Paws
I have given the idea of
I have given the idea of themed competitions some thought. I think it would work well, provided we have enough entrants. As the site grows, I think it will be worth doing that. Maybe we can have two competitions, running along side each other, one with a theme, the other open.
What do you all think?
Ps. I have started a new thread especially for pet pictures here.
A safe way to go
I think that would be a safe way to go, keep one open and a themed one on the side, those may be competition/assignments that can help test drive new abilities for us the 'newbies' :-)
Be the change you want to see in the world
-- Mahatma Gandhi
Home, sweet home.
Vicki,
I just picked up on something you said earlier
"Its only a dream to see more of this beautiful world some day."
I come from a pretty small town in South Africa. My dad was a farmer and I never imagined I would see the world the way I have in the last few years.
But a camera gives a person the best excuse ever to travel, because you cannot take a picture of a place unless you go there, right.
That being said, the best possible pictures are taken by people who are in love with their own home town. Nobody knows it's character and nuances the way you do.
And the older I get and the more pictures I take, the more I realize that every time you click the shutter, you are not really looking at the world outside, you are bearing your own soul and showing what is inside you.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that although photography is a great excuse to travel, don't make not traveling an excuse for not taking great pictures!
Sweet words
I agree with ed, I have been doing some of that my self.
I do would like to travel some day, but I have always thought that I must first get to know my own country, hundreds of thousands of people come here every year and get to know it a lot more than I do, I am now paying so much attention to all that is around me that I am amazed.
I live in a valley and I am surrounded by some beautiful mountains and they are actually very close. I have been planning on taking pictures of them for a while now (I have taken some pictures but it has been raining a lot, but soon it will be sunnier!), I have seen this mountains for all of my life, but it was until recently that I actually appreciated them!
Good luck with your new eyes to the world around you Vicki!
Be the change you want to see in the world
-- Mahatma Gandhi
Good advice...
Thats some good advice friends. I will definately take it to heart.
A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.
- Ansel Adams
Vicki
Inspiration
I'm sure you've all seen that I've been inspired by this exchange to create a new competition, this time with a theme, namely Home Sweet Home, in which you can enter pictures taken close to your own abode.
I have taken the liberty of adding a little picture taken in the town where I grew up.
Can't wait to see yours.
Oops
No doubt you've noticed it is called Home is where the heart is and not Home sweet home!
curious
Ed,
Yes, I'm excited about the new theme and finding a great photo to enter in. Can I ask what your picture is?
A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.
- Ansel Adams
Vicki
Power plant
It looks like a Nuclear power plant, doesn't it.
Nothing that exciting. It's just the local power station's cooling towers.
I don't particularly like the image, but it was the only one I had on hand, and it was taken years ago.
It is a very interesting
It is a very interesting picture indeed.
Be the change you want to see in the world
-- Mahatma Gandhi