For All New Photo Enthusiasts

[Thordic]

I've seen a lot of people on AO lately who are getting into photography.

The internet is full of information, but a lot of sources are either overly technical, hard to read, or simply useless.

I found this one FAQ, though (Built around Canon but useful for anyone) that does the best job I've seen with giving the user basic knowledge of photography equipment and how it works.

http://photonotes.org/articles/beginner-faq/

I just thought I'd share as I found it helpful and very well-written.

[Muzikman]

Wow...that is a lot of information. From a few things I read it's good info too.

Now Thordic, I know you have taken more pics than the flowers. Let's see what you been shooting.

[Thordic]

We've had crappy weather all week. Im goin hiking tommorow afternoon though, so I"ll have some better pics tommorow night

And yeah that article has a LOT of info in it. It's all presented clearly, and doesn't assume you have prior camera knowledge but doesn't assume you are an idiot either.

[fire1811]

very nice
thanks

[MantisMag]

We've had crappy weather all week. Im goin hiking tommorow afternoon though, so I"ll have some better pics tommorow night

i had that same problem when i got my camera. i was stuck around the house and all the flowers in my mom's garden were wilted. it was cold so there were very few insects around. all the birds and small animals were too far. i was going nuts trying to find things to take pictures of.

[Thordic]

Well I went to the waterfall today to take pics, its not the best day out, kinda overcast but oh well. I'm not a huge fan of how the pics came out, I thought the waterfall would make a better subject, but you live, you learn, eh?

In any case, here are two pics. I know theres some lens flare in the second, I don't have a hood yet. And I know they are big, but I didn't feel like uploading a second "AO-friendly" pic in addition to the normal one. I don't like them that much but I figured I'd share anyway.

[Muzikman]

Water is only fun to shoot at slow shutter speed. If not it just looks like the water is standing still. The problem with this is that you need a tripod.

The other thing that might have helped was different meter mode (Evaluative). The rock is very dark and the water is very bright. It was probably throwing the meter off abunch.

[Thordic]

I brought a tripod, but there was nowhere you could use it. Anywhere you have an angle on the water is fairly jagged rocks.

[Bluestrike_2]

Trust me, you can get a tripod anywhere. At the very least, a monopod would help.

I use a three-way Manfrotto head. What you can do is setup the tripod so it's not level. Then, correct via the head. Problem solved. Just get it on secure footing. Adjust the length of the legs individually. Even if one's in the stream itself, if it's secure, it'll work.

if you can, purchase a bubble level that mounts in the hotshoe. Very useful for landscapes.

Also, while the first few views you might see look good, sometimes great, keep looking around. A lot of the time there are more interesting views just waiting to be found.

Edit: Maybe a sideways shot really close to the waterfall.

Without being there, I'm just trying to give you a few ideas to reshoot.

Also, go there before dawn (TAKE A FLASHLIGHT), setup, and wait for morning light. Try not to get the bridge in there again. It really hurts the image....

Don't worry, you can get some rather nifty shots there. Go for the shots that you wouldn't think of normally. Since your're shooting digital(I still use my medium format for landscapes and similair), you can review instantly. Use this to your advantage. Also, if you're focusing screen permits, try to turn on the grids. Then, use the rule of thirds as a starting point for your compositions.

Muz: On another note, I just got a few prints back from West Coast Imaging(www.westcoastimaging.com) While they're VERY expensive, especially compared to Filmet, the quality is amazing...

They're making a 16x20 of the one slide up at Niagara Falls(the garden)you did some work on. (Standard Print). It will be here Tuesday....

Also, I really like their black and white piezography prints. Great, and they really like to work with you to get a great image.