How am I going to remember all of this?

[kimapali]

I just got done reading Lesson 3, and I couldn't even answer the quiz questions. I'd like to consider myself as a somewhat intelligent person, but it was a little bit of system overload. I did have some AHA! moments just taking pictures of my living room while completing this lesson (my sleeping cat was a great subject too!). But seriously, how am I supposed to remember shutter speed, ISO, aperture, white balance, etc., etc. when I'm out spontaneously photographing?

:confused:

:eek:

[coffee]

First of all, you don't always have to remember all of that. Just pick up your camera and take some pictures. :-) But it will all come to you in time.

So let's make it simple to start with. As far as white balance, for now just set it to auto. Most people always leave it there anyway. Later if you want to learn more about it, do. If you shoot RAW, you can always change the WB later anyway. So for now that's taken care of.

If you have enought light, and/or use a tripod, and/or sufficient flash, you can and should leave ISO at 100-200. The only reason you would raise the ISO is if you are underexposed. The higher the ISO, the more "noise" your image will have. So keep in at 100-200 unless you HAVE to raise it. So that's taken care of.

If you shoot in Apature Priority, the shutter will automatically be set by the camera for correct exposure. If you are shooting in Time Value or Shutter Priority, your apature is automatically set by the camera for correct exposure. So for right now all you have to decide before you take that shot, is if Depth of Field (Apature), or the subjects movement(Shutter) is more important to you for that particular shot, and setup that one setting. Most of the time, the rest of the setting will be ready to go. In time, you may find yourself shooting in full manual mode most of the time.

I always keep my camera in Program mode when it's in the case, just in case something happends and I have to pic up my camera and just start shooting before I miss the shot. The only thing worse than a bad shot, is a missed shot. But most of the time you will have time to set up your camera for the shot you think you want.

Hope this helps. Have fun.

[gjtoth]

I just got done reading Lesson 3, and I couldn't even answer the quiz questions. I'd like to consider myself as a somewhat intelligent person, but it was a little bit of system overload. I did have some AHA! moments just taking pictures of my living room while completing this lesson (my sleeping cat was a great subject too!). But seriously, how am I supposed to remember shutter speed, ISO, aperture, white balance, etc., etc. when I'm out spontaneously photographing?

:confused:

:eek:

Practice. You can get a better understanding of things by playing here: http://dryreading.com/camera/index.html

For those spontaneous, candid shots... leave your camera in "Program" mode. The camera will do the work.

[ladyups]

First things first, Kim...this is an enjoyable hobby so don't make it a grueling job. I've had my dslr for over a year and I still don't know what I'm doing most of the time but I do know tons more than the day I unpacked my camera for the first time. I originally had an Olympus and it had manual controls but I never moved off the auto and preset exposure settings. Had not a clue what to do there so just stayed where I was comfortable. It wasn't till I realized I was missing a lot of wonderful shots that I started checking into dslr...didn't even know what it stood for when I bought my camera..:) It was because of the lag time in the Olympus that I decided to move up. And moving up and paying the more expensive price is what made me want to really learn my camera..I read a ton of books and they are all very en-lighting and forced myself to start using the manual controls. I'm not good, by any means, but things are starting to come easier for me and they will you too...just keep shooting and having fun and you will be surprised what you learn as you go along..don't expect to learn it all in one week or even one year....but it will come...

Mary

[dkippen]

Kimapali -

Like everyone else says, take your time, practice, get to know your camera. I know for me, I'll of course learn more by hands on and practicing, rather than spend hours reading. After a while, what you read then put into practice will make sense. Enjoy taking pictures and create a journal of your pictures and you'll see over time that you have improved. One of the other posters on this board does that - only she takes pictures everyday.

[kimapali]

Thanks for the tips and encouragement guys! I just felt so overwhelmed after that lesson, and there's still more to go! I'm a teacher, and I'm very patient with my students when they're not grasping a concept, but I'm really hard on myself since I'm somewhat of a perfectionist! Anyway, I'll just have fun with Assignment 3 and mess around with the camera and see what I get.

BTW Gary thanks for that link, it was a really good guide and it was helpful for me because I could see how the different settings affect the picture.

[gjtoth]

BTW Gary thanks for that link, it was a really good guide and it was helpful for me because I could see how the different settings affect the picture.

You're welcome. It's a good learning/reinforcement tool. One of the things that I just COULDN'T get through my head is "the triangle". As good as the course is, I just couldn't put it together. This link brought it right on home. Glad it helped you, too.

[Snappers]

As others have said, practice is the important part, the more you do something the more you will understand it. If out in the field, you dont get the result you want, go home, research it (re-read the lesson) and then go out and try again. Eventually it will all click into place. That is the best thing with Digital cameras, you can take loads of pictures and mess about with them without it costing you a penny in processing costs. :)

[jerryph]

As someone that often takes huge volumes of information (1200 page computer manuals that are boring as heck at times, for example), and has to be able to deliver training, the best piece of advice I could offer is to chunk it.

By that I mean break things into smaller manageable parts and practice with the chosen aspect until it becomes second nature. Take one week and concentrate ONLY on aperture, be aware of every change you make and the results of those changes. The following week play with ISO, same guidelines. Third week just shutter speed, again, same rules.

When you practice, remember all those millions of small things like composition, level horizon, framing, rule of thirds, etc... but place an emphasis on the thing you are concentrating on (aperture for example). I can guarantee if you focus for 1-2 hours on just one aspect everyday for a week, it becomes second nature and you can move on to the next aspect.

There are people out there that have had their cameras for 20 years and cannot explain to us the basics as we understand them today, and they may take good pictures, but we have the foundation to take better pictures and more importantly, know how and where to improve.

Don't let the questions discourage you... go back and re-read a section, grab your camera and try it out and see if what they are discussing is clear for you.

Have fun! :D

Oh, but today, since it is Valentine's day... go smooch your significant other and forget about the camera for a while! :)

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