I'm doing something a little different today. It is basically a how to blog. If response is favorable I may do other more in depth how to blogs.
Christmas is a mere 28 days away. A popular Christmas gift is new cameras. Sometimes the camera will be just a newer model and other times it will be for someone who knows nothing about photography. The following steps can apply to everyone (although more so to the novice).
1. READ, READ, READ. If you are new to photography, find resources on basic photography to familiarize yourself with the terminology. Without a solid base your photography will suffer. The same applies to experienced photographers. There are a lot of good articles out there on advanced techniques. A couple of good sources are Popular Photography magazine and Shutterbug magazine.
2. Continue reading. Read the manual and look at the CD/DVD that comes with your new camera. These resources are indispensable in most cases. I say in most cases because there are some poorly written manuals. I don't go anywhere without my manual. The manual can answer a lot of questions before they become questions. I have had people ask questions about the most basic camera controls. Questions that are normally explained, at least somewhat, in the users manual.
3. Put the batteries in the camera and go through all the setup menus while following the instructions in the manual. Make note of anything you are not sure about or that the manual does not cover well enough.
4. Start shooting. At this point the subject matter does not matter. It can be your nephew picking his nose or your dog licking himself. The purpose here is to familiarize yourself with all of the doodads and whatsits on the new camera. Play with the buttons and dials to see how everything affects the pictures. Learn what everything does. These steps now can be the difference between getting that once in a lifetime picture or missing it. It can also mean the difference between gray snow and white snow or a yellow wedding dress or a white one.
5. Go read some more. Find a forum for your camera model, find photography forums. Ask your questions. Try new things with the camera. Take lots of pictures of nothing important. It's not like you have to pay for processing with digital cameras. Taking pictures of nothing important while using different settings will teach you how the camera needs to be setup to get the picture you want, not the picture that the camera thinks you want.
After taking pictures for 25 years, I can tell you that the read and play cycle never ends. I am always learning new things about my equipment and it's limitations or learning and mastering new techniques. The way to mastery is through education (reading) and practice (playing). How many bad shots have I taken over the years? Way to many to count. The novice thinks every picture needs to be good. The master knows that sometimes only 1 out of 100 needs to be good. As you go through the read and play cycles, you will learn about more than just the camera. You will learn techniques and composition and many other wonderful things.
6. Ignore everything I have just said and leave your camera in automatic. Your snapshots will be acceptable as snapshots. Not always a bad thing. We all have a need and desire to record things that happen in our life. That's what a snapshot is, a recording of a particular moment in time to keep the memory of the moment alive. If you have no desire to make photographs instead of snapshots keep your camera in automatic. But if you have ever wondered how some photographs are done, read and find out. Almost 100% of the time it is not done with the camera in automatic mode. The photographer knew ahead of time how the camera needed to be set to get the photograph he desired. The photographer did not allow the camera to make decisions. Snapshots or photographs...the choice is yours.
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