Have fun. I made an income as a photographer most of my life...put myself through college even. Dh and I had a portrait and wedding business for a long time.

Photography is fun...especially in this digital age.

Putting yourself through college as a photographer -- that's so interesting. I admire women with entrepreneurial sense, and you had it at a young age too.

Can't imagine learning photography back in the film days -- I'd have been too afraid to waste the film!

It made you THINK, for sure. But also I had access to B/W and Color darkrooms...color's hard, but it sure saved costs.

When I went into portrait work I had a pro lab do my finishing.

Wow, you did your own development at one time too? From my very beginner point of view, I am in complete awe, LOL!

Our assignment this week is to experiment with fill flash both outdoors & indoors (flash should be arriving from Amazon tomorrow). I never realize lighting could get so complicated. As a portrait photographer, you must have had a keen sense for all that.

How old were you when you learned to photograph? And how did you gain the knowledge, did one of your parents teach you?

This is SO weird. I was coming here to do a topic on camera help!

I have a Canon Rebel EOS XTI. The video that came with it lost me in the beginning.

The instruction book doesn't have my problem in it.

I have a wide lens and one of those foot long zoom lens which I've never used. Plus the regular lens it comes with which is the one I use the most, it has zoom too.

My problem? Objects in the pictures seem further away and smaller than they actually are. Not people, but things like furniture.

No matter how close I stand to the object it still looks smaller in the picture, even though it takes up the whole frame.

Anyone know why?

If I lived close enough to a community college, I'd take a course.

This the blind leading the blind, but...

I think it's the lens you're using and the focal length. What focal length are you using? (those are the adjustable numbers on the top of the lens -- 18, 24, 35, 55 or something similar).

So glad you're taking this leap too, oakley! Yes, you do need a course or multiple trips to the library.

Also, what mode are you shooting in? (Look at the dial with Auto, P, A, T, M, the mountain, the flower, the runner, & the face)

It's in Auto mode, and under Focus, the box is blank. No clue where the focal numbers are, I'm getting my book out now that I have a beginning.

Do you do Manual or Automatic Focus? Mine's definitely set on AF, Automatic Focus.

If I need to do manual, I'll start practicing later, if the book explains it well enough! lol

The thing is, usually when I take a picture I'm in a hurry, so it seems like it would take a long time to set it manually.

oakley, I just got a Canon Rebel a couple of months ago. I also got the book For Dummies, and read through it a litte when I first got the camera, but, haven't done much with it for awhile, and have now forgotten. I cannot believe the difference in the quality of pictures from my other cameras. I have an elective at college I have to take before graduating, and I think I will take it in Photography, so I can get my feet wet.

Mine came with a lens, and then I bought a lens for around $200.00, that I have never used.

Try turning the lens so it's not on the smallest number (the focal length thing again). That should make the camera zoom in so things don't look far away.

LOL! I got my first little Brownie box camera when I was 11. I played with B/W film all during junior high. In high school, I worked on the yearbook and school newspaper--we did only B/W, but all our own processing and developing. Lots of experimenting and talking to other photographers...some workshops.

Got the job as a photographer/darkroom tech at the college I went to...met my husband in the darkroom. GRIN (Yep, we've heard ALL the jokes.)

By that time, my dad saw the potential of photography. He'd always wanted to own his own business, so he apprenticed with a local pro, then went into business. So...I was a photographer first, but he made it a business while I was in college. After college, and marrying my guy...someone from our church asked us to do some wedding photos...her maid of honor asked and so on...before long I was 24 and doing 50 weddings a summer. Whew.

We joined local, regional, and national professional photographer organizations. LOTS of great educational opportunities there...I studied and learned and studied some more.

Yes, I learned a lot about lighting. Photography IS lighting...then composition and feeling.
It was a fun career. I closed my studio in my early 40's when we had an opportunity to move overseas for a while. By the time we came back, digital photography had swept in...I've learned just enough to do family photos for us. I keep my hand in doing portraits for a few select past clients from time to time.

Remember...it isn't the camera, it's the person behind the camera who creates the art. Cameras can make it easier...but the artsy stuff comes from within you.

Enjoy it!

Oh, I do the zoom all the time. I can get right up to something, take the picture and it STILL looks further away than what it is. It drives me NUTS.

I'll see if I can find a Dummie's book on my camera. But geez, they change these cameras every year or so which makes it harder. Mine's about 3 years old. I'm sure it's already outdated. lol

Y'know oakley, come to think of it, one of the women in my first camera class did an assignment & was puzzled about why her subjects looked so distant compared to everyone else's. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention to her issue because I was fiddling with my own assignment. But I'll try to remember to ask the teacher why that was and whether it was resolved.

That's a wonderful career you had there, h_in_t. And enviable experience too. Fifty weddings a summer, how on earth did you juggle that?

When I was in high school ('69-'73) girls weren't allowed to take photography class -- the darkroom thing. How archaic! But shortly after I graduated, that changed: not only could girls take photography class, they had a full slate of sports programs to choose from, and (this is really progressive) a boys cheerleading squad was created. (I was the first female stuco president, if you'll excuse my trumpeting).

I'm just a hobbyst (?) but my pics cover my walls - good or bad - it's just for me.

I love photography and my dad is a photography nut. I swear he knows everything but he's on the opposite coast as me. Boo!

He bought me my first camera and has upgraded me ever since.

This Summer he upgraded me to a Sony A230 DSLR. It has mixed reviews but what do I know? I LOVE IT! He sent me a couple of different lenses and it has so many settings that I'm almost afraid to do anything. He got me a class to go w/ it but the closest place is an hour away and I haven't been able to go yet.

Despite being a total moron w/ it I've managed to get amazing photos. Typically I'm a black and white picturre girl but the colors are phenomenal w/ this!

I'm really looking forward to learning how to do various applications.

Here is a picture of DD that was taken a few wknds ago. I swear I can reach out and feel the soft hair on her face!

Ttodd - the photo of your daughter is amazing. What a great portrait.

Have you thought of looking into the Phila. Community College or the Art Institute to see if there are classes that would work for you? I'm even considering taking a private lesson or two - that way the instructor would be using my camera to show me the various techniques. I think it would be a great present.

Maire

Oh my gosh, ttodd, what a beautiful face your DD has! Fabulous eye color.

There are some amazing photos on flickr with the Sony a230. Check out the link below. Looks to me like the a230 is a wonderfully capable camera. The reviews I read downgraded it (and the a330) for the small grip, but that's what I like about it (and the light weight as well).

Here is a link that might be useful: a200/a230 group at flickr

I love that pic, ttodd! What a gorgeous little doll! lowspark also takes some amazing pictures. She offers up some camera tips over on her blog, Low Tide, High Style. She's been discussing using various textures lately.

I, on the other hand, take terrible pictures. I should be better since I've had a camera in my hand my whole life(I'm the daughter of two Kodak retirees,) but I've never taken the time to learn.

lax, thanks for mentioning lowspark's thoroughly enjoyable blog. I didn't realize she had her own site & was so talented.

Laughing at your shoemaker's children plight :)