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Nature Photography & Optics

Newbie questions regarding photography

19 years ago

Hi! :) Like I mentioned in another post here, I'm a casual photographer, but want to learn more about photography and eventually own/purchase some great equipment (especially for taking pics of birds, but I love to take pictures of anything). I'd love to learn how to take high quality pics, maybe some digiscoping, etc. I'm used to the point & shoot type cameras. I bought my first digital camera back in January of this year, it's a Kodak Easyshare DX6490 4megpix 10x optical. It does pretty good, but of course it does have it's limitations (can't add on lenses, bad low light pics, slow start & focus issues, etc).

Ok...here I go with my questions. Are ya ready? ...are ya sure? :)

1. Where's a good place for someone wanting to learn photography to start? Classes at a college, books or someplace on the internet?

2. If a point & shoot person buys a SLR digital camera, is there a huge learning curve? Is it really complicated to learn?

3. What does SLR stand for?

hmmmm...I sure thought I had more questions than this, lol, but I'm coming up empty for now. ;) I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance!

Comments (7)

User
19 years ago
Sure, you can take a course at the local community college or adult education program in the public school. It will get you started right, and should give you confidence when you head out on your own. If you can find a course that deals specifically with digital cameras and digital pictures, you'll be that much farther ahead. It is different, but the learning curve isn't steep. The great thing is that if you don't like the picture, you can delete it. You don't have to pay to have it developed, only to be disappointed.

SLR stands for single lens reflex.

Digital cameras are point and shoot, unless they have a zoom, which you can use to zoom. You'll need a computer to upload the pictures from the camera, and a phote program to clean up the pictures and get them to a size that will work on the web.

Good luck and enjoy.
paisley_tx
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks Barb, I appreciate the advice. :)
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BirdNerd
19 years ago
Paisley, I have the Digital Rebel and love it. The biggest
difference will be the size and weight compared to a point and shoot. I have always used SLR cameras so I'm used to it. You might think you have a whopper in your hands compared to the small point and shoot cameras. You can learn about all the bells and whistles at your own pace because you can put it on auto and it does everything for you like aperture setting shutter speed and lens focusing.

Jeff
paisley_tx
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks so much Jeff, that's great to hear. :) I've heard and seen so many good things about the Canon Digital Rebel. I'm assuming that you can use it with a digiscope? That's my ultimate goal.
petite
19 years ago
I too, am a newbie to photography and have gotten some great shots, and some really lousy ones. I want to take some pictures of bald eagles in flight this winter. I just purchased a new camera (Sony Cybershot). This is a lot of camera for someone who really knows nothing about photography except 1. point and 2. shoot.....any pointers? Thanks in advance.
GawdinFever
19 years ago
petite, you've gotta be kidding me! I look at your pictures all the time---and they are pro material!

Susanne
photogeek
19 years ago
There's actually a good bit of info on the net about digiscoping. More than I can tell you! Try searching on "digiscoping". You should do lots of research before jumping into that one. You would need a t-mount for the Rebel and a scope that will mate to that t-mount. There are specialized brackets for holding cameras in the proper position for a scope, but they are $$$. Some sites have some ingenious low-tech solutions, so keep looking!

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