My husband bought me a Canon EOS 700D. I was so excited it took me half an hour just to get the lens caps off and fit the lens!
Anyone out there got any advice ? I've been on 365 for several years now, but I'm new to DSLR and want to do it justice.
Congratulations Lesley and well done husband. My advice is simple. Firstly relax and enjoy just looking at and holding your new camera. Secondly don't be intimidated just be prepared to take your time. Thirdly identify the kind of photos you want to take and think about what and why they appeal to you. Is it macro, shallow depth of field, architecture, wildlife, portraits, street etc. now identify some photographs or style that you like and try to replicate them. I learned to shoot using P mode before I moved to manual. It allowed me to play with shallow depth of field without being concerned with other elements. Just take your time and enjoy the learning. Good luck. There are loads of free instructions on YouTube. Have a look and practice a new skill each week. Kind regards.
@spanner Thanks so much, that' serially good advice. I'm taking it for a walk tomorrow in the beautiful Suffolk countryside surrounding my home so we'll see what transpires.
Congratulations Lesley - how exciting! I agree totally with the comments from @spanner . Enjoy & try to only focus on one new thing at a time so you don't feel overwhelmed! I sound it useful to download the user manual pdf to my iphone so I could refer back when I could not remember how to do some things. http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/canon-eos-rebel-t5i700d-for-dummies.html
Wow, what a great gift, I would also recommend checking out craftsy.com, they have a basic photography course for free which may help you understand things. Read the manual!
I wrote a nice long response, but it disappeared into the ether, so gonna go short 'n sweet this time :)
My main advice is get out there and shoot, and participate in some challenges that will get you out of your comfort zone and force you to learn the settings... And most importantly,have fun!
Also, a 365-er wrote a book called boost your photography (Kate something... She goes by @archaeofrog ).. When I read it I remember thinking that I wished I'd had the book when I was first learning my dslr... It's available on Amazon and quite reasonably priced...
Have a ton of fun. Use the auto function to start, and then dig in bit by bit! All other advice I've seen--excellent! I never got familiar with my manual, but I think I'd use it some now. The problems with manuals are they are so technical that it's hard to get what they mean at first. I'm jealous! I got a remote controlled shutter thingy though!!! :)
Congratulations on getting an awesome Christmas present - although I feel I should be congratulating your hubby on getting it for you. Taking it one step at a time is great advice - the first thing I did was work out ISO, aperture and shutter speed and how they influence each other. The greatest joy of dslr is being able to delete all your rubbish shots, so just get out and shoot, shoot, shoot. Merry Christmas.
@lellie my best advice would be to check out YouTube. Just type in EOS 700 D and I am sure you will have a heap of tutorials telling you how to use it, or even just type in something like, "introduction to DSLR". And when you get a little more confident, check out "getting into manual mode". I would also reccomend that you start to shoot in RAW format. When you do you have so much more control over the shots, they are a lot better quality as well. Mut most of all, just have lots of fun.
Great present. The problem with manuals is that they explain "what" but not "why," and are written usually for experienced users anyway.
I find I learn from scratch best from books, good ones. Old fashioned, yes I know. The "From Snapshots to Great Shots " series are excellent starting points, and Jeff Revell is a good writer, and there are wonderful example shots in full color. Here's the one for the T5i/700D. Good shooting.
I'd be another in the "don't read the manual" column :) I'm sure it's great for some but it's never really been something that's helped me greatly. I remember feeling the same way 6 years ago when I bought my first DSLR! I had no idea what to do with it or even which lens to put on! I think I barely touched it until I enrolled myself in a short course which I found extremely valuable. I think I learn best practically. On the other hand, I have really only embraced youtube tutorials (mostly for software) in the last year or two, it certainly wasn't something I accessed back then so chances are all the advice along those lines would be pretty useful too :) Enjoy :)
I think exploring as you need is a great suggestion. If you can fit the booklet in your camera bag you will always have it to hand, or if you can download it into a tablet or phone that you always carry.
For me the thing to remember is that the point of all the gee-wizidary is to help make better photos, not to be an end in itself. So as suggested above, developing your critical skills is key.
@ltodd@lfrans@northy@darylo@joeymc@brianarmoured@psychegrrrl@karlow75@pixiemac@frankhymus@aliha
Many thanks to you all for taking the time and trouble to reply. You are all so generous.
I have downloaded the Jeff Revell book to my kindle and I'm about to go and play around with the ISO, Aperture etc.
I also plan to check out YouTube, that,s a great idea. Then I'm taking it for a walk down to the river to try it out.
Congrats on the new camera. A book that has helped me a ton is Stunning Digital Photograpy by Tony Northrup. There is a Kindle edition for $10 that comes with the text of the book and links to 8 or more hours of videos. It also comes with access to a great Facebook group that is designed for members to help one another out with photography. Between the book and the group I have learned a ton over this past year. Above all just go crazy and have fun!
What a wonderful discussion for me. I, like some others here, just used the manual when I couldn't figure something out. I've taken a short class on using the DSLR which helped me go beyond Auto to P mode. I'm trying to get out of that mode so much so have been reading more and trying to figure the why so I can internalize what I'm doing. That's what my goal for 2015 is - the "why" behind the "how" (not that I'm great in the "how" yet.). I appreciate all the suggestions that the folks have provided and plan to try them myself. Congratulations on the new camera. ENJOY!
What a smashing gift! Me? I would read the manual from cover to cover - more as an aide memoire so that you can recall that your camera has the ability to do something (even if you can't remember how to do it!) - and then go out and have some fun!
I so agree with the "From Snapshots to Great Shots" book. They make one just for your camera and it gives you how to and why to, plus little assignments and an on-line Flickr group in which to post your photos. Bought one when I got my D60 and really learned a lot quickly with that book!!
Congratulations to hubby for being a great support to you and to you on your new camera! I can't give you any better advice than what's already been given in the technological department other than to agree that playing and practicing with your camera is the best way to learn. As I am in the same process with a Canon Rebel T3i, some of the advice here was quite useful to me too! On the artistic side, I'd recommend Freeman Paterson's book Photography and the Art of Seeing. It has been and continues to be very inspirational to me. Also as I am best at learning when someone physically shows me how to do something, I am planning to make use of some one on one classes at my local camera store. Not everyone has that available to them. But if you do and all the aforementioned videos and books are not exactly what you're looking for, perhaps a class or too will be a way to learn and grow. Best wishes and happy shooting!!
@pvignola@randystreat@creampuff@swguevin@olivetreeann
I never fail to be amazed by the generosity of the people on this website. I took a few shots in the automatic mode yesterday just to get the feel of the camera in my hands, unfortunately it was a very grey day and the light wasn't great, even wonderfully photogenic Woodbridge looked dull and monochrome. Today, unless my family rocks up, which they are quite likely to do, I will have a bit more time to play around, and if the family does turn up I can photograph my grandchildren who are great posers.
Thanks again everone.
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I wrote a nice long response, but it disappeared into the ether, so gonna go short 'n sweet this time :)
My main advice is get out there and shoot, and participate in some challenges that will get you out of your comfort zone and force you to learn the settings... And most importantly,have fun!
Also, a 365-er wrote a book called boost your photography (Kate something... She goes by @archaeofrog ).. When I read it I remember thinking that I wished I'd had the book when I was first learning my dslr... It's available on Amazon and quite reasonably priced...
Good luck and have fun!
I find I learn from scratch best from books, good ones. Old fashioned, yes I know. The "From Snapshots to Great Shots " series are excellent starting points, and Jeff Revell is a good writer, and there are wonderful example shots in full color. Here's the one for the T5i/700D. Good shooting.
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-EOS-Rebel-T5i-700D/dp/0321942035/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419593416&sr=8-1&keywords=from+snapshots+to+great+shots+EOS+700D
For me the thing to remember is that the point of all the gee-wizidary is to help make better photos, not to be an end in itself. So as suggested above, developing your critical skills is key.
Many thanks to you all for taking the time and trouble to reply. You are all so generous.
I have downloaded the Jeff Revell book to my kindle and I'm about to go and play around with the ISO, Aperture etc.
I also plan to check out YouTube, that,s a great idea. Then I'm taking it for a walk down to the river to try it out.
I so agree with the "From Snapshots to Great Shots" book. They make one just for your camera and it gives you how to and why to, plus little assignments and an on-line Flickr group in which to post your photos. Bought one when I got my D60 and really learned a lot quickly with that book!!
Congrats on new wonderful camera!
I never fail to be amazed by the generosity of the people on this website. I took a few shots in the automatic mode yesterday just to get the feel of the camera in my hands, unfortunately it was a very grey day and the light wasn't great, even wonderfully photogenic Woodbridge looked dull and monochrome. Today, unless my family rocks up, which they are quite likely to do, I will have a bit more time to play around, and if the family does turn up I can photograph my grandchildren who are great posers.
Thanks again everone.