MsLala Loc: Kingston, NY

Photo Girl,
Thanks for your kind words, I hope it does get easier. Yes, that's my Josie, a Yorkie. She's so photogenic, loves the camera. I have another Petie, a Carin Terrier, who hates the camera. Every once in awhile I can get a descent shot of him.
Laura

MsLala Loc: Kingston, NY

Vicksart,
I think everyone has their own way of keeping track of their photos. Whatever works for each person is the best for them. You seem to have a food system, I like the idea of binders. I'm with you though, I won't be posting on the web for a very, very long time.
Have a nice evening,
Laura

Db7423 Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Laura, you are getting so much information. Some good and some perhaps not so... buy Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure". $20 from Amazon and your local Barnes and Noble and your local store will probably have it in stock. Readable, understandable, well presented and illustrated. Reading this book will answer ALL your questions and give you a lot of ideas as well. ;)

MsLala Loc: Kingston, NY

Db,
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll see if my loca Barnes and Noble has it if not I'll be definitely ordering it ASAP.
Thanks again,
Laura

Ugly Jake Loc: Sub-Rural Vermont

I second this recommendation. Also, to do a little Post Production work (PP), I recommend a free program, Faststone. VERY easy to learn and use.

amehta Loc: Boston

ISO is a measure of the sensor sensitivity, or how much light is needed to get a properly exposed image. Your 70D has a ISO range from 100 to 12800, with each "stop" doubling the number before it: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800. Each stop you go up, like from 100 to 200, means you need half as much light to get the right exposure. A lot of what we shoot involves the challenge of "not enough light". (You can take decent pictures with a camera phone if there is lots of light. The DSLR wins when there isn't much light.) One way to deal with "not enough light" is to use a higher ISO, like 1600 instead of 100. But, of course, there's no free lunch: the image will be noisier at the higher ISO like 1600. Sometimes the extra noise is acceptable, other times it is not. The key is to understand what the noise levels are with your camera at different ISO settings, so you know whether it's worth it to go higher for a particular shot. That's the thinking only you can do, which is why I suggested going off auto-ISO first. When you look at a picture taken at a high ISO, perhaps 3200 or 6400, you will notice the noise compared to the ISO 100 picture. Most pictures have darker, lighter, and middle areas. Notice where you see the noise first.

The aperture is what determines the amount of light that gets into the camera at any instant. It is measured in f-stops: f/2.0, 2.8, 4.0, 5.6, 8.0, .... A larger number (8) means a smaller aperture. Each time the number gets bigger (2.0 --> 2.8), the amount of light is halved. So f/4 lets in four times as much light as f/8, and f/2 is four times as much light as f/4.