I frequently have to shoot through white netting or glass at ice hockey arenas. I do it the way Gene51 recommends in his second paragraph, but I also concentrate on lock focusing on the subject.

If you use T Mobile as your cellular provider, Netflix comes free.

I have not found a single non-Nikon camera that has a buffer as large and as quick as the D500. That includes the new Sony A9, a7R3 and the Lumix G9. When Shooting ice hockey, so long as I’m focused and I keep my finger on the shutter, i don’t miss a shot.The XQD is worth every cent. And there is no lag for writing to the card when I take my finger off the shutter. It’s a great camera and my search to replace it for something lighter and smaller has not produced a viable option for me for ice hockey.

Reply:
1) Welcome to the HOG. Sign up to get it every morning. I get it at 5:30am and spend an hour each morning reading it before I start my day. That’s 7 hours of great learning a week! All free.

2) the Canon Rebel line is great to start with and great to grow with. Enjoy!

3) Try to get off A mode and try to learn Manual, Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority. To do that you need to learn the basics of photography. You can do that on YouTube for free. Or, you can get a structured course on line. I did (and highly recommend) www.nyip.edu (New York Institue of Photography) Fundamentals of Digital Photography course. They frequently have sales of 30 to 50% off. Another is www.Lynda.com which offers a great variety of on line courses and excellent teachers. (One of my favorites is Ben Long). Check out the free on line video education centers of Adorama and B&H. Both great resources. Educational resources are endless. Then, try a Master Class with a couple of well knowns who you have watched on the web. But the best way to learn is by shooting as much as you can, making mistakes and learning from them. After doing that for a couple of years, compare your earlier photos with your current photos. You’ll see how far you’ve come.

4) once you get into photography, new worlds will open up and you’ll wonder why you didn’t get into this 20 years ago.

5) Prepare to succumb to GAS attacks. But enjoy every one. Having been through 4 or 5 brands and their systems I have come to believe two rules: (1) less is more; and (2) the simpler the better.

6) PostProcessing: A MacBook is the easiest and IMO best way to go for editing your photos. Mac has Photos built in and it’s a fine program to start with for photo editing. But as you get into photography, you may want more: Lightroom, Luminar, Affinity, Capture One. But that’s down the road a bit.

7) Have fun. And enjoy the learning process.

8) Welcome aboard the HOG train.

BJW

Reply:

Was in rhe same quandry just a few weeks ago and was about to delete LR and go back to Mac Photos.
Then for $35.00 I found www.Lynda.com. They have hundreds of great “ how to” courses. There I found a course on Lightroom Classic by Jan Kabili. It was EXCELLENT. I devoted one weekend, got thru each of the course chapters all on video, and I was up and running. Whnever I have a question, I return to the short video on that topic for a review.
The only downside is that she speaks a little too quickly, but in the long run its better since every sentence is packed with valuable info.
It’s now about 4 weeks since I spent the weekend doing that course and I have LR down pat. It was worth every penny of the $35.

Check B&H for this: Mountainsmith Trekker FX Walking Stick & Monopod. Under $30. Great reviews.

BJW

I feel your pain. And I prdrict that the GAS devil will prevail over me within the next 30-60 days. My struggle is going to be between the Sony AR3 and the Lumix G9 which is about to arrive in shops.

Check out ScotteVest. I got a couple of them from there. Also, try TravelSmith.

I bought all the reference books mentioned and watched many of the you tube videos. While all the reference books are very good as such, I found them difficult to get beyond chapter 2. The you tube videos were superficial.

What I did instead was go to Lynda.com and there is a 5 hour video course by Jan Kabili on Lightroom classic. It was best of all IMHO.

It is a collection of short videos on almost every LR topic that goes in logical sequential chapters. I set aside one weekend to get through all 5 hours of video and by Monday I was up and running. After I did that, i then referred to Kelby and/or Northrup on an occaional basis.

Lynda.com cost $35 a month but it has a fabulous variety of courses on photography topics (I like Ben Long best of all) and almost anything else you want to learn. To me, very well worth it.

Were you in Auto WB? Which might have played a role? The second shot looks warmer and the light meter may have read the reflection of the sun on the building differently so as to give the very different exposure.

I started with the online course, Fundamentals of Digital Photography with NY Institute of Photography. Www.NYIP.edu. Excellent and worth every penny.
I also like www.lynda. Com. Ben Long, especially, gives excellent video lessons.,

I’ve also used the various other youtube lessons mentioned but have found NYIP.edu and lynda.com to be rhe best and most comprehensive.

Thanks much!

Thanks very much, to each of you.
BJW

I’m at the beginning of the learning curve on Lightroom Classic and would be grateful for some guidance. In adjusting the white balance to increase the warmth of the subject’s face, her beautiful white teeth also turned “warm” or yellowish. How can I keep the increased warmth of the face, but turn down the temperature of her teeth to keep them white? Ther must be a local paintbrush type tool somewhere?

I can’t seem to find a reference either in Scott Kelby’s or the Northrup’s Lightroom books. Would appreciate your help.

Many thanks,
BjW

It seems that portrait photographers prefer focal lengths of 50-90 mm but you can go shorter or longer depending on your artistic objective. I have found the speed of the lens (aperture) to be another important factor because tne faster the lens the better the background blur which in turns bringsmore attention to your subject. This is especially so in environmental or street portraiture which takes place outside of the studio. In those cases I use a f1.7 or wider aperture and prefer ambient lighting and getting real close up to my subject. Another essential aspect of the portrait is how you capture the subject’s eyes, which conveys the emotions of the subject.

So far, I have found portraiture to be the most interesting genre of all.

Good luck!