Overwelmed! I've been studying photography for a few years now. I have a Canon t4i, Canon100 f2.8 L, Canon 40mm pancake & Canon 17-55mm f2.8 plus 40ex ii flash. I'm now studying...

Tracy B. Loc: Indiana

I've been studying photography for a few years now. I have a Canon t4i, Canon100 f2.8 L, Canon 40mm pancake & Canon 17-55mm f2.8 plus 40ex ii flash. I'm now studying hyperfocal distance and reading Histograms. I'm feeling overwhelmed. I feel I haven't got enough memory in my brain for anymore information. I'm still learning to use my lenses.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

What is it you don't understand?

Mike D. Loc: Crowley County, CO.

TracyT4i wrote:

I've been studying photography for a few years now. I have a Canon t4i, Canon100 f2.8 L, Canon 40mm pancake & Canon 17-55mm f2.8 plus 40ex ii flash. I'm now studying hyperfocal distance and reading Histograms. I'm feeling overwhelmed. I feel I haven't got enough memory in my brain for anymore information. I'm still learning to use my lenses.

Slow down Tracy. It will be there tomorrow. Back in the '80s I attempted to play 3 text based adventure games on an Atari computer. It was such a mind boggling experience that I never played those types of games ever again.

On the upside, if you have questions, they can get anwered here. Just ask.

Tracy B. Loc: Indiana

The hyperfocal distance calculator and the Histogram are both confusing.

Tracy B. Loc: Indiana

Mike D. wrote:

Slow down Tracy. It will be there tomorrow. Back in the '80s I attempted to play 3 text based adventure games on an Atari computer. It was such a mind boggling experience that I never played those types of games ever again.

On the upside, if you have questions, they can get anwered here. Just ask.

Lol... I just want to learn. But, your right I need to slow down.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

TracyT4i wrote:

I've been studying photography for a few years now. I have a Canon t4i, Canon100 f2.8 L, Canon 40mm pancake & Canon 17-55mm f2.8 plus 40ex ii flash. I'm now studying hyperfocal distance and reading Histograms. I'm feeling overwhelmed. I feel I haven't got enough memory in my brain for anymore information. I'm still learning to use my lenses.

Tracy, that is an easy situation in which to find one's self. My suggestion is to tackle one thing at a time. Start with the basics, which it seems you already have done. Get a good understanding of the function of eash, ISO, shutter speed, and f-stop, and how they relate to each other.

After that, take up the topic of histograms, which are simply statistical charting to the number of pixels of a certain numerical value. So, that just tallies up the number of red, blue, and green pixels that appear in your photo.

Couple that to your understanding of exposure, ISO, shutter speed, and f-stop. Now, you've built something onto the exposure foundation.

From there, start working on how small changes to the photo of a scene affect how the image, and its histogram, look. Pretty soon, you'll find yourself becoming more familiar with each of the various aspects that make up a good image.

Just don't overwhelm yourself with trying to learn everything at once.
--Bob

Mike D. Loc: Crowley County, CO.

Hyperfocal distance calculator is Greek for ask anyone else. Try Adobe TV or YouTube. I've seen some very good tutorials on Adobe regarding Histograms.

On the other hand, Mr. Pine may be able to condense and make it easier to understand.

Mike D. Loc: Crowley County, CO.

TracyT4i wrote:

Lol... I just want to learn. But, your right I need to slow down.

I totally get it but don't frustrate yourself in the process. Take a deep breath. It will come. :thumbup:

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

TracyT4i wrote:

The hyperfocal distance calculator and the Histogram are both confusing.

My advice would be to pick one of those two and leave the other one alone a while. Get a basic understanding without trying to get full mastery, then tangle with the other one. Or leave them both a while and pick one to come back to later. I had the same blank spot about layer masks, it just didn't make any sense to me. I had to leave it alone for about a year. When I went back to it, I had it figured out in a day - all that stuff I read and got confused about came back to me and it all slid into place.

Give yourself permission not to know everything. I'm still waiting for that aha moment about flash photography. Meanwhile, I've learned to do a lot better job of using natural light than I would have otherwise.

Racmanaz Loc: Sunny Tucson!

Tracy, here's a really good article to explain hyper-focal distance and how to use it. It was posted by jerryc41 about 1 1/2 weeks ago.

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2014/08/19/hyperfocal-focusing-how-to-calculate-the-best-distance-to-focus-at/

Tracy B. Loc: Indiana

I love these forms. I feel better already. Today I was laughing at a silly youtube video on a review of a lens, and my Husband asked what I was laughing at. I showed him the video and he said,"I guess only photographer's would understand the humor in that." I finally felt like I actually get it.

Tracy B. Loc: Indiana

Racmanaz wrote:

Tracy, here's a really good article to explain hyper-focal distance and how to use it. It was posted by jerryc41 about 1 1/2 weeks ago.

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2014/08/19/hyperfocal-focusing-how-to-calculate-the-best-distance-to-focus-at/

Thanks, I book marked that article. I'll start there.

nicksr1125 Loc: Mesa, AZ

I wouldn't worry about understanding histograms. I would, on the other hand, highly recommend Bryan Petersen's book "Understanding Exposure" 3rd edition. It's available in print or electronic versions.

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

TracyT4i wrote:

I've been studying photography for a few years now. I have a Canon t4i, Canon100 f2.8 L, Canon 40mm pancake & Canon 17-55mm f2.8 plus 40ex ii flash. I'm now studying hyperfocal distance and reading Histograms. I'm feeling overwhelmed. I feel I haven't got enough memory in my brain for anymore information. I'm still learning to use my lenses.

Welcome to UHH Tracy. You've found a great place for learning and asking questions. Just come here and follow along on the threads that interest you and you'll have all your questions answered eventually. I will warn you about asking for opinions though. Seems no 2 people here can agree on anything! LOL.

Walt

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

Welcome aboard. Use all the resources here to continue to learn, there are lots more forums here on every imaginable photographic (and some non-photographic) topic than you can name. Also, use the Search feature above, it's primitive but it will help you find answers and discussions about what interests you. The Links and Resources section is amazing. Finally, here's some camera humor that went around a while back. I thought it was the funniest thing I'd seen in a while and my brother had the same reaction your husband did... Deer in the headlights look...

http://volovinky.sk/ako-necistit-fotak/