CathyP

I have wanted to get into photography for several years and finally decided to jump in. I bought a Canon T6s with the 18-135 lens. This is my first DSLR. I read the manual and bought a book on DSLR for Dummies. Now I am totally intimidated. The lingo alone has me running for the hills, and we won't even mention the software manual. I have printed out a list of photography terms to memorize. Is this the best place to start???? The bright note is that I used the portrait setting on auto focus and got some great shots of a baby robin. I want to take wildlife photos and portraits.

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

Welcome to the forum...

Here are some links to help you get started ;)
Tips on posting a reply

The Forum page is a guide to using the forum and The Resource Page is loaded with links for learning, tips & tricks, and purchasing equipment...

Looking forward to seeing some of your photos.

Laura72568 Loc: Anderson TX

I am not saying that the way I started out was right or wrong but when I first started, I used Auto Mode, then read up on Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority and tried to solely use those two for awhile until I was comfortable deciding which one to use for a particular situation. At this time, I used Auto ISO and Auto White Balance. Then I worked with setting my own ISO. Then worked on setting my own White Balance. Then after 2-3 years, I graduated to full Manual Mode. I still use Aperture Priority for my birding, Shutter Priority for some things, but I use manual for most everything else. One day, the exposure triangle kind of just "clicks" and you get more comfortable with what you need to get a correct exposure. There is a book called "Understanding Exposure" that might really help, too. Don't worry, you'll get it!

daddybear Loc: Brunswick, NY

Not the worst place to start is a series of books by Scott Kelby. Available on Amazon as ebooks. As far as the camera look for the Magic Lantern paperback
For the T6. It is a user-friendly manual.

Happy photographing.

Daddy bear

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Cathy, welcome to the wonderful world that is Canon and the oftentimes wacky world that is the HOG!!
Those hills you are running toward, they are obviously, not in Montana!! :lol:
It sounds like you are doing good!
Read your book, read your manual and DO learn those terms! All necessary evils.
As Laura said, put your camera on Auto and just start taking pictures.
What I would study really hard is everything about your cameras FOCUS system and start to try all the different variations out. If there are things that you are having trouble with you can ask here(very few here will have the T6) OR I highly recommend that you call Canon Tech, they will walk you through anything you want. They grab a Camera JUST like yours and you both see exactly the same things as you do them, that's a great help and resource. DO use it.
Load the DPP program that came with your camera or download it from Canon and start to do simple PP.
Start looking for a beginning digi class at a JC near you and enroll in the Summer session. A class like that will help you immensely. Hey, it's only a camera....,Good luck Cathy. :lol:
SS

tsilva Loc: Arizona

Check this out - it will help you

http://blog.snapfactory.com/?page_id=3643

AntonioReyna Loc: Los Angeles, California

Just start shooting in Program mode and you will figure it out. Then when you have questions, and you have some history with the camera, look at the manuals. Unless you have no experience with cameras, this should work well.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Start with using the P(program) setting, this is similar to the A(auto) except instead of leaving it all to the processor it has programs developed by photographers for each type of scene (the camera processor still picks the type of scene) and allows you to manually change some of the settings as needed. Check the manual for which can be changed on your camera and how to do it.

Get a book about photography in general, that dummies dslr book is good, but if you are confused by the terms then maybe something like "Tony Northrup's DSLR Book: How to Create Stunning Digital Photography" would help. It concentrates on photography, not technical stuff, if you get it in e-book (kindle and nook both have it for aprx $10) it has links to 12 hours of video instruction. From his site it is also available in a $19.99 combo with the paper book + ebook together and other combos with more books and courses on things like LightRoom.
Some will slam him, he is a bit of ham and bombastic at times but it is a good solid course in basic photography.
Same for Ken Rockwell's site, many don't like him but he does have a lot of good stuff available on many subjects.

BuckeyeBilly Loc: St. Petersburg, FL

Cathy, since this is a new release for Canon, to me, the best place to learn about your T6s is from Canon itself. Click on this link and then look at the vertical row of articles on the right side of the page, starting with "Your Generation's DSLR EOS Rebel." Continue on with the other 4 links underneath that one and you'll have a much better understanding about your new camera's performance. And take your time...I KNOW the excitement is there but give your brain time to absorb it all.

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_rebel_t6s_ef_s_18_135mm_is_stm_lens_kit

After you've done this, take a look at this website, bookmark it, and refer back to it to help you in your photo-taking endeavor. This is an EXCELLENT website that tutors you in the mechanics and finesse of GOOD photography:

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/

And WELCOME to UHH!

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Welcome, relax, and yes you are in the right place, you'll get a lot of conflicting info, all right under some circumstances, start on P(rofessional ) and when your comfortable you can move to Av or Tv, I usually use 800 ISO as a starting point on both my T1i and T4i, I use AV a lot set at f8, any more questions I'm usually around, Bob.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Congratulations and welcome. You have made a good choice of camera and lens, and yes it is intimidating even it you have done film photography a decade or two ago but taken a break.

It's not so much that any individual thing is hard, but there is an awful lot of it and you need enough of them to come together in some combination. To begin with the camera can do a lot of that for you, but it is good to learn what it is doing and then see if you can take control and make the camera do what you want it to do.

If you think of it like learning a language, then you'll get there if you want to with steady work, and keep at it.

Start with understand the terms, at least the ones you don't understand or what they really mean, why they are important and what effect they have on an image. Keep asking questions.

Before long you'll be at the language equivalent of constructing sentences and understanding the replies.

It won't be long before you are chatting away like a native.

And what more fun can you have than taking pictures and getting better and better and producing the images you want!

Good luck.

mikedidi46 Loc: WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA

Start on Auto, then go to Program mode to watch how the camera reacts in certain conditions.

Vi Loc: Upper Midwest

Hells bells I just bought a new to me car (2013) and I am intimidated by all the gadgets on it. I can understand how you must feel. Just jump in and start shooting. If you or someone you know has a flower garden practice on them or go to the park. Take your camera everywhere with you and most important enjoy.

Bill Emmett Loc: Bow, New Hampshire

When I get a new camera, I sit with the book in my lap, and after reading the sections of the book I try all the setting on the camera. I'll go outside and shoot some things, bugs or flowers just to get the feel of the setting. As far as actual photography reading start with Bryan Petersons "Understanding Exposure". He has other books but the one I mentioned will be a great start.

B

LarryN Loc: Portland OR & Carbondale, CO

Hi Cathy ... Glad to see you on UHH. I bought a Canon T5i in January & am now hooked on photography as a new, time consuming & enjoyable hobby. I discovered this forum by accident & have found it to be a great help with all aspects of photography. I check it every day & generally find a couple of topics of interest to me. The "search" feature here is very helpful. I also "bookmark" particularly interesting threads so that I can refer back to them. I do agree that the book "Understanding Exposure" is very informative. Another book I find helpful is "The Unforgettable Photograph: 228 Ideas, Tips & Secrets, etc." The thing I like about this book is that all of the many photos include the following data: shutter speed, aperture setting, iso & lens focal length. In January I didn't even know what IOS meant now I shoot almost exclusively in full manual or manual with ISO set on automatic. A very nice feature of the T5i is that you can shoot a photo in auto then recall it with the "back button" & if you then hit the "info" button you can cycle through the settings the camera used. Next you can take photos of the same scene varying speed, aperture & ISO to duplicate or improve on the image generated by the auto. I assume the T6 has the same features. Since you are just getting started I recommend setting "white balance" on automatic, metering mode on evaluation metering, image review on 4 sec., image quality on highest "L"; avoid RAW & RAW + L for now. When you get into advanced post processing you can think about RAW. For post processing the are a number of free, easy to use programs. Check the "search" feature for post processing discussions. Have fun.