dione961

Hi, thanks to much invaluable advice from many of you I do now have a sense of the exposure triangle and how each 'side' relates to the other & how all 3 combine to create correct exposure in any given light condition; and I can now actually adjust all the basic camera settings. Also, I'm ploughing through the D7200 book, many back & forths there; and I've read Understanding Composition forwards & backwards, several times - what an awesome book. Phew! So I went out & shot for the 1st time in Aperture Priority, then tried Manual Mode (except ISO was on Auto); very mixed results, even in same light, so plan to adjust ISO manually next time, again, to study the results. Much more study to do but on a path at least. Also, I've ordered a tripod, so I can eliminate some of the camera shake I get out here in Alaska's sub-zero days! Still looking for a shutter release.

Anyhow, I'm not able to take online courses or attend a college so it's books & practice but I like a structured way of doing things so I can equate results with camera settings & light conditions. I've been scouring online for a resource (books but not e-books, for example) that would provide a more structured approach than my current "shoot, change a setting one stop, re-shoot, etc), which is dead slow and hard (for me) to compare / judge results. I've seen some members mention they are / were photography teachers so I wondered whether anyone can recommend a better approach or useful resource? As always, UHH rocks. Thanks to all for your time.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Have you read this: “Understanding Exposure” by Bryan Peterson? 168 pages, including a helpful Index. Available in paperback from Amazon for $26.99 (or $15.97 if you are a member of Amazon Prime). Highly recommended by many UHH members. I greatly appreciate that you are willing to make some serious effort of your own and are not just sitting back waiting to be spoon fed the answers. Good for you!!

dione961

Hi Ralph, I ordered “Understanding Exposure” some weeks ago. It's a week overdue & the seller is not overly helpful as to when it might turn up!

dione961

Hi again Ralph, I just noticed your tag line - I actually have a couple of mint (given age deterioration) AE-1's with some nice fast-ish lenses. Had them since the late 1970's!! Hope to get back to film when I can make well composed well exposed shots more often than not (very unlike now!!). So yes, I have Nikon's now, but brands are nothing to me - it's the fun that matters to me the most. The AE-1 feels wonderful to shoot with, just like the D7200. The Nikon 1 is less comfortable to hold, carry & shoot even though it must weigh less than half the D7200 (I stand to be corrected on that but it's not important). There is a long history of photography buffs in my family but I never got up the nerve to have a proper go before now. It really is a most exhilarating thing to do though. Thanks again.

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

Which ever ones you choose, make sure they have exercises along the way. The exercises are usually designed to gel what you learn with experience. Another thing to look for is online video tutorials as part of the book. IMO watching important lessons is more valuable than just reading about them. Some books allow you to post pictures to their website for critique, which is helpful.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Steve Perry's ebooks are really great. He's a member here and a wonderful professional photographer. Try his website.https://backcountrygallery.com/

CO

You'll probably get a speedlight for your D7200 at some point. Be sure to get Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Flash Photography". I like it because he covers many different situations in which you can use flash.

DNW

https://www. froknownsphoto.com Is a great source of info.

DNW

It's: https://froknowsphoto.com/welcome/
is a great source of info.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

I may be able to help you out and perhas simplify things. For starters, however, tell me what kind of work your are mostly interested in doing, what you have done up to now and most importantly- post about 6 photographs in those areas of interest. You should also list a few things that you are having difficulty with- if any.

Since the advent of digital photography, it seems to me, that folks are getting so "technical" that the don't see the forest for the trees" kind of thing. If you remember from back in the day with your film experience, folks loaded up a roll of film and followed the instructions that were packed in the box. People exposed Kodachrome, which was a slow film with little or no latitude but the came up with awesome slides. It's surprising how the old f/16 rule worked along with a few compensations for different weather and lighting conditions. Many used the simple match-needle meter in the camera. Some of theses basics plus bracketing and experimentation and lots of practice, yields many instinctive exposure calculations that you will learn to do from your experience.

The idea is to nail down your basic exposure techniques so that you can concentrate on composition, imagination and creativity.

Try some easy starting methods. Shoot something out of doors- set you ISO at 200. If you are trying to stop action or movement select shutter priority and start of with fast enough speed to address the movement. If depth of field control figures in to your plan, go with aperture priority. Examine your results and asses the exposure- too dark or too light?- make the adjustment.? Oftentimes the "imperfect" exposure will yield the more dramatic and effective image.

I hope this helps- looking forward to you images.

Approach you photography with this simple adage: "You cant' have your cake and eat it too" so there are always compromises. You have to balance things. High ISO settings allow you to shoot in low light and still have some depth of field and perhas fast enough shutter speeds BUT you may encounter some noise (grain) if you go too high. The exposure triangle addresses EXPOSURE but you have to make the other decisions as to depth of field, selective focus, motion stopping ability, compensating for camera shake or wind resistance (cold weather issues). There are lots of books and tutorials, online lessons and classes, however, there are no magic formulas.

It's OK to use the camera on automatic or programmed settings as long as you know what the camera is doing and how to circumvent or bypass the system when you need to.

One good self teaching method is "keeping notes". When you are practicing, write down the exposures and othere details and reference you notes when you are assessing the results so you know exactly what corrections, if any, to make. Of course you can use the data from the camera but writing things down and recording you corrections and progress is a much more effective learning method.

Of course- there are many sophisticated and complex techniques that go beyond the basics but it is best to master the fundamentals and become very familiar with the operation of you basic gear before progressing to the next plateau.

Greeting from Canada- I'm used to ice, snow and cold weather! Ed

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

tiphareth51 Loc: Somewhere near North Pole, Alaska

You have a Canon AE-1! That was my first serious DSLR. That set-up made the move from New York to Alaska and still works. You have encouraged me to try using it again...thank you!

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

You are welcome. I have enjoyed using the AE-1 Program. Have Canon’s 50 and 28mm lenses. Found color and b&w film at B&H Photo, but haven’t tried slide film yet. Have gotten development done at The Darkroom in San Clemente, CA - fast turn around time and helpful Customer Service. Surprising results and a lot of fun to boot.

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

My first serious Camera was a Canon AE-1 purchased in the late 70s at the time of the birth of my son. It was a 35mm film camera.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I can I suggest getting out and shooting and putting the book knowledge into practice?

For me, the best way was to set-up a tripod so you can focus on the camera settings without fumbling with the camera and focus. Pick a subject, any subject, and work with aperture from max wide to min wide, just taking the same image over and over with variations in the exposure based on the aperture and letting the camera (or you in Manual) compensate with the shutter speed and / or ISO. Then, offload the images to a computer where you can see large and detailed. Look at the ones you like and look at the technical details and consider 'why'. Do you like the shallow depth of field? The sharp details through the entire image? A balance of sharp details fading to a blur? etc? Was there a problem in the exposure and / or focus point? why?

Then do it some more, working in a learning process of: shoot, analyze, investigate adjustments, repeat

Use photography sites on the internet and / or the relevant chapter(s) of your book or camera manual for the investigate step.