lol whittingham Loc: near liverpool .England

hi, lol the novice here, very new to photography,pretty good on the theory ,know how it all works n that.
can you tell me...when you get your camera out the bag, what is the first thing you do as regards settings.... i mean let's say sunny day in a field.
do you consider shutter speed first ?, and if so, what next, appature ? f'stop
whats your starting point
look foreward to your views and answers, and thanks
Lol (not laf out loud )

RonnWinn

lol,
You'll probably get TONS of replies to this, and the first question will be, "What kind of camera..." Assuming it's a DSLR,first thing I'd suggest is go get a cuppa, sit on your sofa - or whatever it's called in NW England - open the instruction book and read it from cover to cover. Touch every dial, knob, button, and arrow on the camera. Then, set it down, go away for a couple hours, and do it again. See what you've retained.
Odds are, you'll have learned a lot in the first go-'round. Enough to put the card in, set it to AUTO, then go take a picture of your dog, or your wife, or your car. Something to get you used to the click and feel of the camera. Set on AUTO, the camera does all the thinking. Take as many shots of different things as you want, use different lighting, but let the camera do the work. Then, once you've seen how it works, what it does, and it feels good in your hands, go ahead and shoot relatively the same things using aperture priority, then shutter priority. Within a week or so, you should be well on your way.
Good luck in your new hobby. You won't be disappointed.
Cheers,

lol whittingham Loc: near liverpool .England

ronn ,thanks,good idea,

Newfie-1 Loc: Ontario-Canada

My Canon 7D is always set at Apeture P, f8 and iso 400. then for the most part I adjust it up, down, Lighter, darker, whatever the histogram tells me..just adjust to your needs, you'll be onto it faster than you can drink a pint of Smithwicks...

lol whittingham Loc: near liverpool .England

NEWFIE ,,,wow, thats the answer i wanted ,thanks

Dback4430 Loc: Lockport Il

make sure the card is in the camera ,lens cap in pocket , then ISO, then check the WB , then the Metering mode. The rest depends on the subject at hand .

JosephB Loc: South Jersey

Not a bad response. I usually keep my camera on program at 400 ISO.
Picks a mid range Aperture and Shutter speed - you can adjust up or down with one dial.

chapjohn Loc: Tigard, Oregon

It all depends on what the plan/subject is that day. My usual setting are ISO at 200, and I adjust aperture and shutter speed to for the desired result. I am usually shooting in manual with autofocus. There are variables to all these settings. Saturday night trying to shoot meteors ISO was 6400 and widest apeture at f4 and 30 second exposures. My biggest concern is what lens is best for what I want to accomplish.

rebride

Take a meter reading to know what exposure/settings are viable.
Lowest ISO possible.
Lean toward aperture/f/stop because that affects image quality (sharpness and DOF).
Than shutter speed. It could go to the top of the list if subject or camera movement is to be considered.
It all becomes one thing rather than three separate.
Sunny day, you have a lot of options.

PhotoArtsLA Loc: Boynton Beach

I generally put it on full manual and pull out my flashmeter, flat disc, of course. Then, I judge exposure based on 30+ years as a pro, and wrestle whatever is necessary to get it right.

cameramaster

Well...if its anything to go by....when I first started I walked around with my camera ( were talking FILM here lol )and took shots of anything and everything...without a film, that was just to get used to where all the controls were and how they worked,I was lucky that I already knew about DOF etc....but after a week or two I could change anything I wanted on the camera without looking....at least these day's you won't have to worry about the cost of D&P before you see your results, DOING is often the best way to learn.

Gary Truchelut Loc: Coldspring, TX

I don't know if this is what you want but here goes anyway.
The first thing I do is see that the batteries are charged and the card is formatted. The second thing, once I have located my subject is to decide how I want the picture to turn out. In other words I preview the image in my minds eye, then make the necessary changes to my settings to get the shot I want. This can be done somewhat ahead of time if I know what types of shots I'm looking for, if this makes sense.
I'm also attaching a handout I use when teaching students. It doesn't address the question you asked but might help you getting started.

My cheat sheet
Attached file:
(Download)

lol whittingham Loc: near liverpool .England

thanks all of you for your varied and helpful answers

PrairieSeasons Loc: Red River of the North

I look at camera settings a little differently - where are they set when I put it away?

ISO = 200 (it's a Nikon D300s, I would likely have ISO =100 on most cameras)
Mode = P (I know the position of many here on shooting in the program mode, but I don't know what I will be shooting when it comes out of the bag and "P" is a good starting place)
Bracketing = off
WB = auto
Release mode = single
Exposure compensation = 0

I don't use these settings because they are necessarily "the best", I use them because I always know what the camera settings are when I take it out of the bag. That makes shooting or adjusting quicker.

docrob Loc: Durango, Colorado

Regarding settings - nothing. I leave them as they were the last time I put the camera away. First thing I consider is what grabs my eye. Then I ask how strong is the pull. If its strong I then start to observe in a more general way - at that point i will start taking exposures to see how my camera and lens combo is recording the tone and color of the subject - using the LCD not the histogram - I will dial in the exposure I feel is best for the subject at that time. Since nearly everything I shoot is wide open - shutter speeds are really the only control i use - other than my brain.