Where to start!!
Sep 30, 2020 22:12:52 #
A very good female friend of mine, "Yogi" go back 50 years, great athlete, I was the back up High School basketball female coach (1973-75 my hair was longer than theirs) when the coach couldn't make it.
Yogi was also a VERY good fastball player who turned into one of the best ER nurses in our town, Trail BC.
She got a digital camera recently for her retirement and asked me if I would give her a hand learning how to use it.
I told her what I learned in 198? from the New York School of Photography 1st thing to learn the photo triangle- (exposure is the key). She has this nailed now!
So what would be the next step for her, she doesn't want to get to serious yet she doesn't want to leave it on 'Auto'
Swede
Yogi was also a VERY good fastball player who turned into one of the best ER nurses in our town, Trail BC.
She got a digital camera recently for her retirement and asked me if I would give her a hand learning how to use it.
I told her what I learned in 198? from the New York School of Photography 1st thing to learn the photo triangle- (exposure is the key). She has this nailed now!
So what would be the next step for her, she doesn't want to get to serious yet she doesn't want to leave it on 'Auto'
Swede
Sep 30, 2020 22:24:34 #
Aperture priority; she can learn how to use depth of field. (According to several articles I have read most photographers shoot in A mode) Then I would go with composition....there is more to learn than just the rule of thirds.
JUST MY OPINION!!!
Dodie
JUST MY OPINION!!!
Dodie
Sep 30, 2020 22:38:00 #
quagmire
Loc: Greenwood,South Carolina
tell her to go out on a sunny day and take a pic of something at 50th of a sec, then take at 1/600th and then 1/1000th see what letting more or less light in does.
Sep 30, 2020 23:00:14 #
smussler
Loc: Land O Lakes, FL - Formerly Miller Place, NY
If she doesn't have a owners manual, she should download one from the manufacturer. Some can be put on your phone for easy reference.
Sep 30, 2020 23:02:47 #
One of the great things about digital photography is that you can experiment to your heart's content, see the results almost immediately and incur absolutely no incremental cost, except for your time. Tell her to go take lots of photos in lots of different exposure situations. If she forgets the settings it's OK, she can pull up the EXIF data. It's a great way to learn.
Sep 30, 2020 23:51:54 #
Swede wrote:
A very good female friend of mine, "Yogi"... (show quote)
Reading. The key to learning how to use that camera, whatever it is, is reading:
1. The manual.
a. Every time I read about a feature on my cameras it made me want to see how that worked and I would play around with it.
2. Web sites.
a. There’s a lot of info out there. It just a matter of finding a research question to type into your search engine. If you use the search words google and uglyhedgehog and whatever you want to search answers to it works well on this ste. Plus you don’t need to be signed in to find it.
3. Actually using it.
a. Time, patience and practice. Suddenly one day you look at something you captured and you see the light. Because it’s always about the light.
Oct 1, 2020 02:35:12 #
I spend most of my time on shutter priority because I'm old and shaky and want to keep it fast, but either that or aperture priority will give her control and yet some certainty of getting a usable shot most of the time even if the bokeh or other elements aren't perfect. Those modes will still require thinking/learning about what happens when a point of the exposure triangle is changed thus improving knowledge of equipment while still getting the shot (mostly).
Oct 1, 2020 04:02:32 #
Swede wrote:
A very good female friend of mine, "Yogi"... (show quote)
First would be composition. Many now start classes with cell phones to force the students to learn subject choice, seeing the light and composition. There are lots of good free lessons on composition.
Oct 1, 2020 06:09:43 #
Oct 1, 2020 06:27:25 #
pmorin wrote:
Reading. The key to learning how to use that camer... (show quote)
Wholeheartedly agree with this. I bought several of Scott Kelby books, Rick Sammon, and a few other authors that I cannot remember (old age disease) when I started getting a little more serious about photography. Back when Borders was in business, it was nice to go to the photography section and look through all the books available and buy 2 to 3 at a time. There are tons of YouTube videos from starting out to pro tips with almost every genre of camera and subject at your disposal. The best teacher is always experimenting with your camera(s). Shoot every day with new subjects and learn as you go.
Oct 1, 2020 07:08:53 #
Oct 1, 2020 07:40:15 #
RLSprouse
Loc: Encinitas CA (near Sandy Eggo)
I agree with Dodie. Get her into aperture priority mode and teach her about DoF. That gives her enough expertise to exert creative control in any photographic situation. Then,she can enter into the infinite realm that is composition.
Oct 1, 2020 07:42:27 #
Oct 1, 2020 08:22:21 #
mizzee
Loc: Boston,Ma
I agree with the others. At least move her to P mode, but really aperture priority should be next.
Oct 1, 2020 08:25:07 #
Learning all the modes and when to (not) use them to her best advantage.
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