Akron1950 wrote:
I just got a Canon EOS Rebel T3i. Stepped up from a point and shoot. Now, I know there's a big difference between the two. I just need some pointers if anyone is willing to give them. I mostly like to shoot landscapes and functions at the Metro Parks here in town. I have been shooting on auto, and some on TV, witch I keep forgetting how to set everything up from sunny days to evening shots. When I'm told how to I get it, but then I forget! Is there some help for me out there??
There's an old saying around the Internet: RTFM. It means: "Read The Fine Manual." (Okay, okay, so if you are trying to translate Jenglish (Japanese English) back to English, the F might stand for something stronger!)
If I've learned anything in my 59 years, it is that most people are unwilling or undisciplined enough to RTFM, so those of us who ACTUALLY read the manual are the ones who rise to the top of our fields.
There is no substitute for the learning formula used by the military and others for decades: SPQRRR, which means "Survey, Peruse, Question, Read, Review, Report". The essence of this learning process is REPETITION.
You survey the material rapidly, to get an overview sense of what you are going to learn.
You peruse, or view more slowly, to get an outline structure of the material in your head.
You begin to ask questions about it, based on that structure, to build interest.
You read it in detail, for understanding, which means thinking about every sentence.
Then you review it, perhaps several times, to be sure the details fit into the framework where they should, and everything comes into perspective.
Finally, you make use of the material in some way, perhaps by your actions, or by teaching others.
TRUE learning takes, at a minimum, three repetitions or encounters of anything to form synaptic connections in the brain. Most people require as many as SIX repetitions of something before they commit it to memory or actionable intelligence.
Another way of saying this is that a Presentation (survey) leads to Education (perusal to draw out interest), which leads to Instruction (a step-by-step revelation of how to do something), which leads to Training (immersive, hands-on practice), which requires Facilitation (expert hand-holding and feedback)
All of these steps lead to Learning, which over time leads to Development of the individual.
As a portrait photography trainer, a decade ago, it was my duty to write a context-specific manual and video script, explaining how to use a Canon EOS 20D with Tamron 28-75mm zoom to photograph school portraits.
My first task was to read the camera manual, cover to cover, three times. That gave me an excellent sense of which features we needed to use, and which we should ignore.
Then, I took the camera into my studio and put it through its paces, making test shots of standard targets, varying every single menu selection on the digital beast in isolation from the rest.
After making unadjusted 8x12 prints of each frame, along with careful notations of the metadata, I studied the results and compared them with the very best prints we could make from film, both optically, and from scans of Portra 160 negatives.
I determined a finer range of tests, and made images of both test targets and live human subjects, to determine the settings we would use. These tests confirmed most of what I learned by reading the manual! They also gave us the sweet spots of performance (best menu settings for our product) for the camera and lens.
Finally, armed with knowledge of what would work best to duplicate and perhaps even improve upon the results we had achieved for years with film, I was able to "report" write and illustrate a step-by-step manual for mere mortals to use to set up their cameras. From that, I produced training videos.
My point is that the help you need to learn anything is right in your own head... It begins with a commitment to the process of learning, the patience you need to be methodical, and the faith you need to believe you can learn something new.
Digital photography sent hundreds of thousands of film photographers reeling. I watched many of them retire, switch to other careers, or cling to film, declaring it somehow "better" while the rest of the market proved them wrong.
Truthfully, I believe most of them were just scared fartless by the daunting tasks of learning new concepts, learning to type, and learning to use computers... No one had ever really given them the FRAMEWORK for learning, and held them to it.
Sorry for the long lecture... But it is a good day to get on my soapbox.