Raw beginner

[Dydee]

Hi one and all
Just joined and after having a bit of a look around on this site, I seem to be as confused as ever. So many wonderful photographs and information and I still don't know where to start.

Can anyone give me some advice on where to start..... either on this site or with regard to learning what I initially need to know with respect to learning how to use a camera correctly.

I realise I have a lot to learn, but want to do so in the correct manner. Would appreciate any help at all.

Look forward to your replies

Dydee

[Doug-Walker]

Hey there!

Let me just say its great to see youve taken an interest in photography! I find the easiest way to learn photography is to do photography. Figure out what types of photos you are best at taking and work from there, wether it be portrait, landscape or macro, there all good.
Do you have a camera of your own?

Regards
Doug w

[Dydee]

Many thanks for your reply.
I have a Ricoh G4 Digital Camera and have just been given an older Minolta. It is a Minolta Dynax 700si SLR camera with 24-85mm 3.5(22)-4.5 lens. I also have some filters and a couple of Tamron tele converters.

As I am very new to the world of SLR photography and the items I have are all new to me I need to know what each of the items do and how to use them correctly.

Can you recommend any particular publications, websites etc, that I may check out with respect to fact sheets, hints, tips etc to get me started. I am very keen to do so and while you mentioned that the best way to learn is to just take photos, I guess I am the type of person who wants to read the theory before I put it into practice. Hope this makes sense.

Can you tell me if the Minolta is okay for me to learn on or not. I have used the digital quite a bit and am pretty familiar with its idiosyncrasies (or is that mine???).

Any help you can give me would be most gratefully appreciated.
Dee :confused:

[Atlas]

Hi Dee,

Spent many a day on Lake Macquarie fishing and water skiing, grew up in good old Newcastle...

Anyway to your questions... Like you I am new the world of photography and I think forums like this are very helpful. Whatever you want to know, throw it in Google and you are sure to find it....

What type of photos are you looking to take ? Myself portrait (glamour) and lightning... However what I have found of late is I am spending far too much time reading/looking/researching and not enough time taking shots, so I am trying to remedy that !!

And I have started to learn off the net, photos are not about your equipment, it's about the shot you are taking.... What matters most is how "YOU" percieve your shot to be, if you like it, fine, if not, try and correct for next time. Like fashion, cars etc, photos are made up of individuals taste, so what I might like, you may not and vice versa....

So my suggestion would be get out there and have some fun, look at doing a basic photograghy course and post some pics. :)

[TassieD]

Hi Dee,

Spent many a day on Lake Macquarie fishing and water skiing, grew up in good old Newcastle...

Anyway to your questions... Like you I am new the world of photography and I think forums like this are very helpful. Whatever you want to know, throw it in Google and you are sure to find it....

What type of photos are you looking to take ? Myself portrait (glamour) and lightning... However what I have found of late is I am spending far too much time reading/looking/researching and not enough time taking shots, so I am trying to remedy that !!

And I have started to learn off the net, photos are not about your equipment, it's about the shot you are taking.... What matters most is how "YOU" percieve your shot to be, if you like it, fine, if not, try and correct for next time. Like fashion, cars etc, photos are made up of individuals taste, so what I might like, you may not and vice versa....

So my suggestion would be get out there and have some fun, look at doing a basic photograghy course and post some pics. :)


Hi there and welcome to APF. I secon what Atlas and doug have said.

[Dydee]

Thanks all for the advice.
Seems the way to go initially is to do a basic photography course and then just to experiment.

As previously said, am a real novice when it comes to taking photographs 'correctly'. Yes, I can point and shoot and hope for the best and to date it has only been with a Ricoh G4 Digital.

I want to get into the 35m SLR area and see what I can actually do with respect to the final photograph. I guess you could say that I have a bit of a creative flair having been involved professionally as a potter for in excess of 14 years, love to paint and draw but somehow all this seems to be 'missing something'. May photography is it.

Anyway only time will tell. I will check out further information on the net and of course there are going to be more than one or two questions to ask. Some may seem very 'simple', 'basic' but that's me at the moment. Hopefully that will pass!!:rolleyes:

Once again thanks for the help so far. Just remember.... don't go too far away I will be calling on your expertise again soon..... maybe very soon.

Diane