Decent camera... and now what?

herya

I am getting a new camera for Xmas (Ricoh GX100, very excited about it). It's supposed to be a very decent compact camera with manual controls, good lens, wide angle etc. I am your average Joe when it comes to photography, OK I know what aperture/shutter is and how to use them as I had a manual camera as a child and played with it a lot. Plus having worked in design I have decent eye for proportions and shapes. But that's about it. I'd like to use this opportunity to learn how to take better everyday photos (street - landscape - lifestyle), to have something to look back to and not to rely on my crappy memory alone.

I wonder how to start, are there any useful exercises or approaches? I don't find books very useful here, I like reading them but it's too much to apply at once. I have a photographer friend to ask about technicalities but again he's living and breathing photography and finds it hard to break his passion down for me. If you could give me some simple suggestions or tips on what to concentrate on first it would be much appreciated!

duffarama

Rule of thirds will get you started

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

CabanSail

If you learn better by example than theory why not join a local camera club. Depending on where you live there may be a few to choose from. Go along to a meeting as a visitor & see it suits you.

At the moment I am organising an outing in January for the people who did the last Beginners Course & joined the Dublin Camera Club. The idea is to break into small groups with an experienced photographer & to go for a walk & take photographs. This way the new members can get used to their own gear & ask questions in a practical enviroment. We can then go back to the Club & have a look at some of their photographs on the projector.

AnCatDubh

A course is always a good way to get moving on it. It can shorten your 'time til producing the good stuff' cycle. Someone like digitalbeginners.ie (Dave who will post here from time to time) has some great beginners offerings. People who have been with him such as boards user thebaz has advanced even to having his own exhibition (maybe two now that i think of it).

Check out Youtube. There are lots of tutorials and techniques explored on there.

Post your results for C&C - then tighten the belt while you get pleasantly savaged (ah we're generally not that bad!) and usually it will all be very constructive stuff.

Partake in challenges. Many sites (including this boards forum) runs challenges. The Irish Times has a Readers Views in the Gallery supplement (Monday) that you can aim to get some of your work published.

Post interesting threads here and engage in photography led discussions (remember not everyone will have the same views or opinions as yourself). Read previous threads to see how they go and find out more. For example; if you want to shoot a landscape, use the Search function to locate all threads where landscape has been referenced and find out what others are saying.

Just a few ideas.

herya

This is very helpful, thank you all! Yes I prefer to learn by examples or having tasks assigned but nothing beats some advice along the way. I'd love to participate in some more organised groups but I wonder how much of a time commitment they are - I am crazy busy until June but should have more time after, do you know of any summer activities maybe (Dublin South/Centre)?

Morrisseeee

I was reading an article recently about the Rule of Thirds, basically the author is saying to learn the rule & then break it, or at least its an old rule that doesn't have to be employed on every photograph. So...... I say....go out and experiment. See things in different perspectives, take pictures of things/objects/landscapes in differing views, also lighting plays a big part in photos, ie. sunrises/sunsets/frosty mornings/moonlit evenings etc etc.

herya

I agree, actually the rule of thirds comes naturally to me due to my design experience and as a results my photos look boring, I'd like to think a bit more outside the box with my composition now... one of my tasks! I guess it'll be the most photographed Christmas I've ever had