First DSLR

MoonshineMonty

I got my first DSLR camera second hand because I wanted a better camera than what I had. I had a small digital camera which didn't really take the best pictures.

Now that I have a DSLR, I really don't know what to do with it. That may sound stupid but is there somewhere that I can learn how to use it and take the best pictures.

magicbastarder

where do you live? often the first answer to your question would be to join a camera club.

OldGoat

There are loads of sources of information and you will want them all. Only after reading/watching/listening to them all will you truly be able to realise that they are mostly contradictory to each other.
First and most important thing is taking photographs. Set everything on your camera into Auto and start shooting. Don't wait till you've learned about everything before you start shooting. Take pictures now. At the very least you'll be able to see your progress by comparison as you learn more about the camera and about photography.
Learn the very basics of composition. This is a simple way of improving your photographs while shooting in Auto mode.

Over time learn what each Auto control is doing so that you can move away from it and take control over the settings.

Youtube has a depth of information but it's mostly buried beneath tons of repetitive and mostly amateurish fluff. You will learn but separating the wheat from the chaff can get tedious.

Some online shop sites host training lessons while they try to sell you more stuff. Adorama or B&H have some decent presenters. (B&H have some National Geographic photographers giving presentations that are worth watching)

You can get better quality lessons from paid online sources. I like Linda.com that has hundreds of hours of photography and editing tutorials.

Probably the most common recommendation for beginners books is "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson.

By a wide margin though, the best learning tool is other photographers. Get together with other photographers and point out each others photographic failings. Clubs, photowalks, workshops, even just talking to a couple of mates who have a halfhearted interest in cameras will help you distil the substance from the mixture of information available.

Question everything.

GBX

There is usually youtube videos for most models going through the basics settings and then there are plenty of articles on the likes of Digital Camera http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/tutorials, b&h etc.
Google your model and beginners guide and start from there. Post up the model here and we can try point you in the right direction.

GBX

Lots of info on https://digital-photography-school.com

https://digital-photography-school.com/6-mistake-avoid-when-starting-photography/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=January-1818

Bacchus

MoonshineMonty wrote: »

I got my first DSLR camera second hand because I wanted a better camera than what I had. I had a small digital camera which didn't really take the best pictures.

Now that I have a DSLR, I really don't know what to do with it. That may sound stupid but is there somewhere that I can learn how to use it and take the best pictures.

Do as the posters suggested above (in particular OldGoat) but remember that the best way to get from A to B is practice. Practice practice practice. There is no short cut or template to taking good photos. The more you shoot, the better you'll get, the more you'll develop your own style/approach. Get on to Instagram for inspiration, to see what others are doing.

I'd also look into some basic photo editing tools to touch up your photos and start playing around with the "look" of your photos. Shooting JPEG will give a nice end product but for me it's like a chef bringing together all these wonderful ingredients and then asking someone else to make whatever they want with it. It may well taste great but it's not the same as what the chef might have envisioned. You can still play with JPEG files in post to tweak the look to your liking but you'll get the most out of RAW files. That's a lot more work though and not something you should not jump into starting out... it's just something to bear in mind further down the road

Caseymi

First off, I'm still very much a beginner but I've found watching videos on youtube and then trying out the bits I picked up next time I'm out with my camera has helped me an incredible amount..

MoonshineMonty

Thanks for all the great suggestions. It takes great photos already even in auto mode. I think I can enjoy this and really looking forward to learning more about photography.

Bacchus

MoonshineMonty wrote: »

Thanks for all the great suggestions. It takes great photos already even in auto mode. I think I can enjoy this and really looking forward to learning more about photography.

Remeber... guns don't shoot people, people do cameras don't take great pictures, people do :pac:

Yes, better cameras will give improved results, and gain you extra miliseconds in focus speed, or better dynamic range, etc., but don't credit the gear for all of it. You are the one taking the great photos, don't forget that.

It's actually a pet hate when someone comments that "my camera" takes great photos. There's a balance between the capabilities of the camera and the skill of the photographer. People seem to forget the photographer component.

Oh, btw, once you're comfortable with Auto mode, you should switch to aperture priority. The camera will still determine your shutter speed (and possibly the ISO) so that it exposes correctly so it's a nice step to take towards taking more control over your images.

BKWDR

Thanks for the tips, i am in the same boat as the OP. Only thing is ive had a Canon 70D gathering dust for the better part of a year.

Can anyone suggest / reccommend a user friendly post photo editing platform / software? I shoot in jpg on auto :-o

awec

BKWDR wrote: »

Thanks for the tips, i am in the same boat as the OP. Only thing is ive had a Canon 70D gathering dust for the better part of a year.

Can anyone suggest / reccommend a user friendly post photo editing platform / software? I shoot in jpg on auto :-o

Adobe Lightroom is fairly straightforward, you can get a subscription for it for about ~12 euro a month. You can see the Photography Plan here.

I'm not an expert, just a beginner too, but I'd switch to using RAW format instead of JPG. Gives you more quality and more scope for editing, but obviously comes with the downside that you'll have to at least convert all the photos you want to use to a different format.

BKWDR

awec wrote: »

Adobe Lightroom is fairly straightforward, you can get a subscription for it for about ~12 euro a month. You can see the Photography Plan here.

I'm not an expert, just a beginner too, but I'd switch to using RAW format instead of JPG. Gives you more quality and more scope for editing, but obviously comes with the downside that you'll have to at least convert all the photos you want to use to a different format.

Ah brilliant thanks for the reply.

I must mess around with it as yeah ive read shooting in RAW gives you more control over the post processing alright, but its very handy for me to be able to download the images from the camera instantly with its inbuilt wifi connection. Probably wont allow that in RAW or at least will have to convert them

Will be in west kerry over easter and have set myself a goal to be able to shoot a night sky / stars by then

awec

BKWDR wrote: »

Ah brilliant thanks for the reply.

I must mess around with it as yeah ive read shooting in RAW gives you more control over the post processing alright, but its very handy for me to be able to download the images from the camera instantly with its inbuilt wifi connection. Probably wont allow that in RAW or at least will have to convert them

Will be in west kerry over easter and have set myself a goal to be able to shoot a night sky / stars by then

Some cameras (maybe all of them do, I'm not sure) have a setting where every photo is stored as a RAW and a JPG. Obviously takes up more space on the SD card but might suit your needs. Use the JPG for your quick download and then the RAW for editing.

Heebie

BKWDR wrote:

I must mess around with it as yeah ive read shooting in RAW gives you more control over the post processing alright, but its very handy for me to be able to download the images from the camera instantly with its inbuilt wifi connection. Probably wont allow that in RAW or at least will have to convert them

Most "better" dSLR's nowadays should give you the RAW+ option where it records the raw data and the JPG so you instantly have versions adjusted by the camera to share, but your still have the ability to use the raw format to do post.

BKWDR

Heebie wrote: »

Most "better" dSLR's nowadays should give you the RAW+ option where it records the raw data and the JPG so you instantly have versions adjusted by the camera to share, but your still have the ability to use the raw format to do post.

Yeah changed it over and I see that now.

Haven't used anything to edit photos in raw yet... Still just getting to grips

BKWDR

Ok, so now it has the jpg and the raw file. its a CR2 file type that im googling and GIMP needs it converted...or is the supporting jpg what i can use?

I've used Adobe light room on my phone and its handy, my laptop is fairly old so dunno on the spec needed to run it

awec

BKWDR wrote: »

Ok, so now it has the jpg and the raw file. its a CR2 file type that im googling and GIMP needs it converted...or is the supporting jpg what i can use?

I've used Adobe light room on my phone and its handy, my laptop is fairly old so dunno on the spec needed to run it

The CR2 file is the Canon RAW file. You've stumbled on the downside to RAW - a lot of editing software doesn't support it.

The JPG is just the same as the JPG you were getting previously, it's the camera's own conversion of the image so you lose a bit of editing ability with the data loss.

The lightroom minimum spec recommendation is here: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/system-requirements.html

CelticRambler

I'll go against the grain here and suggest that you're getting ahead of yourself with the file format and editing, and risk suffering a lot of frustration for little return because you need to concentrate elsewhere. Refer back to Bacchus' post, and then your own comment I had a small digital camera which didn't really take the best pictures. Now that I have a DSLR, I really don't know what to do with it.

Dig out some of the "not the best" photos you took with that old camera and study them. What's "not the best" about them? Chances are you left the camera on auto, so the exposure will be okay-ish and (for the same reason) they're probably pretty much in focus. So what was the problem?

The classic beginner's mistake is that the subject is just lost in a bigger scene. If that's the case, use your Gimp software to mess about with the image - crop it in different ways, blur the background, add a bit of foreground interest from another image in the series (if you have one), change the brightness and saturation, etc., until you get something that begins to look like the picture you had in mind. It's only when you understand how you want the image to come out that you can tell the camera what to do, and then take full advantage of the technical wonders of a DSLR and interchangeable lenses.