New to G3 New to digital and I need help!

[kaya]

I am not a photographer, I don't really 'know' how to do anything but point and shoot. I got the G3 because i want to learn and still do.
But an opportunity has come my way to be able to have a press pass for a concert at a small venue and take picutres.
I have read this thread:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=13936
but really i need more info and hand holding.
Is there anyone here who can hold my hand and help me set up this camera to take good shots at this venue?
Yes i really am ignorant of these things.
But we all started from scratch at sometime, so please be kind.

~kaya

[Guillermo Freige]

kaya:
Use the "Portrait" (the face icon) or the "P" mode, without flash if your subject is more than 5 meter away, and increase the ISO setting to 400 if you don't use flash or 100 if you are using it. Probably "Portrait" will be better if you have no previous experience.
"Auto" mode isn't very good for that situation.

[jglisson73]

Also, if you aren't in a situation where you need to use the zoom...you can use hyperfocal settings so you won't have to worry about your shots coming out blurry and out of focus. Not using zoom would mean you can "zoom with your feet." If you want something to be closer...you walk closer to it!

Here's the link on how to set it up...it's great to use for party type situations in my opinion.
http://www.marcjutras.com/ehyperfocal.html

If you are in a fairly small space and have low light, you can drop the aperture to 4.5 or 4. Your depth of field will shrink significantly, but should give enough sharpness for a fairly large room to all be in focus.

Practice with it first.

Good Luck!
John

[msvadi]

I am also a beginner. I found this link has some helpfull information about taking photos in general:

http://homepage.dtn.ntl.com/philipg/betterphotos/contents.html

Does anybody know about a good book(s) that teaches
composition and techniques to beginners?

[Jesse]

You might try this link. It used to have a book and also a CD as a separate accessory.

http://www.shortcourses.com/bookstore/canon/book_canong3.htm

[msvadi]

how goog is this book? I saw that a similar book on G2 received mixed reviews. Some people claim it's not that different from manual, other say they actually learned a lot from it on how to take good pictures.

[kaya]

Thanks for the tips and links.
i am familar with the
www.shortcourses.com
site..lots of good there. I was wondering about the book too, as the contents suggest a mimic of the g3 manual, unless there is a lot more info there, not worth it.(will talk with Dennis about that later).

I guess i will have to do some testing and see what works best for me, everyone has different ideas of what will work. I just really don't want to spend the whole night 'futzing' with the camera, as i do want to enjoy the show as well :-)

I did find this site that helped me as a beginner to grok some of what i need to learn in a fast way:
www.megapixel.net

thanks
~kaya