Newbie needs help

[Clint204]

Hi Guys

Fairly new to this forum, but so far its been great. Just got my Bogen 3021Bpro and 322rc2 head, really looking fwd to trying it out. Im heading out on some travels to Vegas and up to San Fran and Yosemite. Hoping you could help out with some settings seeing as i normally use the auto modes on my 20D.

1. Whats the best settings for nite shots in Vegas, especially like the fountains at Bellagio at night?

2. Whats the best places in Yosemite to take pics (first time visitor).

Hope u guys can help out

[dhbailey]

I have no idea what the best places in Yosemite are to take pics, but I wouldn't limit my vision to only those photo-op places that everybody uses. A gorgeous flower by the side of the path may be a far better picture than yet another picture of a relative in front of old faithful.

The best settings for the pictures you ask about depend on the sort of picture you want to take -- Vegas is fairly brightly lit, so you may need to keep the shutter speed faster than you might want. For instance, a water-fountain is an interesting subject -- do you want to freeze the water droplets in mid flight or do you want blurry water to give the impression of motion? Two very different sorts of pictures, requiring very different shutter speeds and lighting.

The great thing about the 20D is it's ability to take terrific shots at all ISO speeds. If you want faster shutter speeds, raise the ISO until you get reasonable apertures and shutter speeds. If you want slower shutter speeds, lower the ISO.

I shoot in Tv mode mostly, since I seem better able to grasp shooting situations in terms of shutter speed rather than aperture. Many others can think in terms of aperture and so they shoot in Av mode.

Buy lots of storage (either in CF cards or in a storage tank so you can download your pictures each evening and reformat the cards) and take lots of pictures and experiment. There's no cost for the pictures you take and you might surprise yourself with the results.

By all means, if people submit settings for you to try, use them but don't accept them as the only possible combinations of settings.

And it's time to stop using the auto modes and learn about photography! :-)

Do some on-line research before your trip and experiment around your home so you can have a good idea of how things work when you really want to use them.

And have a blast -- the trip sounds like a lot of fun! Win some money in Vegas for us, will you? ;-)

[Clint204]

Thanks dh, will def try out what you said. Been playing around a lil with Tv,Av and Manual, just a lil tricky sometimes. Will let u know how it goes

[mtndew]

Stop by a store that sells postcards in that area and checks out what pictures are on them usually get a prett good idea where to head to get some nice shots. Almost check out travel websites and also that city/states tourist office/website

[robertwgross]

For Yosemite, I highly recommend a book: The Photographer's Guide to Yosemite, by Michael Frye, published by the Yosemite Association. Mine cost only $7.95.

You can buy it when you get there, but it works better if you get it in advance. That way, you can plan your shooting much better over a given route. Due to the unique terrain, the sun angle is very important for lots of the scenery shots, so the season and the time of day become terribly important.

---Bob Gross---