What steps do you take before taking a picture?

airfrogusmc wrote in post #11035681
I shoot raw.

I mean...

Picture Style: Standard, Portrait, Neutral, Custom, etc.

This may not be quite the same as what you are asking but the priority I keep in mind when I take a photo is:
1) Focus - If your out of focus, the photo is gone. Doesn't matter how well it's exposed or composed. You can't recover in post-production.
2) Exposure - If your photo is off by a bit, you can recover in post-production. If it's blown out or black, it's gone.
3) Composition - You can crop a photo after.

Those are the 3 things I check. In that order.

DDirector wrote in post #11035572
What about picture style?

airfrogusmc wrote in post #11035681
I shoot raw.

DDirector wrote in post #11035701
I mean... Picture Style: Standard, Portrait, Neutral, Custom, etc.

He did understand what you meant ... and what he meant was that in-camera picture styles are not applicable to RAW images because styles only show up in the EXIF as a note, but have no effect on the actual output data. If you want to apply a picture style to a RAW image, it is done during post processing.

Bill Boehme wrote in post #11035947
He did understand what you meant ... and what he meant was that in-camera picture styles are not applicable to RAW images because styles only show up in the EXIF as a note, but have no effect on the actual output data. If you want to apply a picture style to a RAW image, it is done during post processing.

Wooohhhooohhhoowww!! <-- hu?
learning something new. really? hmm..

DDirector wrote in post #11036022
Wooohhhooohhhoowww!! <-- hu?
learning something new. really? hmm..

Yep - unless you're shooting RAW and processing with DPP, the picture style has no effect on the image (except what is seen in camera).

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #11023636
Take the lens cap off...

After that, it's a crapshoot!

Man, that was really funny, Jay!

dave

ironchef31 wrote in post #11035767
This may not be quite the same as what you are asking but the priority I keep in mind when I take a photo is:
1) Focus - If your out of focus, the photo is gone. Doesn't matter how well it's exposed or composed. You can't recover in post-production.
2) Exposure - If your photo is off by a bit, you can recover in post-production. If it's blown out or black, it's gone.
3) Composition - You can crop a photo after.

Those are the 3 things I check. In that order.

Then you get to a point where all of that becomes second nature and theres not even a real thought process to it. Even your compositions (which do go a long way to help developing a style) are dome mostly in camera.

Heres a quote by the great Sci Fi author Ray Bradbury and its pretty much true in most art forms.

"Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things."
Ray Bradbury

How does this apply to photography? You need to be beyond technique so thats not even entering into the thought process you are just doing it naturally. How do you get to that point? AHHHH it takes years and a lot of frames.

I am in almost exactly the same position as you, same equipement more or less.

I have a 450D with a 70-300 and a nifty fifty and am looking at the 15-85 to cover wide and up and replace the 18-55.

I carry all my stuff around with me so I know I have everything! I made myself some crib sheets, laminated them and leave them in the bag. They are the most basic things but have helped me so much to the point where I don't really need them now.

They are titled things like 'How to take a sunset' 'How to blur a portrait background' etc. with step by step things to do, so basic but hepled a lot when I wasn't sure what anything meant. This just meant if I was shooting in Tv mode and a friend asked for a portrait, I had easy access so understand what to do to narrow my depth of field without looking like a prat! (This did a lot for my confidence, seriously!)

I also then started to shoot in RAW which gave me further confidence to know that if I didn't get the shot I wanted as wrong white balance, exposure etc. but there wasn't another chance to reshoot (I shoot my local rugby games for fun) I can then open up the RAW file and adjusst these at a later date.

Other than that, I just got in the habit of taking the camera everywhere and playing around, even on a lunch hour at my desk, playing with eposures etc. boring subject matter but just no pressure learning!

I know this hasn't been a step bby step guide but a couple of different ideas from an keen. learning amateur that helped me!

Will

mannetti21 wrote in post #11033532
Sorry, guys, let me try to clarify...let's say I'm only interested in the birdhouse, and don't care if the background sky is overexposed, or completely blown out for that matter Is there a way to have the 450D select the proper shutter/iso/aperture for only the birdhouse?

To do what you are asking, you will need to set the metering mode to meter the center of your frame, so check out your metering modes in your camera -- you may not have "spot" metering. In your manual, check your index for Metering Mode and look it up. It should have two modes that will "concentrate" on the center of the frame (assuming it does not have Spot) -- these will be Partial and Center Weighted Average. Read the descriptions, pick one, be familiar with the rest, and try them out.

So, when shooting the birdhouse you will need to pick one of the "Creative" modes -- P, Tv, Av, or M, then go ahead and frame the birdhouse in the viewfinder. If the birdhouse is darker than the rest of the scene, the camera meter will likely want to lighten it, which is what you want. To start with, go ahead with the "automatic" metering (you can use P, Av or Tv to let that happen).

From there, it is a matter of learning how to work with the camera for different lighting scenarios. For example, after you take that test shot, look at the image review to get a quick glimpse of whether the exposure is "in the ballpark". You can get another "view" of this if you press Info to see the histogram of your shot, and also if you turn on Hightlight warnings/blinkies. But be aware that brightening your exposure on the bird house is likely to do exactly what you said was OK, that is, overexposing the background!

snyderman wrote in post #11038227
Man, that was really funny, Jay!

dave

You haven't seen much of my work then...

do you guys tend to use the DOF preview button much? I've tried to incorporate it but can't seem to distinguish in and out-of-focus areas through the 450D's viewfinder

after all the normal stuff like take camera out and remove front cap... then either set it to raw if im doing a real shoot or jpeg if i just feel like getting snaps

- first thing i always do is adjust iso and wb...
- then i set the aperture... whether i need to isolate the subject or get get everything
- last i set the shutter speed to get the exposure right...

im getting so use to using full manual that i can usually guess what everything should be at just by looking at the scene im shooting... once i set everything to what i think if should be i snap a quick shot to see and if i need to adjust again...

if i feel like lazy i set the iso and aperture then i turn on live view and adjust the shutter til it looks good on the lcd then turn it off and start shooting

With cameras that have live view, you can use the DOF button with live view active. Don't use exposure simulation, and the camera will boost the illumination to make the depth of field easier to see.

mannetti21 wrote in post #11023438
I suppose this may be a stupid question to most, but I'm curious if people are going through a specific sequence of checks/adjustments before they trigger the shutter.

I've only had my 450D for a couple months. I recently ditched the 18-55mm kit lens and picked up the Canon 15-85mm IS. I've been experimenting with ISO, shutter speed, aperture. In most cases, I find myself shooting in Av mode and typically adjusting focus points and ISO, unless I need a particularly fast or slow shutter. Problem is that I find myself "stumbling" upon the right settings rather than methodically adjusting values to get the right photo.

I guess what I'm basically asking is how (as in what steps) do you take a picture?

IMO, a lot of the lists and advice on the first page of this thread are top notch advice.

As someone who's somewhat of a newbie to (DSLR) photography, and shooting in Av, Tv and Manual modes, I think the most important things that I've learned from some friends who are pro shooters, is to understand the basics of lighting, and exposure, and how to learn and understand how your camera meters light (in order to get good exposures).

As I've learned more and more, I've found that I'm shooting more and more in Manual mode.

Sometimes, I'll just start in Av mode, set my aperture, and take a quick test shot, look at the shutter speed, and switch over to Manual, duplicating the aperture and SS, and using the shutter speed to go up and down slightly in exposure, to get the effect I'm looking for.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #11023636
Take the lens cap off...

After that, it's a crapshoot!

Even though this might come across as a joke, I think that it's also a valid way to learn, and discover new ways to frame and shoot.

Sometimes just 'winging it' can net you great results you wouldn't have gotten had you 'thought it through'.

.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #11023636
Take the lens cap off...

After that, it's a crapshoot!

Most likely the most accurate answer in this post!