Hey Guys I'm New To Cameras and Photography

Okay guys I'm extremely new with cameras and Photography. I dont know much but I was hoping that I could learn. My Camera isn't that good, but I hope I can get better and clearer shots. Umm, I have a problem. I want to be good at Macro and I want to make my pictures a lot clearer. Should I turn my setting to SuperFine instead of Fine? What settings should I change? Should I be using Automatic or Manual? Or should I be using Digital Macro? I dont understand the differences. If you could tell me that would be awesome. Also, Does resolution matter a lot? Because When I Pick a High Resolution, I just dont like the trouble of making the resolution smaller when I upload it onto my computer. Should I just use a smaller resolution? Will the clarity change? If you have a program or suggestion that changes the resolution of a mass group of photos all at once, please tell me. Whenever I change the resolution of 100 pictures, I always do it one by one... It's a hassle haha. Well sorry to bother you guys if these questions are so simple and newbie... This forum is so huge that I don't know where to start. It would be awesome if someone could answer these questions all at once. Thanks! Haha by the way; Lastly, I have a Digital Camera: Cannon PowerShot SD450. Yeah' its not like a pro camera that all of you guys have.

Thanks everyone.


- Brian

we're all gonna recommend you shoot at the highest resolution. what if you get that shot of a lifetime and its too small?! why do you resize all your photos, leave them as they are on your computer. storage is cheap.

i have an ixus 40 (sd300) which i think is the same as yours... i normally only use it in manual mode, but thats just me. for macros i stick it in manual (a tripod will help) and press the macro button (left arrow key? i cant remember, but its the button with a little flower on it) this allows you to focus closer. try it with/without flash, or try additional lighting from a desk lamp or something. just experiment!

stupot, thanks alot! you are awesome. highest resolution sounds great. Is macro used for only close up shots? And, what is ISO? Is the higher ISO the better? And what should i do about Zooming? When should I Zoom? Thanks.

lol... hehe... yes i am.......

yup macro is just for close ups. a neat thing to do with it is turn macro on, and focus on something close but have the background further away - ie not on the same plane. notice how it blurs the background? this is a cool way of isolating small objects from their surroundings.

here is an example of what im talking about - taken with my ixus 40.

brianiak, I am new too and the best advice i can give you is shoot, shoot, shoot and then shoot some more. Start with automatic and then slowly read and tinker with settings. The people here told me to keep a notebook and write settings when I am taking pictures then go back and see what works. Another good tool is examining EXIF data which is embedded data on what settings were used for the picture. Just read alot here and post some shots for critique. These people here are just awesome at giving constructive advice without being rude. Nobody cares that you camera wasn't thousands of dollars, we are all here for the same reason. Look forward to seeing some of your work.

J

Welcome to the forum. I'm going to suggest something a little different from others here - while practice is extremely important, understanding the basics of photography is essential. Please take the time to buy and read Bryan Petersen's excellent book Understanding Exposure as well as The National Geographic Field Guide to Photography: Digital. As an alternative, take the time to enroll in photography classes in a local community college or adult learning program. Practice is ultimately the most important aspect of learning photography, but you have to understand what you are practicing in order for it to become habit and knowledge.

Mark

welcome to the fourm, you know just because you have a point and shot doesn't mean anything around here. the only thing is important is that you have got a camera. if you had posted I keep trying to take a shot but I don't have a camera then we would be worried

Regarding the settings for the camera, have the image settings to the highest it can go. This way you don't lose any information in the photograph. You can start by shooting in auto, and then changing to one of the others options and seeing what happens.

While there is alot of things to understand when it comes to photography, it all takes time. When it comes to file management, I normaly keep each photo that I take and then copy the photos that I like in to another directory. These are the ones where I would normaly crop and change the photograph to what I saw in my mind. This also enables me to keep the original file with out it being touched.

and perhaps the most important thing is to enjoy taking photos, if you don't then what's the point

I would spend a lot of time playing around with TV and AV mode so that you can get a good feel how shutter speed and Depth of Field impact and image. Take several shots of the same object with different settings. You'll start seeing the differences pretty quick. A look at images where ever you can and check out the settings people are using. Soon you will get the relationship of aperature and Depth of field, which has a real dramatic impact. Have fun with it.... there is no absolutes here....

Welcome to the world of photography, ,,,,, A good idea to understand depth of field is to line up a row of objects, bottles are ideal,at least 15, set them about a bottle width apart. Set your camera up in one place,at the end of the row on an angle looking to the row of bottles, put it on AV and start at the first setting and move through each number (f Stop) to the end, Im sorry I dont know the settings on your camera or what fstops you have, but leave your camera in the same location as you shoot each shot, you should then set the depth of field work- more of the bottles will come in clear focus. Also with TV if you are near water or moving objects- a road is fine, set the camera up in one place and start at one end of the numbers ( time the shutter is open) and work through to the other, if a water fall or river is used you will see how shutter speed affects your image. A good book to help understand light and photography is "basic photography" by Michael Langford. this covers everything you need to know at the start.
Hope this is useful

Hankus