help a newb

I'm sure these questions have been asked here before, I did a search - but found nothing I was looking for. Please keep in mind, I have serious ADHD so "read a book" doesn't work for me.

I bought a Canon Rebel XT at the suggestion of people who really like my photos. I was using a nice $300 point and shoot w/ great features, but certain friends and family (and even myself) thought that moving up to a new level and challenge would be good.

I've had my Rebel XT for 2 weeks now. I have gotten some amazing photos with just the kit and some screw on macro lenses. In all honesty, my great photos are all luck. I have no skill and no technique. I can't even tell you what "f/stop" is or ISO or none of that. I do wish to change that though. So please be patient with me and if anyone could help me with the following, I'd appreciate it.

1) Is there a place i could find a "glossery of terms" so I can learn what settings mean on my camera? I've read the entire user manual for my camera (3 times in fact) and it doesn't really do much to explain certain terms like ISO, f/s and so on.

2) I would like to upgrade to a telescoping lens. I'd rather spend $300 more for a good/better lens than to spend $200 on something that "just works". Is there "L-glass" for around $300-$500 that would be good for a beginer? Is there a better brand to look for over another brand?

3) Does this forum have a list of trusted sites to buy equipment from? Seems to me that there is a lot of bad and fake dealers out there in the photo business. At this point I'd rather blindly buy a car over the internet than to buy camera equipment. I've almost gotten taken 2 times now (typical newb mistakes) and I don't have the patience to go through BS again.

4) What other equipment would be good to add to my arsenal? I'm not looking to blow thousands of dollars right now. This is a hobby for me that has inturned made me a few hundred dollars over the past 2 weeks. I'd like to take that money and put it into my hobby, I just don't want to go blow money on stuff I will not get much use out of.

That's about it. My photo interests are Urban Decay, Show Cars, nature, and micro. Thanks in advance for any info you guys can help me out with. Great site by the way. I have found some helpful info so far.

Welcome. You will learn alot here..start posting pics for critique and you will start learning straight away.

Also use the search up the top to search some topics that you need to learn about!

if you google such terms as f/stop or aperture as its known or even ISO it should tell you a bit more.

enjoy

A few years ago I took a photography class through an adult education program. It was a big help. I then had some basic information that I could build on. Look at a local College or maybe even some of the large public or private schools in your area.

For me, the local library was always a great source for some basic books on photography. They are definitely worth it.

The internet also holds all the answers, but you have to be careful to read tutorials and other reference material, so that you can learn the appropriate techniques.

Best of luck, welcome to the forum, and start taking photos rightaway, if only in the green zone (green square, automatic mode), so that you can start practicing composition and getting some experience under your belt.

Good luck, and see you around the forum...

For f/stop, exposure, iso, etc.....

Shamelessly stolen from another write up. This helped me.

Consider for a moment a 5 gallon bucket. You fill the bucket with water from a hose. The bigger the hose, the faster it fills up. The smaller the hose, the longer it takes to fill up. If you don't put enough water in, the bucket is underfilled. If you put too much water in, the bucket is overfilled.

OK...now consider this.

The bucket = Your film or digital sensor
Water = light
The size of the hose = aperature (or f/stop)
The time it takes to fill the bucket = shutter speed

So the film(sensor) is properly exposed when you "fill" it with the proper amount of light. If you close down the aperature (hose size) you need to let the light in longer (longer shutter speed). On the flip side, if you open the aperature wider, you need a faster shutter speed.

Overfilling and underfilling the bucket is the same as over and under expsosing.

ISO = the size of the bucket.

Two final confusing things:
The higher the ISO, the smaller the "bucket" ( ISO 100 needs more light than ISO 400)
The smaller the f/stop number, the bigger the hose. (f/2 is a big hose, f/16 is a small hose.)

Hope this helps.

Recommended Readings:

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Petersen. Every beginner should read this book.

Another excellent resource:Cambridge Digital SLR Tutorials

Mark

LostRogue wrote in post #2681867
Hope this helps.

Awesome, thank you.

Dang it Mark Cohran!!! I'm illiterate! I can't read!

Well, look at them and just pretend you're writing.

Mark

As for a good telephoto lens I would recommend the canon 70-200 f/4L its $559 at http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …ghType=category​Navigation
and b and h is an awesome site for buying photography equiment I sure most people on this site can back that up. Even though I dont actually on that lens yet I have read so many reviews on it and never seen a bad one. The L means its one of canon best lenses so you know it was awesome quality of glass. Can anyone back me up.

Big thanks! I will check out that site.

I've been doing this for a while and as far as I can figure out, these are the Rules :

Everything is either half as much or twice as much

The the numbers may not seem like it (until you get used to them) - in general these half / twice steps are referred to as 'Stops' (from the f/stop of a lens)

Learn about Lens Aperture and how it affects Exposure and Depth of Field

A Larger Aperture (smaller f/number) lets in More Light and also has less Depth of Field
f/4 is twice as much light as f/5.6 and half as much light as f/2.8
So from f/5.6 to f4 is one stop more light, and from f5.6 to f 2.8 is 2 stops more light.

Learn about Shutter Speed and how it affects Exposure and motion blur

A longer shutter speed lets in more light and results in more motion blur
1/30th sec is twice as long as 1/60th sec and half as long as 1/15the sec
so from 1/15th sec to 1/30 sec is equivalent to 1 stop and from 1/15th sec to 1/60th sec is equivalent to 2 stops

Learn about ASA/ISO and how it affects Exposure and Film grain or Digital noise
ASA200 is twice as sensitive to light as ASA100 and half as sensitive as ASA400
ASA100 is one stop less sensitive to light than ASA200 and 2 stops less sensitive to light than ASA400
The larger the ASA the more digital noise you will get

Learn about Lens Focal Length and how it affects Perspective and Depth of Field
A short lens (small mm number) expands Perspective (the mountains in the background appear really far away) and increases the Depth of Field
A long lens (large mm number) decreases Perspective (the mountains in the background appear closer) and decreases the Depth of Field

There are many combinations that can give the correct exposure. Figure out what makes one combination better than another for what you want.

Want the car wheels blurred as it drives by? Increase the shutter speed and decrease the aperture to keep the same exposure.

Want the car wheels sharp? Decrease the shutter speed and increase the aperture to keep the same exposure.

Keep at it until it is second nature. It costs nothing to take the picture. Take lots of pictures. When you know the rules so well that it's automatic, then you can worry about composition, line, shape, form, pattern and how to turn it all into ART.

You don't have to learn it all today, because if you keep at it, you'll never stop learning.

And the challenge of photography is what keeps it interesting.

Good Luck.

Nicely done Tom Pierce.