New to Photography :)

Hey everyone,

I recently had an interest in photography after I got a Cannon Rebel XSi 18-55mm kit. So I was wondering if you anyone had any tips or tricks for a beginner for this camera and things that might help improve my skills.

Thank you,

What type of photography are you interested in there are already a lot of sticky's with tips for all kinds of photography. Just go into the talk section of any field you want to know about and the top few or several posts will be very helpful as far as starting off knowledge goes.

Read the stickies at the top of the forums. Read Bryan Petersen's Understanding Exposure. Post photos and ask questions about how to improve them. Ask specific questions about concepts you don't understand or have trouble mastering.

All those things will help get you started.

Mark_Cohran wrote in post #9338701
Read the stickies at the top of the forums. Read Bryan Petersen's Understanding Exposure. Post photos and ask questions about how to improve them. Ask specific questions about concepts you don't understand or have trouble mastering.

All those things will help get you started.

What he said! And let me add: Shoot, shoot, shoot!!!

Yes, I agree...shoot, shoot, shoot. Digital also gives us the advantage of shooting and being able to analyze what we did. The exif data is absolutely invaluable to determine focal length used, shutter speed, aperture and flash status. We didn't have that in the film days. That's why you'd sometimes see someone shoot, then pull out a notebook and start scribbling furiously.

Mark_Cohran wrote in post #9338701
Read the stickies at the top of the forums. Read Bryan Petersen's Understanding Exposure. Post photos and ask questions about how to improve them. Ask specific questions about concepts you don't understand or have trouble mastering.

All those things will help get you started.

Chairman7w wrote in post #9339296
What he said! And let me add: Shoot, shoot, shoot!!!

What they, said. Shoot, shoot and shoot. Oh, shoot some, too. Post your results up here for C&C. That's a great way to learn. It's always nice to have an extra pair (ok, 200,000 extra pair) of eyes to see something you may not.

Read your manual. As Mark_Cohran suggests read the Peterson book and review the stickies. Put your camera into manual. If its in manual you will have no choice but to learn. Once you've done that you'll better understand when the other features are useful. Learn the custom functions from the manual and from POTN posts that deal with settings and situations similar to those you'll be shooting. Good luck!