Friday, January 18, 2013

My new toy {DSLR camera}

Christmas was good to me in many ways, and one of them was a hand-me-down DSLR camera from my dad!

Last year I made an effort to take better photos with my point and shoot camera. While I think it improved my photos a lot, point and shoots are just not as powerful (i.e. fancy) as full fledged DSLRs. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to get my hands on this fancy one.

But now...I have to learn how to use it! I've signed up for a course with Toronto's school board (Wednesday was my first class! I thought I might be in the wrong place when the instructor spent 10 minutes on how to get photos onto your computer, but then we were allowed to take out our cameras and "discover" them a little bit). 

There are many tips on Pinterest, but do you have any go to tips?  What's the best way to learn the basiscs?

9 comments:

Country Chic said...

This website has always been one of my favorite go to's for tips. The magazine is pretty good as well you can get it at Chapters and it's only around 7.99. Pretty good considering it's from the UK and most of these photographys mags range around 13-16 dollars!

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/

Emily-Jane said...

I love my Nikon DSLR so much! Which model do you have?

In terms of learning how to take better photos, I've been reading a lot of photography forums and blogs, which I find mostly on Pinterest!

Martina said...

I think a great way to get familiar with a new tool like a camera is to just start shooting with different settings in different light/locations etc. it will give you a feel for the equipment itself as well as a base understanding of what works and what doesn't.

Finesse comes with time, and no matter how many classes or books you red if you don't shoot you won't get comfortable with your camera :)

Unknown said...

Totally agree with Martina! Classes and books and forums are a great way to get the head-knowledge, but it won't all come together until you practice. Practice makes perfect, right?

Most importantly... have fun with it! :D

Ashley said...

Congrats on the DSLR! First question, do you have a lens protector? If not GET ONE!!!! oh and don't put it in a bag full of coffee. Now that that's out of the way I will tell you what I would like to do in terms of learning more about my DSLR. I want to take one of the Nicole's classes on it. Google it, they look great. Or I might just buy her book but I think the class would be great. Best of luck in your class, hopefully the next one proves to be more productive.

Kelly @ A Swell Place to Dwell said...

I bought a Nikon D3000 about 5 months ago and had no idea how to use it. I did end up doing the course through Shoot Fly Shoot, which helped a tonne! Even though they use Cannon to demo, the concepts are all the same. I started out in Manual mode and learned that first, so I am never now tempted to fall back onto auto. Good luck! It's a lot of trial and error!

Jen @ RamblingRenovators said...

Congrats on the DSLR. I have a Nikon D80. Courses, forums, videos are all great sources on learning the basics. But practice is the best teacher... always have the camera charged and ready. Take photos in your house or out on a walk, take photos of family. I found taking photos in different lighting conditions and of different subjects helped me understand the most. Reading photography blogs helps too. Have fun. Can't wait to see the photos on the blog!

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