Hi

Few years back, I developed a passion for photography. Therefore, I got myself a Nikon camera. However, due to my busy schedule, I hardly had the chance to try it out. I will be having my semester break soon and thus I would like to start pursuing my "lost-passion".

Therefore, can anyone teach me how to take a good picture? As in the angles, the mode etc. I have always been fascinated on how others managed to take such nice pictures.

Anyways, I would like to capture the nature as I have always been amazed by the beauty of nature (the sun, the sky, the trees, the flowers and the insects.)

Is there anyone out there who shares the same passion as me? If you are one of them, would you mind sharing a skill or two?

I appreciate it a lot. Thank you.

Not sure how complete your camera is, let's see it's a real photo camera.
First of all, I suggest use the "fully programmed mode", in order to be able to shoot fast a decent picture.
And use the average exposure measurement, in order to be sure that roughly the exposition time will be correct on most of your image.
Then, don't forget the "good old tricks" :
- if you are inside a house, come rather close to your model, after two meters most of flash lamps don't have nough power.
- if you are outside, before shooting, be sure the sun is in your back, so your model will be correctly lighted, else you will see black faces near a very light sky.

Directly use Windows explorer to cut your pictures from the camera or the memory card, and paste them in a file of your computer, and have a look immediately. Don't wait a couple of days, don't leave the pictures inside the camera (if somebody steals your camera you loose your photos, if your memory card is full you loose the opportunity to take an important picture). And don't have a look of your pictures directly on your camera, it will overuse energy on your batteries and you will have no more power for flashing or simply taking pictures.
If this is already clear, we could continue later for advanced techinques...

By the way, maybe you should also have a look at astahost forum, for instance here http://www.astahost.com/skillz-artist-photography-t9237.html

This post has been edited by yordan: Aug 22 2006, 01:55 PM

what camera exactly did you get?

There are many sites out there on the internet that will provide basic technical information and tips. Basically, just take some time to browse around and read up on lighting (which is what photography is all about!) and make sure to read your camera manual so you can realize the full potential of your camera and how it works. Also look into learning all about the technical aspects of photography including F-stops, shutter speeds, ISOs, white balance, etc... so you will know what variables affect the photograph.

As for positioning yourself... just look at things at different angles than you would normally looking at them. Instead of just standing in front of your subject, crouch down and look up at it, or find a high vantage point... Take light into consideration, and the subject's background. With F-stops, you can control how blurry or in-focus the background is.

Experiment. Flip the settings around in manual mode, and see what works. Learn how these settings affect how a photo comes out. Longer exposures can mean blur, but that blur can be used in artistic ways. Fast shutter speeds can freeze action, such as a droplet of water in mid-air.

High ISO values will allow you to set your shutter speed higher, for poor lighting or sports or fast action shots, but will create a lot of digital noise. Lower ISO values will decrease noise, but you'll need longer shutter speeds.

Go out and take an afternoon to just shoot photos of things you're interested in. The more you use the camera, the better you'll get at it!

Hey Guys,

I dont have a DSLR and I just got my hefy Canon A530. I really like photography and also I would like to
have more knowledge on how to be a good photographer. I know that you really cant rely evertime on auto
mode and you have to use either Manual or Program Mode. Now are there any books or tutorials on how to
use those mode?

this post starts being rather old, but your question is very up-to-date.
There are a lot of books about photographying, a lot of them have been written at about 1950 ! The trick is, dont look books about "not using Program modes", look for books about standard photographying techniques.
If you have a digital camera, especially a Reflex one, you can have a look imediately on what you have done. This is the mean difference between digital and standard chemical film camera. With a standard chemical film camera, you have to remember what you did, and wait until you obtain the paper version, in order to see if the effects you wanted to obtain is really the visual you see.
With digital camera, you see immediately if you are wrong or if you succeeded.
Simply look what happens, even without shooting. Put your camera in "S" mode, look at what you want to shoot, and look what happens. If you are on "speed" mode, if you are photographying a landscape, you want the smallest acceptable aperture. But if you watch the speed related to the aperture, you will see that the smallest aperture you have, the langest necessary time arises. And, of course, remember that you cannot shoot at a speed lower than 1/100 second. Starting at 1/50 of second, your camera will have a "moved" effect.
Same thing when you are photographying outside, with day lights, something you can place somewhere and think of the effect you want. For instance you want to have a picture of your girl-friend near a flower, think about something simple : "do I want to emphazise only the girl, or also the flower ?". If you want only the girl, you will have to have a high speed and a wide aperture (F4 or F2.8 and 1/200 sec for instance). If you want to see both the girl and the flower behind her, you will use a slow speed (tell the girl "now don't move") and use a slow speed (1/100 sec) and a narrow aperture (F11 or F16 as allowed by the "S" or "A" mode).
And then, something funny. If the girl faces the sun, the photo will be nicer, but the girl will close her eyes and she will not like the picture. Such is life !
So, a lot of technique is mandatory, and a piece of chance is always necessary for having a nice picture.
Hope this helped.
Yordan

whooaahh i great info..though i only understand 80% of what you said..I really want to know the meaning
of aperture,shutter speed...the F-something and the 1/100something. I really want to know those things.
and with your info I have a bit of an idea now. I really want to use the manual and program mode. what is
the 'S' mode by the way. is it available in canon a530?

thanks for the info again..and if u would be so kind can you give me a link for the book or a website

OK, let me try to explain a little bit more in details.
On your traditionnal Canon camera, an exact amount of light has to go through the objective : too much will give a completely white image, and too few will give a full black image. The ideal image has to deal with the diameter of the hole the light goes inside, and the speed of the shutter : if the shutter is shut twice faster, you can open the camera hole twice wider. So, several combinations are possible : 1/125+F11, or 1/250 + F8, etc...
If you choose the "programmed" mode, the camera will choose for you. This is the esiest mode, which is suitable if you want a "quick and dirty" picture. The light exposure will be correct, anywhat you are photographying.
However, if you want to take a picture from a moving thing (let's say a tennis player) you will want to go as fast ast possible, then you choose the "S" (like speed) mode, fixing the speed to 1/250 or 1/500 and let the program choose the objective aperture.
If you are taking a picture of a landscape, nothing is moving, you can choose a slow speed (set's say 1/100 of second) and let the program choose the aperture.
The thing you have to know is that if you have a small objective aperture you will have the picture be nice over a broad range of distance, and if you have a wide objective aperture the picture will be nice on a rather short range of distance, which is nice for a portrait where you want emphasize the smile of a person, and is not suitable for a nice landscame (let's say the Niagara falls) where you wann e erything to be at the same level of definition.
If you have a static model (a sleeping cat) you can try several combinations to see how divverent the look and feel of the images are. With a chemical film camera you will have to wait until the pictore comes back from the laboratory.
If you have an entry-level digital camera, you have almost no freedom, the "S" and the "A" programs are not available, so you don't take benefit from the fact that you can see the result immediately. With and entry-level camera, you can only see the effect of the light, having the sun behind you instead of in front of you.

I've gotten into photography myself, if you like taking upclose pics with a digital camera, hold the capture button half way down to get it focused, here's one of mine....

Nicely said

Really nicely said, I like it. So truly expressed.