It took me 30 minutes to figure out how to change the f stop and another two days to figure out what the f stop actually does. ::facepalm::
I promise I'm not a totally helpless case. After playing around with the settings and trying different things, I think I'm getting the hang of it. I've found a few tutorials, manuals, and online courses that seem to be helping as well. I have no delusions of becoming an award winning photographer - I just want to take nice pictures of my kid that aren't blurry as hell.
I took the camera with us to camp this weekend and was able to test it out a little in the natural light.
Pictures from around camp...
Yay for playing with field of focus...
And this is what happens when you figure out the white balance...
Other random pictures...
It was a lot of fun trying to figure things out. I still need A LOT of work - especially on lighting and figuring out the manual settings. It'll come with time. In the meantime....don't make fun of my crappy pictures. :-P
You are so getting the hang of it! It does not come overnight, it will come with time. The most important thing is not to give up! Try to keep your shutter speed above 1/50th sec when you're inside (definitely faster if he's active) and it should keep from being blurry. If that makes it too dark, increase your ISO (but stay away from 1600 with the XTi, it will make the picture very noisy.) YAY!!
ReplyDeleteCool! Thanks for the tips! I know its going to take time and I'm looking forward to playing around with the settings. :) I've been trying to keep the ISO around 400, but wasn't paying much attention to the shutter speed. I'll keep an eye on that. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI am itching to get myself a DSLR. I'm so afraid that I won't be able to actually get cool photos, though. I'm not very creative. Are you finding it to be user friendly, or complicated?
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up to Toddle Along Tuesday at Growing Up Geeky and Our Growing Garden!
Great job...at least you are trying! I opted for an advanced point and shoot with a pretty good zoom instead of a SLR. I still have a lot to learn to. At least we have cute subjects:)
ReplyDeleteYoure getting there. They look good. Agreed, try to stay away from anything under like 1/60 (even 1/60 is pushing it. Sometimes indoors is tough, very tough at times, but possible. Photographer's philosophy, when all else fails, photoshop can do anything. That camera does good though! She sure is broken in. Your brother must been some kind of awesome dude to let you learn with Maria.
ReplyDeleteThat's the same camera I have. I am still trying to learn how to use the manual functions and I have had it for 3 months! But I love it and think it does take better pictures than a regular point and shoot. Have fun with it!
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone! Despite having a lot of different functions, it really is very user friendly. If you really break it down, there are only a few variable to toy with. There are a ton of combinations to those variables, but at least it all makes sense once you learn what each one does. If you're thinking of getting a DSLR, I'd say go for it! I'm already so much happier with my pictures than I ever was with my point and shoot.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, my brother is an awesome dude for lending it to me. :-P