Left Brain/Right Brain...Becoming a Little Frustrated

[MikeyG1965]

I work A LOT. Usually at the end of the year, I still have a lot of vacation time and I end up donating it to someone who is sick/ill.

I don't have a lot of "me" time....free time....time for hobbies.

However, I've always enjoyed looking at photographs and the many ways a photograph/image can be presented. I can spend hours looking at the many photos the wonderful members here have posted for everyone to enjoy. I especially love nature photos, as I enjoy being outside.

My doctor said I needed to find something I enjoy and photography has always interested me.

My problem is that I have the tools (Nikon D50, descent lenses, etc.); however, I am falling way short of using these to their greatest advantage.

I am having a difficult time understanding all the the terminology and methods with photography. Whether it be lighting, shutter speed, f-stops, apeture, white balance, ISO, bracketing, "Rule of Three", etc.

I have always been the kind of person who had problems with math and science and other topics that can get very technical.

I've purchased the books that have been recommended on here and read them several times; however, what I've read just doesn't stick with me very long.

I would LOVE to take classes, as I think that would be a big help. However, my job makes it difficult for me to make that sort of commitment because I am on-call 24/7 and have to be ready to travel at a moments notice. I thought about the online photography courses, but then again, I don't know how good they are. Also, I do best with one on one interaction.

Is there anyone out there that can relate to me on this? If so, what have you done, short of taking classes? Should I look for someone willing to let me hang out with them and learn?

Any suggestions would be welcomed as I hate feeling like this. I know I have a lot of potential, but just need to get the basic stuff down.

[Patti Edens]

I always learn a lot easier if I can spend some time with someone that knows the subject and will explain it to me and answer questions. I can get it eventually from books, but that is a frustrating way to learn for me.

And I can't learn from just anybody. My husband tried to teach me the basics years ago and I never got it. I took a one day class from an excellent teacher and it all clicked. I'll never be a pro, but I sure do enjoy photography on my days off and whenever I can get out. Now, instead of adding to my frustrations, it is a stress reliever for me.

If you can't take a class, you might try to set up a few hours with an instructor for private lessons. I know that some of the instructors will do this. The instructor (Kathy Adams Clark) I went to does private instruction, but she is in the north Houston area, and not very close to you. But maybe someone knows of a good instructor in the Fort Worth area???

[Jeff_Green]

Take part in one of these workshops that are offered on here, or contact someone who you know, knows what they are talking about and see about setting up a one-on-one class.

What this comes down to is you need to be able to take time off of work FOR YOUR HEALTH! You may think it is silly to take time off for photography for your health but it sounds like you need to relax.

[J Eddington]

I totally relate. Classes don't work for me either. Too much info in too short of a time period. I just don't retain the information. RTFM (Read The Fun Manuel). Choose only one subject and study only it. Say shutter speed. Now for the next week or two study (read only that section in your manuel and any books or online articles) and only take photos using shutter speed. That is the only way I can learn. AND to out and shoot with others. You will have a blast.

[scayf]

Just go out and do it. You won't be wasting any film, and if you don't like what you've shot, hit "delete" and do it again. You say you like nature shots...so do I...so find some time (make some time) and go out and shoot. My memory is shot. I can hardly remember what takes place ten minutes ago. Information retention, I have a problem with, too. But I'm old, so I don't worry about it. I go out and shoot what I feel. To hell with "rules". There are none, other than you have to have a camera (which you have), adequate lighting (by your own definition), and a subject (again, what you define). I nearly flunked my high school photo class because of the instructor's stupid "rules". The only person you have to please is yourself. Don't think about it so much...just let it come to you.

Talking about the path
is not walking that path.
Thinking about living
is not living.

[humminboid]

Mike:

I can sympathize with you, having observed the same thing with my students when I taught photo during grad school.

First, what you do for relaxation needs to be FUN! For heaven's sake, take some vacation. They will get along just fine without you for a week or so.

You have a D50...so do I. My lenses are not the gee whiz ones, A 50 mm f/1.8, which becomes a 75mm equivalent short tele on the D50, a 20 year old AF 70-210 4-5.6, (300mm+ equivalent) the 18-55 which came with the camera, and the 28-105 3.5-4.5 macro. All by Nikon.
A selection of relatively pedestrian lenses, but very adequate! The "gee whiz" Loong or large aperture lenses are nice, but not necessary!

Any camera and lens today, if in good condition, will take better pictures than 90% of us are capable of. Your D50 is better than most.

Now....and we all are to some degree....don't be aftaid of your camera! I have a nephew who has a brand-new Nikon D300. He was at my son's wedding, and I asked, "Whatta you got?, as I opened his camera bag, took out the body and lens, removed the plastic factory bags from them, and set it up. He nearly had a heart attack. "You're HANDLING my camera!" "You got it, dude... It's a nice one!"
His wife said he had just left it in the bag, except for short fondling episodes. (The camera, I think!) I hope the week end changed that.

Why that is:
We're afraid of the beasts! Yes, we are. Due to competition, the manufacturers cram more capability into their products. Every digital camera will do stuff that even the pros don't know how to make them do, or need them to do, for that matter. There is so much that it becomes confusing to both sides of your brain! That is called Brain Cramp! Avoid it like the plague. Thoreau said SIMPLIFY! What is it you want to do with your camera? Learn the program/setting(s) that will do that, and when you think you'd like to do something else, learn another. Ignore the confusing stuff. It will come later, as YOU need it. If you never need it, don't worry!

Full auto or P will do all you will ever need, but where's the fun in that? The pre program settings are marvelous, but it is helpful to know how to use Manual mode.

First, get out, and take pictures. Look at the LCD screen, see what you like, then do it again. Change what you don't like, and remember what you did. At home, Near home, wherever you can, so you can answer your job necessities.
Security! Don't be "flashy" with Logo stuff that screams CAMERA! STEAL ME! A diaper bag comes to mind.

Now, a camera is only the housing for the imaging equipment. Film or digital sensor. Learn the basic controls, and remember where the reset button is. it The lens is merely the means of projecting the image onto the film or sensor. That's it. YOU create the picture!

Now that we have that settled, It is all about light. If there isn't enough light, leave the camera in the bag till there is. (The sun rises, or you find your flash.)

Three terms you must come to terms with to even start to understand the magical process we call photography.

1. Film speed, ISO, sensitivity. That is how sensitive your film or camera is to light. Low number, 100, 200, general, sunshiny photos. High number, 400-800-1600+ ,more sensitivity, but more grain or "noise". D50s do well with even high ISO numbers. Set yours manually.

2. Shutter speed: Controls the duration of the exposure, and stops action and camera shake, in all but the worst cases, and you know who you are. Rule of Thumb: Non-IS lenses: shutter speed no less than the longest focal length of your lens. 50mm=1/50-1/60 sec. 300 mm= 1/400, or 1/500 to be safe, but if you are 22, with nerves of steel, and ice water in your veins, maybe you can squeak by at 1/250.

3. Aperture, or f/stop. It's all very complicated, but in a nutshell, small number, say F/3.5= large opening of the diaphragm, (the little thing inside the lensthat is segmented and has a hole in the middle) and a large number, like f/22= a smaller hole in the diaphragm. This controls the light that strikes the medium.

4. I lied. There are 4. Depth of field. The distance of acceptable focus on either side of the real point of focus. It generally extends from 1/3 in front of the subject to 2/3 behind it. The Depth of field preview button never helped me...all that happened was the screen got dark. DOF is governed by the focal length of the lens. Wide angle lens= wide depth of field. Telephoto= narrow depth of field. This is very hard to see with cameras, and experience is the best teacher, here.

Picture exposure as a hot dog.

ISO is the size of the 'dog. The whole hot dog represents proper exposure. The right side of the wiener is the aperture, and the left side is the shutter speed. Proper exposure is anywhere along that wienie where the shutter speed and aperture combine to provide the necessary light. If you adjust the shutter speed slower, towards the right end, the aperture needs to move toward the right, becoming smaller , to compensate for the increase of exposure caused by slowing the shutter speed. But, it must happen within the confines of the wiener, else funny things happen to our pixes.

Faster shutter speed=less light: needs more light for proper exposure: larger aperture necessary. The reverse is also true.

Using the D50 in manual mode will teach you the basics in a short time.

Learn you camera's basic controls, then use some simple things to experiment with light. A sculpture, like a ceramic bust will do, or a geometric form, like a box or ball. Styrofoam craft objects would be good. Get something as simple as a flashlight, or a 60 watt light bulb in an extension cord socket (trouble light?)and study the effects of various light directions and intensities.

Depth of field? Find a picket fence, or set up a checkerboard, focus on the center, and study the effects of different lenses and aperture settings, focusing on the center of the board. This is all applicable in the real world.

Did I mention, take pictures, look at the LCD, adjust, then write down what you like, so you can do it again, later?

There are a couple of books, probably out of print by now: Photography for Dummies, (not digital) and one called Photo School. A visit to your library might find you a good, basic photo text. Remember, the easier the better. Sometimes good enough is good enough! You can't learn good, basic photography by reading the popular photozines. They think all their readers are decades beyond that. And we are not!

Well, I seem to have written a book again, and don't know if I have helped. I hope so. It is hard, not knowing how much of the basics a person may understand, and I hope I have not assumed too much. If so, apologies!
Keep at it, and it will get easier. Guaranteed. Welll....most of the time, anyway.
I have been trying to match the black and white flesh tones Peter Gowland achieves for 50 years! Oh, yeah, MERRY CHRISTMAS!