I'm all fogged up

[Firegirl]

Well, not anymore....Last year we went to SPI and I was so excited about having my 20D and being able to take some "real" photographs as opposed to "snapshots". We went down to the beach and saw all the pretty umbrellas in a row....this was to be the first of many great shots. Ok, so I take my camera out of the bag, remove the lens cover and start to shoot. AHHHHHHH...lens immediatly fogs up! I know now to let my camera acclimatize before heading out.
Now, for the real question here. Are there any suggestions about shooting in such bright conditions. Although I've had my camera about a year and a half I'm really just beginning to use my creative side of the dial. I'm almost embarrassed to tell you that but if it will help you help me then so be it. Feel free to take me by the hand here...........Hopefully I can come back next Friday with some awesome shots. As always Thanks so much.
Sherrie

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by Firegirl

Well, not anymore....Last year we went to SPI and I was so excited about having my 20D and being able to take some "real" photographs as opposed to "snapshots". We went down to the beach and saw all the pretty umbrellas in a row....this was to be the first of many great shots. Ok, so I take my camera out of the bag, remove the lens cover and start to shoot. AHHHHHHH...lens immediatly fogs up! I know now to let my camera acclimatize before heading out.
Now, for the real question here. Are there any suggestions about shooting in such bright conditions. Although I've had my camera about a year and a half I'm really just beginning to use my creative side of the dial. I'm almost embarrassed to tell you that but if it will help you help me then so be it. Feel free to take me by the hand here...........Hopefully I can come back next Friday with some awesome shots. As always Thanks so much.
Sherrie

You may want to get a Circular Polarizer to bring out the sky and water...

[Clint_Smith]

Originally Posted by Firegirl

Now, for the real question here. Are there any suggestions about shooting in such bright conditions. Although I've had my camera about a year and a half I'm really just beginning to use my creative side of the dial. I'm almost embarrassed to tell you that but if it will help you help me then so be it. Feel free to take me by the hand here...........Hopefully I can come back next Friday with some awesome shots. As always Thanks so much.
Sherrie

Ok first off stop being affraid of the camera settings...set that bad boy on M for Manual and get it off of P ---which does not stand for professional!

For a general rule, and a good place to start, use the SUNNY 16 RULE

If it is SUNNY set your f/stop to f/16, your ISO to 100 and make your shutter speed as close to your ISO as you can. 1/90 or 1/125 generally...

THEN play with it from there. Dont just leave it in one setting...use the in camera meter, vary aperature and shutter speed and review the affects on the LCD. Digital gives you an accelerated learning curve...use it to your advantage!

a polarizer will darken the skies and such, before get into filters and stuff you need to learn how aperature, shutter speed and ISO (film speeds) affect your images......

[kenw]

better (imho) than plunging into full Monty, go with Tv and Av. these let you set the Shutter speed (Tv) and Aperture size (Av), and let the camera set the other. When you care about the shutter speed as in blurring waterfalls, use Tv to slow the shutter to about 1/3 to 1/2 a second. The camera will set the Aperture to get a good exposure. Fast shuters will make that bat swing freeze perfectly as it smacks the ball on it's way over the left field wall.

When you've learned how shutter works, move over and practice with aperture by using Av. It will then set the shutter it needs to give you a decent pic with the perfect background blur.

eventually you'll get to full M, but in the meantime, you'll learn a LOT about shutter and aperture and what makes what happen.