Camera Labs

Hi,

Just new here, joined a few days ago but thought I'd introduce myself to the members here.

I am a DSLR beginner and am hoping to develop my camera skills - or rather develop past my present lack of them! Anyway, I've often looked at photos and thought that I would love to know how to achieve those sorts of results. My photography up to now has been pretty much point and click and let the camera work everything out for me.

I am using an Olympus E-400 with a couple of lenses and will see how I get on with that. Perhaps members may be able to clear up a bother I have in relation to this camera.

I was at a one day introductory class last weekend and my camera was the only non-Nikon or non-Canon in the room. Not too bothered with that but the two instructors seemed to pretty much treat it with disdain. Is it a poor camera or could it be (as I suspected) that they seemed to trying to persuade people they needed tripods, filters, etc for those brands of camera, which they just happened to sell. I would welcome opinions on this.

I was also surprised when discussing photo processing software to hear Photoshop Elements described as "pretty old and not much use". They seemed to be steering people towards professional level Photoshop, i.e. CS5. I would have thought this would be far more than most hobbyists would need. Again, I would like to hear members comments on what they think of the software mentioned.

All in all, I came away feeling that I didn't really learn anything I couldn't have found in a good book or on the web.

Sorry if this seems silly, uninformed or boring but still trying to find my feet so would appreciate hearing the views of others.

Hi Welcome aboard.

I guess this says more about the instructors.........

I guess they have forgotten that the it takes time and experience to learn about photography. Photography takes you one a learning curve or journey if you like. It shouldn`t matter what gear you use, if you use jpg or raw files, etc. If you only take photos with your camera phone or P&S and use jpg, that is your choice. Ultimately the goal is to have a photo, create a picture or whatever you set out to do, the camera is just a tool. So is photoshop its allows for artistic creations and if you want to heavily modify your photos. Lightroom is a possibly a much more useful tool.

With software there is plenty of free options and as your knowledge grows and skills develop you will find what suits. Canon for example provide you with software to convert raw files into jpg.

Sure in an ideal world, we would all have professional lenses and professional software and plenty of spare time. But a good photo taken with whatever is still a good photo.

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Canon Powershot S95, Canon 6D,7D, 24-70 2.8 Tamron VC, Canon 15-85, Canon 85 1.8, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L Macro, Canon 70-300L +Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic

Welcome on-board BlueMonk, that doesn't sound like a great teaching experience, but sadly one which is all too familiar. Most teachers are understandaby only comfortable teaching what they know, but when this is very limited or exclusive, then I think they should broaden their landscapes.

So dump the class and learn from us instead. My website http://www.dslrtips.com has handy tutorials and you'll find out a lot of technical aspects from my reviews - read my one for the Olympus E-400 and you'll find out if it's a good camera or not - hint: it's a neat camera!

Anything else we can answer here - just shout.

PS - for Olympus specifics, try the Olympus section.

Welcome aboard from a fellow newbie to DSLR. enjoy your day

Thanks to everyone for their welcome and support.

I am presently working my way through the user manual to get to know my camera and it is going well so far. Everything is simply explained in a straightforward manner and is easy to follow.

One of the reasons I want to develop my skills is that the town where I live is right on the coast and has plenty of photo opportunities. I live a 10 minute walk to the seafront so it couldn't be more convenient. The next town up the coast is about a 90 minute walk on a cliff path with some incredible views along the way. It would be such a shame to have all that and not use it.

If I go inland, I am a 15 minute drive to some great scenery and have forests, hills and valleys close by too. One of my favourite places is an old monastic site that is over 1,000 years old. It also features a pretty intact round tower, a feature that seems unique to early Irish religious sites. The site is named Glendalough if you want to see it on the web.

Anyway, once again, thanks for the support and I hope to make this site a regular stop - it's already on my favourites list!

Wow - hadn't realised it was so long since I had logged in on this site. Been insanely busy in work since the year started thanks to staff cuts but the same volume of work to be done by less people.

Anyway, enough about all that! I now have two good reasons to really get to grips with my photographic education. Last week I booked a week long holiday in Sicily for three months time. The room has a sea view (built into a cliff actually so no obstructions) and will be close to Mount Etna. Busily researching and planning what to see and do.

I have also just purchased Photoshop CS5 thanks to the happy coincidence of a tax refund and an offer via e-mail from Adobe. I paid just very slightly over a third of what it would normally cost - which is why I had not gotten it before. I am busily learning it with a good training guide and my previous experience with Elements is also helping. Onwards and upwards!