Has anyone ever done digital photography?

Question

Did you use books/textbooks to learn? If so which one's were most helpful?

Did you take a course? Are there good online course or would it be better to find a local class to go to?

What equipment did you use? How much did it cost?

Any additional comments are welcome and greatly appreciated.

Thanks bunches.

Answer 1

Besides just goofing around until they found out how much they could do with the digital camera's, no..

After they saw the potential they decided to do 4H photography; their books really help them develop their skills, and the projects they do get judged, and encouragement as well as advice is given to them.

Many local photographers often put on workshop days to give everyone an opportunity to learn more about the whole concept of photography; they share their time and talents.

This may be an option for those interested to check into.

The camera's they bought at first were around $150.00, than they added bigger memory cards; the prices of those vary.

4H has a nominal yearly fee, which includes all the books here, but that may be different in other area's; you'd have to check with them.

Photography classes are also offered through adult education, evening classes in local studios, or local community colleges; the location, time, and cost of these are often print in a local newspaper, or you can give them a call and make some inquiries.

Answer 2

Without getting into higher end cameras like DSLRS there's not much to it as compared to film (which yu process and print)!

There are some sites and books that deal with perspective and such.

Using the zoom lens (if you have optical zoom) and learning about curved and flat fields.

One of the things YOU can experiment with is getting two friends on a HILL driveway is best.  Have one way up there and the other half way down and have that one put out their flat hand to make it look like they are holding the other person in their hand.

Then you shoot it up close wide angle and WAY back half a block or across the street with full zoom and see how the field effects change.

Photography tends to fall into the "unschooling" realm of learn by doing and reading a few books from the library on photography.

Answer 3

There is very little difference between digital photography and photography using film. Yes, the means by which the image is recorded is different, but all of the other concepts are almost exactly the same - composition, framing, proper exposure, depth of field, etc.

There are subtle differences resulting from the differences in the recording medium, but that's really not much different than what film photographers dealt with when choosing one film type versus another.

Ansel Adams's series of books (The Camera, The Negative, The Print) are all still excellent, though certain topics, such as development techniques, are not applicable to digital work. And darkroom techniques such as dodging and burning are now done on a computer but the purpose and effect are still the same.

There are many, many good photography books out there (there is also, unfortunately, a pile of crappy photography  books out there). Concentrate on the fundamentals - framing, composition, exposure. The whiz-bang of digital is only a sidebar.

Colleges often have photography courses which will be helpful whether they are based on film or digital photography. It's often helpful to learn about film exposure, development and printing even if you never set foot in a darkroom because a lot of the terminology and concepts are rooted in film.

If you can possibly afford it, get an SLR right from the start. Point-and-shoot cameras give you so little control that it is difficult to use many common techniques. Simply the ability to set lens aperture is unavailable on most point-and-shoot cameras. You will be looking at about 600 bucks for a reasonable digital SLR, though prices continue to fall.

I use a Nikon D70s (now obsolete) and D80, both "entry level" digital SLRs from Nikon. While there are a couple of features that I would like to have from the professional line, I can live quite well with what they consider to be entry level.

Answer 4

I have never taken any classes or read any books on it. I did take wedding photos for my mother in law and they turned out really good. Better than I expected! I was using a kodak digital camera I got at walmart for around $200.

Answer 5

My son (14) is into it big time.

He has a Canon Digital Rebel XT (expensive) and a telephoto zoom lense and macro (close up) lens.  I think around $600 for the camera - it is a "near professional"  quality camera.  Also has a photo printer.

A book that we have found helpful is: John Hedgecoe's Photography Basics which includes digital photography techniques.

Did not take a course (yet).  I think you might get more out of a local class than an online class.

You can check out some of his pictures at the links below.

***UPDATE:

If you really want to get into the artistic aspects of it... I would also recommend getting good photo editing software.  PhotoShop is commonly considered among the best.

Also, with the camera I mention above, you can get all the same sorts of lenses and filters that you can use with a film 35MM camera.

Answer 6

Yes.  I thought everyone had  by now.

First... get a digital camera and a computer.

2nd.  read the manual

3rd.  start with simple photography software- I recommend Google's Picasa 2 (it's a free download).

Start taking pictures, downloading them, and trying out all the adjustment features.

then you can go from there.

A decent digital camera will cost $200.  But $300-$500 will get you an excellent instrument.

have fun.

Answer 7

I haven't taken a course, neither have any of my kids... yet.

There are lots of things you can do for free from the library.  Get a book on digital photography from the library to start... you will need to learn the mechanics of focusing and aperture (sp?)  and such,  then you will also need to learn about composition, how things are arranged in the picture for artistic effect.

You will need a digital SLR, not a point a shoot, for serious photography.  I know these things because although I haven't taken a course, I have read up on it quite a bit.

Now if all you have is a point and shoot you can still start to learn.  Learn about composition, that is one of the most important aspects of photography anyway.  Eventually you will need an SLR though.

Check out these links:

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkiXA9oRHzZ...

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkkn89YRHWn...

Answer 8

I know a friend who went to the local community college and took a class from them.  also call your local arts council they might know of some classes.

Answer 9

Buy a camera.  Take pictures.  Put them on a computer.  Fiddle with them in a good graphics suite.  Print them.  Sell them.  Rinse repeat.  

Do you want to spend some money.  Enroll in a photography course at a community college, university or a proprietary entity.  Hang out at a good camera store.  Get a job there.  Send me a check and I will send you a certificate.

Answer 10

Yes i have done digital,Not been on a course,Bought a camers £120.Read the instructions,Experimented.