Photography for beginners??

Question

im getting a nikon d40 this weekend becuz i like photography now...

i have a sony5.1 cyber-shot, which ive noticed isnt a very good photography camera. :p

...ive heard the best for beginners and its easy to use is nikon d40?

give me any tips on ways to learn and understand photography, ive realized you dont just look at something and snap a pic, it includes lighting, shutter and all that stuff?

kay?..gimme some tips?

more about what i am aiming for is (taking pictures of landscapes, anything nature type, skyes, i also like to take pics while driving on long rides to other states bcuz i see the city lite up, bridges, skyes, mountains, is it a good idea to take pics while driving??)

im not even a biginner yet lol!! i need to LEARN.

its not like i want a career in photography though, just a hobby, but i want to be good at it atleast, you know?

does the nikon d40 have flash?? and i like to take pics in the dimlight almost dark but my camera always flashes and makes it bright, how do i take a good picture of how i view it from my eyes??idk if that makes sense to you??

Answer 1

The best advice I can give you is to take a class or two. Check with your school or the local community college. Most will offer photography classes. The other option is to contact a good camera shop in your area. Many also offer beginner classes. Knowing how to use your camera properly on manual mode will make a huge difference in the quality of your photographs.

Things you will need to learn are what shutter speeds, aperture and ISO you need for a particular shot or effect.

Shutter speed: Is the time the shutter or curtain stays open to expose the film or sensor. You need different shutter speeds for different shots. For example in order to freeze action you need a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second or faster.

Aperture: Controls how much light passes through the lens. The aperture or F stop is much like the iris of your eye. It opens and closes to let in more or less light. Aperture also controls the Depth of Field. DOF is how much of the photo is in sharp focus and how much is out of focus. For example most portraits have a shallow depth of field. The person is in focus and the background is blurry. The larger the aperture (smaller F stop number) the shallower the depth of field will be.

ISO is the sensitivity to light of the film or sensor. The higher the number the more sensitive to light the sensor will be. The trade off is that there is more noise or graininess with higher ISO. You should use the lowest ISO you can get away with.

These three things work in combination with each other to achieve the exposure.

The D40 has an internal light meter which will aid you in determining the settings you need.

The D40 does have a pop up flash. The pop up flashes are not very good on any SLR but they do work. If you want to take night pictures without flash you will need a tripod. Also you really can't take pictures of moving objects at night without a flash or other lighting without getting blurry shots. The shutter has to stay open to long. You can't hand hold the camera below about 1/60th of a second without getting blurry shots. As far as taking shots from a moving car this can be tough. You need to have a very fast shutter speed.

My last piece of advice is to practice. Take lots and lots of pictures. After you have practiced awhile you will no what kind of lenses and other equipment you will need.

I hope this helps.

Answer 2

Take a photography course at your local community college if you can. The Nikon D40 is a good camera. It does have a nice flash. I shoot w/ a Canon 30D, but both are top notch brands for great photos.

I have found a few sites online that are handy. Betterphoto.com gives nice tips in weekly emails and you can ask questions of other users. http://www.photographica.org/ is a social community where you can post photos and get feedback from other users. The best method of learning is doing. Find a topic you like: flowers, people, whatever - and just do your own "studies" of sorts. Try different settings and see what works best. Reading up on informational sites and getting feedback will help you learn about composition, flow and methods of taking better photos.

Answer 3

The Nikon D-40, D-60 and D-80 are all great beginner cameras. You might also consider the Canon Rebel EOS Model XTi or XSi. I suggest that you take a few classes to learn the basics of exposure, framing, focusing, lighting and all that good stuff. I also suggest that you by a book or DVD on your specific camera to learn how to use all the feautes of the camera. I recently purchased the Canon Rebel EOS Model XSi and absolutely love it. It is also a 12.2 Megapixel camera with a lot of great special features. The best way to learn is from others who have learned from experience and practice. Attend a workshop if you can find one in your area. Also...don't be afraid to post some pics online and get some constructive criticism of your work,

Good Luck

Answer 4

There are a variety of options.  Try reading the manual that came with your camera.  That way you can learn about the different options you have available and how to use them.  You don't need a fancy camera to take good pictures, all I have is a basic point and shoot made by Kodax and was told by someone that you can't tell I didn't take them with a DSLR camera.  All I did was take the time to learn about the features it has and how to use them to get the effects that I have.

Yes a better camera can help you create better pictures but not if you don't know how to use it.

Check out this website: http://www.betterphoto.com/home.asp

They have different classes that you can take online to learn how to take better pictures.  Another thing you might check is to see if the school system in your area offers continuing ed classes in photography.  

If you're not interested in getting formal training you can always do research on different photographic concepts.  This is a good website to check out for that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography...

I know you don't have a Kodax camera but this link give a few tips that aren't specific to any particular camera: http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.j...

Another option would be to sign up for a flickr account.  They have the option for a free account it just has limited features and a 100MB upload limit per month (or you can pay for a pro account).  There's a bunch of groups on flickr and alot of them there designed to help new photographers improve their picture taking ability.  Here's the link to make it easy for you to find: http://www.flickr.com/

Hope that helps