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Wednesday, April 18

As I mentioned the other day I'm new to digital SLR photography and I have only learnt some very minor basics but I thought for those who are new too, you might like to know some of the top five tips I learnt at my course.

1. Aperture.  Aperture is the size of the lens opening when you take a photo.  The thing I find confusing though is the number, the smaller the aperture number the larger the opening and the larger the aperture number the smaller the opening. When the lens opening is larger it lets in more light which is good when you are taking photos in low light.
2. Taking photos in the morning or in the afternoon produce a warm, softer tone.
3. When you take photos have a simple background that way the subject stands out.
4. I know it's simple but get a good hold of your camera, it really helps when keeping it steady to have a good grip.
5. An odd number of objects is visually more appealing than an even amount.

I found this great article too for photo composition. Do you have any tips?

14 comments:

  1. oh, i am hoping to get a slr camera very soon, looking forward to learning all the tricks of the trade!! thankyou for sharing!
    laura x

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  2. whenever i start to read about how to take photos, it completely stresses me out so i try not to. i still can't figure out aperture.

    ps. your words were so kind. thank you.

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  3. Thanks for sharing Catherine. I have been playing with my hubby's SLR and it is good to experiment with different Apertures in different light. I also love taking a few shots of the same frame but with different focus points. xx

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  4. Great tips Catherine - thanks! I am very new SLR owner also and I think a course might be a good idea.

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  5. I'm so happy that you've done a course Catherine...I keep meaning to and never get around to it.
    My top tip is just to keep taking 100s of photos of everything...and remember to delete the duds not just let them take up hard disc space like I do...and then you learn what you like and what looks good
    Oh - and have fun :-)

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  6. Yet again I look to you! Just those few things are really helpful - the aperture thingy is really confusing to me too. Now I just new some time to sort it!

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  7. I have had my camera for nearly a year now and still have no idea how to use it off auto mode. I have tried reading the manual but it just boogles my mind. Thanks for these tips Catherine, I think to get the most from my camera I need to learn how to use it properly :)
    x

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  8. Something I learnt at Uni is take lots of photos, not just one or two. Sometimes you can click the shot you thought you wanted, then play around and come up with something better. Try different angles, different heights, zoom in and out, crop different parts. Sometimes you can't tell how it is really going to look until it's on the screen in front of you. :)

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  9. That's an awesome shot. Thanks for sharing your learning journey with us.

    Check the size of the photos that you camera produces too. Mine does 6 x 4.5" meaning that when I get them printed or I edit them I need to cut .5" off the top/bottom to get a 6 x 4 image. I'm still trying to teach myself to take the shot wider than I really want because I keep loosing precious image when I'm editing! My camera is a point and shoot - I'm sure DSLRs are better in that respect.

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  10. Hey Catherine, what kind of camera do you have?

    I think my one tip (off the top of my head) would be to - no matter what people say - don't be afraid to do things abstract. Cut off a head or some feet! (and but 'cut' I mean 'leave it out of the shot'...lets not start a mass-murdering craze here!)

    Photography is FUN - keep experimenting!

    xx Kissy

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  11. Oo! Also - if you don't already have one - invest in a prime lens. They do AMAZING low-light shots, and can start at $100 (and get up into the thousands!).

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  12. Thanks for sharing these tips Catherine. I find the 'aperture' concept a bit backwards too :) I must drag out the manual to our camera soon and try out a few more functions myself. Photography is something I really wish I was better at (that and crocheting!!) xx

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  13. I found this the other day, it's clever. I want one for my wall. http://www.zazzle.com/manual_photography_cheat_sheet_poster-228451161951324080

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  14. There is always something to learn with photography. Thanks so much for this post.

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