The ECCA guide to photography

[platypus]

try and avoid the abbreviations too, i know its an easy habit to form, but i'm not 100% sure what an IR filter is, not to mention the other filters!! well except UV

also some more detail of the polarising filters, you have heaps on the UV filters that you've described as a clear lens cover

also on that panning stuff, use of the other focus drives is helpful, for example the 400d has the option to constantly change focus, or to change the focus when you start panning, great for moving shots!

[platypus]

and adding that tripods are awesome you can't beat them but they go hand in hand with remote shutters - you want a hand with some of those placemarkers?

[Doigal]

if you want mate, i've just not had the spare time to sit down and write more in!

post up anything you've got here and i'll put it back into the markers.

[platypus]

I've put together some of my own experience - my digital experience has been good and at the end of it i've upgraded over the years to now find myself with a DSLR, after starting out with a Fuji P&S, going to a Canon IXUS, Canon S1IS and now the 400d - i've got a new camera in mind but i'll get to that later....

my biggest thing is with all of these cameras is i've kept them looked after them - i can't stress enough that gear bags, cases are a godsent but shouldn't be used as the only protection.

choosing a gearbag i think is one of the most important parts to camera ownership. having a well organised, easy to use bag only helps you to be prepared!
now my current bag i must admit looks a little like a man bag, it was cheap and did what i wanted it to do:

the big things i looked for was that i could move all the sections the camera would be easy to get out without having to move a mountain of stuff! of course the second thing i looked for was something that could carry what i needed. i've highlighted the big things i always leave the house with. my charger also fits in this bag as well as small things like cleaning cloths and chap stick (i shoot a lot of landscape stuff on mountains - ie very windy)

the bag when closed doesn't look like a camera bag, that to me was important
now the big things i have in that bag are:
Camera:
1x DSLR
1x compact
Lens Pen:
this is a small brush to clean camera lens, fittings esp good if getting outside is your thing! i use mine after going to the beach mostly
Spare Lens:
i carry with me my 18-55 and my 55-250 i'm also hunting for a 50mm to use as a walkaround
Lens Filters:
these are actually mounted on my lenses most of the time anyway, screw type: usually use a UV filter on the 18-55 and 55-250 has circular polarised of course i can change these as i need!
Cable Release:
this is to stop the camera moving when on tripod

my other item is of course my tripod!


simply - tripods avoid this:

and turn it into this:

this is especially true when at high zooms (this is full 250mm from my balcony looking over Hobart)

hope this helps understand why i have what i have and a little more about some photography

[platypus]

few other aspects to go over

white balance:
white balance is simply what will help you get the colour tones right in the right place - for example typical house light is tungsten - you will get a yellow hue, this could ruin a good shot - good news is you can usually adjust this in post.

example here:
having a setting that will take consideration of flurescent lights outdoors - fluros have a blue hue in the wrong settings will make your pictures blue such as:

where as in the correct setting (cloudy for today)

that jumper should be white as is my pasty skin - which is where we come to reasons you may wish to use the "wrong" setting.

[platypus]

apperature:
this is an interesting topic: i've just thrown together some quick examples at extremes:
unfortunently one picture also reveals 2 things: why you should use a lens hood - no matter what you have, and that using a UV filter has a tendancy to catch flare better

this picture is at a narrow apperature (lens is closed right down letting only little light through) - this will be a high number in this case f22
note the lens flare in the middle
spider web on the see-saw is all in focus and seen brightly


this is the same picture with a wide apperature (lens is wide open letting lots of lgiht in): in this case f3.5
note the blurred fence in the background (bokeh)
spider web is less noticable


now the interesting part in this is the relation that continues
when you use a open apperature you also need a fast shutter speed - this is why you may hear lenses referred to as a fast lens - Canon have a lens 50mm f1.2L because this lens lets in lots of light is good in low light photography, it has a fixed focal length (50mm - no zoom) the L is Luxury (its a topline lens)
because of the fast speed is better suited to sport and the narrow depth of field also means lower f numbers are better in portrait/macro photography

of course the opposite is true: narrow apperature needs a slow shutter, so is susceptible to motion blur and camera shake - this is the setting used for making motion apparant - like people crossing the road in a motion blur, the soft pictures in water falls over longer exposure.

hope this helps out a bit!

[Geoffsco]

To add to the above post, as well as aperture of the lens, Depth of Field is also determined by distance to the subject, and the focal length of the lens. Close focus on a subject near the camera will result in shallow depth of field. Longer lenses will also have a shallow depth of field.

Wider focal lengths and a longer focus will have more depth of field.

Below is an example of extremely shallow Depth of Field.