Well after always having crappy $100 digitals and just using them when the need arose, I got a really nice digital camera for xmas. It's a Lumix DMC-FZ7. My bf was great enough to do all of the searching and research when he bought the camera, so I had no input into what he bought ( I honestly didn't even know I was getting one).
Anyway, the manual that came with the camera is quite daunting. I've used the camera only a few times so far, and in all honestly I am pretty intimidated by it. It has several automatic settings, and I know it's probably best to try these all out first to get an idea of what the camera can do. However, just using the night settings alone (we went to a New Years Eve, eve run in NYC), the pics are coming out extremely blurry.
Anyway, I guess what I am asking is for some starters advice. I've browsed Motor On's tips and advice thread, however I think the help I need is a bit more basic then that. I am kind of at a loss as to where to even start.
I got a suggestion from a friend to just first learn all of the functions of a camera and what each does for a photograph (ie learn what altering shutter speeds do and things like that). However, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hi Meg:

You may start with a Google search 'basic photography'. There a lots of free resources that will get you going int he right direction.

I cannot recommend the Nikon School highly enough. The classes are offered at various locations around the country - the next in New York City is in May. The basic and 'next steps' class is two days total. The cost is very reasonable and the insructors are professional photographers. The content is excellent and there's not a wasted moment during either day.

 

Congratulations on the new camera! Sounds like your BF is a keeper.
Don't get intimated by the camera. The dirty little secret is most pro photographers typically use their cameras in an auto mode of some sort and rarely in full manual mode. So don't feel ashamed by using full auto mode. Reading the manual however is a good idea even if only 10% makes sense to you right now. Don't worry about what every feature does, focus instead on how the auto mode works (auto is the "P" setting on my Panasonic camera). Personally, I'd recommend you learn how the exposure compensation in auto mode so when your photos are coming out too light or dark, you can fix this quickly.

For your night shots, the secret is to use a tripod and the self timer. A simple table top tripod works great for doing this and can sit on top of a post, trash can, car, etc. Make sure you use the self timer because pressing the shutter release button will blur the photo. Do this and you'll find you can take amazing night photos with your camera.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your new camera and post your photos.

 

Antiquecarnut-thanks for the information. I will definitely look into the Nikon school. Is it a hands on type thing where you bring your camera with you? Do they care if you don't have a Nikon?
Speednut-I figured I would need a tripod, already looked into a few. But thanks for confirming that I do infact need one.

 

Hi Meg, congrats on the new camera, much of what has already been said holds true, a tripod is an important tool, I only started using them havily recently and I'm finding much more thought goes into the photos when I use them.

A few other thoughts:
1. It's digital start taking tons of photos (and if it displays them afterward look at it and see how it comes out, if you don't like it change it)

2. Go to your library and pick up a few photo books. The National Geographic field guides offer some good tips, and I can reccomend the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) Guide to Photography as an excellent resource (I actually ended up purchasing it from Sams Club for $10) it has lots of good basic compositon and how to look at things tips (Rule of thrids, finding geometric shapes, etc.). Also as you start to get a feel for what the conventions are start puring over the big photo books in the library, everything from award winning books, LIFE magaizine books, and a variety in various subjects topic from multiple genarations, your eyes will start to see what makes a good photo.

3. Find a Post Processing program (Photoshop, iPhoto, a variety of free programs out there) and begin to learn it, even your best photos will beifit from a little touch up and balancing, Post Processing is what makes the great photos excellent (relate it to detailing your MINI instead of taking it to a machine wash, both get the job done but one turns out so much better than the other).

4. Have fun experiment and seek out some new angles look at things diffeently than you normally would. Take tons of photos for every shot I post there are about 20 sitting on my hard drive, and based on how many I've posted the top 10% of that are in at the level I'm happy with. But its all basically "free" every time I press the shutter and I can makes changes as needed, and take another photo.

5. Read the manual, you don't need to do it all at once, get enough that you know how to take some photos and then learna new feature or two every week and tryout how it changes you photos and how things interact, the more you get into it the more those finite details become important.

Two more things:
1. Keep the BF around, he sounds like a good catch
2. If you have questions by all means ask!

 

Meg

We too got a Camera for Christmas and to be honest, haven't had much time to do anything with it. However, we have lots of experience so I would just say ...

Everyone else has great ideas but there is nothing better than experience.

Just set the camera to auto and Program mode and take pictures. Film is FREE.

Take everything and you will learn. Don't worry about what books say or pros say for now ... it will all come with experience.

 

meg: here are some more ideas (I've taught digital photography at my university for 4 years, mainly to newbies, and all the advice so far is excellent!)
Yes, the manual is not written to be read--but it's also not just padding to stop the camera from rattling around in the box. But, maybe not the best place to start when looking for bedtime reading. I treat it like a text book, or reference book--if I have a problem, or something's not working the way I think it should, I look up the manual.
Find the P mode rather than the Auto mode. P mode usually works like auto, but gives you far more control over selections of shutter (Tv) and aperture (Av). My interpretation of speednut's comment about professionals is that they rarely use manual mode, but they would usually use P, Av or Tv mode, not Auto or some other pre-set ("creative") mode.
Experience is your best teacher, but you've got to treat it as a learning experience, and take notes! Ansel Adams, notorious for not taking notes when photographing, would have loved digital photography, since the camera records everything except how -you- felt at the moment the photo was made! This makes reviewing your images very easy. WRT the photos you made on New Year's eve--look at the EXIF data (all the information as to time, date, Av, Tv, ISO, etc recorded by the camera with the photo) with a viewer program which probably came with your camera. If they are blurry, there's a reason. This is a learning experience. Boost the ISO, make some photos tonight of your great BF, and see if they are blurry. Change to Tv mode and stay faster than 1/30--this will tell you how drunk you are, and see if you can live with shallow depth of focus/field from a (numerically) small aperture.

cheers,

 

Thanks everyone for the great comments. I am definitely going to spend some time this weekend playing around with the camera to see what I can get.
I am all open for taking tons and tons of pics and expecting the majority of them to not come out right. I did get a 2 GB card with the camera so I might as well use it right?!?!
Also, I have iphoto on my ibook and other then just importing, cropping and resizing pics I haven't used it all that much. I know post processing is probably going to be my next, "help how do I".
Anyway, thanks for all the input, your suggestions are all great!

 

I use iPhoto, but I'm not a big iPhoto fan. There are much better programs for editing and photo organization on the Mac. Photoshop is worth learning, but the learning curve is rather steep. Check out Adobe Lightroom. You can download the Beta for free. If you must stick with iPhoto, get Shoebox - it's an iPhoto add-on and will help you to organize your photos. Lightroom gets my vote for editing and organizing photos, though.

Not a lot of hands-on - for the students, anyway, but the demonstrations and course content are excellent. It's not necessary to have a Nikon and you don't have to bring your camera to the classes. The principles apply to any camera, but they do the demos with Nikon cameras and software. My guess is 30-40% of the attendees don't have Nikon's.

 

Avoid harsh noonday sun for starters.
I prefer sunset for some strange reason.
Think of the camera as a new window to the world. Have fun reading the manual after messing with it. And start posting some photos!

 

I ordered the KISS guide to photography last night. I want to try and take some pics this weekend, but it's supposed to rain and for some reason I feel like I need to be outside to take pics. But we'll see how it works out.

 

I'll second the National Geographic photography field guides. They're very good. Congrats on the new camera!

Mark

 

Got the first "real" use out of my camera yesterday. We went to a MINI meet, which consisted of breakfast, motoring and then some bowling. I took about 150 pictures (its great to have a lot of memory and not have to worry about using it all, also nice to not have a camera I got frustrated with and gave up taking pics).
Anyway, the set can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/1790789...7594492837612/
But here are some of my favs:

 

Does this camera come with a level?

Very sharp images.

 

No it doesn't. I have been looking at tripods and plan on getting one that has a level on it.

 

Actually, if I may be so bold--I think they are over-sharpened. It's very common, as new digital users discover the power (Luke, use it for *good*...) of sharpening. Over the years, I've used less, but more sophisticated, sharpening tools.

Otherwise, great first photos! Keep it up.

 

For most of these pictures I used the "simple mode" or the "sport mode" on the camera (the later for taking pics of the MINI's in motion). I didn't adjust any of the adjustable options of the camera, as I want to see what the presets can do before I start fiddling around with the manual ones. So, as for sharpness, it isn't something I set myself. And what do you mean by the pics being too sharp?

 

You see 2 artifacts in overly sharpened images:
1. halos around high contrast edges (like the rear tire in the blue MINI (photo 2)
2. jaggies on diagonal edges like the boot line on the same car.
Also really sharp photos look "digital" in that they tend to look grainy.
Most camera pre-sets have some level of sharpening built in, especially if its a JPG mode (as opposed to a RAW image). Digital camera manufacturers also know that people want really sharp pictures so they tend to boost the sharpening in-camera to ensure pleasing images and happy users.
After you've played with your camera for a while, see if it has a RAW mode. This is where you'll begin to use post-processing and gain more control over the final image.
I'd also suggest calibrating your monitor--not that the images are telling me anything is wrong--it's just a good idea to do it. You can find out lots by just Googling "monitor calibration".

 

Hi Meg,
Congrats on the new camera! I have a similar camera that's a couple of years old, a Lumix DMC-FZ20. I assume that you have many of the same manual setting capabilities that I have. I've got a few pieces of advice:

It's natural to get started with the camera in "point and shoot" mode, but it's easy to be lulled into complacency, and not challenge yourself to really learn and use the camera's capabilities. Once I finally got around to using the manual settings (the M on the dial), I was much, much more satisfied with my photos. Taking photos is free, so I'd recommend some trial and error to see how the different settings affect your photos. In particular, try playing around with the f-stop setting. You'll find that the quality of light in your photos varies dramatically between f2.8 and f8. As you adjust the f-stop and exposure, the screen will actually lighten and darken to show you roughly how the camera anticipates that the photo will come out with those settings.

One thing I've noticed with my camera, which may still be the case with newer Panasonics: for photos taken in lower light, they will display on the camera's screen significantly brighter than they will look once uploaded to a computer. So, beware of that, and compensate. I missed out on some great shots until I figured that out.

For post processing, I really enjoy Google's Picasa (PC only), which is a free download, and a very capable and easy to use tool for a beginner.

I also echo everyone's advice on picking up a tripod ASAP. That will really allow you to explore with longer exposures and get the most out of the camera. I don't put much stock in Panasonic's motion-damping system - anything slower than 1/60 shot without a tripod (or stabilized against a stationary object) is basically a crapshoot, so I usually take at least five and hope for the best. The tripod will also help you use that massive 12x optical zoom!

Good luck and have fun!
Chris

 

Here are some that caught my eye in your stream.

This is an awsome shot, only thing I might change is get it a little wider or further away to include the whole speedo, and maybe process the rip button shadow out. Great example of making a photo and approaching from a different angle.

No level was used here but I think it works in this case because you used the enviromental lines to frame the photo. There is some extra cluttler, but the framing made it stand out.

This would be an awsome B&W perfect framing; but next time take 30 sec to move the car so we can't see your shadow.

I like this one, textbook rule of thirds without crowding the car, simple background that doesn't destract for the most part. There are a handful of tiny things that I could nitpick about this but all in all a good example.

I don't think it is so much an oversharpening issue but more suffering fro quick compression somewhere in the upload/posting process.

 

Thanks for all the input everyone, it really helps. All of the "angled" shots i didn't concentrate too much on the angles I went for. I guess that's part of what made them come out well, I just sort of went with my instinct.
Good thing about yesterday was that i found and talked about some places we'd like to go to get pictures of the car. Like the parking garage, with the pics of just my car. Would like to try some shots there at night. We also live about 10 minutes from the beach so I am gonna tray and get some shots there this coming weekend.
The place I really want to go to take pictures is a cruise port in Bayonne NJ. It is basically all run down and abandon old buildings along the water. but since its about an hour ride from me, I am gonna wait until my skills are a little better, so that I can try and do the location some justice.

 

Something worth reading regardless of skill level. (and its free too!)

 

Bookmarked, thanks!
Also picked up a tripod and case for the camera today. If it doesn't snow badly tomorrow, I may test the tripod out.

 

Here are some of the results from yesterdays trip to the beach. For some reason I really like taking pics when I don't hold the camera in it's normal positions.









I also took a series of pics with my tripod, repositioned the car several times and I am going to try and paste some of them together. I'll post the result when I get finished with it.

Still waiting for the KISS guide to photography to show up...

 

This is a great image!!!

Job well done