First post and some advice needed please!

[blacksheep]

Hi everyone – been looking around the forum for a few days and very impressed with the friendly and helpful posts on here, so thought that I would write my first post and ask a few questions as well!

I’ve had only had my Fuji S9600 for a short while and still very much a total beginner and learning the ropes slowly!

I’m trying not to shoot in Auto and attempting to learn how the different settings work – I’ve even read the manual truth be told I’ve read the manual about 3 times so far and still going back to it to understand some of the settings!

From some of the posts that I’ve read on here so far, I’ve noticed that a lot of people use photoshop etc to improve the photos so do I need to practice my photoshop technique as much as my photography?

I’ve seen HDR mentioned a few times – what is HDR and is it hard to do?

Am I going to be limited by the camera that I have? I’ve been looking at the thread where the photos have been taken with a Sigma 10-20mm and the photos look amazing, so now I’m thinking that I should have gone for a better camera with the option of using different lenses – but at the time I didn’t realise how addictive this photography lark was

Anyway, I won’t ask too many questions with my first post, but no doubt I will have plenty more questions as I take more photos!!

Thanks in advance

Ian

 

[whitewash]

From some of the posts that I’ve read on here so far, I’ve noticed that a lot of people use photoshop etc to improve the photos so do I need to practice my photoshop technique as much as my photography?

it depends, my photoshop knowledge is very limitted, i only use it to adjust tone curves, levels and sharpness and maybe a touch of cloning (to remove sensor dust etc) others will use it to work an image to within an inch of there lives to get what they want, its personal preference

I’ve seen HDR mentioned a few times – what is HDR and is it hard to do?

HDR (high dynamic range) photographs take a number of different exposures of an identical image and blends them together to create a much larger 'dynamic range' so you can get more detail in shadows and highlights, its an interesting techique, and works much better on some subjects than others, i think alot of folks use photomatrix to perform the merge and to tweak the image to their liking

Am I going to be limited by the camera that I have? I’ve been looking at the thread where the photos have been taken with a Sigma 10-20mm and the photos look amazing, so now I’m thinking that I should have gone for a better camera with the option of using different lenses – but at the time I didn’t realise how addictive this photography lark was

SLR cameras do provide more options to the photographer as well as increased image quality and better lens selection but they are more expensive and heavier than the bridge camera you've got, that said some people use compacts and bridge cameras to great effect. theres always scope to upgrade once you get into the swing of things and feel you've reached the limits of your current camera.

hope this helps
jamie

 

[hillwalkinggirl]

Am I going to be limited by the camera that I have? I’ve been looking at the thread where the photos have been taken with a Sigma 10-20mm and the photos look amazing, so now I’m thinking that I should have gone for a better camera with the option of using different lenses – but at the time I didn’t realise how addictive this photography lark was

You will be limited by not being able to use different lenses, and also the Fuji camera can be a problem if the light is very bright as the LCD screen is hard to see and the viewfinder does not give a true picture of what you are looking at, but I regularly use my Fuji e900 when out walking up mountains insted of my DSLR as it is much lighter to carry. I get very good results with it and usually shoot in RAW. I don't know whether your particular model has this facility, but it gives much more scope for post processing. You certainly haven't wasted your money as if you decide to get a DSLR later you will still find the bridge camera useful to take around with you most of the time.

 

[Chappers]

A lot of people use Photoshop. But It's £600 so can be difficult to justify. Also it's a massive package designed to do many things. I don't think I use 20% of it's facilities, but those I do use make it a worthwhile option. So what can you do, well there are other programs on the market. Photoshop Elements is a"cut down" version of Photoshop. Don't let the "cut down " description put you off it's still a powerful program and it has expert and beginner features as well. At a tenth of the cost of it's big brother it's a good buy.

There are other programs as well Picassa is one and it's free, as is GIMP, although I've never used the latter.

Are you going to be limited by your camera. Well maybe not for a while. If you're just starting there is a lot to learn, and most of us never stop. The time to change is when you feel you are limited by what you can achieve with your camera. A better camera doesn't always make you a better photographer

 

[blacksheep]

Thank you all for your replies.

I get very good results with it and usually shoot in RAW. I don't know whether your particular model has this facility, but it gives much more scope for post processing. You certainly haven't wasted your money as if you decide to get a DSLR later you will still find the bridge camera useful to take around with you most of the time.

I can shoot in RAW and have recently started shooting in RAW (after reading about it on this forum)
The post processing is something that I'm just starting to do - previously I just downloaded the photos to my laptop and left them as they were.

I haven't scratched the surface of what this camera is capable of so I guess it makes sense to learn everything that I can and to take as many photos as possible and then hopefully opt for a better camera in the future.

A lot of people use Photoshop. But It's £600 so can be difficult to justify.
There are other programs as well Picassa is one and it's free, as is GIMP, although I've never used the latter.

I have access to photoshop on a friends computer, and have had a little go on it but it all seemed a bit complicated even with a bit of guidance!
I will have a look at the free programs that you've mentioned though.

A better camera doesn't always make you a better photographer

Does that mean that I can't tell my other half that the reason for my photos being a bit rubbish is because I need a better camera

HDR (high dynamic range) photographs take a number of different exposures of an identical image and blends them together to create a much larger 'dynamic range' so you can get more detail in shadows and highlights, its an interesting techique, and works much better on some subjects than others, i think alot of folks use photomatrix to perform the merge and to tweak the image to their liking

Thanks for the explanation -the photos that I've seen were very impressive so I'm going to look into HDR a bit more I think!

Thanks again everyone - appreciate your time and knowledge.

Ian