Just starting out - advice needed

flicker

flicker

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Dean
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Hello - this is my first post in the forum.

I have been working as a graphic and web designer for most of my adult life and have finally gotten round to putting time into some photography. I use a lot of stock photos which I pay for and a few times have thought "I could have done that one myself with a bit of practice and a good camera" since most images I use on websites are kept quite small.

I have a good eye for design so hopefully this will help me along.

So...at the moment, my photography expertise is about as much as the average person taking a holiday snap on their mobile phone. I have taken my first step today and ordered a Fuji S200EXR - I figured it would make sense to start with a decent camera since I need all the help I can get.

I would just like some general advice on starting up - I live in a nice rural setting so I could take some nice rural landscape pics, but I also want to get into photographing small objects for products etc... I didn't jump in and buy a tripod (I saw one for £10 and wondered why can you pay 10X that?) - I would just like some general advice on getting myself off the ground since I don't have the freedomto take any courses so will have to learn as I go.

Thanks
 
You have come to the right place flicker. Ask any specific questions you need answers to and folks will soon answer them as well as they can. In terms of help with taking photographs, I can highly recommend the Digital Photography Book by Scot Kelby and Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.
Tripods? They vary in range of price and quality. You can pay £hundreds, but if it will only be out once or twice it's a lot of money. I started out with a reasonably priced Hama tripod from 7day shop. It's not great, but good enough for my skills. Once you have decided whether the tripod will see regular action, you can decide what kind you want and how much you are willing to spend. Always buy the best you can afford. You don't want it collapsing or toppling over because you scrimped.
 
A couple of specific questions I have:

I would like to take small isolated photos of objects - I have seen photography studios with the huge roll of white card and the special lighting. Is there an easy way to replicate this setup on a small 'desktop' scale for taking photos of mobile phones, cups, hands etc...?

And the tripod thing - why are they priced so differently - do they not all just hold the camera still? How can one be better than another (I am probably showing real beginner status now)
 
I think the best advice I heard was just go out and photograph everything you see. Take your camera everywhere with you and spend time looking at the results to see what worked and what didn't.
 
flicker said:
A couple of specific questions I have:

I would like to take small isolated photos of objects - I have seen photography studios with the huge roll of white card and the special lighting. Is there an easy way to replicate this setup on a small 'desktop' scale for taking photos of mobile phones, cups, hands etc...?

And the tripod thing - why are they priced so differently - do they not all just hold the camera still? How can one be better than another (I am probably showing real beginner status now)
Click to expand...

Ahhh now that is called product photography and is actually rather specialised. You need to be in total control of the lighting, shadows and reflections to do it well. It's very disciplined. You can pick up a fairly reasonable table top setup from the well know auction website called ebay that does not cost a fortune and gives reasonable results. If you want really good results then a good quality table top setup and good lights accompanied by a lot of practice in lighting control is they way to do it and why you have been paying for it ;)
 
flicker said:
And the tripod thing - why are they priced so differently - do they not all just hold the camera still? How can one be better than another
Click to expand...

why is a Jag more than an Escort..?:D

if you are doing desktop shots indoors this may do ....click."here" ..and get a larger more sturdy tripod for landscapes - where the wind may be blowing !

Notice the small tripod screws directly into the camera base and is adjusted with a captive ball.......
a more expensive tripod usually comes with a multi-adjustable head
in fact - with some better tripods you buy the legs and then choose a head suitable for your needs - bit like a custom-build = ££££££s

I got this used "mint" Manfrotto + head for less than £100 from ffordes.co.uk
extend-able legs and a centre column
..
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2 good books from Amazon ..........

"Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson

"Creative Nature and Outdoor Photography" (Paperback)
by Brenda Tharp
 
Thanks for the reponses people! Unfortunately I will have to follow the usual beginners pattern of mistakes as per the link - my budget doesn't allow me to get a good tripod yet so I will do the elbow tucking and breathing for now. :)

Another - possibly daft question - I ordered the camera but haven't ordered a memory card yet. Now lets assume I am wanting to take the highest quality raw photos and I am out all day. Will a 4gb card get me very far? (as I said, the camera is a fuji S200EXR) Link

I did a quick test and created a 4000x3000px 300 dpi file in photoshop and saved it as a photoshop RAW file and it was 68MB - so around 60 photos is what I summise.

Also, since I have blown my budget buying a camera, is there any need for me to opt for sdhc and going for a class 6? Or will I probably not notice the benefits? I keep coming across 'Transcend' cards which seem unnaturally cheap. Are they crap?
 
flicker, dont rule out, propping your camera on a wall (use a tea towel or something) or wedging it against a door frame... it all helps !!

good luck and looking forward to seeing your results improve along your journey !! ;)

a raw file on my 400D is about 8-9mb, so get about 400 images on 4gb (roughly)
 
wrx_dazza said:
flicker, dont rule out, propping your camera on a wall (use a tea towel or something) or wedging it against a door frame... it all helps !!

good luck and looking forward to seeing your results improve along your journey !! ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah - I thought for getting started I could just construct a small book tower and use the timer :)
 
Should I stay clear of Transcend? Currently looking at the 8GB SDHC class 6 for £14.47 - the price seems very low in comparison with the likes of sandisk

EDIT: Just thought, I have an sd slot on my computer - it probably won't read sdhc cards then?
 
***************oops sorry this relates to CF cards !!!! - ignore !!!

personally, and its probably just me, i tend to not have all my eggs in one basket, so to speak and use a few 4gb cards (just in case) and i only use sandisk as i've never had any bother with them (i do have a jessops 1gb card, but dont tell anyone!!!)

4gb sandisk cards can be had on 7dayshop.com for £12.99 for ultra and £19.99 for Extreme III (both 30mb/s (fast enough !!!) buy a few more things to level out the shipping ;) its a good excuse !! :)

like a lens blower, blank cd's, batteries.... etc.


++++ sandisk 2gb sd's start at £5.99 for 2gb and less for more ordered (i think that shipped!!)
 
flicker said:
Will a 4gb card get me very far? (as I said, the camera is a fuji S200EXR) Link

I did a quick test and created a 4000x3000px 300 dpi file in photoshop and saved it as a photoshop RAW file and it was 68MB - so around 60 photos is what I summise.
Click to expand...

The files wont be that big. maybe around 15mb each I'd guess. I have a couple of transcend cards and they seem OK. My raws (10MPixel e-510) look to be around 10MB
 
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