Lots of total newbie questions about Canon EOS Rebel 2000 usage

[Nutrafin]

I'm absolutley new to this style of camera and I'm currently taking a class that is requiring us to take a bunch of photos with specific settings on the camera.

The class is all online and they used a fairly old SLR camera with full manual adjustment on the lens itself to demonstrate, and not on some LCD screen.

Heres the Copy and Paste of each shot I have to take:

Exposure 1. The first exposure. Look through your view finder. Notice that as you press halfway down on the shutter release the left side of your screen will light up. Adjust the Aperture (F-stops) or Shutter Speed until a green light appears.
Exposure 2. Make another exposure that is 1/2 stop darker.
Exposure 3. Make another exposure that is 1/2 stop lighter.

Basically I have to find 12 outdoor subjects, and take 3 shots of each with those settings.
I got a bunch of Kodak 400 film if that will effect any answers I could get..

HERES THE ACTUAL QUESTIONS
What mode should I be making these adjustments on?
What does it mean by "Adjust the Aperture (F-stops) or Shutter Speed until a green light appears" ? and how would I go about adjusting them?
What does 1/2 stop lighter or darker mean? and how to adjust it.

EDIT: I should note I borrowed the camera from my brother who has since left to live in Japan and has the instruction manual I assume.


One final question... there are some specific subjects that I need to photograph, such as:
A statue with great depth of field (background is in focus)
A statue no depth of field (background is out of focus)
..

What adjustments make the background blur and sharpen?

Huge thanks if anyone can answer any of these questions and thanks for putting up with the huge newbie post.

[mwfanelli2]

I'm absolutley new to this style of camera and I'm currently taking a class that is requiring us to take a bunch of photos with specific settings on the camera.

The class is all online and they used a fairly old SLR camera with full manual adjustment on the lens itself to demonstrate, and not on some LCD screen.

Heres the Copy and Paste of each shot I have to take:

Exposure 1. The first exposure. Look through your view finder. Notice that as you press halfway down on the shutter release the left side of your screen will light up. Adjust the Aperture (F-stops) or Shutter Speed until a green light appears.
Exposure 2. Make another exposure that is 1/2 stop darker.
Exposure 3. Make another exposure that is 1/2 stop lighter.

Basically I have to find 12 outdoor subjects, and take 3 shots of each with those settings.
I got a bunch of Kodak 400 film if that will effect any answers I could get..

HERES THE ACTUAL QUESTIONS
What mode should I be making these adjustments on?
What does it mean by "Adjust the Aperture (F-stops) or Shutter Speed until a green light appears" ? and how would I go about adjusting them?
What does 1/2 stop lighter or darker mean? and how to adjust it.

EDIT: I should note I borrowed the camera from my brother who has since left to live in Japan and has the instruction manual I assume.


One final question... there are some specific subjects that I need to photograph, such as:
A statue with great depth of field (background is in focus)
A statue no depth of field (background is out of focus)
..

What adjustments make the background blur and sharpen?

Huge thanks if anyone can answer any of these questions and thanks for putting up with the huge newbie post.

What you are actually asking for is a complete photography course in one post! That just can't be done. I would suggest, very strongly, that you get a very basic book on photography before doing this online course. Also, if you are using print film, you won't see any differences as the printer adjusts everything. You must use slide film.

The answers, although I'm sure they won't really help, are:

1. Any mode that pleases you. That's the truth. The easiest is to set it to Program mode and use the EV adjust to get the 1/2 over and under.

2a. Exposure method depends upon the camera. What you describe is the way my extremely old Pentax MX used to work. Your camera probably sets the exposure automatically.

2b. Adjusting the aperture and shutter speed is camera dependent.

3. Adjust the aperture down or up by 1/2 stop.

4. Very very generally, lots of DOF, shorter focal lengths and shut down the aperture. Little DOF, longer focal lengths and wide open aperture.

[mjs1973]

Michael is right. This is a lot to expect to get answered in one post. Michael's suggestion of getting a good basic photography book is really where you need to start. I would also suggest getting a manual for your camera. You can get one from Canon for a small fee. I think I paid $7 for mine. I was able to download a copy of it for free too, but I don't remember where I was able to do that on the Canon website.

Check out this page. It has some good info that should at least get you started on the right path.

http://photonotes.org/manuals/eos-rebel-2000/#begin