I"m new to photography and stressed...HELP!

Hi Ya'll! I've taken up a new hobby...photography and have no clue as to where to start. I've been reading this board for about a month now and have been very interested but it's all so overwhelming. Where and how do I learn? Our local technical college has a few digital photography courses but I'm not sure how good they are. I was thinking of maybe taking an online course but have no clue as to what schools are good. I did take the first step and ordered an Olympus Evolt 500 which should come this week. I also bought the Dummies Digital Photography book. Now where and what??? Can anybody tell me what my next step should be and try to keep in mind that I'm a slow learner. In the meantime I'll keep reading this board and looking at all the great photos you guys have taken. Thanks for any help!
Jody

Jodanna, You might want to look at the book Learning to see Creatively, Revised Edition, by Bryan Peterson. If you can find any of Freeman Patterson's books, they are also good.

A lot of what you can do depends on what kind of photography you are interested in doing, and then just go do some of it. The key word, at least for me, is experiment. See what works for you and what doesn't. Because you are going digital, if you don't like it, you can just erase it. My advice would be to not be to hasty in erasing things. Keep them for a week or so and then revisit.

Keep coming back here and posting some of your shots for review by people here will help you get some feedback. Hope this bit helps.

WesternGuy

Hi Jody,,,,welcome to photographyreview....You have purchased a fine camera with the Olympus Evolt 500,,,Olympus have always built great equipment..

The best way to learn is to take photos,,,heaps of them...The wonderful thing about digital photography over film is that you don't have to blow your hard earned cash on mistakes as you do with film photography..Erase the images you don't like..

Check out the images posted on this website and when you feel ready post a few images in the Photo Critique Forum here...There are many kind people who will point out your mistakes and how you can improve your photography..Ignore the ones who are over critical as they can knock your confidence for a six...

Take notes even with the images that don't "turn out" as you would like...In your capture programme supplied with your camera's software it sould give you some kind of Exposure Imformation (exif).. That is a guide on how you took the image in regards to camera settings,exposure values etc..Read your camera's manual carefully with your camera handy,,,it will give you a good guide on your camera's functions

Browse through magazines and make note of the photos that wet your whistle..It is quite legal to "copy" that image..Shoot as many genres as you can to see what you like to shoot..Most people in these forums shoot a specialised subject like portraiture,sport,landscapes etc,,and then there is Loupey who does some of the most amazing insect photography I have seen...At first keep the photograph simple concentrating on exposure and composition..Learn to look "square" or rectangular as is the case with digital photography..Scan the far edges around your viewfinder before you take the photograph to see if everything is the viewfinder you want to see or any objects that you don't what aren't..Often the differnce between a good image and an ordinary one is in the compostion...Don't rely on your imaging editing programme to improve your photo,,do everything possible "in camera" to get that great shot..Programmes like Photoshop will only improve a good image not make a poor image better..

Before you committ yourself to any courses go out and shoot heaps of photographs to how keen you really are..Always have your camera with you,,you never know when that perfect photo oppurtunity arises...Hands up those who have missed that shot of the year because they left their camera at home??

You want to learn???Here is how to improve your photography---
1. Shoot.
2. Shoot some more.
3. Shoot even more.

Above all don't get stressed and just have fun..

Looking forward to seeing your work on this site..

Jurgen
Australia

1. read your manual
2. go shoot
3. post your shots on here
4. remeber not to be so hard on yourself
5. repeat steps 1-4 :)

BTW---HAVE FUN!!!!! welcome aboard

Welcome to the forum! I joined about a month ago and was/am in the same situation as you except I've had my camera for about 2weeks now. I've almost read the whole manual and I have memorized a few things from it but there are way too many features to remember all at once. I purchased the Olympus E-VOLT 500 too, great camera and it's got a nice grip too.

Keep looking at the forums, it's good inspiration as what hard work and patience can accomplish :) If it wasn't raining I'd be out shooting rigth now!

Thanks everyone for making me feel welcomed. I am taking all your advice and starting slow and will be taking lots and lots of pictures. I'm sooo looking forward to it's arrival.(providing we don't get blown away by hurricane ernesto). Last night I went to bed thinking about cameras, pictures, exposures, white noise, photoshop, composition, cloning etc etc. I had a restless night. So much to learn, so little brain!! Again thanks for your help and I'm going to keep reading this board and when I have taken a picture what I think might be a half decent picture, I'm gonna post it for critiquing(sp?)...:mad2:

Greetings and welcome Jodanna!

Good photography takes time so be patient with yourself.

Nobody learns to ride a bike without falling over (unless they have training wheels :p ).

And remember, it's just a photograph... so relax. :)

Happy shooting.

Welcome aboard!

This is a wonderful group of people you've stumbled upon, but yes, best way to improve/learn.

SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT! Just carry your camera with you whenever possible and just shoot everything that catches your eye.

Oh, and if you need ideas, venture on down to the Photo Project forums and try your hand there. It gives you a theme of the month to go out and shoot.

Welcome Jody,

I too have the Evolt E-500 and I love it. It has it's quirks and some limitations which you'll discover but over all its a solid body and a very easy to use camera. It was also my first Digital SLR and was LEAPS ahead of my old 35mm. I have had mine for almost a year now and I have to tell you, 40 gigs of pictures later, I still have a lot to learn.

The people here are great. Don't worry about posting a picture and getting bad review/comments on it, it's how you learn. If no one tells you the bad, how will you know the good when you see it?

And as everyone has said.. get out and shoot... don't delete the bad right away, use them as stepping stones and learning tools. Take a slightly out of focus image and play with it in photoshop..... just have fun and dont worry.... you can always undo =)

Also could use some advice as to what software I should buy. Should I just go with basic Photoshop or more advanced software? I'm thinking of starting off with somethin simple and then working up.
Jody

Photoshop has about a gajillion tutorials available on the webo walk you through just about anything. Photoshop CS2 has the bridge feature which makes using , viewing and editing RAW files very easy.

However ACDSee 8 pro version (cheaper than PS but not as many features) also now has the ability to read RAW data files and make adjustments also.

I suggest you start taking photos as soon a possible of things you enjoy. The more images you create the better you'll get at taking them. Take risks photograph everything and anything. Museums are good for getting ideas. Books too but seeing work first hand is more inspiring. Signing up for a basic photo class will help you too.

Cheers,

Jim B.