Getting into photography...

[Achaias]

I'm looking to see if anyone can recommend a book for beginning photography. It's for my wife, she always been interested but has never taken the steps to get into it. I've looked around amazon and the like and have a couple in mind but I was wanting some more experienced opinions if thats possible. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[wikes82]

I would recommend her to visit this forum
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/

 

[GILSAN]

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some really stunning pics.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/04/28/really-stunning-pictures-and-photos/

You can learn so much by looking and studying great photos.

GIL

 

[Broker]

pm sent

 

[weblord]

awesome photos you got there.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some really stunning pics.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/04/28/really-stunning-pictures-and-photos/

You can learn so much by looking and studying great photos.

GIL

 

[-Alex-]

I'm not sure if I would even reccomend buying a book lol. I think the best way to learn is doing it by yourself+with occasional help and starter tips from the internet, forums, etc...

Give her a camara, and tell her to get creative

 

[wikes82]

I'm not sure if I would even reccomend buying a book lol. I think the best way to learn is doing it by yourself+with occasional help and starter tips from the internet, forums, etc...

Give her a camara, and tell her to get creative

well said.. give her an SLR camera... and remember Glass is forever, but body is not...
I prefer canon, for starter get a Canon 20D or 30D, then invest in Glass/Lens,get an L series lens...(it's a bit expensive, but it's a good investment, do not buy expensive body, it only last few years)
then go to that forum I said in my previous post..

 

[GILSAN]

If you don't have a camera yet then you can take Wikes82 advice and get one of those excellent cameras he sugested. Or you can get a smaller digital camera to practice with and then move up.

As -Alex- mentioned there are tons of excelent info on the internet.

Here are 3 good sites for camera reviews & info, buyers guides, tips, forums etc.:

http://www.dpreview.com/
http://www.dcresource.com/
http://www.photographytips.com/

GIL

 

[deet]

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some really stunning pics.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/04/28/really-stunning-pictures-and-photos/

You can learn so much by looking and studying great photos.

GIL

wow, the pictures are breathtaking. I stopped at many of them and just thought about something. some bring back alot of memories.

Thanks for sharing the link

 

[holyroller]

well said.. give her an SLR camera... and remember Glass is forever, but body is not...
I prefer canon, for starter get a Canon 20D or 30D, then invest in Glass/Lens,get an L series lens...(it's a bit expensive, but it's a good investment, do not buy expensive body, it only last few years)
then go to that forum I said in my previous post..

I agree, there are plenty of decent Digital SLR's on the market which aren't too expensive i.e. the Sony A200 DSLR, which got a review as one of the best starter cameras. My wife currently has an Olympus E410 with a few lenses and some filters.

She has owned a few point and shoot type digital cameras but I have found after a year or so the image quality tends to deteriorate, which can be quite frustrating. As Wikes82 says, its in the Lense, not the body.

My advice, do some research and get the camera and practice taking some shots, look at shots people have taken and try and take similar shots. Some of the magazines have hints and tips and also the camera manufacturers have tutorials i.e. http://www.olympusdigitalschool.com/Photo_Lessons/index.html

Good luck

 

[zeruel]

Well I think joining photography forums and ask advise on the members could really be a good start. And GILSAN is correct... you can also learn just by looking some great photos...

 

[Achaias]

I'm not sure if I would even reccomend buying a book lol. I think the best way to learn is doing it by yourself+with occasional help and starter tips from the internet, forums, etc...

Give her a camara, and tell her to get creative

Haha I wish it was that easy to give her a camera and shoe her out the door for learnings sake. She's the type that needs help along the way and is into reading so I figured I would knock two birds out with one stone.

Right now shes got a pretty decent starter digital to play with, a SONY DSC-H1 that I got her a couple of years back. I'll show her those two links let have a little fun. Thanks for all of the advice.