COJ photo class/Q&A thread

1.  Currently shooting with my D-90 and Dx 18-105mm. I need something for the long distance shots. Should I go with a 55 to 200 lens or get something with 70- 300mm? I also need a macro lens and have been researching Ken Rockwell's site. Any issues I will find with going with a lens other than Nikon? Any lens suggestions other than what I listed?

2. I need to take photos for my brother's surprise 30th next Friday so I am going to get an  external flash. What will the learning curve be like to fiqure out the wattage and diffusement of the flash?

Edited by Tynan19 2010-10-28 9:16 PM

Ummmm can you explain what he just said.


nm I will just lurk quietly instead.

Ah see now I understood that you need a lens that could focus father away and I assumed that such a lens had a variable focal length (is that right)  The question is more what do all those numbers mean.

The flash explanation helped, right now mine goes off when the camera tell it to and I think i will keep it that way for a while. 

 my first question on yours is ..

do you have a shop where you can rent lens?  to me that's a great value to try out a lens I'm thinking of buying.  

I have a 70-200mm that I got for sports shooting.  it's also a f2.8 ap which is very nice. More expensive then the next one in the canon line that was f4.  But I really like it.   I can rent a 1.5 or 2.0 extender from my local shop turning it into a 140-400 but the f/stop then is a 4

While I have a canon. I'm guessing you are talking about a sigma or tamon lens?   I don't have one so I can only repeat what you most likely have read on them that they are great lens just the auto focus can be slower/nosier

I just got a flash and I'm more confused than ever.. but learning.   Are you going to put it on some type of bracket or just on the camera?

 flash and lighting I am just clueless on.

I have the free trial of lightroom and while I can play around a bit, I'm lost on what the terms actually mean most of the time. I just move the sliders to the extreme at first to see what effect it has on the pic then turn it back to where it was or a small change

Any suggestions on a remedial book or website for the true photo dummy?

Well you took a nice pic of the Bridge today. So you understand angles and rule of thirds. What are you looking to learn?

1. Not sure,  I have never looked into that. I do have some shops that I will check out.

2. For now I was going to mount it on the hotseat.

2. For now I was going to mount it on the hotseat. (tynan19)

Dirty camera talk AGAIN!!!

Love it

My new sig.

How about some really beginners stuff?  Based on the first questions asked, I am guessing that this thread will end up being well over the heads of many people.  I should know what most of this means but for some reason, the various manual settings on my camera continue to confuse me.  I have a nice digital SLR and only use it to point and shoot.  I don't even know how to change the settings on it yet (except for the obvious settings on the setting dial).  Topics could include say "depth of focus" and could then include an assignment to go out and take a couple of pics from the same spot with everything in focus through to only the main object being in focus, and of course, instructions on how to obtain that.

I think Tynan19's first question about which lens to get is a good one.  It sets up a topic - about lenses.  I'd like to get a zoom lens but don't know if I should get a lens with a large range or a lens that is essentially a telephoto lens (is that the right word???).  What are the image stabilizing lenses (which are twice as expensive as regular lenses) and are they worth the price?  etc.

Mostly, keep it in layman's language. Most people don't know what an f stop is.

The real test of a photographer's mettle is to take a good camera out of the equation. One of my Professors had us do our entire course on a kodak polaroid. That's when a person has to get creative to get a good shot...

Everybody shoots good pics on a canon SLR with 30x zoom and 6k megapixels with lens flare and dynamic lighting already filtered

6k megapixels???  Must find this camera and buy it...    guess I won't be getting that tri-bike after all. 

I know thirds and angles from decorating and gardening. I don't know even the basics about cameras and how to manipulate them to get the image in your eye onto the screen/paper.  Basic stuff like f-stops and ISO.....

YEs! I like this!

It's top secret... only Graphic Design graduates who waste their degree can get them.

My thoughts would be

1: what are you looking to shoot with it? that would be the real selling point for me on one or the other lens wise. Personally i need the length before the speed, so i shoot wit ha 70-300mm Nikon G series, pretty affordable (you can find them for 130 or so if you really look around for good used ones), and is the equivalent of 420mm with the digital conversion length. Plenty sharp enough for everything i shoot (all my recent sports photos have been shot with this).
Or if you really want to break the bank and get one of the most amazing sports lenses out there, there is always the 120-300mm F/2.8 IS lens.....

2: if you are at all camera savey the learning curve with lighting is very quick. an afternoon spent playing around will give you most of what you need to know, and most of the newer flash/cameras are good about shooting in some form of auto mode as well (depending on what you get).

Here is what i am going to do.

I have two empty blogs on my address, and i'm going to do a few write ups and put them on there based on some of hte questions people have, along with some projects. we'll ask the questions/post photos here, but the bigger topics will be posted there so its easily found in one spot.

How's that sound?

Ok, i'm a newbie also.  I understand some of the below, but not very well.  Obviously it was important enough to post with the picture in Patterns, but I don't know what each of these really does/means as it relates to the picture.  And definitely would not have any idea how to adjust these settings to take a better picture on my DSLR, as I'm still at the point and shoot phase.


Av priority
shutter speed 1/13th
f-stop 5.6
ISO 200
Focal length 55mm

this came from my photo..

Av meaning Aperture Priority.. Canon uses Av for aperture, Tv for Shutter, M for manual.. i think Nikon is different
Focal length is how far i was zoom in.. i was using an 18-55 lens

there's a relationship between F-stop/shutter speed/ISO.. Its called the photo triangle. this is one of the most important things to remember. (i learning it daily)

f-stop is allowable light (smaller the number the more light, bigger the number lessens the amount of light)
ISO is the image sensitivity... (the higher the number the noisy the picture becomes)
shutter speed is how fast picture is taken

for the given exposure: for the given amount of natural light where i was shooting.. in aperture
shooting at ISO 200, f-5.6: is required a slower shutter speed to capture the shot. so for example a higher ISO.. say 400 at same f-stop the shutter would have been 1/125..


I hope i didn't confuse anyone. im sure it could be better explained..

Using manual mode helps understand this.. if you set up for a shot, and prime the shutter button (don't press it all the way) stuff will start flashing. telling you to make adjustments for a correct exposure a given ISO or aperture.. so if you were in a medium lighted area shooting ISO 400.. with a f-stop of 5.6, the shutter will blink until its on correct shutter speed for picture..

try it out..

Edited by momo 2010-10-29 8:41 AM

Wow!  That would be great!

alright all, first post up, its going to remain fairly basic, just an overview of sorts, but enough to get people going that are new to this. for those with more in depth questions, i can cover topics like that as well.


http://photographdavidsavoie.blogspot.com


I'm open to any topics, etc.

We'll keep the talks going here, and if anyone else would like to contribute, write something up and send my way, i'll include your name and a link to a blog/site of yours if you'd like.

thanks and keep the questions coming.

Awesome - thank you!  My boys are going to their grandparents' house next week so I should be able to get some time to actually learn something.  Thanks for taking the time to do this for those of us who are clueless!