Photography Help

[172_Stu]

Iv just bought my first SLR and wondered if anyone had any handy tips for great pics? Im also looking at getting a decent editing package but not sure which to go for? Id like Photoshop but it's pretty pricey, is there a cheap way of downloading it or any other cheapish alternatives?

My camera is a Nikon D40 with a 18mm - 55mm lense. It came with the manual, strap, spare batt, mem card, fast charger and cd rom, I paid £240 inc del, is that a fair price?

Any help would be great!

Thanks,

Stu

 

[172_Stu]

Just noticed all the other theads, lots of reading up to do!

 

[_Logie]

Btw go to Google and look for 'GIMP'. It's a free alternative to Photoshop.

But everyone knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a friend who has a cousin with Photoshop. If you know what I mean...

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

I would forget any photoshop program for the minute. As you'll be tempted to take poor photos and try to make them look amazing by editing the hell out of them, like that horrid HDR craze for example.

Learn how to control the camera, and what changing the shutter speed/aperture/ISO does for example.

Just get out there and take photos of everything. You'll probably end up with some not so great photos at first, as everyone did when they first went out with a camera. But review your images and learn from your mistakes.

There's only so much you can learn from reading.

 

[SamP]

Forget photoshop, buy lightroom and that should be all you'll need. Once you've learnt the basics of Aperture/Shutter speed and ISO there isnt really much more than can be taught (theres loads of other rules that can be used regarding framing etc but theyre things that can be bent...). Just save your money and go take pictures!

 

[172_Stu]

Awesome, thanks for the advice guys!

 

[Ben]

First thing I did when I got my camera was to research on YouTube and watch loads of guides on how to use it and tutorials on shutterspeed, ISO and aperature. I then went out and tested what I had learnt, try experimenting with the different settings once you know what they do to produce different images.

 

[Tigger]

I started off with A D40 well as my first DSLR, had a few others before that.

As the man says

Read the guides. Practice. Edit. Bin most of them. Practice. Edit. Practice. Edit. Practice. Bin slightly less. Practice. Buy more expensive things.

So get out and enjoy it

 

[adele_90]

I had a d40 too, great camera! Just practice lots