I SHOT Fluffy and Smudge outside - in the RAIN!

Ohh! You bought my camera's sister! (I have the xSi!) My photography buddy has the XS. Its very nice, basically the same camera, but the body is slightly smaller. Your second set of pictures look excellent!!

The blurriness in the first photos was probably because the shutter speed was too slow to 1. catch the dogs action and 2. not shake with your hands.

In a perfect world, the shutter speed should keep up with the length of your lens to prevent camera shake. So if it is 50mm, the shutter speed should be at least 1/50.

Install the editing software that came with the camera. I promise it is worth it. It has the ability to edit RAW - which is definitely a good idea to shoot in once you get the hang of the camera. RAW has a color range that of 4,000+ vs. 256 colors of a JPEG.

Mostly you just learn by using the camera. I never used the manual really..but I hate manuals.
 
Instead of using the letter settings.... The flower is ultra closeups, the mountain is outside, the running guy is for sports and sequence shooting.

Also if you are looking for lenses Canon makes two IS lenses that are black (the white ones are nice but $$$$$$$$$$) that makes things sharper in general by reducing shake. Also most lenses have a rating that is not constant across zoom. Thus less zoom means more light and faster shutter speeds. Have fun (all Sca photos were done on an original model Rebel with IS lenses and a terrible operator)
 
Smudge said:
I got a pamplet in the mail today for college classes for the fall. Haven't looked at it yet though. It's the one for Texarkana (hour away) so I'm hoping the college 15 minutes away offers one. :yes:

Was the 35mm SLR a film camera or a digital camera?

See how much I don't know? :lol:
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35mm is film. Someone else mentioned it, but check online. Most colleges list their courses online, so you can see if it's available next semester or not.
 
The Canon Rebel is a great starter DSLR.

Be forewarned, the add-on lens can cost as much or more as the camera body itself, so you really want to master the camera before you start adding on lens.

That being said, I'm on the constant hunt for the "perfect" lens, and I'm now up to 3 (and yes, I get more excited about new camera gear for gifts, then I do about pink lingerie...sick, sick, sick). There is no such thing as a perfect lens...it really depends on what you are photographing and the effect you are trying to achieve.

As for getting going with DSLR, start in auto mode, but if you really want to take advantage of a DSLR, then you really need to learn the basics, otherwise, just stick to point and shoot.

The beauty of DSLR vs. SLR is that you can experiment! I often take the same photo in 5 or 6 different modes so that I can go back and see what worked and what didn't.

I highly recommend the online course that I'm taking.....(I got stalled on it during the winter and all my move stuff). It costs about $100. You are assigned a tutor, it is interactive, and best of all, you move at your own pace. Here are the links:

http://www.proudphotography.com/

http://digital-photography-school.com/digital-photography-tips-for-beginners

You can also sign up for their e-newsletters that gives tips and tricks, and of course, there is the forum itself.

Canon probably as its own forum as well where you can get tips specific to your camera.

Good luck! And welcome to the joys of DSLR!

p.s. I'm still struggling at taking good shots of fast-moving Shelties.....I've tried everything from auto to sports mode to manual. I've tried panning and various other techniques....but I'm never happy with the results. I still get too much blur. My next project so if anyone as ideas on what settings they use, I'd love to know!
 
I'm looking at the different lenses and trying to decide:

1. Which ones I really need or would actually benefit me.
2. If some of the cheaper versions are really any worse than the more expensive lenses.

I want one of the wide angle lenses, but Canon has them listed on their site for over 1k. I can't spend 1k on a lens! :eek2:

My mom has decided she might buy a camera like mine. That's a good thing. We always buy the same camera so we can show each other how to do stuff. If we bought different lens and shared them maybe it would be better for both of us.

Except that she travels all the time, and that wouldn't work out too well. She's in Korea with Dad at the moment (he works for an army depot and gets shipped out a lot), but Dad will be gone until at least December. She's interested in taking a class with me!

Tonight I'm going to try pictures with no flash to practice for the dog show.

I want to catch Fluffy jumping mid air. She does it all the time. That would be a GREAT picture.

More rainy day sheltie pictures (no flash edition) coming later. It's going to rain most of the week, and that is depressing. :dead:

Low light with no flash - oh the drama!
 
For what you want the one that is on there might be great for a while. I also have http://www.amazon.com/Canon-75-300m...3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1276208532&sr=1-3 for zoom shots. The IS is image stabilization which is nice zoomed. I would recommend you do nothing other than snap a bazillion pics first. Put it on sequence and keep shooting the Smudge and you will get some great motion shots (and some empty frames :wink2:)

I got some of Dow that way with my ancient camera and anytime he saw me he was at my feet. So get to work I want action Smudge pics :yes:
 
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Jessica

I strongly encourage you NOT to get more lens until you learn to work the basics and decide what kind of photograhy you want to do.

I'm sure the lens that came with the Rebel is more than adequate for now.

I waited for a year before I put my 18-180 lens on my Xmas list, and even now, I'm not convinced about it.

If your Rebel came with a general purpose zoon lens (e.g. 40-150 - or 80-300 equivalent) I would stick with that for now.
 
BarbV said:
Jessica

I'm sure the lens that came with the Rebel is more than adequate for now.
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Not so much. :dead: It's a very basic lens, and you can pretty much kiss zooming from a decent distance goodbye. If you're not right up on it then it's not happening. It's not like I'm buying a new lens tomorrow, next week, or even this month though. You did see that the 1 and the K were together, right? :lol:

Is it wrong that my favorite feature of this camera is not all the fancy stuff that it does, but the simple stuff my other camera could not do? I used to could never take pictures of Fluffy without her eyes turning either red, yellow, blue, or green. This camera eliminates all of that. I haven't had to photo edit any of the pictures (except cropping). While most photoshops will take out red or yellow eyes, none that I have seen would take out the green or blue that Fluffy's eyes would sometimes turn.

The first two pictures are without flash. The first one is Smudge in mid shake, trying to get rain off of him. I have never owned a camera that took pictures that clear without flash! I do like that the first one is blurry - he is shaking, after all!

The other picture is just Fluffy. NO FUNKY EYE COLOR! :biggrin2:
 
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When you go lens shopping, remember that Canon has two lens mounts. One for the Rebel, one for the rest of the Canon cameras. Don't accidentally buy the wrong one. : )

I spent two years shooting with the basic lens before I got the new one. Love the new one!

My boss just bought a Canon 5D Mark II. He let me touch it. : )
 
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