Tell Me About Photography

[Man of Steel]

Now that I have a halfway decent camera, (a Canon Powershot A560) I need to know how to use it. So, this is me asking for help, and assorted tips, on making the most of this latest acquisition. I know we have at least one or two professional photographers that post here on Dream Views, and several very good hobbyist photographers, so if any of you could help me out and give me some pointers, I'd be much indebted to you. The main reason I needed a camera was to photograph my knives, as my old Sony Mavica just wasn't cutting it. And when I start selling knives, I'm going to need good pictures to represent them. I plan to build myself a lightbox (I believe that's the correct term, anyway), but haven't got to it yet. Thus far I'm taking pictures mainly outdoors. But I'm interested in learning as much as I can on the subject. Gnome has already given me a few pointers, which I greatly appreciate, and I tried to put them to use in the few pictures I had time to take today, which you can see in my thread in the Artist's Corner: The Meager Attempts of Yet Another Guy With a Camera. Here are a couple of quick questions, just to get started. What's a good quality yet affordable tripod? And the thing I'd really like some info on is lighting. Can anyone provide a link or three with some basic lighting pointers? Thanks in advance.

[wasup]

The main reason I needed a camera was to photograph my knives, as my old Sony Mavica just wasn't cutting it. LAWL

[jaasum]

Does your camera have a timer option? Such as you hit the button, then about 5-10 seconds later it takes the shot? In that case you wouldn't have to spend that much on a tripod. The lighter the better for portability, you don't want one of the massive ones that run you tons of money. Just be sure to set your camera to a timer and you will never get camera shake. As far as photography goes, light and composition are by far your most useful tools. The rest is just fluff. You can take great shots with a crappy camera as long as you use these tools.

[Man of Steel]

Does your camera have a timer option? Such as you hit the button, then about 5-10 seconds later it takes the shot? In that case you wouldn't have to spend that much on a tripod. The lighter the better for portability, you don't want one of the massive ones that run you tons of money. Just be sure to set your camera to a timer and you will never get camera shake. As far as photography goes, light and composition are by far your most useful tools. The rest is just fluff. You can take great shots with a crappy camera as long as you use these tools. Yes, it does have a timer. I guess I should put what model I have in my original post. I'll fix that. Thanks for the tips, jaasum.

[jaasum]

No problem, just ask me anything else you want to know. I have taken way too many classes on photography so I know too much for my own good but don't have a terrible over-interest in the subject lol.

[skuruza]

teach me everything! im a noob! what is composition, how make lighting?

[Courtney Mae]

congrats on finding the macro button. and i'm not being sarcastic. not enough people use it.