Silly Questions

I know when I first got my digital camera, I had ideas of taking the most amazing photographs that would just wow everyone that looked at them, but then I started reading and listening to other photographers speaking about AV, shutter speed, lens speed, etc etc and realised that I knew nothing about taking a good photograph. So that was the start of my journey of asking silly questions to start to understand a little of this very expensive hobby of ours.

I think I am not the only one with silly questions and I am sure there are others out there who enjoy taking photos of wildlife or anything else and look at other photos and wish they could achieve some thing just as good.

I think a great discussion would be just for people to ask silly questions. For example I wanted to know the other night how to photograph the moon and jupiter and had to ask some daft questions to be able to take the slightest acceptable pic of the moon.

If I dont see any more about this discussion, then I know I am clearly the only daft one about!!!!!!!!

Cheers

Paula

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Permalink Reply by Alexander Batten-Phelps on September 29, 2010 at 17:26

We all start somewhere and its only by asking the most basic of questions that we can ever really hope to progress from our own starting point. I totally encourage people to ask questions, especially in an interactive place like a forum as there is the potential not just for that person to get the answers they seek, but also for others to learn from the experience as well.

This is true not just for photography but for all aspects of almost any hobby or interest- one has to start at the bottom and the more questions you ask the better your chances are of building a solid foundation. That lets you expand upwards far more easily and far quicker than if you sit in a world of confusion

Also in this day and age of Google some are apt to say "just google it" and sometimes that can help, but to get the right answer out of google you first have to be able to ask the right question and then also have enough understanding to be able to filter the results. There is also the problem of information overload which is why I and others, prefer an interactive forum environment for learning.

So do please ask questions - many of us are more than willing to take the time to help answer them and chances are we might also learn something along the way too

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Permalink Reply by Kate MacRae on September 29, 2010 at 19:03

I am never afraid to ask questions!!! I agree though... if you have a good DSLR, then people presume you know what you are talking about... and sometimes you are too afraid to ask in case you look stupid! That's what I like about this site... people (well the ones I have met or spoken to) seem the kind of people who are happy to share any knowldege they have. We are all learning all of the time and I am constantly looking for sites, people, books, magazines etc that can help me become a better photographer.... in fact just off to Lichfield camera club to do exactly that!

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Permalink Reply by The Black Rabbit on September 29, 2010 at 21:54

Sounds like a good idea Paula! I'm constantly asking silly questions of any photographer I can find, online or otherwise!
As for moon shots and Jupiter - I only managed to get shot of the moon and Jupiter above by manual trial and error. No-one to help in the dark in the back garden!!!
Doug

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Permalink Reply by Paula Moss on September 29, 2010 at 22:13

Hi Doug, thanks for the reply, I think I only learnt by asking daft questions and its amazing how some people share and others are so reluctant. I love your moon shot, mine is uploaded so have a look, the moon was so bright, up in Shetland we have severly clear skies. I ended up using my TV mode to control the shutter speed and that ended up at about 6 seconds. I should have put my ISO down to 100 though, I think I have see that somewhere, that might have helped with the brightness of the moon maybe.
Cheers
Paula

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Permalink Reply by The Black Rabbit on September 29, 2010 at 22:30

Just commented on your moon shot Paula - super shot!
Yes - ISO as low as possible (generally is a good idea but especially for shots of things like the moon, I think).
I think those salmon cages below really help to put it all in context - a really well taken shot I think!