If you are BRAND new to photography, this should provide a helpful head start that I wish I had all in one place rather than having to hunt it out when I was starting.
You may or may not have a Pentax DSLR already. At this point in time (January 2014), the only type of DSLR offered by Pentax is an APS-C 'crop sensor'. Crop sensor is a bit smaller than the full frame standard that uses a sensor the same size as traditional 35mm film - don't worry about what that difference means. At this point in time it means nothing to you. Trust me.
Your DSLR was not designed to be used in "Green Mode." Of course it works perfectly well in fully automatic mode, but what I mean by that is it was designed for you, the photographer, to drive it. To change the settings, to envision your photograph before you take it, knowing how to turn the dials and push the buttons to make that vision a reality. It's without any doubt that the tool you have in your hand is capable of nothing short of professional quality images. Nothing short of it at all.
If you really want to take advantage of the incredible capabilities of it as opposed to using it as a very expensive (and bulky) "point and shoot," learn the following:
- Depth of Field - what it means, and how to manage it and when having more (deeper) depth of field is critical (i.e. landscapes) and when having less (shallower) depth of field is critical (i.e. portraits). Also, how to accomplish less or more depth of field in your photos and what affords depth of field (large aperture on your lens, distance to subject, distance of subject to background, zoom/magnification all contribute to DOF control, with the first one being the most critical).
- Shutter Speed - yes it has to be balanced for a good exposure, but you also need to learn what it means. Too long a shutter speed and it won't freeze even a person standing there for you frozen for a portrait. Too fast a shutter speed, and you've unnecessarily raised your ISO to poor quality levels.
- ISO - aka "sensitivity" it allows you to increase or decrease your sensors responsiveness and sensitivity towards light. In poor light (say inside a bar) it becomes your best friend, but at a cost in image quality. Learn what that cost is.
- Exposure - how the three critical photographic settings (Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO) are in a three-way marriage. Think of the three points of a triangle that you need to always balance, as they always change depending on what your priorities are (depth of field, freezing action, etc) and more importantly and much more constraining - the amount (and quality) of light available to you when taking the shot. Here is a great simulator that will help with getting started:
- Composition - a good photograph is not just taking a good photograph technically, but remember that the "study of light" is also an art. Compositional guides will be your friend until you learn how to break them purposefully because a certain shot/situation calls for it. Such 'rules' or 'guides' are the Rule of Thirds, Negative Space, Golden Spiral, and many others. Here are two guides provided by Pentax Forums that should provide an excellent starting point (and they're quick to read with plenty of examples!):
- Focal Length - learn what difference focal lengths afford in terms of "Field of View." The lower the number, the wider the focal length, and vice versa. See what this means with regard to different shooting scenarios (indoors, portraits, outdoors, landscapes, far away shots, etc.). If you have a zoom lens (which chances are you do if you bought your DSLR with a kit zoom), so this should be easy to experiment with by just zooming in and out.
- Your Camera - Read the manual. Read the manual. Read the manual. And then keep it in the bathroom and read it. It will answer many of your questions and teach you what the different dials, buttons, etc are for your camera, and how to change specific settings.
- Av, Tv, TAv Modes - as soon as you can, get out of green mode. These three modes are "Manual/Automatic" type modes. Meaning you change 2 of the three settings (Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO), and the third is automatically set by the camera's internal light meter to balance the exposure (the triangle reference above). Av is "Aperture Priority" where you change the aperture and ISO manually and the camera sets the shutter speed. This is arguably the most popular and used camera setting, so it would be a great place to start. I shoot only "M" (full manual where you change all settings manually - nothing is automatic) now, but I started in Av after switching from green mode with a trusty Pentax K-7. Do not wait the six months that I did before going off Green mode - it only delayed my progress that much longer. Initially you won't get good photos - way too dark, way too bright, or way too blurry because the shutter speed will be too slow. That's ok. Don't go back to Green mode.
I could go on, but this seems to be a good starting point, and if you have too much to focus on, then you learn nothing, right? And once you start really learning what these tenets mean, the rest will fall into place through self-discovery.
In the mean time, make sure to always keep your lens cap on when not using your lens, and always use your lens hood. Always. You will see the vast majority of shooters around you will not have a lens hood, or worse, leave it at home or have it reversed in the storage manner while shooting. I don't understand this, but don't fall into that trap. The lens hood not only benefits the quality of your images by cutting glare from the sun (think of your pull-down shade when you are driving - doesn't it make a world of difference when the sun is in your eye?), but it physically protects your lens. Just the other day I was walking around with a camera and I slipped on ice walking down an old staircase. I punched the brick wall with my camera and lens that I had in my right hand (there was no hand rail) and the lens hood was destroyed. The lens and the camera? Perfectly fine.
Hope this helps, and once again, just like I was when I first wondered what the hell I spent so much money on, you have a camera that you do not have any idea how powerful it is. This is not a bad thing nor meant as an insult. But devote the time to unlocking bits of that horse power, and your photography will start to take off, and the investment in such a machine will be more than worth it.
And welcome to the Pentax family ;)
-Heie
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