Beginner needs advice and encouragement!

[bd02]

Having long admired some of the beautiful photographs posted on this forum (especially car related!) I feel compelled to improve my random rudimentary point and shoot technique. As a complete beginner though it's hard to know where to start... and what equipment to buy. Can anyone please point me in the direction of a good book / website for beginners wanting to learn some basics? Also in terms of kit, I have a 4 year old fujifilm finepix s602Zoom which seems to do a good job of turning my efforts into half decent snaps but they always look very amateur.... should I continue with this kit until I've mastered the basics or is there new stuff out there which would speed up my learning process?

Any advice very gratefully received.

Thanks

[badbeachbuggy]

If I were starting out now I'd be looking to get a Canon 400D, looks awesome for the money. Then spend £70 on a 50mm 1.8 as it's the best cheap lens there is and will give you plenty of creativity.

As for learning, there is no greater way of learning than getting out there with your camera and taking some photos. I signed up for a City and Guilds course which was very useful but unfotunatley the tutor quit half way through!

[Andy M]

badbeachbuggy said:

If I were starting out now I'd be looking to get a Canon 400D, looks awesome for the money. Then spend £70 on a 50mm 1.8 as it's the best cheap lens there is and will give you plenty of creativity.

As for learning, there is no greater way of learning than getting out there with your camera and taking some photos. I signed up for a City and Guilds course which was very useful but unfotunatley the tutor quit half way through!

BBB's advice is very good, and I would recommend the above as well (though you may consider the Canon 350D which is cheaper).

Getting out there and shooting is the only way to learn IMO. I've bought a pile of books and read not one of them (hence why my photography is pretty poor ).

You may wish to have a look at: www.morguefile.com/archive/classroom.php - scroll down to the lessons.

[profstoff]

There is something about photgraphy that tempts you into buying loads of gear but beware...I once read an article that gave experienced photographers point and shoot cameras (a long time ago in the pre-digital age). The pictures they took were still stunning which proves that the most important part of any photographic equipment is the bloke hokding the camera. The moral is not to get hung up on kit but concentrate instead on composition, lighting, angle of view etc.