Who here just got a new camera for Christmas? Or do you have an SLR but when you take photos they don’t look like the images you see photographers taking?  I bought an SLR after my daughter was born. Primarily for a faster shutter speed. My point & shoot would have this delay after you took the image and Cattie moved so fast it would end up blurry or would totally miss what I was trying to capture. I wanted a faster camera. So I bought an SLR.

A year later Joe and I got married in Mexico. Brought some AMAZING photographers from Florida with us to photograph our wedding. After getting our photos back from them I was so unhappy with the images I had taken at the beach. I mean I had a decent camera it should have just taken these incredible images right? Just like theirs!  Well, wrong. Camera’s have a mind of their own in a way. They try to read what you want to photograph and take the image according to what it’s reading, not what you’re telling it to read, until you learn how to.

So 4 months after getting my images back from wedding in April of 2010 I decided it was time to learn my camera. All I wanted was to be able to take some great images of my daughter growing up. I didn’t expect it to grow into what it is now. So know that this series is for everyone. If you want to be able to learn your camera and take great images of the happenings in your life. This is for YOU. If you want to start learning to create beautiful images for you, for your family, for your friends. This is for YOU! Want to learn photography and possibly have it grow into a business? This is for YOU.  This whole series is FOR ALL OF YOU!

As I started my journey I started searching for everything I could find to help me learn. Blogs, forums, emailing people etc. I was eager to learn. I’m going to do my best to put all of this into a series for you to follow step by step. Know that I’m sure there are many ways to learn this or go about doing some of this. This is how I learned, this is what I did. It’s not the only way and at times may not be viewed by others as the RIGHT way. It worked for me, it was right for me, and if it helps just one of you than I am happy!

To start this series off you have homework. Yes it will take work to create killer images 🙂

You of course need an SLR, brand doesn’t matter!! I shoot Canon now, but I started with an Olympus.

Go out and take one photo. Of anything. Anything you want. Or anyone you want. This is your starting point.

Read the manual to your camera. Yes, I said it. It will be so helpful I assure you. You need to know what all of the buttons on your camera do and where they are located. It will save you later.

Specific things to learn from your manual and buttons to find for Step 2:

1. How to change camera modes. A, P, Av, Tv, & M.

2. What button to push to change aperture.

3. What button/dial to change shutter speed.

4. What button to push to change ISO.

You do not need to know what ISO, Shutter Speed, or Aperture are right this second. We’ll cover those in step 2.  However knowing where to access those on your camera will make Step 2 flow a little easier. So, step 2 to come in a couple days and will break down the exposure triangle and using your camera in manual and what the other modes actually mean and do.

Have questions you want addressed about Step 2 or anything photo related, leave a comment and I’ll make sure to cover them! Or hop over to the FB page and ask away! 🙂

And I’ll try to play along. I went on a hunt for some photos. Here is one of my first photos I took as I was starting to learn to use my camera. I promise that the image you go out and take today or tomorrow will be something you look back on and then pat yourself on the back as you can SEE how far you’ve come!

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