Where to start? New camera.....

[bearintex]

Broke down, blew the budget and bought the wife an early Mother's Day present, a Canon T1i with the 18-55 and 55-250 lenses.

I come from the point and shoot world, so it's all Greek to me.

I created her a login here, MrsBearintex. I hope she can find the time to come in and get some good advice. Go gentle on her!

[yaqui]

The best thing she and you can do is to shoot tons of pics, memory is cheap, and take lots of notes. Don't use auto or program modes. Things won't look great at first, but she will get to the point where she "sees" the photo before she takes it.

[TexasBob]

Read This:

http://btobsearch.barnesandnoble.com/Understanding-Exposure/Bryan-Peterson/e/9780817463007/?itm=1&USRI=understanding+exposure

In addition to the book, these are videos by the author:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ppsop2009

Take tons of pictures. Digital is free to look at and store or delete. I think shooting in program mode is fine at first. (The P on the dial- camera makes all the decisions, but you can adjust a few things) Get to know the camera and lenses and start to get a feel for composition. You can also shift the program mode to a different apperature and shutter speed combination to see the different affect (confusing, but the above book helps a lot). This is just what worked for me at first, but I am still just learning. Also don't get discouraged. It seems like everytime I learn something new, I realize 2 things I don't know or understand

[jpbruni]

bearintex, I have the exact same setup as you do and I have been very pleased. I knew a little when I started but I am learning alot - fast. The lenses are what I would classify as good, but not great. Relatively sharp but I see L Glass in my future someday. It is money well spent.

Make the move from Auto mode to at least Aperature Priority or Shutter Priority and try some stuff out. It will start to make sense pretty quick. The T1i is an amazing camera and value. BTW, if your want to take good video - which it can do, there are a few tricks. Make sure to buy the highest quality memory card you can get and don't shoot in the highest quality mode. Bump it down one level and the video will be smooth and beautiful.

J.P.

[cabo390]

Shoot tons of pics. and mess around with the settings. Shoot the same shot with different settings to see how it effects the picture. Use photoshop or whatever and get familiar with it to the point where it is easy to use.