Hi there, newbie here . . .

[Sarah]

Hi there,
My name is Sarah, and I live in a small town in northeast Louisiana, USA. It is the middle of nowhere, quite literally. We came here from the awesome city of St. Louis about six years ago for my husband's work.

I have been "taking pictures" for about 10 years, just snapshots, mostly. I had an amazing ZLR Fuji up until it jumped off my tripod about two months ago, during a December Daily challenge, and split open along the back. So I scraped up my money and bought a Sony A200 with the kit lens and the 75-300. I like it, but am having some learning curve frustrations. I think it is underrated equipment, and I tend always to kick against the goad anyway, so I went with the non-mainstream equipment.

I am a member of a couple other photography forums, but one in particular is WAY out of my league, plus they have 15,000 members, 600+ new posts every day, and I'm not up for uber-critical feedback yet. I'm just learning! I am terrified to post on that forum since my work is very, very, very novice.

I found y'all through a google search for "still life tableau" which a friend on another forum recommended I set up to work through my camera's shutter/ISO/aperture settings. I didn't know what that was.

Hope to make some friends here!

Sarah

[bigbob]

hi sarah we're a friendly bunch we try not to criticise other peoples work just give helpfull advice,i have been taking photos for close to 50 years and i still make mistakes.so just go ahead and post some photos look forward to seeing them,and welcome to LAF

[Truckman]

Welcome to you, Sarah...If you know where Vivian, Louisiana is, my Dad was born there...The folks here are very helpful and haven't managed to run off this rank amateur yet, so I believe you'll fit right in... ...Ben

[tommykelso]

Hey sarah welcome to LAF! I'm like urself, a newbie to DSLR photography and i also bought the A200 wit kit lense. It's a good camera to start on.   Everyone here is friendly and full of great advice for all aspects of photography. The fact that it is a small forum helps as u can get ur voice heard rather than being overlooked on some of the huge forums!
I look forward to seeing some of ur shots.

[Analog6]

Welcome Sarah.  I think hyper critical criticism is self-defeating, I prefer to encourage people.  We are all just trying to make images that please.

When I got my first digital SLR, even though I went from 45+years experience and a fairly sophisticated semi-pro Canon (T90) to a Canon DSLR, I quickly realised this was a whole new ball game and I'd better (for once) read the manual FIRST!  I recommend reading the manual regulalry, find a feature that you haven't used (eg changing the white balance) and goout and test out that feature in all its aspects.  Then download and have a look and see what works for you.

Itys a good exercise to get more familiar with your camera's features and quirks.  I'm still finding features I didin't know about on my 3 bodies!

Take lots of photos and make notes of the exposures etc of the results that you like (from the exif data the camera records for each image).  This way you learn what produces images that please you and are 'winners'.  After the inital investment ther is really nil cost as no developing so don't be afraid to blast off lots of shots in the learning phase, it is the only way to find the limits of your equipment and yourself.

But don't forget to ENJOY!

[Cygnus]

Welcome. You will find this place very friendly and enjoyable. We all enjoy taking and talking about photos.

[OZZI-BLOKE]

Welcome to the forum Sarah. I think you will find this site to be a great experience and a great place
to get some tips and feedback on your images. Everybody is friendly and we are all here to help each other
to become better photographers. I have learnt a fair bit here and its good to be able to find out how to
improve images in a kind and friendly manner. Enjoy and we all look forward to seeing some of your work.

[admin]

Hi Sarah,

Welcome to our somewhat less that 15,000 member forum. Rest assured you won't be lost in the crowd here. You will get the truth from everyone and some gentle suggestions here and there, and other that its all bout getting  a few images up.
Where we vary a bit from other forums is that the best way to go is post your image into the gallery category of choice and a post is automagically created for discussion. This seems to be a popular feature. You can also attache images to your posts, but the first method ensures your images go into a gallery and don't get lost amongst newer posts. Anyway, don't feel that you can't pass a comment as it is all  a matter of personal opinion and any thoughts or suggestions are valid and welcome...


And to Odille...

  I'm still finding features I didin't know about on my 3 bodies!

Isn't that kind of private Odille??