Welcome, I have had many friends over the years ask about photography and the how to’s of mainly the DSLR in relation to creativity, by which I mean F-Stop, Shutter Speed and ISO. They did not actually want to know those specifics; but when you ask me about catching a ball in the batter's box at the moment of impact, a classic car you want to shoot, or blending a waterfall to silk; that is really the question you are asking.

I am going to break this all down in simple terms and examples. I want you to leave this website with knowledge and confidence. Go through the sections, read and play with your camera, and in a short time you will. Don't stress, you will always find someone that is better than you as well as many that are worse. But what really matters is that YOU are happy with YOUR vision. Shoot what you want, play, try something new, explore, have fun and learn something in the process.

Let’s look back a little ways. Cameras were expensive, film was expensive, and processing was expensive. You took a shot and as they say, “It is what it is.” If you wanted to be creative and learn to shoot creatively, you would take your notebook with you, write down every setting you had and the conditions at that time (including the time of day). Take your shot(s). After maybe a week or two of shooting and experimenting you would drive to the local processing lab or drug store, drop it off and 3-5 days later you could see your results.

Today, we walk up, make our settings (maybe) shoot and look at the screen. If you don’t like it or someone blinks you say, “Hold on let me grab another one.” Easy or easier, right. There is no magic in photography or should I say the learning process. You do, you learn. You do, you learn some more and so on. The magic that does happen is when you get that 1 shot that you can’t believe you took. You can get that shot with a point and shoot as well as a $10K camera system. It is all up to you. Let’s get started.

What you need to know as a beginner:

Mega Pixel – The more you have the more you can crop. That pretty much sums it up.

Anything over 8 MP will be fine. I have done magazine shots with a 4 MP, it may sound funny now, but at one time 4 MP was cutting edge stuff. This means that if the Camera you are wondering about is sold in any store today, it’s fine.

You will need to familiarize yourself with these dial settings. Your Camera may or may not have them, but these are universal. Again, keep in mind that not all Point and Shoot Camera's have this dial or an adjustable knob or sometimes even settings, however it is a must to know if you plan to go further.

As you can see 4 shots, taken at the same time, with 4 different results. It all depends on what the camera is metering off of. You can get surprising results this way. Note: this also will work on your camera phone. Look for an App that will let let you touch the spot for metering. I use the Pro Camera App on the I-Phone with a good deal of success.

* *Note on Scene Mode**

Scene Mode is just that. It is an automatic setting for your Camera, set by the Manufacturer to help ensure that you get as good as possible shot in many per-defined environments. My thought is - "If it helps, use it. That is why it is there; and IT IS OK just to shoot."