Beginning photographer looking to take lasting photos (Grand Canyon)

[ironmonkus]

Hey all,

Thank you again for all of your priceless comments, recommendations, and insights. I have learned a lot from just reading what you have to say and I will try my best to put that into action as I move forward in this exiting photo venture.

So, my gear (partial) showed up and I've been playing with it... The 40D, only has a 2988 shutter count -- when I received it. Really good quality, I'm impressed. :-) I really enjoy the menu and the easy to get to and adjust buttons. The only piece I'm missing is the 17-50 lens, which is disappointing and stuck in customs in california, but I think I can still get some amazing photos from the 70-300. Maybe if there is a rental shop there, I might pick up a lens for landscaping for the week. Maybe a lighter tripod too -- My Grandfather's old tripod feels like a good 10lbs of pure potato sack solid sturdiness.

It is truly amazing from what you can do with these DSLRs; this is really fun!

I'm heading off tomorrow morning, so thank you again! I'll post some pictures somewhere, so that others can see when I return.

Cheers,

Steve

[Scott Stephen]

Richard is right about online video tutorials. There are many videos made by experts and enthusiasts on even the most specific of topics; right down to our model of camera or flash, or whatever. You can cast an even wider net by going to GOOGLE, and searching VIDEOS there for your specific topic. It pulls you everything on YouTube, plus everything else on the entire internet.

And I will repeat my earlier suggestion that you buy Adobe Lightroom ($140-$150). It is worth more than an additional lens, and for much less money. Brighten a downturned shadowed face or quickly erase a pimple. Eliminate a weird orange color cast from bad white-balance or colored walls, etc.. Almost everyone does digital photography with some kind of post-processing software. Lightroom not only helps you optimize (or just-plain "fix") your shots, it also gives you a tool to organize and save them, which is insanely valuable once you have several thousand photos, which should be just a matter of months! You can adjust whole batches of photos all at once with Lightroom rather than basically one-at-a-time. Photoshop Elements is also great, but it contains no organizational tools, and is slower.

[ironmonkus]

Hey Scott,

I do learn faster with video or by watching someone do something, so google and the internet as a whole is a huge blessing for my education and work. Plus, I enjoy seeing so many interpretations of a certain topic.

I think i can get the educational version or discount for lightroom, which will cost me $79. I think i'll check into that when i get back.

Cheers,

Steve

[Scott Stephen]

Hey Scott,

I do learn faster with video or by watching someone do something, so google and the internet as a whole is a huge blessing for my education and work. Plus, I enjoy seeing so many interpretations of a certain topic.

I think i can get the educational version or discount for lightroom, which will cost me $79. I think i'll check into that when i get back.

Cheers,

Steve

It's a no-brainer then at that price. If you do indeed have that discount available to you, then I'd be sure to also pick up Adobe Photoshop (at least the Elements version if not the full $700 dollar version), before I graduated and lost the discount!! At your discount, either Elements or Full should both be much cheaper. I got more heavily into photography as I had my last baby. You can never get those images back, so the money spent is (to me) very well-spent!