Looking at a lens EF-S 17-55mm for people, horses, landscapes, etc.

[Dmrcajun]

I'm looking for a lens for; in church, people ,poising , horses landscape. Someone recommended The EF-S 17-55mm AF. And i'm new to photography. Yes i'm learning to use Manual etc. I bought Rebel T7 KIt. I'm also going to MT. for the 4th of July. 

Question 2. well what i have now be sufficient? For a beginner LOL. Who is hungry to learn....

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

"Yes i'm learning to use Manual etc."

I did DSLR 101 classes for a while and I always discourage full manual for beginners. This is another place where DPP4 can be a big help as you can see what exposure settings were successful. You will begin to see the relationship between light and shutter speed and aperture. I also tell beginners to avoid the Creative Zones on the mode dial.

Selecting one of the semi automatic modes is better. Av, Tv, and the more fully auto P mode. You will learn to select the proper ISO for each scenario. Success is the better teacher and this method leads to success faster and fans the fire to learn more. Photography is a series of baby steps so don't rush it with a lot of terms and functions you don't fully understand right now. Enjoy!

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

"What is DDp 4? "

DPP4 is a Photoshop look alike photo editing software. It is free from Canon and you can d/l it from the web site. It can be as easy to use or as difficult as you want it to be. If you simply use it to u/l photos to your computer it is well wroth the d/l. Did I mention it is free so no good reason to not get it. However, with just a bit of tinkering around in DPP4 you can edit your photos and make some poor shots into very good ones. You can crop the image. You can correct color balance and exposure, sharpen, do lens correction, etc. Usually just simple mouse clicks.

" There is so much to learn that is being thrown at you and all these technical terms that I have to google and look up.!"

I totally hear you, Kido. The problem is most of the sources even the folks on this forum are not teachers. They are accomplished photographers but they are not teachers. They start at a level higher than the beginner. It is always better to start slowly with basic steps that produce success. I also teach music to middle schoolers and we don't start them trying to play a Beethoven symphony. We play Row, Row, Your Boat or Go Tell Aunt Rhody.

Keep in mind probably 80% of all your shots can be done successfully with P mode. The other modes are there for the special situations where P doesn't work for what you want. And full manual is at the bottom of the list.

In your case and most cases the very best is to have a live person to be there with you. This is not unlike teaching music it is always best to have an instructor present. The famous book series Such and Such for Dummies could be a good book to look at. Maybe have a look at Digital SLR Cameras & Photography For Dummies on Amazon.

Or come back here with your questions many of us will happily try to answer them.

EB

[Dmrcajun]

Yes I’ll have to pull it back out!!! Ty so much for that’s good advice! 

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

The "image" next to your picture you are speaking of is called a histogram.  Depending on your camera model, pressing the Info or Disp buttons will cycle through the display options on the LCD.

[Dmrcajun]

Thank you. !!  

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

"What is DDp 4? "

DPP4 is a Photoshop look alike photo editing software. It is free from Canon and you can d/l it from the web site. It can be as easy to use or as difficult as you want it to be. If you simply use it to u/l photos to your computer it is well wroth the d/l. Did I mention it is free so no good reason to not get it. However, with just a bit of tinkering around in DPP4 you can edit your photos and make some poor shots into very good ones. You can crop the image. You can correct color balance and exposure, sharpen, do lens correction, etc. Usually just simple mouse clicks.

" There is so much to learn that is being thrown at you and all these technical terms that I have to google and look up.!"

I totally hear you, Kido. The problem is most of the sources even the folks on this forum are not teachers. They are accomplished photographers but they are not teachers. They start at a level higher than the beginner. It is always better to start slowly with basic steps that produce success. I also teach music to middle schoolers and we don't start them trying to play a Beethoven symphony. We play Row, Row, Your Boat or Go Tell Aunt Rhody.

Keep in mind probably 80% of all your shots can be done successfully with P mode. The other modes are there for the special situations where P doesn't work for what you want. And full manual is at the bottom of the list.

In your case and most cases the very best is to have a live person to be there with you. This is not unlike teaching music it is always best to have an instructor present. The famous book series Such and Such for Dummies could be a good book to look at. Maybe have a look at Digital SLR Cameras & Photography For Dummies on Amazon.

Or come back here with your questions many of us will happily try to answer them.

EB

[Dmrcajun]

I’m row row your boat for sure! I go out every day and shoot my camera. I’ve been hiking, Kennesaw mountain, walking my neighborhood, etc. etc..! P mode I tried for the first time yesterday at my office window taking pictures of people walking by and car is going by! That was a God send of information! I will look into downloading DPP4. As I have only been using my MacBook to do a little color correction! I learned something new every day. It’s so amazing.! I did pick up a pretty old book from the library for DSL cameras for dummies and seniors! lol It’s pretty outdated. I probably will have to go to Amazon and see if I can find some thing a little bit more updated. Thank you so much for your input. I accept all advice.

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

Love to help it makes teachers happy to see students be successful.

[Dmrcajun]

This makes me feel a lot better about taking my camera on my vacation to Montana to glacier national Park!!! And I’ll tell you yesterday, just a little bit of advice that you gave me with the different settings took a huge weight off my shoulders! Learning manual first like learning Beethoven first! 

[ebiggs1]

"Learning manual first like learning Beethoven first! "

Yes it is 😁   Remember P mode is your friend.

[ebiggs1]

Yes it is 😁   Remember P mode is your friend.

[Dmrcajun]

I went hiking at Amicalola Falls in the Blue Ridge Mountains yesterday and I got some pretty amazing pictures and I was high enough to catch a picture of a bird flying not as well as I would’ve liked. I had my other lens with me, but at least I caught it in flight, so thank you so much 

[ebiggs1]

This is a screen shot from DPP4. A good way to see what works and what exposure settings work using the "Info" tab in DPP4. It tells you everything about your photo. Even when you use P mode you will get all this information. After a while of shooting experience, experience is the best teacher, you will begin to just know, notice, what basic settings should you apply for a given situation. It is just one tool for your bag.