Rebel XTI help Please

I feel you I quit smoking on New Years. I know it hasn't been long but I haven't cheated once!

My friends were waiting on me earlier and I am just proof reading the above for the first time. Aside from several grammar mistakes, I found one critical information mistake:
"Your ISO was 200, so if we bump that up 3 stops we're set. 300...400...800."

300 isn't the first stop...200x2=400. It should have read 400...800...1600. My bad.

I am also concerned about this tripod of yours. Could you take a picture of it for us? Something just isn't adding up there.
 
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Yea I'll post a pic of the tri-pod tomorrow it's too late to break everything out now.
Tomorrow is Day 4 no smoking haven't cheated yet. Congrats to you. How you feelin'? Over it yet?
That probably explains my frustration hey? lmao:
I'll read over everything you explained again tomorrow I didn't even notice you mistakes so no fear. Like I said earlier it was like Reading German.
 
Well if you don't understand any part of it, I can rephrase bits and pieces in ways easier to comprehend. I'm doing pretty well I guess. I'm not over it by any means. It isn't as hard as I thought it would be though. Everyone made it sound like your physically addicted to it. You'll get headaches and get sick and all sorts of terrible things. In my experience there is zero of that. Quitting smoking (for me at least) is like drinking nothing but water. In the morning you want milk with your banana. You don't feel sick if you don't drink milk, you just want some fracking milk with your breakfast. At lunch time I want a coke but I don't feel terrible because I can't have it, there is a water fountain, I just want a coke that much more. Instead of not having the beverage of my choice I can't have a cigarette, but the "withdraw" is about the same. I smoked for 5-6 years. To the never smokers reading this, could you drink water and nothing else for a full 12 months? No coffee, juice, soda, Gatorade, flavored water, booze...nothing but tap water for 12 months. That is basically what quitting smoking is like...just to illustrate. A little antagonizing at times sure, hard to leave the gas station empty handed you bet, but with a little bit of self control I think I can learn to like water.
 
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Hand held point and shoot with a Sony F717 ...
175803MontholdClowns007.jpg


And another

17580coolcrab.jpg


Of course with my new Canon DSLR I got for Christmas I cant seem to take a single picture that isnt blury ;)
 
OK I don't really understand this part

Your aperture was set to f/8, but if we go back 4 stops to f/2, your shutter speed will now be 1/125. Your lens can't go to f/2, so thankfully we have ISO. You can split the difference between ISO and Aperture.
Your lens CAN go to f/5.6 which is one stop.

Q-1 Why do I need to go back 4 stops,Where did that figure come from?
Q-2 The shutter speed went from 1/8 to 1/125 by changing the aperture?
Q-3 The lense is only capable of sooting at f/5.6 is that why I need to set it to f/2?
Q-4 By shooting at f/2 and changing the aperture and the ISO that makes the lense shoot at f/5.6.
Q-5 The little bar with the + and -2 in the cameras window does that tell me the stops and is their a place that should be another words should it be centered more to the + or more to the -?
 
here is a very simple view of how f-stop, shutter speed, and ISO related to each other.

http://beej.us/guide/bgp/sfi.html
http://www.betterphoto.com/article.asp?id=135

1. I think go back 4 stop is to increase your shutter speed to 1/125 to prevent camera shake.
2. You can do it in manual and shutter priority to set the desire shutter speed... but in fact, in aperture mode, when you change the aperture, the shutter speed changes to get the correct exposure.
3. The reason you need to set to F/2 is due to the amount of light and desire shutter speed, the proper exposure required F/2. There is nothing to do with your lens. Since your lens is limited to F/5.6, that's why you need to bump ISO up to get the proper exposure.
5. In a perfect world, when you are using manual mode, you adjust both shutter speed and aperture to get the cursor to the middle to get the proper exposure. In shutter priority, you adjust shutter speed and the camera will calculate the correct aperture for you. In aperture priority, you adjust aperture and the camera will calculate the correct shutter speed for you.
 
Q-1 The shutter speed was 1/8 but we want 1/125. 1/125 is 4 stops away from 1/8.
1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125
.........1......2......3......4

Q-2 If you change the shutter speed from 1/8 to 1/125 without changing the aperture or ISO, the picture would come out completely black. So, you must change the aperture and/or ISO an equal distance to counteract the shutter speed. If your in "Tv" mode, changing the shutter speed will automatically change the aperture. In "Av" mode, changing the aperture will automatically change the shutter speed. In "M" mode, you have to change them both yourself independently. ISO is always changed independently from the "ISO" button. If you are changing the the shutter speed in "Tv" and the aperture starts to flash, that means you have reached your aperture limit and the camera can't do what you want it to. You have to turn up the ISO in this case.

Q-3 Your 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 can only go to f/5.6 when it is zoomed out. At and around 18mm the lens can go all the way to f/3.5 - more than a full stop wider. You cannot set an 18-55 to f/2.

Q-4 No you lens can't go beyond f/5.6 (smaller is bigger). f/5.6 is the limit. To actually go to f/2 you would need a lens that is capable, such as the 135mm f/2 or the 85mm f/1.2. On a side not I think the 85mm f/1.2 would win the "sexiest lens" award.

Q-5 No that is your exposure meter, and we will talk about that another time (soon). Lets worry about fully understanding the lesson at hand, which is to be your foundation for everything to follow, before moving on. That should be a fairly simple lesson but lets not get ahead of ourselves. For now just keep it in the middle.
 
try setting the dial on your camera to "P" and change your ISO to 1600 if the lighting in the room is a bit dark. you can also change your shutter speed. the pictures look blurry because you have a slow shutter speed. also, your Fstop. i used to have a rebel XTi, but now have a rebel XSi, and the XSi pretty much tells you what to do, rather than the XTi
 
Yeah but "P" is training wheel mode. The only time I want him using "P" is when hes handing the camera off to a friend that knows nothing about photography. Auto pilot is causing his problems in the first place. The camera doesn't know best.
 
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I'm still learning the ropes of digital photography also. The best thing I did to help me learn was to put my camera (Canon XS) on a tripod and shoot the exact same photo of my tank over and over using a different setting each time. This greatly helped me learn what does what. Also, I feel that changing the white balance can greatly improve colors in a picture. This helped me out greatly. Hope this kinda helps. From a noob to a noob.
 
I think "P" works best for me all the time. I'm a Photographer, and have been for the past few years, and I still use it. I also have a Studio, and that is the only time I set my dial to "M"
 
You can get away with whatever settings the camera chooses more often just walking around than you can in a reef. These tanks are very dark in photography terms.
 
Great thread. First of all, I applaud both TheReefKeeper and TitusvilleSurfer for their quitting smoking. Been there, done that. It's not easy but is possible. For me, breaking the habit was the hardest part. It's been many years and I am desire free. You can do it! :thumbsup:

TheReefKeeper, I can feel your frustration from here! Keep at it. You are in good hands. Funnel your drive for perfection into persistance. Don't let frustration derail your process.

I echo the statement earlier in the thread about reef photography being a more demanding type of photography. One needs to pay more attention to all the details.

IME, even having done film photography for many years, I felt very incompetent when I started trying to take pictures of my reef tank. It felt like every picture was crap - not sharp and bogus colors. I knew from my film days that I was capable of much better images but couldn't deliver on the reef tank front. Frustration built up. I hadn't felt that much intensity of frustration nor desire to improve in myself in a long long time. It became important to my sanity that I figure it out and achieve some success. And it was months from my first lousy images to sharp clear images.

I started following (not just reading) the advice in this forum and things started to change. I also upgrade my hardware seriously, but that wasn't what changed things for me. Like all tools, even the best camera is only as good as the person using it.

Now I feel content and even at times pleased with myself instead of intensely long term frustrated. I can deliver a sharp color accurate closeup of items in my tank. You can say what you want about my choice of subjects, composition and post processing but the subject is clear and focused.

Post processing is another dimension in which reef photography is more demanding. Sure, you can get by with little to no processing at times, but as a rule most images can benefit with a little post processing love. I still have lots to learn in the post processing arena. Photoshop Elements is a relatively inexpensive way to edit RAW images.

Now I'm not saying that I'm all that, 'cuz I ain't. There are many many better photographers than me and a number of them hang on this forum. I still feel as though each shot requires more effort than it should. I wish it felt like it was no big deal or effortless.

TS, I admire your ability to help someone through their noobness. Your patience is inspiring. Ever been a teacher or thought about it?
 
Cool thread. I also have an XTi but don't really know anything about photography. Thanks for the lessons. Now I'll have to experiment a little.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14122667#post14122667 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reef Bass

TS, I admire your ability to help someone through their noobness. Your patience is inspiring. Ever been a teacher or thought about it?
Click to expand...

My dad has been a teacher my entire life. I decided I wanted to teach like him when I was 5 but he spent the next 15 years beating it out of my head. He would full heatedly support any path I chose as long as it didn't involve teaching. Anything but a teacher, so I've got my AA and I'm studying biology which will eventually turn into marine biology! My first aspiration was to be a fighter pilot like my grandpa (its still there), and my best friend who shared my goals just became one last month. Fly little bird fly! If I get a degree and go in as an officer I would still love to go that route.

Thanks for the pick me up though! :)
 
You're welcome. I thought I smelled some teacher in there somewhere. It's a wonderful skill and highly undervalued in today's society.

Love the biology thing and marine biology too. I graduated a joint biology-psychology major studying the underlying neurology of human thought and behavior. Fascinating stuff.
 
The closest I have studied on that subject (on my own time) would be dreams. I've been practicing for some time to realize I am dreaming and then take control of the dreams. I have been mildly successful.
 
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