Manuals - The Necessary Evil

In the spring of 2008, I purchased my first real camera ("real" - as in not my camera phone or a pocket-sized point and click). I researched many cameras before deciding on the Canon Digital Rebel XT 8MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 Lens (yeah, I still don't know what all that means).



I made this particular purchase with the intent of taking it to Paris with me. At the last minute, however, I decided to leave it at home because it felt too cumbersome.


Big mistake.


Later on that summer, my husband bought me a Quantaray AF LD 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 Tele-Macro (1:2) for my birthday...



And, for this Christmas (2009), I bought myself a Canon Speedlite 580EX II...



I also just purchased an inexpensive umbrella kit and a bunch of black fabric so I could create my own little studio.  I still need a tripod and a remote, but those aren't totally necessary - yet.

So - I have a good foundation, I think, and I'm fairly confident that my equipment is pretty decent. Certainly not the hardcore professional grade stuff but, for a hack photographer like yours truly, it's perfectly sufficient.


The intent of this blog is to have a place where I can monitor my progress as I learn how to use my equipment in preparation of Paris Part Deux (June 2010) and, from there, well - we shall see!  Oh - and I'm planning to stay away from any of the automatic settings:  The creative zone (P, TV, AV, M, A-Dep) is going to be my "dance space" or "where I live" - so to speak. 


The task of learning how to use all of this stuff to its potential seems incredibly daunting at this point. Since I've already spent a good deal of time playing around with my camera without really looking at the manual to see what it can do, I'll probably focus on the manual for awhile (no pun intended). And the flash - holy cow - that thing just scares me right now.


I'm lucky that I know a couple of people that can show me some tricks in person, but I welcome any tips, hints or advice from anyone else who happens to stumble upon this blog. 

Here goes!