No longer a DSLR virgin....

I’ve found for panning shots at drift events I do have better luck on aperture priority than full manual. I understand what you meant too lol, no worries.

What I posted above is purely basic info, you could read for days about background blur and focal lengths, full frame DOF vs. crop, dynamic range at certain ISO’s, filters, why not to use the in camera B&W setting, bulb mode and remotes, dead pixels in your sensor, and so on…

Learn your camera and how it works then focus on composition, camera raw, rule of thirds, diagonal method, and so on.

I have mine pretty much figured out now, but have still come across a few tricks here and there. finding ways to get the desired result easier, or making refrence notes for myself.

Do cannons have Programmed Auto? I know they have shutter/aperature priority etc

I just started reading the book “The Art Of Photography” so far a nice read.

Yea, there is a full auto/point and shoot mode lol.

its not full auto point and shoot. Its like Shutter Priority/Aperture priortiy combined. Camera still takes care of adjust aperature/shutter speed based on light input, but all the other settings are adjustable. and it still allows you to change the aperature or shutter speed if you need to and will adjust the other to compensate etc without having to change modes. I guess it more like a smart manual mode :lol

Its actually pretty nice in a lot of just out and about situations. Obviously in a shot like you posted earlier with Dans CRZ you would have to shoot manually, but good for those situations where you dont have the lesiure of really setting up a shot.

KBB…fantastic post above. Hit the nail on the head as far as basics go.

Another tip…

Hold breath to steady your camera and produce more clean images at high ISO’s or long shutter speeds.

Pretend you’re trying to shoot a gun. I learned this trick, believe it or not, playing Metal Gear Solid on PS1 I believe. :lol

Yes, Canon does have priority modes like you mentioned. The only time I use them are for panning shots (aperture priority). Over time you can gain speed in manual mode too.

Thanks man.

Even a full breath and let it half out, I think that’s what they teach snipers lol.

Yeah just holding your breath will make you shake. If I am trying to use a super slow shutter speed I’ll take a breath, and right before I finish exhaling I’ll take the picture then won’t exhale until the exposure is done. I’ve had decent luck with that. It seems to be the steadiest for me.

Killer, Thank you!! That’s the explanation I’ve been looking for and helped… I even spent 25 bucks on a DVD geared towards my camera and have watched it a few times. I think I’m going to enjoy this camera… I’m going to be tons of peoples “Tattoos”… What is going to be my best best for a lens? I have been bouncing around between the 3 that I have…

What do you primarily want to shoot? IDK about cannons but Nikons 18-55 is actually a great lens optically just not fast enough for low light, i’d imagine cannons kit lens would be a pretty decent one as well.

Aside from when what I’m photographing calls for it. I pretty much use my 35MM for most everything. (35MM Lens on crop format like mine and your camera is equivalant to a 50mm lens on a full frame, your 50mm is actually closer to 70MM I believe)

I pretty much use my 35MM 1.8 and my Tamron 35-105 F2.8. When I pick it up i’ll probably be using the 11-16 and my 35-105 f2.8

The 50 is just a bit too long for normal shooting, a 35 is probably my next lense.