Knowing What You Don’t Know – Networked Learning #2

Sometimes you have to learn a little to get a glimpse of the depth of your ignorance.  That’s My experience as I learn my Canon Rebel T2i.

creating need-to-knows

To start I watched some overviews of my camera.  I waded through several videos – the first has been the most helpful (straight-forward and geared for beginners), the second is an example of something that was over my head (too conversational to be helpful to a new learner).  I quickly realized that I needed more background in photography basics.

With these, I got a list going of things I needed to know:

• vocabulary: ISO, shutter speed, aperture, exposure, f-stop, white balance, focus point, Av, Tv, exposure compensation, AE lock, focal length, depth of field
• Where do I start?  Which one of these should I learn to control first?
• What kinds of pictures would be best to practice with?
• Where should I go to find help & feedback?

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Grappling with the basics

I searched YouTube for basic photography videos.  This series was particularly helpful as the videos were short enough to not overwhelm and had great examples to demonstrate concepts.

I started experimenting with ISO, shutter speed and aperture using objects from my desk , going back to the Canon T2i videos to review.  It was fun to see the images change as I changed exposure settings.

I also learned how to focus the camera on a specific point.

For example, the bird is in focus here . . .

and the paper weight here:

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Embracing my ignorance

Searching photography forums, I found Digital Photography Review, a massive site with an extensive network.  I signed up and got ready to ask – “Where do I start?”  I was surprised at my inner conflict as I did this.  Why was I having such a visceral reaction to something that should be no big deal?!  You see, I haven’t been true beginner in quite a while.  Most of the things I learn these days are for areas in which I already feel semi-successful.  Not so with this.  I was literally at the beginning, a Kindergartener learning to read.

This comparison to a Kindergartener  was freeing . . . I was able to embrace my ignorance and swallow my pride.  After all, no five-year-old walks into Kindergarten feeling foolish for not knowing how to read.   Choosing to adopt this attitude was my first big hurdle – without it I wouldn’t have been able to engage with willing teachers.

I’ve been surprised that: 1) many people were eager to teach and 2) they were welcoming and encouraging.  This is not the intimidating experience I anticipated!  Sharing/verifying my thinking with others on the forums has been a huge benefit to my learning!

I was also directed to another resource, Cambridge in Colour, that has become my favorite reference for digital photography explanations.  It provides bite-size written tutorials with visual aids and examples.  I’m able to learn a bit, play around with that new information and double check that I’m on the right track back in the forums.  Getting a cycle of learning starting to flow has been awesome.

After My Second Learning Cycle

(Getting the hang of white balance.)

  

After My Third Learning Cycle

(Working on manual focus and shutter speed.)

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Updated Needs to Know

Basic Learning:

• ISO
• shutter speed
• aperture
• white balance
• focus
• use still or slow-moving objects for practice

Currently Learning:

• exposure compensation

Next Steps:

• depth of field
• focal length