Wife expressing an interest

[owen]

Hi Guys.

Just lately my wife has expressed a slight interest in photography, so I've been trying to teach her little things about the camera (d70) and also controlling aperture, shutter speed and exposure in general. Last night we put the camera on a tripod and experimented with taking shots at varying aperture sizes.

Does anyone have any ideas on what to teach her next, without going into overload and turning her off it completely?

Cheers,
Owen.

[birddog114]

Hi Guys.

Just lately my wife has expressed a slight interest in photography, so I've been trying to teach her little things about the camera (d70) and also controlling aperture, shutter speed and exposure in general. Last night we put the camera on a tripod and experimented with taking shots at varying aperture sizes.

Does anyone have any ideas on what to teach her next, without going into overload and turning her off it completely?

Cheers,
Owen.

Hey! it's a dangerous sign! your D70 may be confiscated and replaced by the brand new D2x

[phillipb]

I'll get in before birddog.

Teach her the short cummings of the D70 then it will be easier to get the D2X


... or you could just give her some time to take pictures on her own and then analyse the results.

Damm birddog, beat me again.

[owen]

That's the long term plan Birdy

[birddog114]

That's the long term plan Birdy

Coz the new mortgage but who knows? thing may change dramatically

[Finch]

Hi Guys.

Just lately my wife has expressed a slight interest in photography, so I've been trying to teach her little things about the camera (d70) and also controlling aperture, shutter speed and exposure in general. Last night we put the camera on a tripod and experimented with taking shots at varying aperture sizes.

Does anyone have any ideas on what to teach her next, without going into overload and turning her off it completely?
Cheers,
Owen.

Let her know that she has been chosen as photographer to shoot the new fireman calendar :-) :-)

[makario]

My 2 cents,

ISO and the (noise?) effect on the 3 that you taught her before.

[owen]

Thanks guys. I went briefly into ISO last night and also got her to take some photos first (Switch to green auto mode and then fire basically).

I'll quiz her on what she learnt last night and then go onto ISO and maybe white balance... then I think we'll do some on composition, depending on her interest level

[makario]

Just thought of something else.

How to read the histogram

[losfp]

Yeah, good luck.

I spent the better part of a whole night trying to explain aperture ("the smaller the number is, the bigger the opening..."), shutter speed ("the smaller the shutter speed is expressed as a fraction of 1/x, the faster it is...") and depth of field etc etc etc... Even using helpful diagrams and small sock puppets....

... and she still didn't get it. Whenever she wants to know anything, she marches up and demands "I like this photo! How do I take this photo?! In English please! Tell me what the numbers on the screen should be!"

I always say though, I reckon she takes photos as nice as the ones I take, sometimes nicer. She has a good eye for composition, and good timing.

I know the technicals.

Combined like Voltron, we would make the perfect photographer.

[owen]

lol that's a funny story mate.

Actually I was telling Lisa about aperture and she sat there thinking and then said... "So, the bigger the f number, the bigger my depth of field?" Simplified what I was trying to tell her a great deal.

[mark]

It's a good thing sharing an interest in something with your partner, good on you for taking the time to teach her.

[BBJ]

Owen, this is good to hear as my partner, who's name is also Lisa hates the camera,LOL ask Fozzie she tells him all the time and that bloody rob25 gets me into trouble all the time. When we get on Skype of a nite time we get chatting and yeh she doesn't not like my camera gear as she think's ahhm Knows how much i love my gear. So good to hear she is taking an interest would be nice to be able to share the same passion at times.

Cheers
John

[losfp]

Yeah, I think sometimes us nerds come up with explainations that are too complicated, because we're trying to cover too much detail.

The aperture is the size of the opening. The larger the number, the smaller the hole meaning less light is coming through, and the larger the depth of field, which means the depth of the area that is in focus. Complicating that, the sharpness of the image is greatest in the MIDDLE range of the aperture.

Time to explain, including drawing diagrams : 10 minutes
Blank look in return : priceless

[owen]

hehe yeah I showed her the histogram last night too... (So much for not jumping in too quickly!) unfortunately her shot was perfectly exposed lol, so it was a nice curve. I took one this morning which had shadows and highlights and rushed in and showed her the histogram lol

Interesting story. about a year and a half ago there was a photo comp running at the council here. I went out taking photos and Lisa took one or two also. She ended up winning second prize and wasn't even trying! She quit then while she was ahead. Technically the photo wasn't that great, lots of patchy shadows covering a building, but I enhanced it a bit in photoshop for her and it was of a local historical building, so I guess they liked that.

[Yi-P]

Give her the D70, let her read one of those photographic exposure books...

Sit back and enjoy life... she will soon learn her way around... Its harder for her to learn if you hold her hands and tell her what to do...

[Dug]

Margo loved the D70 so much we bought her one. Don't get too technical to start with, go out together and have fun shooting. Let her ask the questions.

Having 2 cameras helps as you can both play at the same time.

Make suggestions but allow her the freedom to find her own style and make her own mistakes.

The best way to learn anything is, play! When she has a photo she likes get it enlarged and look at it get her to tell you what she likes and dislikes about it. Pin it on the fridge for a week so she looks at it every day then go out the next weekend and do the same thing again and compare the photos.

Don't criticize let her learn how to critique her own work. Both of you get an hour with the camera then compare your best shots.

[LOZ]

Owen consider yourself lucky my wife’s only interest in photography is how much I spend on it

LOZ

[owen]

lol LOZ I've been there... which is why I'm trying to manage this 'mood' so delicately.

Thanks for the advice Dug, that sounds like a great way to go about it.

Thanks everyone.

Cheers,
Owen.