DSLR Photography Forum

Why Hello everyone! My name is Charles, Im 20, and Im a car nut, Subaru nut to narrow it down more. I love taking photos, and I love attention to detail!

Im a college student at my local Community College, and have worked for an IT company for going on 3.5 years now.

In 2004, when I was in 10th grade, I purchased my first personal point and shoot. A Canon A620

My father has a Kodak and its a nice camera for a P&S, but way to vivid on the greens for me. I liked the control of the A620 and felt it was very customizable.

Not that I ever used any setting but Auto.... But thats what Im here for now.


Monday night I placed an order for a new Canon Rebel XSi with the IS kit lens. A few hours ago I ordered myself a 4GB SD card and a Canon "nifty fifty", and a cheapy Canon backpack.

My goal is to get into taking HDR Images. My friends say I have a good eye for angles and taking photos of cars and other things.

Soo thats my introduction... I hope to learn alot here, and if someone could direct me to a thread about HDR imaging on a Rebel that'd be grand!

Below are some photos Ive taken on my P&S and edited on my mac in CS3. I also have Aperture but have no clue how to use it...

Hello Charles and welcome to ShutterTalk.

All you need to know about HDR is to use a tripod and bracket exposures, then merge them in CS3.
It will be tempting to go wild with HDR because it's pretty awesome at first, but that particular "look" has already been done to death and is now something of a joke among most photographers, so take it easy and try to serve the image you want to create, rather than the technique.

My advice for when you get the new camera is to take it slow and really read the manual.
Then use it for a few days, and read the manual again. Repeat every few weeks as you learn.
Google any terms in it you don't understand, and/or ask us here.
Shoot in Program mode for a while to get used to all of the other controls and the menus, then move into the manual exposure modes to give yourself true control.

Start setting aside some money for a quality tripod, then maybe some lighting gear later.

Spend a lot of time just looking through the viewfinder, then looking up to compare what you're seeing with 'reality'. Often you can't see the details that will ruin a photo unless you double-check with the naked eye.

Good Luck, and most of all Have Fun!

Congratulations and welcome to Shuttertalk. The XSi is a really impressive camera. It's also great that you have an interest that you can bring photography to, because it's easier to learn about your camera than it is to really get to know your subject.

Don't hesitate to jump in on any discussion here, including older ones, or start a new one yourself. The 'critique' forum is the place for constructive criticism of your photos, and there are a couple of different areas for discussing technical and other subjects.

Hi, Charles!

Congratulations on your purchase of the Rebel XSi. We have a bit in common. I bought an XSi a few weeks ago, and I drive a Subaru (though not as fancy as yours, sigh) and love it.

I'm currently testing the new camera (upgraded from the Rebel XT...still a good camera) and will post some more photos from it here in time. I'm sure we would all like to see some photos and/or comments from you. BTW, the advice you received from Keith and Matthew above, should be really helpful.

Regards.....Dennis

Hey there Charles! Great choice in gear, I've got a lot of friends who are 'car nuts' also and they're shooting very similar equipment.

Since you mentioned that you have Aperture but don't know how to use it, I'd like to point you to the Aperture Users Network (ApertureNetwork.com). There you'll find a ton of articles, videos and other content about Aperture and digital imaging, as well as a vibrant forum for any questions you might have.