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Just got a Cannon Rebel T3i
Went to Best Buy yesterday and purchased the Rebel. I'm gonna use it mostly for BTS pics & video footage, as well as videos to upload to my YouTube channel. I'd like to see if I can shoot pictures of myself with the timer also. I just ordered a small backdrop kit. I have 20ft ceilings in my loft with exposed brick walls but a few open white walls. Thinking of setting up the stand and trying out shooting on the wall first for practice. I realize I have a LOT to learn about using this cam and photography in general, but I'm so excited to learn! Anyone have any good tips or suggestions for the camera ? Or any tips for shooting yourself? Links to videos I can watch? I've been on YouTube all day, but mostly testing out the camera by shooting my friend. I'm really impressed with the quality. Love it!! Jan 01 14 04:29 pm Link ChrisJane wrote: That's great stuff. My hubby bought me the T5i for Christmas and I'm dying to use it for a shoot or video. Jan 01 14 04:51 pm Link Erlinda wrote: Thanks so much for the advise!! Yea the focus thing is def something I'm gonna need to practice! Your work is SO amazing btw. I just drooled over all the pics in your port Jan 01 14 04:59 pm Link Almost all of the stuff in my port at the moment was shot with a Rebel T3i. I'm a hobbyist, that's about my price range  I like it, it's a pretty versatile camera and is great for low-light, fast-changing situations. Jan 01 14 07:56 pm Link Yes, the focusing will have to be learned, and good lighting is essential. That also applies to video shooting. For example, If you wanted to shoot video of yourself dancing, you would need to pre-focus, and then stay the same distance from the camera during the dance. There's no follow-focus on that camera like there is on a lot of purely video cams. It does shoot in HD though, so excellent results can be obtained as long as you understand how it works. You might want to have a friend assist you, even if they're not experienced but can follow directions. Here's a link to the DPReview analysis. There's 20 pages there, so just click on the drop-down menu for what pages you want to look at. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos600d Jan 01 14 08:10 pm Link ChrisJane wrote: You Tube has lots of tutorials. Just type Canon T3i. Jan 01 14 08:50 pm Link Don't forget that the camera takes any Canon EOS lens that's been made since the late eighties. You can find complete old Rebel FILM camera setups with extra lenses at garage sales, ebay... etc, for pocket change! If you find a good set, buy it just for the lenses! It's a great way to get good quality lenses and accessories for next to nothing! Jan 01 14 11:01 pm Link the camera is fine I would suggest lighting and some fast primes to start canon 85mm 1.8 $380 used .. very sharp for portraits you really need some length in your studio to get full body I would get rid of any kit lens ... keep you iso at lowest possible I like to keep my settings 1/200th f 5.6 iso 200 and don't forget to shoot Raw and edit your photos in Lightroom 5 .. don't forget get out of auto setting and watch your not using auto setting like auto iso I would suggest going to www.froknowsphoto.com or on youtube and watch his videos... or greg cazillo I like to practice not just of people but at the zoo .. light changes, great learning exserience before going shooting people .. Jan 01 14 11:27 pm Link ChrisJane wrote: I have a T3i and L-O-V-E it! Jan 01 14 11:29 pm Link ChrisJane wrote: The focus thing will get easier over time. Just need practice and a good lens plus light. Jan 02 14 04:05 am Link Here we go..beginner's crash guide: http://www.itsjustlight.com/photography … son-index/ Jan 02 14 04:11 am Link Thank you to everyone who replied to this!! Very helpful info. It's only been two days and I've learned so much from you all and the videos I'm watching:) Jan 02 14 10:22 pm Link If it matters, I'm still using a T1i. It still works, so I still use it. Some of the things I likely would've found useful if someone had told me includes: Focusing is something that one must always be mindful of, shooting oneself or someone/thing else. There is no set way to do it and every camera is going to focus a little bit differently. A different lens will change how it will focus, too, as some lenses are faster than others. Practice, Practice, Practice but understand that not all of your pictures are going to be perfectly focused, especially at the beginning. Don't use the auto ISO setting. My camera, in the slightest of "darkness" will use ISO 1600. The noise level is unacceptable for me. It might be unacceptable for you, too. It's okay to shoot in the auto mode, but try getting out of it as soon as possible. I shot auto the first day. After that, it was manual. When I was covering events (the whole reason for getting the camera was to cover my sister's wedding) I shot shutter priority. I only shoot in a mode other than manual now as an experiment. Don't wait or be afraid to ask questions. There is no such thing as a dumb question though there will be some who will act like you're asking dumb questions just because you aren't where they are or think they are. For every 10 condescending people, there is at least 1 helpful one. That 1 is the only one you need or even want. Finally, memory cards (especially SD cards) are relatively cheap. Keep a few extras with you as nothing is worse than not being able to shoot because you are out of card space. I carry at least 2-32 gb cards. I'm sure all of my batteries would die long before I took enough shots to fill only 1 of them. Jan 03 14 08:57 pm Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-NKdOMtldM This is an awesome little video. Basically says that the important part of a portrait session is NOT the set up so much as the connection with the subject. Well worth watching. Jan 03 14 09:01 pm Link for self portraits get one of these. it works great with t3i and is a must have. Shutter remote for 10 bucks http://www.walmart.com/ip/Digipower-Shu … n/24389850 if you like the quality the kit lens provides let me show you a cheap alternative that will blow your mind in quality photos on the t3i in low light and sharpness. try this lens. 50mm 1.8 for 99 to 125 buckshttp://www.bestbuy.com/site/canon-ef-50 … Id=2473035 are you learning manual shooting? The t3i will impress you in manual mode shooting. I learned on my t3i and t2i before going to FF. t3i is a awesome little camera. Are you shooting RAW? Another step that will impress you is working with the RAW images and what you can get from the t3i and a few good lenses. congrats on stepping into the other side of the camera. Its a lot of fun Jan 04 14 03:19 am Link ChrisJane wrote: Whoo hoo! I can feel your excitement oozing through the monitor (wait... that's sounds a bit 'eww'). Jan 04 14 03:39 am Link Drew Smith Photography wrote: Lol! Seriously I am excited. I've already had two photographer friends of mine over to shoot at the place and they both want to move in! I can't wait till my backdrop kit comes. I did some portrait shots and uploaded them to Instagram and got 500 likes in a couple hours of posting. Honestly I still have a lot to learn bout setting the aperture iso and shutter correctly. I was getting really mad when I was trying to get it to focus and didn't know about the aperture. Im gonna post one of the pics here in a little bit. Jan 05 14 07:24 pm Link You can probably buy a cheap wireless remote on eBay (I know they're available for the 60D, not sure about the T3i). They make shooting self portraits much easier. Jan 05 14 07:42 pm Link ChrisJane wrote: If you'll be working with studio strobes, you'll be able to shoot at the preferred lowest iso, which for your camera is 100. Also, you would be shooting at the maximum flash sync shutter speed which is 1/200 second. So, with good studio light management, the only exposure adjustment you'll need to make is aperture. You can shoot different aperture settings, and then pick your favorite images when you process them. Aperture is like squinting your eyes. Higher number=more squint=less light. Find the right amount. (Shooting in a more uncontrolled environment requires much more skill in balancing the different exposure settings.) Your photographer friends should be able to help a lot, and you might consider renting or borrowing strobes, modifiers and radio-triggers prior to making those kind of purchases. Some of it can be done on the cheap. There's lots of DIY setups for things like reflectors and modifiers. Jan 05 14 08:46 pm Link photoguy35 wrote: Yeah- it's the same remote Jan 06 14 01:39 am Link Erlinda wrote: That's great stuff. My hubby bought me the T5i for Christmas and I'm dying to use it for a shoot or video. What I recommend about shooting yourself is placing something you can focuses your camera on to where you plan on standing/setting. That's the number one problem I had in all the years of shooting self portraits. You can't set the timer on your cane if it ain't focused on an object. Shoot self portraits of things that many wouldn't shoot with you. Something that people wouldn't expect. Also shooting things that make you look hot is always a plus. Have fun! big_smile To focus, try this: go stand where you are going to be, then focus on the tripod head! it's the same distance but in reverse! be sure to mark the floor so you don't lose your spot. good luck Aug 09 14 10:52 am Link This book is one of the best methods to learning. Sure there are videos out there, but IMO - read this book, learn a concept, THEN watch a video to support it. Videos tend to be less specific, but great for concreting concepts. http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exp … 0817439390 About half my port was shot with a T2i / T3i - great cameras. Aug 09 14 11:21 am Link I use a T1i (similar camera but a few years older). I shot every picture in my portfolio using it (and with the 18-55 lens that came with the camera or the 50 mm f/1.8). There are limitations to the camera I have found but they aren't important enough (yet) to make me upgrade. I can't speak intelligently on the T3i as I've never used it, don't know anyone who has and haven't done any research on it. What I can say is the learning curve was/is a lot more steep than I thought it would be. It's harder to learn how to do some things well and consistently but when these things happen, it's a great feeling. When I started out, one of my biggest problems was focus. It took me quite a while to understand that the red dot in the viewfinder was for a specific reason. Then I had to learn how to not be in a hurry to get the shot. Yes, there are going to be times when you'll miss shots but you'll ruin a few trying to hurry up, too. While this camera is nice, it's not a pro body (it doesn't cost nearly as much, either). It doesn't focus nearly as fast as pro bodies do. I found that my camera doesn't always lock on a sharp focus first time, every time. Sometimes it's a little short, other times it's a little long. Sometimes I even have to hold the shutter button half way down, move the camera lens off the subject for a few seconds and then come back to the subject. When I get back, it will lock on a sharp focus then. If I'm in a hurry, I end up with blurred images because the focus isn't perfect. Finally, don't be afraid to shop on eBay (or places like it) for used items. I bought a battery grip and a speed light on eBay. When I pull my camera out of the bag now, a lot of times people will ask me what newspaper I work for or will call me paparazzi. Granted these people aren't photographers beyond owning a camera (usually point and shoot) but it's still a good feeling for me. Good job selecting Canon, too. Aug 09 14 11:31 am Link This thread is like 8 months old but.... I have a T3i. Every image I've shot has been with it (except my 35mm work, obviously). I'm realizing its limitations, but I really like it for now. I have great results with self portraits. I'm really pale, so I use a white pillow to meter and focus. Works every time. Aug 09 14 11:36 am Link |
