Newbie Notes_10.4.25 📸

What I'm learning in my beginner photography classes and my initial thoughts on working with the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L. TLDR; I'm frustrated and that's okay.

Today I got to try out my new lens, the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Autofocus Zoom Lens. I shoot on a Canon EOS Rebel T5i that I got over a decade ago. Despite some honest attempts, I never really learned how to use the camera and I’ve almost sold it off a couple of times. Back in 2012 it was FINE to dabble because the photos I took were still better than I was taking with whatever phone it was I had before the iPhone. But phone cameras have simply gotten too good now to be half ass about it anymore! It would be crazy to lug around heavy, expensive gear that gets you worse photos than you could take with your phone. So I knew it was time to get in or get out and I decided I would get in. I’m making one big push and if I can’t figure out how to make worthwhile photos, within a reasonable amount of time and money invested, I’ll move on and just focus on getting better with my phone.

Before I get to the new lens, let’s back up a few weeks. I dusted off my camera body and got out the two existing lenses I own, a 50mm prime and 10-18mm zoom. These are inexpensive lenses, about $150 and $330 respectively.

I started attending the local photo club and I signed up for continuing ed classes at my local community college. I’m two classes in and there have been some huge unlocks for me:

1. Learning to shoot in the semi-automatic Program mode and use the exposure compensation dial. I’d previously only shot in Auto mode (A+ on the dial). People would tell me to shoot in Manual, so sometimes I’d try that, but it was a guessing game. I was aware of the exposure triangle, but unclear how to work with it. The semi-automatic modes seem like such a great tool for someone at my level! I went outside the next morning after that class to play around and I was so thrilled when I was able to go from this:

To this:

There is no editing on these photos, so you can see how much I was able to fix the exposure in camera. In the initial photo, I think the camera was reading the scene as very dark and then letting in too much light to make up for it. By dropping the exposure compensation down a few stops to -1, it brought out a lot more color and detail in the rose and gave more of a natural vignette effect.

2. Learning to set my camera to shoot in Raw. Sooo, I actually thought I was shooting in raw all this time. I was not. In class our teacher showed us the difference between a photo edited from Raw and the same photo edited from JPEG and I was blown away at how much more of an effect edits could have on a Raw photo. How did I miss this step?! All I can say is that I am an intuitive, learn-by-doing type, and haven’t spent much time with the manual. Lesson learned.

3. Learning to adjust white balance to warm up the light or cool it down. Today while I was out in the woods taking some photos, I was able to play with this function a bit.

Before (cool):

After (warmer):

I don’t know that one is necessarily better than the other. I only know that I was able to visualize a change I wanted to see and then adjust a setting to make it happen. That feels pretty great!

Which brings me to the new lens…

It’s hefty! And it was pricey, even used and on clearance. So it kinda feels like my first big girl lens. I was VERY excited when it arrived yesterday. Today I drove out to Illiniwek Forest Preserve to try it out and I have to admit the excitement faded and reality set in just a few photos in to the day.

As always with photography, it comes down to what you’re trying to do. At this time, what I’m really interested in are “scapes”. Naturescapes, landscapes, seascapes…with a touch of portrait photography. Renee Hahnel from Renee Roaming is a big source of inspo for me. Her photos are very dreamy and I love the way she captures her and her husband in them.

Matt and I recently did some traveling out east and these were some of my attempts to do something simliar:

I used my 10-35mm lens for these, which seemed to work well in terms of framing, but I was also frustrated in some ways and I tried to use that to identify what I might need to learn or change about my gear:

1. First, the way I carry it needs to change. I’m planning to get a harness so that I can take me camera out on hikes without it banging around or pulling on my neck funny. I want to be able to swing my arms freely while hiking but also be ready to shoot at a moments notice.

2. As far as wildlife photography, my gear is neither fast nor quiet when it comes to focusing and pressing the shutter, which makes it hard to be stealthy enough for wildlife shots. How quickly I can change settings on my camera is also a factor. It would be really nice to have more custom buttons or available dials versus going into a menu to make changes on the fly. This are the priciest things to fix.

3. Also regarding wildlife - I lack the ability to punch in on a subject. A deer with a large rack wandered into our path. Maybe 15-20 yards away? And my lens couldn’t get me close enough to make it a worthwhile photo. My husbands phone did way better!

I decided that’s thing I would try to change first. I do a lot of neighborhood walks through ravined areas and through a cemetery and park. I see deer quite regularly, and have seen foxes and coyotes as well. I didn’t think I needed to stray too far from my 10-18mm. Just that little punch in to get closer to animals.

EVERYONE has recommended the 24-70mm, saying it is basically the only lens you really need. So I started there! What I’ve learned in just one outing is that expanding my zoom range from 10mm to 70mm was not nearly enough to improve my wildlife photography, while losing some of the lower range (going from 10mm to 24mm) really took away the wide angle shot I use so much!

I also found that scapes felt extremely flat if I didn’t have a clear foreground subject. The photo above where I just wanted to get the water and trees…I think that would have been really boring with this new lens.

I am so hungry for knowledge that every disappointment is still a success if learn something, and I definitely feel like I did. I’m not sure what my next move is, but I know that I’m going to continue playing with this new lens to see if I can figure out what it’s really GREAT for and if that’s something I want to keep shooting. I also plan to connect with some photographers to look at photos with me and take about lenses used to achieve them.

Wish me luck!