Hi Jo: I'm Christine from Chicago & I have a K10 too--I love it!!! It's a great camera. Maybe I can help. I know you don't want to hear this, but why don't you start reading p. 138 - 145 in your manual. These pages cover "Setting the Exposure", "Setting the Sensitivity" (in other words ISO), "Selecting the Metering Method", & a chart on Exposure Modes. I mention these pages because they're critical to the "great triangle of exposure"--ISO, Shutter Speed, & Aperture. Think of these three as a kind of photographic menage a trois, all doing an intimate dance to reach orgasmic quality photos of your puppies! ;-) gosh, did I just write that?
Anyway, after you read those pages, read the camera parts illustrations on p. 17 - 18, then try this, (and shoot JPEGs): 1) Take your husband to the park. Make him sit or stand somewhere. Set your White Balance to the choice that most closely matches the lighting conditions on the day you shoot: White Balance is also really important, and there's a nice easy chart to follow on p. 123. 2) Set your Exposure Mode to AV, which stands for Aperture priority ( see p.144 in manual). This means you will set the aperture and the camera will set the shutter speed for you. 3) Set your Metering Method to Multi-segment metering (see p. 142 in manual) 4) Now, if you've got a lot of light, set your ISO to 100 or 200. If you don't have that much light, set your ISO to 400. The more light you have, you can use lower ISO settings; the less light you have, the higher ISO settings. But remember this: The higher the ISO, the more grain you'll get for larger print sizes--but don't worry about that yet. 5) Do you have the kit lens: the DA 50-18mm? If so, set the focal length to 35mm. 6) Position your husband & position yourself. Then, using the "rear e-dial" set the aperture to F4.5 (that is the lowest f-stop for this lens at this focal length) Take a picture. Now, take a picture at every F-stop--(another way of saying every aperture setting), & that should take you up to f-stop 32. 6a) Now change the focal length on the kit lens. Go through the same drill at different focal lengths. Experiment! Experiment! Experiment! 7) Now, load your photos on to your computer. What do you notice about them? Some changes should take place--look for even subtle changes. Given the changes that take place, what conclusions can you draw? A few last things: I really love the book entitled "Exposure and Lighting for Digital Photographers Only" by Michael Meadhra & Charlotte K.Lowrie. I can't say enough good things about this book. You've got to become "light smart" because light & the various kinds of light are key to photography. This book will definitely help you start becoming light smart--and exposure smart. One last thing about manuals: I find the Pentax manual fairly well written--of course, it doesn't have the literary value of a prize-winning novel--but it is written pretty straight forward, so if you can get over your phobia of manuals, it will help your skills improve. Also, photographic equipment is expensive & fixing photographic equipment can be expensive, so reading the dos & don'ts, the memos & cautions, that are included in equipment manuals can help ward off break-downs. I actually carry my manual out into "the field" as they say. Just in case I can't remember something. The folks on this list are really smart & you can learn a lot. I joined the list last December--I've learned so much since then because of the list. So welcome, & great to have another Pentax lady shooter on the list. Cheers, Christine >From: "Jo Lueck" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > I have a K10D - its nice, its black, I have a really nice bag with it - > I really want to master the basics.. and then take pictures as great as > Bill!!!!! I tried to read it again today and I guess what I am looking for is how to use guide for dummies, which is then even more simplified... I am never going to be advanced with it, unless I can find a course - the camera came with a how to course but I bought the camera in the US, so could not go. My husband CHOSE this camera for me, for him whatever, he never picks the thing up and likes to think he knows how to use it, but I am not so sure. I have had the camera since Christmas, have struggled ever since, with the manual by my bedside table, I am not a stupid woman, just perhaps have a mental block that I cannot do this, I just need someone to help me find my way and was asked to join this forum and was hoping to find my way here...... -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
