David R D wrote:.

Want to get into photography specifically for capturing my 9 year oldson playing basketball and family portraits. We have a nice digital.

Indoor basketball?.

Already that is point and shoot, but looking to get serious aboutphotography..

I live in Seattle, so have bunch of cool stuff to shoot if I want toexpand that way as well. Based on the above;.

What would be some specific characteristics to look for in a camera?Shutter speed?.

Posed portraits in reasonable light are easier in terms of equipment. For a individual portrait, ~85mm (35mm-equiv...) with a wide aperture (for shallow DOF) is reasonable. It's not an unreasonable focal length for a fairly tight portrait at distances which are close, but not close enough that pure geometry makes people look distorted... for a group portrait, you may want to be further away, with a shorter lens, stopped down more.

Indoor, you'd either crave a fast lens (wide aperture) and perhaps a stabilization method (in-body, in-lens, tripod etc) or additional lightning (ex. external flash, bounced off the ceiling or with a diffuser or both or two flashes or studio lighting, but that's getting fairly fancy)..

Indoor sports in the usual low light, OTOH, are difficult. Shutter speed well, yes, you need a fast shutter speed to freeze action, but the tricky part is achieving what's required to actually have a useful image at a fast shutter speed. It would not surprise me if even 1/2000s were a valid setting on the majority of ultracompact cameras, but it's not necessarily *usable* in bad light..

That means fast lens and usable images at high ISOs. Continuous AF is also handy, since basketball is a fast-moving sport. High fps/long bursts can be useful, but it's no panacea. Having a mechanically operated zoom is also useful if the shots are going to be taken at a variety of distances within a short time better than waiting for a motorized zoom to go in or out..

If you go burst-happy, do not forget to use a sufficiently large storage card that you deliberately skip plausible shots because you're worried about running out of space for better ones..

Best website to store photos online for viewing and purchasing forfamily and friends?.

There are vast hordes. A Google search for 'image hosting' will result in a LOT of hits. I shouldn't recommend any in particular, because I'm not a neutral party here. Purchasing is a bit rarer, but still happens..

Beginner photography classes, online or live recommendation would begreat..

Quite a few online web sites have been recommended in previous threads. Haven't personally bothered with any..

Good printer for printing photos?.

Would note that unless you really need quick turnaround time, it might be cheaper and quite possibly better quality to use a printing service at least for the common, small sizes like 4x6. Many do sufficiently high volumes that expensive hardware and taking the time for periodic calibration makes sense for them. If you do use somebody else to print, you should check to see whether they do any automatic processing of the images, however..

*snip*..

PBase is something I am going to sign up for and your advice on printer makes perfect sense..

Yes, for the basketball it's indoors and lighting is usually awful...

David,.

I can understand your situation. As I have 6 kids and they are all active in school and sports. You have to decide what your budget will be first and which type of shooting you want to do most. Then how much time you are willing to dedicate to photography..

Sports and family portraits are two different types of photography. If you want to capture sports, action, low light you will need to look for a camera with a higher Continous Drive (8fps or higher), and fast lens/glass (f2.8 or faster). I would suggest a Canon 1D Mark II. You should look for an SLR and shoot RAW (low light or indoor basketball/sports will be tough to white balance in jpg)..

For family portraits you have more options. A nice starter digital SLR would be the Canon 30D or even the digital Rebels. And a nice lens would be the 70-200L f2.8 or the 24-70L f2.8. Those two lens would cover a lot for your money..

With a digital SLR and shooting RAW you will need to post process your images for best results. Which means more time on the computer, a computer that has enough space and speed and software (Adobe Photoshop Elements 3-5 can do most of what you want to start with)..

I started with Canon so I do not have any experience with other brands. I had the Canon Rebel G (35mm), have the Canon 10D and now the Canon 5D. The 10D is faster than the 5D. Quality on the 5D is much better but I loose some shots on sports because it is slower and gain in low light with the 5D. The 5D is a good all round camera but mainly for great portraits and low light. I have done indoor basketball and volleyball with both cameras..

You can give a skilled photographer a disposable camera and they will capture beautiful images with it. Just depends on how hard you are willing to work, your skill level and budget..

If you remember one thing let it be this. Decide if you will go full frame or crop camera and purchase the best glass you can. You can upgrade cameras and the lens will work beautifully for years and years.B&H has a good rep and quality. They offer both new and used equipment.Additional items:MemoryFlashTripodCable ReleaseSelf TimerReflectorCamera BagInsurance.

Best website to store photos online for viewing and purchasing forfamily and friends?.

I use pbase for online viewing in general and linking to sites like this forum. See my link below. At this time your family and friends can order/purchase through pbase. Another option for ordering is the family can contact you with the images and you can put them on Mpix (which is what I do and love the quality of Mpix and customer service). Mpix has free storage for 30 days and can be password protected. You can also purchase additional storage if you wish.



Beginner photography classes, online or live recommendation would begreat..

Check your local college for classes and photography clubs. Many camera shops also have digital photography classes. Online classes-there are many. Here are a few sites to get you started.http://www.efplighting.com/?Lighting_interviews:The_basichttp://www.studiolighting.net/short-lighting-studio-lighting-setup/http://www.photonhead.com/exposure/http://www.88.com/exposure/http://super.nova.org/DPR/http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=TipsAndTechsActhttp://asp.photo.free.fr/Composition/photoProgramCompMainClass.shtmlhttp://www.montezucker.com/content.html?page=7http://www.morguefile.com/archive/classroom.phphttp://www.webphotoschool.com/all_lessons/free_lessons/index.htmlhttp://www.nyip.com/ezine/http://www.nikonschool.com/The dpreview sites provide a wealth of information.There are many good and also free online classes and information..

Good printer for printing photos?.

A home photo printer will cost more than a good online lab. For home printers you should also consider callibrating your monitor and printer and learn color management. I use Mpix for my prints and the quality is very good. If you want quick prints at home, many do, check out the printers and printing forum for some suggestions..

Good luck! Have fun! Click and learn!.

CkbBe kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.visit my sites at http://www.photographybychris.netand at http://www.pbase.com/ckb..

Need extra batteries too..

You are welcome. I hope you capture many memories of your son and family. Having images to look back on is sweet no matter what gear you have. Have fun!ckbBe kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.visit my sites at http://www.photographybychris.netand at http://www.pbase.com/ckb..

David R D wrote:.

Ckb, thank you so much!.

Hi David,.

What kind of a budget are you looking at here? While ckb gave you some excellent advice, keep in mind that new 30D body plus the 24-70L and 70-200L lenese are going to cost you around $4k.....add another $3-4K for just EOS 1D Mark III body alone. This would be a considerable investment in gear......

For what you are looking to do, a DSLR would be the best choice but there are many option and price ranges. Any body from any manufacturer is going to give you excellent images, where you really need to invest more of you cash in in the lenses...get the best lenses within your budget..

JohnPentax *ist-D, K100D, Fuji F20/31fd, Oly Stylushttp://www.pbase.com/jglover..

Hi David,.

I have no idea what your budget is, but I think this a good starter kit for your stated needs:.

1) 30D - good frame rate and high iso performance ~$1000.

2) kit lens (low budget) - general walk about ~$100 or...17-55 2.8IS (high budget) ~$ 10003) 50 1.8 - low light, portraits, shallow DOF ~$804) 85 1.8 - indoor sports, outdoor portraits ~$350.

With this kit you would have no telephoto...however before spending too much money I would start out small and learn the camera well. Too many people expect to buy a DSLR and have better pictures instantaneously. It takes a lot of time and practice to get good results..

I apologize if my advice is too basic...I don't know your level of knowledge..

Learn as much as you can regarding photography in general. (a highly regarded book...Understanding Exposure - Bryan Petterson) In addition to this website I would recommend spending some time reading the articles and tutorials on "The Luminous Landscape".

Read the whole camera manual...twice..

If you don't already own one...get a post-processing program (PS Elements) and learn the basics...crop, levels, sharpen, resize etc....

Understand the histogram.

I second the advice about using MPix...good results and great customer service...however there are other options...but I have only used MPix..

I use PBase and like it...have not tried others.

Expect to spend a lot of time and effort...I know others will disagree...but I would say to start in manual mode..

Post pictures here and use the advice offered by others..

Hope this helps,.

Don..