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Question: How do you become good in photography and digital editing!?
I bought a Nikon D60 camera, and have the Adobe CS3 suite!. now what!?

Is there good ebooks out there that you recommend!?
any online training available!?
Or a good online community!?

What accessories should i get for better shots!? what sort of lenses should i get for what type of shot!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Those are two VERY DIFFERENT disciplines!. And since your ability to use Photoshop well is highly dependent on your skill with the camera, I'd suggest that you keep the CS3 in the box for a while until your become marginally competent with the camera!.

I also suggest that you don't get accessories and extra lenses until you're comfortable with the basics of the camera and can handle it with ease!?
Then, the first and most helpful accessory will be an external flash!.

Once you DO get into PS, learn the basics of optimizing your images before you try anything fancy!. Just remember: Optimize, Enhance, Manipulate!. ALWAYS in that order! (Sadly, most beginners go directly to manipulating their images with filters and tricks and never learn the basics!. Which means they start out with crappy files !.!.!. and make them worse!)


I have a couple of pages of basics that should help you!. Check out my site (below)!.

Good Luck! Just be aware that it takes a long time and a lot of deliberate work to become a competent photographer!. And all the technical challenges in digital editing just keep coming !.!.!. so that even someone with years of experience must keep learning just to keep up!. I know these things because I've been a photographer for more than 40 years, and I've been using PS for 10 or 12 (and teaching it for about 8 years)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Practice and experiment!.

Loads of good photoshop forums - just google for them!.
Loads of good photography forums - just google for them

Accessories for better shots - accessories don't make for better shots (in most cases) but it depends on what you are shooting!.
A tripod and decent flash are the first things!.

lenses - macro, get a macro lense!.
Landscape - wide angle to medium telephoto
sports - fast telephoto
wildlife - fast telephoto
portraits - medium telephoto (70-150mm)

Now go out and practice and do some of your own research!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

You have two massive learning curves ahead of you, they are two different disciplines, but interlink to each other!.

Photoshop is a GIGO (garbage in - garbage out) program, you have to get it right in camera for Photoshop to have a chance of its full repertoire!.

By far the best training is with the tutor right there with you, remote/book learning has loads of pitfalls at least in getting the initial!. basic knowledge you will need!. Books and online is good for extending your knowledge base, for building your skills and for introducing you to advanced techniques, but you definitely need to get the basics right first!.

If your in the UK there are lots of local photographic clubs that are Lottery funded, they have to offer free courses at all levels as part of their remit!.

ChrisWww@QuestionHome@Com

Wow, you just bought the camera and you don't even know what are the differences between lenses!?!?!?!?
welcome to the DSLR world :)
I've learned alot about photography from youtube and online articles!.!.!.!.!.!.just search for them!.

Accessories: get a polarized filter, graduated ND filter and ND filter for long exposures and a tripod!.

well if you want to take landscape pictures, you should go for a wide angle lens (like Nikkor 14-24mm)

if you are interested in bird photography get a telephoto lens (like Nikkor 70-300mm)

prime lenses(fixed focal range lens) are great for portraits and close ups!.


finally, it is not the camera nor the filters nor the lenses that will make you get better pictures!.
only the head behind the camera can make you get better pictures, learn composition & different techniques, try different types of photography!.!.!.!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

just like anything else
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICEWww@QuestionHome@Com