Im sure those settings have some technical name, but I am quite appreciative of your descriptions..."cloud in front of the sun" is something I understand.

I am getting some gray at the temples, so it is time to color. Perhaps Miss Clairol blonde would look good on me. :D

OK - so here is a close up cropped of the best one. I could paint from this.

At some point I wouldn't mind learning the correct names as well. For now though - I dont mind looking silly here if I can learn something. I know everyone reading this is laughing at me - I dont care! So there - :o ;)

What I am wondering about is photographing my art. So far (without knowing about the ISO) I hadnt been using the ones I took outside because of glare. I had been using the same P setting with the WB set at the lightbulb - since I was taking them inside. This is something I really need to learn asap as my photos of my paintings are way off.

Are you noticing your shutter speed as you do this? You only want enough to do the job. If you are using a tripod you aren't proving much (stationary camera, stationary subject). But if it's hand held you can see what the minimum SS would be for you to hold steady.

Yes Mike - I was noticing the shutter speed. I did these hand-held and of course my movement could be a problem as well. It is hard to determine what speed is going to look the best once I get the photos to the computer. I guess that would come with time and experience?

Oh Kim - thanks so much. Being the parent of a troubled teen right now, I am always in need of a good laugh, and you SO helped me this morning. (I wasn't laughing AT you - more like WITH you - because i've been there, right where you are, when i got my Rebel.)

For those who don't have a Rebel, here are the little symbols to which Kim is referring. (Kim - this book came with my camera - did you not get one of these?)

Anyway - I learned a lot from this thread about ISO. My last photo shoot yielded ghost images in my sitter's eyeballs - double-vision - even with the tripod - I was shooting at an ISO of 100. Now I know that was the problem! Thanks, Mike!

Kim - this is page 51 in the manual.

For ISO (page 50).

Cindy -

Thanks for posting this. Glad to be useful this am. ;)

Yes I got the **(*^!! book. It is helpful, but not if you dont understand what ISO means in the first place. I had bought another book just about the Rebel at Barnes & Noble and was working my way through that. I need to now go back and read the original manual now.

Here is the thing - if you are not experienced with this and someone starts talking 'shutter speed' - there is no way to understand. How the heck would I know what the shutter speed should be? Just the other day I took a photo in low-light and it took forever to click. It was an 'a-ha' moment for me. So THIS is when I need to speed up the shutter.

I've been saying for years that I need a class in basic photography. This forum may be quicker and more useful though.

That should have been an "a-ha" moment. A tenth of a second is an eternity for the aperture to be open. Much movement can take place in this amount of time.

For hand held operation an experienced photographer on solid footing without any wind can manage as low as 1/30 of a second. Not something you want to strive for. You might shoot for 1/60 as a minimum. For tripod use this would not be a problem. That takes care of your end of the camera.

For the other end of the camera -- an adult can hold steady enough for 1/30 but again, it's not something to strive for. Children are a whole other smoke. I would want to be 1/100 of a second and 1/200 would be better for the little ones.

Remember, additional speed does not add any quality to your image. It only allows you to stop the action, subtle as it may be. In fact, if you are using ISO to gain SS you are arguably loosing quality as you go farther up the speed ladder.

I have on my Nikon a feature called "Auto ISO" which allows me to set a minimum shutter speed (say 1/60). If the available light is such that the SS drops below this number it will automatically bump up the ISO until the SS gets to my target minimum. Pretty handy, I don't know if your camera has this. If it does I would recommend you use it. I am so used to managing this manually from my film days I have a hard time letting go.