Heya guys. Me and a friend are looking to go to New Zealand for 3 months in July. I want to be able to capture some great photos whilst I'm there because I may never get chance to go back. And basically I know very little about photography, so I decided to come here for some info. If anyone could recommend some good links or books to useful beginners photography guides that could help me at least get a decent shot. I got lost in all the google pages that are usually way ahead of my level at the moment. I'm basically looking to absorb as much info as possible before I go and get some practice in in the countryside near me. As another note, if anyone could recommend a decent beginners camera, I could probably afford up to £400 maybe. Although I may be borrowing my dads camera anyway so thats not really important. Thanks.
What you will be shooting with is rather important. If it's a certain camera, then there might be no point in explaining certain technical points etc.
Go to your local library and see if they have something like Digital Photography for Dummies. Look for any other book that has relevant information. While you are reading the book(s), take your camera everywhere you go and shoot anything that might interest you. Play with the camera and learn what the settings do. Unless photography is something you're going to take up as a hobby, don't worry about getting a bunch of camera gear. Keep it simple, and err on the side of convenience over features.
Take a look round the Digital Photography School website - they've got loads of useful info, including a bunch of beginner's guides. To be honest, though, getting the composition of your photos right is the easiest "quick fix" to taking good photos - as monkey said, you'll want to go for convenience rather than fiddle around with settings, and as long as you get the composition right, the auto settings should be fine for most situations.
