Canon 300d

[rikkersc]

I am interested in trying some of the shot styles posted in the article from DPS (under the tips - other tips section of the site) ... especially the zoom technique (where the subject is in focus, but everything around them has "motion" from the zoom) and the multiple exposure technique.

Can someone help explain to me what I have to do to achieve these techniques. I have tried the zoom technique, but when I try to zoom while taking a picture, the screen shows only a black screen.

I have not tried the multiple images one yet, is it even possible with my camera? I have done it in the past with a film camera.

I have a Canon 300D with the following lenses:
EFS 18-55mm (which is the one I was trying to attempt this with)
AF 70-300mm
AF super wide .42x

Any help explaining what to do will be greatly appreciated.

[inkista]

Canon dSLRs assume that you'll look through the viewfinder when shooting, so the LCD screen does not do live preview--it only shows you the picture after you've taken it.

The main problem with the zooming technique is that you need time to zoom, which means that you want to do a longer exposure--if you're set to do a 1/100s exposure you probably won't get the effect, because you won't have time to rotate the zoom ring very far while the shutter's open.

dSLRs don't really allow you to do multiple exposure in-camera--it's actually easier and you have far more control over combining images in photo editing software, like Photoshop or the Gimp--you can control the amount of transparency, position, and portions of the photos you want to blend.

[rikkersc]

I'm sorry, I must not have been really clear in the question ... that happens sometimes.:)
I meant that the viewscreen still shows a black screen (no image) after it has taken a photo.

[inkista]

Well, typically when that happens to me, I've left the lens cap on. :)

Do you mean the camera didn't take a photo? Or that you got a photo that was all black? This doesn't sound like it's related to the zooming as much as your exposure settings, or possibly a malfunction in the camera.

I'd say try taking a photo without the zooming, and with a long shutter speed (more than a second), to make sure you've got the correct exposure settings. Then try the zooming. You may also want to try switching to manual focus.