Interesting, I tend to think of a portrait as 'still life' and as such, it could be an inanimate object - taken somewhat out of context and therefore isolated from it's surroundings.
A group shot would not in itself be a portrait but rather a collection of individual portraits although the emphasis would have to be on the group.
For me, a portrait should be of a single person or object so composed as to totally draw the viewers attention to the subject.
It could be argued that any photograph, being a frozen moment in time, is a portrait but I think a static pose would qualify better than a deliberately blurred image that emphasizes movement.

An example of a perfect portrait (by my definition) would be a close-up image of part of an object such that you feel the need to really study the image in order to identify the object. Or it could simply be a classic 'head and shoulders' person shot or a building - anything that doesn't require a background setting.

.................err, no..........just screw the tripod into the base of the camera.........I'm sure it tells you how to do it in the manual!

BTW, you open the three legs (hence 'tripod') so that it forms a pyramid or teepee type shape. You then attach the camera to the top (pointy bit) by using the screw into the hole (with the screw thread), be careful to ensure that the camera is firmly mounted on the tripod but DO NOT overtighten the screw.
The tripod may have a removable head, known as a 'quick release platform', in this case you would attach this to the camera and you can then mount the camera onto the tripod and remove it again quickly (for hand-held shots) by moving one of those bendy lever type things.

Do please try to understand the instructions that came with your equipment - we can only give general advice based on details you give us and the manuals you have will be more specific.

I've never seen one of these before, looks like a MES/Super A hybrid.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=15240&item=3843611896&rd=1

Phat,
returning to the topic of this thread, have you got to grips with the relationship between aperture and shutter speed yet?

If not, this is how I explain it to beginners, I keep it very simple and don't worry about depth of field at this stage as that can be considered as 'fine tuning', as can the choice of film and shutter speed.

1. The amount of light transmitted to the film is called the 'exposure'
2. There is one correct exposure for the given lighting conditions of the scene.
3. The exposure is achieved by a combination of aperture (size of hole in the lens that the light passes through) and shutter speed (the length of time that the hole is open for)
4. A large hole requires less time to allow the correct amount of light through than a small one, therefore a wide range of aperture/shutter speed combinations can be used to achieve the same exposure.
5. Shutter speeds are measured in fractions of a second, faster shutter speeds are used to prevent blurred images caused by camera movement and to freeze the action of moving subjects.
6. Think of aperture numbers as fractions too - the smallest number (eg. f3.5) means that the hole is wide open, f22 therefore is usually the smallest hole available - the actual figures available depend on the design of the lens.
7. The number of suitable combinations is determined by the sensitivity of the film, ISO 1000 film is faster (more sensitive) than ISO 400 which is faster than ISO 100 etc.
8. Slower film tends to be less grainy and deliver sharper results than fast film but requires the camera to be supported (eg. on a tripod) in dim light conditions or when using a long (telephoto) lens because of the longer exposure times.
9. Basic program cameras (such as the P30) automatically provide suitable exposure settings for hand-held shots under normal (average) lighting conditions with lenses around the 'standard' length of 50mm - a 35-70mm or 28-80mm zoom lens is therefore ideal.

That should be enough to get you started, then when you've understood how and why the camera automatically selects certain settings in program mode, you can begin experimenting with different combinations to achieve various effects - you can change the mood of the image by deliberately under or overexposing it, you can select a slower combination in order to blur the image to enhance the sense of action or a small aperture to ensure that both nearby and distant subjects are in focus.
Use the graininess of fast film to give your photos a newspaper look or to provide a mysterious murkiness, especially with black and white film.

There are far too many facets to photography to go into here but if you can understand the points I've listed above, you'll be well on your way.

.........and never will be unless you devote plenty of time and effort to it!

Seriously, whatever you do, have fun (especially while you're young) - life's just too short otherwise.

I am only thirteen so i dont know anything about camera's and i was just wondering what aperture is and how to use it? for the moment i just use Programed AE mode because i dont know how to use metered mode because the users manual is complicated. i dont get what the 22 16 11 8 5.6 3.5 means? on the aperture ring or something!

PLEASE HELP!

What a bizarre thread this has been - highly amusing

Whether genuine or not, we all had to start somewhere and there's no better starting point than the camera instruction book!
Read it, relate the details to the camera itself and then read it again, eventually it will all make sense. The camera manual is probably the most useful and most over-looked bit of kit as it often ends up in a draw or stuffed into a pocket in the kit bag. Often people will buy expensive books when the answers they seek are contained in the manual - it really does have all the information you need to start using the camera effectively and often includes details of more advanced techniques.
Armed with the knowledge contained within the manual's pages and a few rolls of film, you should go out and shoot any and everything that grabs you attention, experiment with settings and viewpoints and you'll learn about photography quicker than you could ever have imagined but you'll never know it all!

I don't think I've ever used the panoramic function for prints, but like you John, I frequently use it for slides in both my Z1-P and 280-P compact.
I think of it a little like widescreen tv - great for landscapes and group shots but devotees of APS cameras can muck about with print sizes if they like.

I've voted for the Z series as I currently own a Z1-P and believe it to be near perfect.
Perhaps not as solid as earlier metal bodied cameras but pretty robust all the same.
I suppose my vote is more for the overall concept and package than anything else - highly sophisticated, supremely capable, favourably competitive in terms of price when released and still exuding renowned Pentax quality.
The Z1 was awarded the Japanese industry award for harmonious design (if I remember correctly) for it's ergonomics and blend of useful features.
The original concept was basically to produce an 'intelligent' system that could intuitively reflect the photographers intentions, and I believe Pentax succeeded!

Quite fancy this myself.........can't afford it at the moment
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