When you started out in photography...

422nd

I'm just starting to get into photography. My kit so far consists of my beloved Canon 1000d, 18-55mm lens and 75-300mm lens. I've been browsing the phorography section of the site now for a short while and I've instantly picked up from not only the beautiful pictures, but the conversations as well, that there really is a tremendous amount of talent here. And so my question to you is, from a young aspiring photographer, are there any tips or pieces of advice that you have for me that you wish you'd had when you began?

Cheers for all responses.
Danny.:)

Kintarō Hattori

Play with ALL the settings on your camera to see what everything does. Don't get comfortable and into a routine too much. Learn what your camera does and it'll help you.

If you see a photographic opportunity and it's not harming anyone then take the shot. I've let some great photos go by diddering over whether to take the shot or not.

Emulation is not shameful. If you see a style you like, try and emulate it. It'll help you learn.

gloobag

This is fairly simple, and it's actually kinda common sense, but it's a trap I fell into myself when starting out:

If you take a photo of something, and then you look at it on your lcd on the back of the camera and it looks ****e, don't just give up and move on. It's not because you're a bad photographer.

That crappy shot, should be the first of many crappy shots until the image you had in your head is finally realized.

Ask yourself, "why am I not happy with this, and why doesn't it match the image in my head?" and then take the steps to make it match the image in your head.

charybdis

I'm sort of repeating what was said above, but:

Learn how to use your camera. Read the manual, read it again, and reread it until you know what every button, dial, and switch does and why you'd want to do it.

Learn exposure. Understand what a stop is. Understand how to balance shutter speed, aperture, and ISO and what the secondary effects of changing each one is.

Learn metering. Learn to interpret what your camera is telling you about the amount of light in a scene, why it's choosing those exposure parameters, and how to know when you have to intervene and tell the camera what to do.

Be mindful when photographing. Don't just fire off dozens of shots every time you want to take a photograph; consider what you're doing and try and anticipate the image you want to produce and try to translate that into what you can do to produce it.

Analyse your work. When you're reviewing your photographs on your computer, look at what photographs you think don't work and how you might have done them differently. Also look at photographs you're pleased with and try and break down what makes them appealing to you and how you can use their success to inform your future work.

Analyse others' work. Look at photographs other than your own. Think about what the photographer was trying to convey with the image, if you think they were successful, and how you might apply similar technique to your own work. Don't be afraid to try and deconstruct how a particular photograph was made and experiment to see if you can achieve a similar look.

Don't post process (yet). Post processing is great, many would say it's essential, but when you're starting out you should really learn to make the best photograph you can "in-camera" lest post processing becomes a crutch and you never really bother to learn the fundamentals. That said, you don't need to dismay if you have an image that could be fixed with a little judicious post processing, you can always come back to it when you're a better photographer and competent at post processing.

Appreciate that there are going to be things you can't capture. No matter what your gear is, there are going to be photographs you just can't get, the sooner you accept this and stop worrying about what piece of equipment you can buy fix things, the better. Possibly the most important thing you can learn in photography (and really the overarching message of this list) is that you have to be able to see and think in terms of what you and your camera can capture; only when you understand the limits of what you can do can you start to fully explore it.

Photograph for yourself. It's very useful to try and reproduce what others have done from a learning perspective, but ultimately you need to decide if you want to keep reproducing those exercises or if you want to adapt and apply them to your own work. Don't take photographs to try and please a notional generic audience, take photographs for yourself or specific people (unless you want to produce stock photography).

Thecageyone

Don't get overwhelmed.

When i started to take it a little more serious than a casual hobby, I was a bit overwhelmed when looking up manual controls. Don't be, take it in baby steps if you need to. there's a lifetime of tips/tricks/dos/don'ts/rules/need-to-knows/know-it-alls/techniques etc ... to confront out there. Nobody knows it all, nobody ever will. Think about your weak points, or what you feel you need to work on, and take it from there.

Above all, have fun, when it's not fun, it's now worth the hassle.

Good luck

magicbastarder

make life difficult on yourself. e.g. try to stick to one focal length, or don't allow yourself to take more than one photo every five minutes.

one of the great strengths of digital is also one of its weaknesses, that you can shoot away without worrying too much about running out of ammo. it can also make you a bit lazy, and you end up taking shots which you wouldn't have otherwise taken.

also, to echo what charybdis said, don't think buying new gear is going to improve your photography, least of all upgrading camera bodies.

422nd

Quality stuff lads. I feel like I'm learning already... Thanks very much for all the tips and advice. Definitely gonna have to read through some of these posts thoroughly and really start doing my homework. Although perhaps the word homework isn't the right one. Makes it sound too much like work.:D

VisionaryP

- Stop using auto mode immediately. It will teach you nothing.
- Practice with Aperture priority and Shutter priority. When you're comfortable with those, move onto full Manual mode.
- Learn about ISO.
- Buy and read the book 'Understanding Exposure'
- Shoot in RAW. It's a great way of learning more about exposure and white balance
- Don't be tempted to upgrade your camera too soon. Despite what people say, a camera body is the least important part of the photography trinity; the photographer being the most important, then the glass, and finally the camera body
- If you put up stuff for C&C, be prepared to ignore most of the comments you receive. Don't take the bad ones personally. Some people just don't give useful C&C, despite their best intentions. There are a select number of people here who give excellent C&C; Fajitas and EAS my own personal favourites, but you'll soon spot the good ones.
- Ignore most of the advice you get on here
- Except mine
- Put €50 in an envelope and post it to me

Promac

Get the Canon 50mm 1.8 lens. The Nifty Fifty. It's cheap and it's excellent. It'll give you a noticeable increase in the range of shots you can take and you'll like it.

I wouldn't bother with full manual mode for a good while yet - I still don't use it at all. Get really comfortable with AV and TV before even considering manual mode.

If you haven't done so already, sign up for Canon's newsletter and read up on their tutorials:
http://www.canon.co.uk/youconnect_newsletter/tutorials/

Take the manual for your camera and put it in the jax so you can spend 5 minutes reading it every day. Or beside your bed so you can read it at night. Basically - read it and re-read it and re-read it.

swingking

The best advice I can give someone, is to get a tripod and use it.

What you will find is that you spend more time setting up the shot.

Because tripods can be annoying to keep moving around, you tend to stay in the same spot. This is great for composition.

now take shots with both Aperture priority mode and Shutter priority mode. Look at the results. Is the shot too dark? Is everything in focus?

Then mess around with the settings and learn what you need to do to make the shot right ; this can be done in manual mode

Take your time and only focus on one compositional idea.

mehfesto

Use manual mode as much as possible.

You'll learn SO much about the basic workings of a camera and when to use certain shutter speeds/apertures for certain instances. You'll make your own observations and it'll be easier than remembering stuff rote from a book!

elven

A couple that were mentioned above and then some more:

• Use Av & Tv and how to use each for creative control over particular situations.
  
• Learn about how your camera is actually calculating how to expose the scene in front of you and when you need to override it.
  
• Try using a prime lens rather than spending your time going zoomyzoomy, get used to what field of view it'll give you so you can visualise what you're going to frame even before you lift the camera to your eye.
  
• Figure out what is important in each frame you're taking, and how to make sure that comes across in the final image.
  
• edit, edit edit. i don't mean go crazy with the sliders, i mean do a first run through your stuff and pick out what you like. Then try processing a few, leave it a while and come back to them, and hwittle it down some more, until you feel like you've got none in the set that let you down.
  
• Hold back on the processing a bit, it's too easy to let the saturation/clarity/vignette sliders get you into a habit of thinking you can turn a boring picture into something interesting with processing. Everyone's seen plenty of evidence that it just doesn't
  
• Choose a subject you have an interest in, and it's more likely to come through in your photography. Try not to take pictures that look like what you think a good picture looks like, take pictures of something that matters to you and try to show what matters about it in the pictures.
  
• It's good to know how to get stuff perfectly exposed, sharp in all the right places, and following all the compositions rules your camera club can possibly throw at you, but let your hair down sometimes and don't write off happy accidents.
  
• Have fun

pete4130

I almost never ever use manual mode. It's seen as some holy grail in photography/photography forums. Yes, it is good to understand how exposure works and using your camera in Manual mode does help you to do that although once exposure "clicks" and you get is (the relationship between ISO, aperture and shutter speed) it all becomes clear.

I use Aperture priority 95%-99% of the time for my shots because I know and understand exposure and its faster for me to change one setting (aperture) and knowing how the other settings (shutter speed....and ISO if I need a faster shutter speed) than trying to balance both aperture and shutter speed.
My point being....I think too much emphasis is put on "M" mode when in reality, most experienced photographers won't or don't use it for their every day shooting if you ask them.

Like I said, "M" mode it is a good way to learn about exposure but it isn't the be all-end all of being able to shoot a photograph. I personally only use it for fine tuning exposures in difficult situations and then again, I mostly use exposure compensation for that.

If you are shooting in RAW (which I don't understand why anybody wouldn't, but thats just me) you have a lot of control over exposure in post processing and you can correct and adjust for most poor exposures.

Just shoot everything you see that you like and worry about it all afterwards.

CabanSail

Learn about Light & Exposure first, before getting all caught up in Gear. When you understand that then you will be in a position to get the most from your gear.

Simples

dave66

You have got a lot of great tips there.

Definitely get a tripod, but get the best you can afford. If you get a good one it should last a lifetime.

Tripods can force you to slow down and recheck composition, this to me, is where you move from "taking a snap" to making a photograph. So if you can afford a tripod right now, I say slow down, pay attention to composition and keeping shooting.

Little Miss Cutie

Hi sorry to drag up an old thread, I am using a bridge camera, fuji s5600.
I recently did a beginners one day course and the teacher/ course provider said I should get a "proper" slr if I want to take great shots - is this true?

I am very new to trying to take better photos, I have always been snap happy but now I want to improve.

Should I upgrade or is it ok to wait until I have learnt more?

shanona

my suggestion is to keep in mind that you'll probably get worse before you get better. Henri Cartier-Bresson said "Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst." and he's right!
Don't get discouraged and give up. Photography has a lot to do with what you have learned and how you apply it vs. how much you can learn in a day.

best of luck! Can't wait to see what you come up with

shanona

Little Miss Cutie -
In my opinion, just shoot with what you have. I've seen some pretty nice photos come from some pretty low-end cameras. If you're not ready to upgrade, don't let someone bully you into it.
Do your research and when you think you're ready to upgrade then go for it, and be excited about it!
The purchase of a new camera should be something that inspires you.

Another thing - saying you'll get great shots from a camera is like saying you'll get a great cake from a mixing bowl. There's much more involved *behind* the camera (in your eye and mind) than there is after the shutter is popped. What a silly thing for your course instructor to say.

Hope this helps!

sNarah

Little Miss Cutie wrote: »

Hi sorry to drag up an old thread, I am using a bridge camera, fuji s5600.
I recently did a beginners one day course and the teacher/ course provider said I should get a "proper" slr if I want to take great shots - is this true?

I am very new to trying to take better photos, I have always been snap happy but now I want to improve.

Should I upgrade or is it ok to wait until I have learnt more?

Neh. That's bull I know people that take fantastic shots with a disposable Kodak camera you buy for a few euro's in Spar. And I know people with all the digital gear who take crap pictures.

Your bridge camera will teach you everything you need to know: composition, exposure, aperture, lighting and you will discover your own style and preferences.

Do you feel the camera limits you? That it "does not allow you to take great pictures"? To the extend that it justifies purchasing an expensive camera? Probably not.

So, my advice is shoot and shoot with the Fuji in a happy-go-lucky sort-of way and experiment, shoot people, landscapes, random things, animals, flowers until you can't shoot anymore. The camera does not limit the photographer - their talent and imagination does.

sNarah

(For reference - I haven't seen any of your shots so that mention of "talent" is a general one)

Additional question: you say you are trying to improve? Have a good think about what you're content with and which facets you want to improve. Is it not "finding the right shot", a feeling that you don't control the settings, not getting the image you had in mind? By determining what you feel is the problem, it will be easier to find a specific solution in order to improve that bit.

Feel free to tell us here, we're a grand auld bunch, most of us will have gone through a similar phase at some point and could give advice from own experience!

humberklog

Little Miss Cutie wrote: »

Hi sorry to drag up an old thread, I am using a bridge camera, fuji s5600.
I recently did a beginners one day course and the teacher/ course provider said I should get a "proper" slr if I want to take great shots - is this true?



Should I upgrade or is it ok to wait until I have learnt more?

If you're going to upgrade then only use the money you recieve after asking for your money back from the utter clown that imparted this complete guff to you on a one day course.

CabanSail

Unless there was some specific reason why a Bridge Camera was limiting you I would say that the advice you recieved was complete rubbish. If it was just a general statement then I too would be dubious about the rest of the course content.

If you look around on just this forum then you will see examples of really good photos being taken by all sorts of cameras including pin holes and phone cameras.

A DSLR does offer a lot of versatility in many ways so they are very popular but no camera is perfect. The most popular image on my Pix.ie stream was taken with a Bridge Camera. It was the best camera at the time because it was the one I had there.

Go out and enjoy shooting with your Fuji and concentrate on the images and light more than the gear. If you understand light you will be surprised at the results you will achieve.