Becoming frustrated

Teferi

I've had a SLR for a few weeks now (but taking pictures for a little while longer) and I'm becoming frustrated. I can never seem to get the picture I see onto the camera. I don't seem to be happy with anything I take. Any advice?

As an aside, are there any decent websites that have regular articles etc.?

Eirebear

Teferi wrote: »

I've had a SLR for a few weeks now (but taking pictures for a little while longer) and I'm becoming frustrated. I can never seem to get the picture I see onto the camera. I don't seem to be happy with anything I take. Any advice?

As an aside, are there any decent websites that have regular articles etc.?

Try, try and try again!

Honestly, i wouldnt let it frustrate you, its all part of the process. You've only been using your camera for a few weeks, it takes time to learn how it works and to figure out what you want.
I'm sure every single poster on here will tell you that they are not always happy with their work, and many of us have been using our cameras for years....it would be boring otherwise!

Start from the very beginning, find a technique used in an image you like, and figure out how to emulate it.
Do this again, and again, and again untill you feel comfortable adapting these techniques into your own style.

Practice, practice, practice. Its the only way to get better.

charybdis

How are you using your camera? How much do you know about the technicalities of photography?

I think in order to capture what you see, you have to learn to see differently and in terms of what your camera can capture. In order to do this, you need a somewhat technical understanding of photography and a degree of familiarity with your camera. The only way to do this is to read, experiment, and apply what you've learned to your photography.

AnCatDubh

Teferi wrote: »

I've had a SLR for a few weeks now (but taking pictures for a little while longer) and I'm becoming frustrated. I can never seem to get the picture I see onto the camera. I don't seem to be happy with anything I take. Any advice?

As an aside, are there any decent websites that have regular articles etc.?

I wonder if the expectations were a little too high maybe. If you buy a stradivarius it may be a little while before you'll sound like vanessa mae or nigel kennedy

You'll see it said a million times - its what is behind the camera that counts.

for example; Humberklog who posts here; with a matchbox and a piece of unexposed film can probably produce something a 100 times better than what most of *us* produce. Look up some of his work and compare it across the forum. We all can aspire to be better.

What do you seek form your photography and what do/did you think the DSLR will add to you getting to the place that you would like to go.

Photography is often described as a journey - the journey does take time.

Eirebear

AnCatDubh wrote: »

for example; Humberklog who posts here; with a matchbox and a piece of unexposed film can probably produce something a 100 times better than what most of *us* produce. Look up some of his work and compare it across the forum. We all can aspire to be better.

Humberklog at recent boards meet?


*Image not taken by me

daycent

Teferi wrote: »

I've had a SLR for a few weeks now (but taking pictures for a little while longer) and I'm becoming frustrated. I can never seem to get the picture I see onto the camera. I don't seem to be happy with anything I take. Any advice?

As an aside, are there any decent websites that have regular articles etc.?

It's frustrating when you start out definitely, and gets slightly less frustrating as time goes by

To learn what you need to learn takes a lot of time and patience. I'd recommend magazines,books and especially the internet. A good website to sign up to is http://digital-photography-school.com/ Some very good tutorials on technique and post processing (which is pretty vital for digital photography). And here of course

dakar

Eirebear wrote: »

Humberklog at recent boards meet?

Nah, HK would kill to have hair like that!

ThOnda

It is learning process. Would you expect to be excellent skier few weeks after buying skies?
Read, learn, get a tuition, join a class, join a club, be active in on-line groups that support photography, read, learn, shoot, process, process, process...

Thecageyone

When all else fails, stick it into A mode and just worry about the aperture, look up some simple tutorials and don't get stressed

chisel

Don't get frustrated - it wont help. But knowing what you want is enormously helpful, and you are off to a great start. I can highly recommend the Scott kelby books, very practical and easy to read. About the best I have seen. He lists about 150 shots in each book and describes how to take each shot. So a great landscape, or a flower, or a child portrait etc.

Buy the 3 books, practice each pic, and you will have the techniques. To get an eye is much harder!

sNarah

And make sure to keep the camera with you when possible - you'll very often "see" a fantastic shot when you haven't the camera with you (and that's véry frustrating too!).

There is some excellent advice said above, take it all in and fire away, and try to enjoy it. If you feel that is a burden for you to actual take photographs, put the camera away for a while and go back to it a bit later.

Borderfox

I went from a bridge camera to a dslr and found it to be a steep learning curve. The bridge camera looking back gave me a false sense of security when making decisions. You will get better though, its digital too so plenty of practice.

Thecageyone

I too went from a bridge to dslr, I found the opposite. The basic manual controls on the bridge readied me for more expansive settings. I did wait until I felt confident I'd out-grown the bridge first though

hoganpoly

chisel wrote: »

Don't get frustrated - it wont help. But knowing what you want is enormously helpful, and you are off to a great start. I can highly recommend the Scott kelby books, very practical and easy to read. About the best I have seen. He lists about 150 shots in each book and describes how to take each shot. So a great landscape, or a flower, or a child portrait etc.

Buy the 3 books, practice each pic, and you will have the techniques. To get an eye is much harder!

Which 3 books by scott kelby did you get as he has over 40 listed thx

jpb1974

I used to buy the camera magazines back in the day.. e.g. Digital SLR user.

Over time (9-12 months)they can get repetitive but I can honestly say that I learned a fair few fundamentals from them.

Still buy the odd one from time to time... even just to get a look at what other people are doing or read articles and interviews with other photographers.

First thing to do is understand a bit about Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO. Then understand how they interrelate (is the the word I'm looking for?) with one another.

magicbastarder

jpb1974 wrote: »

Over time (9-12 months)they can get repetitive

yep, it was the same with practical photography years ago. you'd get 'how to shoot snow!' roughly 12 months apart.

Thecageyone

I still buy the odd mag, but only when I see a good feature on the cover. i don't stick to the same ones each month anymore. I learned a lot through them, I used to check the settings used for shots that grabbed my attention. over time you remember those settings out in the field and use them as a rough guide when shooting similar scenes.

When you start entering the competitions in the mags instead of simply admiring the winning entries, you know you're getting somewhere.

Teferi

Thanks for the advice everyone.

AnCatDubh wrote: »

I wonder if the expectations were a little too high maybe. If you buy a stradivarius it may be a little while before you'll sound like vanessa mae or nigel kennedy

My post came after a particularly disheartening walk yesterday so maybe. Looking at the quality of some of the photos here probably doesn't help either :pac:

ThOnda wrote: »

It is learning process. Would you expect to be excellent skier few weeks after buying skies?
Read, learn, get a tuition, join a class, join a club, be active in on-line groups that support photography, read, learn, shoot, process, process, process...

Nope, that's why I was asking for some advice though

Thecageyone wrote: »

When all else fails, stick it into A mode and just worry about the aperture, look up some simple tutorials and don't get stressed

Thanks, I try to keep it out of Auto but do fall back on it occassionaly

Borderfox wrote: »

I went from a bridge camera to a dslr and found it to be a steep learning curve. The bridge camera looking back gave me a false sense of security when making decisions. You will get better though, its digital too so plenty of practice.

Yeah same here. Thank god it's digital and not film. I don't think my student budget could take it

Thecageyone

I meant A mode as in Aperture priority [might be marked by a different letter on the dial on canons?] - this is a semi auto mode, the camera takes care of the shutter speed but you control the aperture/ISO. It's not always spot on, but after a while you realise stepping up to full manual just adds the shutter speed on top A lot of long-term 'togs still use Aperture priority.

PopeBuckfastXVI

magicbastarder wrote: »

yep, it was the same with practical photography years ago. you'd get 'how to shoot snow!' roughly 12 months apart.

Every summer, regular as clockwork...

OP - I didn't read the whole thread, but if nobody's said it yet, pick up a copy of 'Understanding Exposure', you won't regret it.

dinneenp

Any sample photos?
People could see if composition is bad, subject, light, shutter etc and maybe give some tips....

chisel

Here's a box set of tHe ones I mean:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d.html/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/177-5600236-4265831?a=0321604032

MrcValets

photography for dummies is a great book buy it

davmigil

When I feel like that I think of Henri Cartier-Bresson quote 'Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.'

magicbastarder

sure it only takes about three months to reach that point these days.

sheesh

OP I think it helps if you have a very clear idea of what you wanted the pic to look like then compair afterwards. Maybe you should put up one of your pictures and tell us what you hoped it would look like.

dinneenp

sheesh wrote: »

OP I think it helps if you have a very clear idea of what you wanted the pic to look like then compair afterwards. Maybe you should put up one of your pictures and tell us what you hoped it would look like.

That's exactly what I asked OP last week.
would make it easier as "a picture speaks a 1,000 words."

Nebezpeci Mys

I might be completely out but I actually read the camera manual first (I was changing from P&S Olympus to Canon 450D) and as I was reading about what does what I tried it at the same time, so I got much better idea what to do when I go out. But even then it took good few months of going out and missing the desired shots. DSLR represents pretty steep learning curve and requires optimism and persistance...and, of course, reading, discussing, photo walks and loads and loads of practicing.

Simplicius

Nebezpeci Mys wrote: »

I might be completely out but I actually read the camera manual first (I was changing from P&S Olympus to Canon 450D) and as I was reading about what does what I tried it at the same time, so I got much better idea what to do when I go out. But even then it took good few months of going out and missing the desired shots. DSLR represents pretty steep learning curve and requires optimism and persistance...and, of course, reading, discussing, photo walks and loads and loads of practicing.

This is sage advice, although I know zip about DSLR's and histograms etc etc. this principle applies to all cameras and photography, I would also reccomend photowalks. There is great sharing done there, people are only too happy to help.

A camera is only a tool ..nothing more, photography only starts when it becomes just that.

in summary "spend lots of time getting to know your tool intimately" :eek: