Learner mistakes

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Silva360 wrote: »

In the midday sun perhaps, but think of all the opportunities on an overcast or rainy day: woodlands, flowing water, macro, portrait, moody landscapes. Endless opportunities when the skies act as a great big soft box....

For macro, the more light the better. For sure.

I think back to when I was a "beginner" (I still am as far as I am concerned), I purchased a Nikon D3100 with kit lens. After a couple of months I bought relatively cheap 55-300mm lens as I wanted the extra zoom. It was great back then, but comparing this to my current set up. I probably should have saved and spent more on a decent lens.

It's easy to buy 2-3 lenses and cover all bases, but you are better off investing in 1 really good lens and save for your second, it pays off in the long run.

Oh, and go on more boards walks when they are organised. I learned a serious amount when I went out with Oldgoat.

OldGoat

Jensen Tiny Starch wrote: »

Oh, and go on more boards walks when they are organised. I learned a serious amount when I went out with Oldgoat.

To be fair it was mostly about cigars and hipflasks.

eoglyn

OldGoat wrote: »

To be fair it was mostly about cigars and hipflasks.

Sign me up to the next outing so

Loire

Hi all.

I too am looking to get into more photography. I've dabbled a bit over the years but would be the first to admit I am a little shy on the technical aspects. Can anyone recommend a decent book / video / course?

Years ago I bought a very good flash (Nikon SB-600) and it's been in the attic for the past 4 years. I took it down last weekend and started messing with it - using the bounce pointed to the ceiling I am getting amazing photos of the kids. Just said that I'd mention it to anyone (like me) starting out - a decent flash makes a difference alright.

Thanks!
Loire.

CabanSail

Loire wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a decent book / video / course?

Many here recommend "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. It covers the basics very well.

Joining a local camera club can be really helpful to someone wanting to improve their photography.

eoglyn

Loire wrote: »

Hi all.

I too am looking to get into more photography. I've dabbled a bit over the years but would be the first to admit I am a little shy on the technical aspects. Can anyone recommend a decent book / video / course?

Years ago I bought a very good flash (Nikon SB-600) and it's been in the attic for the past 4 years. I took it down last weekend and started messing with it - using the bounce pointed to the ceiling I am getting amazing photos of the kids. Just said that I'd mention it to anyone (like me) starting out - a decent flash makes a difference alright.

Thanks!
Loire.

When i started out i bought a ton of books - but tbh the only two worth the entry fee for beginners are the two already recommended in this thread. Understanding Exposure and the Photographer's Eye.

For flash, the key is to get that flash off the camera - a whole world of possibilities open up. strobist.com is completely free and you can download the course strobist 101 as a pdf, but you need the basics before you start it.

A good short course for beginners can be a great kick start, depending on where you are someone might be able to recommend. Also your local camera club are usually welcoming to complete newbies and will run courses or provide training, they don't suit everyone but worth having a think about.

Loire

Thanks guys - I'll get the 2 books and look into camera clubs so!

Tiriel

Loire wrote: »

Thanks guys - I'll get the 2 books and look into camera clubs so!

If you're in Cork there are a few clubs and there's also a Street Photography Group that are quite active

The Strawman Argument

Hey guys, was gonna start a thread but maybe this is the place to go with it.

I'm travelling a bit around Eastern Europe for a month or two coming up and, eh, for some reason or another I decided it'd be a fun challenge to stick exclusively to taking photos with film. That way I'd put a bit more effort into finding things worth photographing rather than just snapping everything mindlessly and learn about photography in the process. Started to geek out a bit once I got into reading everything and got myself a manual camera and a few lenses for 50 euro (Praktica MLT5B*, Carl Zeiss Tessar 50mm F2.8, a 60-200mm and a 70-300mm, also got a teleconverter, cases for everything and some other yokes). From what I can see, it's all in very good condition, haven't tested it fully yet though.
Potentially looking at getting a developing kit afterwards, I'm really far more interested in the technical stuff than taking great photos.

The plan is to take some photos and stuff before I go just to make sure it's all okay and then go with just the 50mm lens. What I was wondering though, is whether I'd need something with a higher maximum aperture than 2.8 for that kind of general usage? I initially thought that lens was a bit dodgy because the image quality was a bit blurred at best, but this review clarified it for me a bit (basically it gets a bit blurry as you approach it's maximum aperture level). I wouldn't be too keen on spending much on another lens but if this one is not at all versatile, I guess I'd have to.

Another thing I was wondering was whether there are any popular adaptors for M42 cameras to use other lenses with?


* I know, it's gonna be one hell of a weight to be lugging around

CabanSail

Probably best to post the gear specific stuff in the Cameras and Accessories sub-forum.

Taking away a fully manual camera is a good way to learn about exposure.

A lot of 50mm lenses are f1.8 or f1.4 but f2.8 is still OK. Let us know how you go.

The Black Oil

eoglyn wrote: »

Acquire and learn lightroom.

What was the done thing before Lightroom, Photoshop?

eoglyn

I think lightroom was developed in the digital age as a powerful batch processor and cataloguing programme to deal with the new problems that photographers had with having hundreds of images from single shoots.

I'm not sure there was anything like it before it. Camera RAW feeds into photoshop - its got similar adjustment controls to lightroom, i always thought of it as a precursor, though i know people who still use it exclusively as it suits the type of deep photoshop work that they do.

Aperture was the mac alternative - some still using it but apple have officially announced that they are retiring it in favour of new, as yet unreleased, software.

If you are into freeware, darktable is a free alternative:
http://digital-photography-school.com/darktable-vs-lightroom-does-it-measure-up/

Picasa is a very basic programme that you can make minor adjustments, rename, resize and the like.

magicbastarder

if you buy into the photoshop subscription, you get lightroom with it.
i did, and i have both - and i still prefer using camera raw, lightroom is way too fussy for the job i want.

The Black Oil

Took about 200 shots over the weekend. Nothing to write home about, really. I've deleted about 70 so far. Mostly landscape shots and some animals. There were some donkeys/ponies who were a lively bunch, and some cattle, including calves who were cute, but a little shy of humans. Some shots that were almost there, almost. Nothing snappy, but just some nice moments, an eye or expression. Oh well. But this brings up a question as I had some trouble figuring out - animals with white faces and a the richness of their dark coat/body/hair. I ran into some overexposure with the faces, at times. The white faces were too white. I might post one or two later. I was mostly on M for the calves. I hardly touched the ISO (400) all weekend, iirc. But yeah, this was good practice on the 50mm lens anyway.

Question for the landscape ninjas among ye, though. Given the oft overcast and dreary nature of Irish weather, aside from lighting and what do you take into account when setting up your shot? The near ever present fog/haze is a little bothersome, at least on the natural Irish landscape - think the greens, browns of mountains such as found in Wickla, etc.

Have a 21st coming up next week, going to try some of the advise from here again.

I think overall, I'm finally learning - slowly - about process. Sometimes when out and about without a camera I find my brain is thinking about what settings I'd need had I one with me. Trying to calculate it in my head...

Definitely in your viewfinder you need to take that extra few seconds to see, not look i.e. use the full range of your eye to gauge what's to your left, right and not just dead centre. Adjust if necessary, then go.

The Black Oil

A few shots on the animal front.





Bit dark.





Needs better composition and focus.

MysticalRain

The Black Oil wrote: »

Question for the landscape ninjas among ye, though. Given the oft overcast and dreary nature of Irish weather, aside from lighting and what do you take into account when setting up your shot? The near ever present fog/haze is a little bothersome, at least on the natural Irish landscape - think the greens, browns of mountains such as found in Wickla, etc.

You can play around with working interesting foreground elements into a scene, and polarizer filters will help with the haze problem. But good light is the key to decent landscape shots, and that inevitably means getting up early, or staying out late into the evening/night (you can still encounter spectacular light in the mornings even on rainy days).

In some ways the best landscape shots have less to do with a photographers technical or artistic ability, and more to do with their willingness to put up with rain and the cold, or hump a heavy backpack for miles and miles. Hope that doesn't put you off.

mollybird

eoglyn wrote: »

In the next 6-9 months follow these instructions and you'll be flying:

Shoot Raw.

Acquire and learn lightroom.

Shoot as often and as varied subject matter as you can.

Use the sh*t out of your 50mm - it will do for everything except sports, and you've got that covered with your 70-300.

Read Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson, once you have it read, read it again, then come back for another recommendation.

Share and discuss with other photographers, ask for C&C, either in real life, or on here, and take your family and friends' positive feedback with a pinch of salt, of course they will genuinely love your output, but you can do better, and other photographers will tell you how if you ask them.

Other than the above-mentioned book and software, don't buy any more gear, cameras, lenses, books, software, lights, courses. You might think you need it, you may read very convincing arguments why you do. You don't.

Oh, and avoid Ken Rockwell, he's full of bad advice and contradictions, google might love him as he is an SEO master but no one else does, I doubt if even his own carrot children care for him that much. Jared is marmite.

i just got my copy of understanding exposure yesterday. looks like a great book. Hoping to get lots of helpful tips from it.

The Black Oil

MysticalRain wrote: »

In some ways the best landscape shots have less to do with a photographers technical or artistic ability, and more to do with their willingness to put up with rain and the cold, or hump a heavy backpack for miles and miles. Hope that doesn't put you off.

No, it doesn't. This is Ireland, after all.

Haven't touched the camera in a month, unfortunately.

The Black Oil

I was flicking through the TV channels yesterday and saw the Kilkenny hurling team celebrating on the pitch (after the presentation, etc). I spotted a few sports photographers following them and some use of direct flash. What does this offer, apart from the obvious, in a situation like that - when you're on the move and so are the subjects of the shot? I think the weather/lighting was overcast-ish.

TheMightyI

The Black Oil wrote: »

I was flicking through the TV channels yesterday and saw the Kilkenny hurling team celebrating on the pitch (after the presentation, etc). I spotted a few sports photographers following them and some use of direct flash. What does this offer, apart from the obvious, in a situation like that - when you're on the move and so are the subjects of the shot? I think the weather/lighting was overcast-ish.

A fill flash can help in those situations when the light isn't coming from where you want it.

magicbastarder

if the subject is backlit, it can even things out for you.so you don't blow the background trying to get a decent exposure on the subject.

The Black Oil

Thanks for the recommendation of the Understanding Exposure book. I've not much read, but did enjoy the intro talking about the excess range of 'features' manufacturers have crammed into modern cameras, in part to automate almost everything.