I've recently picked up photography as a hobby, and was wondering if there were any other hobbyists like myself, or perhaps even full-time photographers.
Are there any general tips you can give me to improve my technique [other than just practice, practice practice] or on the technicalities of it, like angle, lighting, how to WORK the camera, etc.
I currently have a Canon Powershot SX 110 IS if that makes any difference, although I know there are photographers who can take beautiful pictures with very weak cameras.
I recently got my camera for Christmas, but haven't used it much except for the occasional picture for the interwebs, or of friends etc. When my school started a Photography Club about a month ago I became very interested.
I'm very interested in it on the artistic side. I haven't done many nature, or heavily noir photos or anything. I have used friends of mine as human models, and am interested in it from that artistic medium. [I've found I have a decent eye for direction, although I could improve.]
Help? Tips??
Posted by Traceria (Member # 11820) on :
Two words (because I'm kind of an amateur yet was good enough for someone to ask me to photograph their wedding): Golden Ratio.
Posted by Vyrus (Member # 10525) on :
At first I swear I thought you meant (a+b)/a=a/b=phi until I realized what you were talking about.
Posted by T:man (Member # 11614) on :
Make sure the lenscap* is off.
*(one word?)
Posted by T:man (Member # 11614) on :
quote:Originally posted by Vyrus: At first I swear I thought you meant (a+b)/a=a/b=phi until I realized what you were talking about.
LAWL
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
I'm a photographer. You could dump some 'so, how's this, artistically speaking' samples on me and I could give some review.
Barring my ability to give helpful critique, I shall drag my mother into this. She's an IB photography prof and where I might be able to help, she definitely can.
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
Some generic tips:
Look for interesting and novel angles. Shoot upwards or downwards at things rather than from a typical eye-level.
Generally, you want to try to avoid using the flash on your camera. It tends to make things look flat and washed-out. Sources of lighting that are not pointing directly towards or away from the camera are much better. You can also try to diffuse the light by putting something over the flash (like white tissue paper). If none of those work, you may be better off trying to increase the ISO or use a longer exposure time. A tripod is a really, really useful piece of equipment. I've also had success with putting the camera down and using the timer to avoid jostling the camera while it takes the picture.
Posted by Vyrus (Member # 10525) on :
Samprimary:
So, how's this, artistically speaking?
The first photographs I ever tried to take, taken last Wednesday, I believe, with my lovely friend Brittany serving as model.
As you can see, I have problems with catching light and angles. Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I notice I like my pictures much better if I don't use flash.
It seems to make a picture much more interesting to me if it has a lot of depth of field. Like there should be something very close to the camera, and then something interesting in the foreground, and also it's nice to have stuff in the middle distance, and far away stuff too. I don't know why but that seems to be cool.
Watch the world around you for particular color combinations, striking lines, and interesting textures and angles. Just develop your eye in general by really looking at things more. Notice how beautiful and interesting the visual world around you is.
When photographing subjects like people or animals, I generally seem to do better when they don't even know they're being photographed. Of course that can be creepy too. Use your judgment here.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by Vyrus: So, how's this, artistically speaking?
You put it best with the 'light and angles' thing.
For staged pictures of people, don't be afraid to set the subject up and then take a billion billion billion pictures from different angles and adjust the posing and positioning of the subject. This used to be something of a serious monetary tradeoff before digital, but now that storage is cheap & re-writable it's nearly no problem at all to take 50+ pictures trying to capture the 'right' picture.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
*nods* That's how the Sears Portrait people get good pics of my kids-- they just keep clicking and one of 100 will come out great. Posted by Jhai (Member # 5633) on :
The Digital Photography School is one of my favorite internet resources.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: *nods* That's how the Sears Portrait people get good pics of my kids-- they just keep clicking and one of 100 will come out great.
Haha awesome. And to think, digital makes it all possible for us to do the same.
It's so vital to learn to shutterbug it up for adults in rl situations, since in a given social setting — like, say, a party — it's a rare shot that doesn't look weird or contrived or the person just looks freaky.
If you're using a flash, it gets even worse, since flash can make people look sucky. A cheap built-in, aimed-directly-at-thine-eyes flash is even worse than that, and has the ability to turn any picture into total suck.
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