Something New You've Learned

[MarkBarbieri]

What is something new that you've learned about photography this year? It doesn't have to be some esoteric uber-geek skill. How about regaling us with one useful tip that you've picked up in the last year.

Here's mine: Using your flash can often do a better job of freezing motion than using a faster shutter speed. Using the normal flash mode works better for this than the high-speed sync mode.

[kimluvswdw]

I learned that I do not know how to use my new Canon S5.

I did learn that for some reason when I want to to take a clear picture I have to put it on the Aperature Priority and have no idea why.

[Mister Skellington]

The best tip I learned this year is to use the reciprocal of your focal length as a minimum shutter speed for handheld pics. ( I actually prefer two times the focal length) Example: 200 mm would be 1/200 sec (x1) or 1/400 sec (x2). 75 mm would be 1/75 sec (x1) or 1/150 sec (x2). This tip really helped my handheld shots stay sharp! Of course add image stabilization or a monopod and you can fudge a little! Nate

[DueyDooDah]

Although there are a plethoa of lessons I have learned this year, I have to say that learning to take my time to shoot a "creatively correct exposure" has been, and continues to be, the most challenging. See Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure, page 24 to see what I mean.

[Groucho]

I've learned to correct the white balance in my night photos. I cringe when I look at the brown-sky photos that are in my trip report from January. (Especially as I went through it a few weeks ago updated all the links to my new site.)

[jpeka65844]

I've learned how isolation apertures can help create focus in a picture. I REALLY need to learn more about composition, though.

[Master Mason]

I have learned to be patient, it takes a little bit of thought to get the pictures your looking for, from settings to composing. I spend much more time thinking about what I am doing now, instead of just shooting and praying.

[Lizziejane]

I'm just beginning to learn to take my time, like master mason. I also learned a couple of weeks ago that dragging my butt out of bed before sunrise really is worth it!

Groucho, would love to hear how you set your white balance at night, and jpeka65844, isolation aperture?! Now what is that exactly?!

[AndrewWG]

I've learned that photography gets expensive real quickly when you buy a DSLR. :)

[crazydadguy]

What I have learned is that there is WAY more to taking pictures than just point,click, and print. Now I just have to learn everything else and get a camera that supports more than point and click.

[SharonLowe]

I'm just beginning to learn to take my time, like master mason. I also learned a couple of weeks ago that dragging my butt out of bed before sunrise really is worth it!

Groucho, would love to hear how you set your white balance at night, and jpeka65844, isolation aperture?! Now what is that exactly?!

White balance at night - use the tungsten or fluorescent WB on your camera. Not sure if Nikon or other manufacturers use the same term. It is a cooler temperature so will offset the orange tones you get from sodium vapor lights.

[Amy]

What I have learned is that there is WAY more to taking pictures than just point,click, and print.

Yep, this is the big thing I've learned this year, too. I've also improved my composition skills, but I still need to do a lot of work on that. I also learned how to use Photoshop to correct some mistakes and get a little creative.

And thanks to the folks on this board, I discovered Noiseware! What a wonderful product!

[Tuffcookie]

Andrew WG wrote: I've learned that photography gets expensive real quickly when you buy a DSLR.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Which is why I decided to go with the S5 for the time being!:laughing:

TC:cool1:

[SharonLowe]

I learned how to use the threshold adjustment layer in PS to set my black and white points. That combined with curves gets a much better image in PS without too much effort. I plan to do a tutorial about it on my website and will post the link when it is up there.

[mabas9395]

I learned that a big white Canon lens at my kid's soccer games will get me on to areas of the sidelines that other parents aren't allowed.

[AndrewWG]

Andrew WG wrote: I've learned that photography gets expensive real quickly when you buy a DSLR.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Which is why I decided to go with the S5 for the time being!:laughing:

TC:cool1:

Good choice! :lmao: Update when you can, but learn all you can with the S5 first. It is a great camera. I still use my S2 and it is going to WDW with me next week. Of course, I'm bringing my 30D and A85 (for DD8) as well. I guess another thing I learned this year is that I cannot seem to have enough cameras! :scratchin

[MarkBarbieri]

I've learned that photography gets expensive real quickly when you buy a DSLR. :)

It's not that bad. Heck, I spent more money on just one house than I did on all of my photo stuff. In fact, if you add both of our cars together, they cost more than my photo stuff. That's especially true after the investment I made in a tank of gas this week.

[Master Mason]

In fact, if you add both of our cars together, they cost more than my photo stuff.

Now this comment is just down right scarry....lol

[AndrewWG]

It's not that bad. Heck, I spent more money on just one house than I did on all of my photo stuff. In fact, if you add both of our cars together, they cost more than my photo stuff. That's especially true after the investment I made in a tank of gas this week.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining! :) This is the best investment I have made in years! I'm just saying that I have learned that it can get expensive (shelling out $300-500 or more at a whack is kind of expensive to me) if you NEED to have all the things that you think you NEED. ;) If you read all of these threads, it can certainly get expensive with all the "help" people like to give! :lmao: Just kidding of course.

Actually the one thing I have learned this year is that the people on this board are probably the most helpful bunch I have ever run into. Kudos to everyone! Sure, there are times when I wish I had never read about L lenses on here, but I'm glad that it helped with my purchase. I would have bought a bunch of real crummy lenses if I hadn't visited here first.


For the record, I love my camera and look forward to pouring more money into this hobby as I grow with it. :woohoo:

[MarkBarbieri]

Here's a dirty little secret that you won't find on a lot of gearhead threads. Almost any lens can take great pictures in a lot of situations. If you are shooting at f/8 and aren't at the edges of the zoom range, you won't be able to tell the difference between a $100 lens and a $2,000 lens without pixel peeping. When you spend gobs of money on lenses, you're primarily just paying for those situations where you have to shoot wider, or really zoomed in, or really zoomed out.

I'm not saying that you should never upgrade lenses. I'm just saying that the ability to buy big gains in picture quality diminishes rapidly as you start to spend more. A $1,000 DSLR setup is a huge leap over a $250 point and shoot. A $5,000 DSLR setup is only marginally better than a $1,000 DSLR setup.

[NostalgicDad]

Here's a dirty little secret that you won't find on a lot of gearhead threads. Almost any lens can take great pictures in a lot of situations. If you are shooting at f/8 and aren't at the edges of the zoom range, you won't be able to tell the difference between a $100 lens and a $2,000 lens without pixel peeping. When you spend gobs of money on lenses, you're primarily just paying for those situations where you have to shoot wider, or really zoomed in, or really zoomed out.

I'm not saying that you should never upgrade lenses. I'm just saying that the ability to buy big gains in picture quality diminishes rapidly as you start to spend more. A $1,000 DSLR setup is a huge leap over a $250 point and shoot. A $5,000 DSLR setup is only marginally better than a $1,000 DSLR setup.


Excellent points indeed.

[AndrewWG]

double post somehow.

[Josh125]

I learned something last night, or rather had something we all know re enforced. I was at a concert, rather a dance show to be exact. A concert go-er a few rows over had a nice rig that she brought. Looked to be a 30D, speedlight, and had some nice red ringed glass. However, she kept standing up to get pictures throughout the whole thing, even after people were asking her to stop.

So, always be considerate of who you are with and don't sacrafice someone else expierience to get the "it" picture.

[madge]

I've learned a lot in the last 6 months, which is when I started researching and then bought the S3. One of the most important things, for me, is that I don't have to stay on the green square any more. I can take a pretty darn good picture using those letters on the camera's dial :)

I've also learned if I have an aperture set at F3.5 and I get it set just right, I can blur the background of my picture a little bit.

[sk8belle]

I've learned that using spot metering helps get the exposure right when shooting a photo that has particularly bright sections or a mix of shade and bright.

[DVC Jen]

Gosh - I got my XTi and entered the world of DSLR almost exactly one year ago. So I have learned more than I could EVER list here. I have pretty much learned everything I know about real (not point n shoot) photography.

I have also learned that I have a real passion for it and a drive to continue to get better and better. It is a real challenge for me - and I do so love to be challenged.

But - the most important thing I have learned - is that I still have an incredible amount to learn.

[boBQuincy]

I learned the value of a good camera clamp for tripod work. My old "generic" clamp allowed the camera to wiggle, not much but enough to reduce sharpness noticeably.

With a good camera clamp sharpness is much better. I can't wait to photograph some WDW fireworks with this setup!
Here's a test shot with a 30D, 70-200 f/4 and 1.4 extender:
http://suzieandbob.com/misc/moon_3990.jpg

[wdwmom2]

I have learned that when you are in pain and take a muscle relaxer like Flexeril(whose side effect is drowsiness), that you can fall asleep standing up!!!! It's not pretty:scared1: !

OK, photography wise, it's just nice to have such a great group of people on here that will come to the rescue with any question that you have.

Thank you DIS photography board, YOU ROCK!!!:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[handicap18]

I've learned a lot. One thing that stands out, probably because its the most recent is that I don't got as sharp of an image as I normally do if I use Dynamic Area focusing instead of Single Area focusing on a stationary subject. With Nikon, Dynamic Area focusing lets you choose what gets focused, but then moves with that subject. This is intended to be used for something like sports photography where the subject will be moving. Yeah, doesn't work as well for buildings that are just sitting there. GRRRRRRRR

[Groucho]

White balance at night - use the tungsten or fluorescent WB on your camera. Not sure if Nikon or other manufacturers use the same term. It is a cooler temperature so will offset the orange tones you get from sodium vapor lights.
Yep, that's about what I'd say - though of course, shooting Raw, I never adjust it when actually shooting. Some photos seem better at tungsten, some better at fluorescent, some better at somewhere else. If I was shooting jpg and had to go with just one, I'd probably go with tungsten, though.

[brack]

I'm still learning WB for shots indoors and at night but it is the best thing I have been working on ...... besides composition.

[DizneyNutz]

I have learned sooooo much on here, that there is not enough room to post! Thank You to ALL that post on here.:cool1: My most recent interest however is HDR. I can't wait to try this out on my next upcoming visit. Thanks again for all of your knowledge that you put out here for us less than knowledgeable photographers.:thumbsup2

[mikamah]

This year, from the Dis, I learned what a dslr is, what the best web sites are to buy one, what a great book Understanding Exposure is, how to use more than auto on my xti, what aperture and shutter speed mean, and how changing one of them will affect my pictures.

I've learned that there is so very much to learn about photography, and I have just begun.

I've learned how many wonderful, talented photographers there are here on the dis, always willing to share their knowledge. Thanks everyone.

[alan]

Okay, if you include summer 2006 as "this year" (heck, it's only a few months out) then I discovered that there is a lot of truth in the maxim that you shouldn't take a brand-new camera as your only camera on holiday - you should take one that you're really familiar with.

I've learned a lot about stage photography through doing www.stagepics.co.uk, and it's been great fun. Anticipate the moment, get a big memory card and don't be afraid to use burst mode, and try to balance shutter speed and ISO rating for best results.

I've learned to shoot RAW and correct later. But now I have to decide whether to stick with Photoshop Elements or try to learn the full-blown product. I've not tried CS3 yet, and Elements seems to have lots of handy little tricks that CS2 doesn't - but CS2 can do lots of things that Elements can't...

regards,
/alan