Now what?

[MarkBarbieri]

You frequently see comments about how it is the photographer and not the camera that makes great pictures. I think that just about everyone agrees that, while having better cameras gives you the capabilities of taking better pictures, the skill of the person using the camera is a critical ingredient.

On the other hand, when you look at most photography websites, this forum included, you see lots and lots of posts about gear and not too many about technique. People say that the gear is secondary, but their actions don't conform that view.

So instead of starting another thread about what gear you will be getting, should be getting, might be getting, wish you had. This is a thread asking what you are doing to improve your photography.

So what are you doing to because a better photographer? Are you participating in any technique/practice threads? Are you visiting technique oriented websites like the Strobist? Are you attending any workshops? Are you experimenting? What's your plan for becoming a better photographer?

My hope is that your plans might inspire others to make them their plans. Put down the B&H catalog. Take a break from the DPReview style gear debates. Let's talk about the best ways to become better shooters. I'm also motivated because I've just been shooting lately and my shooting isn't improving as much as I'd like. I'm looking for new inspiration.

 

[squee!! disney!!]

this is a great idea. I am trying to further my education on exposure and using natural light. i want to get away from using my off camera flash so much. i spent 3 years in college without a flash. but now it seems like its permanently attached to my camera. i've even gone as far as reducing the number of portraits/weddings/things that i've been shooting lately because i feel like i can't really be the photographer i want to be without getting better at working with natural light.

 

[zackiedawg]

I'm all for the taking of photos over discussing the technical details of new cameras...tech talk can be interesting sometimes, or fun sometimes, but to me not nearly as fun as photographing, and especially when those types of discussions turn into complaint fests and pixel peeps, I really lose interest quickly.

My main method of improvement (which will never end, as I will never be a 'perfect' photographer) is "Why not?". When some think about conditions for photography being too poor, or wonder if they should photograph a particular subject, or worry that the light isn't optimal at a certain time of day, or their lens isn't fast enough, or high ISO is too noisy, etc etc etc...rather than "why would I take a photo of that", I go with "why not". It works for me, and I shoot in every conceivable condition, time, setting, subject matter, or location. Sometimes I find I can't make it work, sometimes I find out I can, sometimes I get inspired to figure out how to make it work by trying new techniques or settings, and sometimes I discover there are some very cool results to be had.

In the past 2 weeks, I've gone out birding during dusk with an F6.3 lens, including birds in flight well after sunset by cranking up the ISO...I've gone for a walk in my neighborhood at 2am with my Sigma 30mm F1.4, shooting in complete darkness handheld, I've tried 7fps shooting of fast moving subjects, and I've experimented with in-camera HDR which my new camera has, not for producing HDR style shots or increasing dynamic range, but for reduced noise at extreme ISO with increased detail (though not designed for that purpose, I've discovered through experimentation that it works unbelievably well).

The Nike slogan works well for me with photography too - just do it. I learn much more by shooting, whether the results are a success or a failure, than I do talking about 100% viewable noise patterns in the red channel in the upper right corner of a 14mp photo.

 

[SunnyMel]

I think you can tell from my post count that I am mainly a lurker- mostly because I am not as interested in talking about gear as much as talking about technique (and I love looking at everyone's photos!)

The way I work on improving my technique is shooting with film. Digital is great because you can shoot away and in a set of 20 shots, have a single good one. Working with film requires you to think. With film I really think through the composition of each shot. Don't get me wrong though, I LOVE digital, I just can be more lazy with it vs. film.

Good thread.

 

[Gdad]

Plus 1 for shooting film- you beat me to it SunnyMel. Welcome out of lurk-dom by the way

I have found that over the last year or so the amount of film I have been shooting has had a positive effect on my digital photography as well. With digital it is so easy to spend a weekend somewhere and literally come home with a thousand or more pictures which is just ridiculous. I go to Disney and there were things I would take a picture of every single time I was there and get home and it’s no more interesting than the last time I took a picture of it and none of them ever get processed and just continue to take up even more hard drive space. (I need to learn how to delete but I guess being a digital file pack rat is another thread for another day.) But walking around someplace interesting for an entire day with nothing but 4 rolls of 12 exposure 120 film you really start to evaluate and think about every single photograph. When you do find something that’s worth taking a shot of- or wow- maybe even TWO shots of- you really take a lot of consideration in approaching your subject. You pay more attention to ‘getting it right’ in the camera- (I think I remember a recent thread on that) more attention to making it interesting- more attention to every little nuance since after all you will never know it’s bad until it’s too late (well- sometimes you just KNOW when you snap it- but anyway.)

 

[Todd_H]

There are many things that I need to work on to improve my photography skills. One is to learn all the ins and outs of using an external flash. I have been incredibly stubborn about learning how to use a flash properly (and intimidated by it) and it has bit me too many times (especially during our last WDW trip in September). For example, this shot of my son "fighting" Captain Hook at MNSSHP (and THIS was the best of the bunch!):

^^Should have been one of the photographic highlights of our trip, but harsh party lighting from spotlights on top of buildings created some difficult shooting conditions (and I didn't carry my flash to the party).

The last straw was in late October for my 8 year old's birthday party. I relied on ambient light (inside at night) when taking pictures of her opening her presents and came out with some sub-par stuff that could have been easily remedied by use of a fill flash.

I'm slowly working my way through the NYIP course and I'm currently studying the artificial light module. I'm [supposedly] getting an inexpensive continuous output fluorescent light kit for Christmas and plan to study studio lighting coupled with appropriate uses of flash.

That's just the tip of the iceberg for me...

 

[annnewjerz]

The way I work on improving my technique is shooting with film. Digital is great because you can shoot away and in a set of 20 shots, have a single good one. Working with film requires you to think. With film I really think through the composition of each shot. Don't get me wrong though, I LOVE digital, I just can be more lazy with it vs. film.

Plus 1 for shooting film- you beat me to it SunnyMel. Welcome out of lurk-dom by the way

As someone who is totally new to film photography, I have to say that I agree---it is a great way to improve your skills. I love that with film you really have to take the time to set up a shot, think about the lighting and really get the most out of the number of shots that you have.

That being said, one thing I really hate about film photography is the cost. I know you can do things like bid on lots on e-bay, etc. to bring the cost down, but when digital is "free"---every bit spent on film just feels like a lot. To remedy this, on occassion I will go out with my D90 and limit the number of shots I allow myself to take. Could I walk around my town and take a few hundred? Probably. If I go out and spend two hours walking around and limit myself to a few "rolls" worth of shots I find that even with digital I make better use of my time and "film."

The plus side to digital is that if I limit my number of shots, I can at least review afterwards and decide if the shot is something that needs improvement or something that I want a different angle on. So, I can use a second shot instantly rather than having to wait for development and then trekking back to the same spot in hopes of getting what I really wanted out of the shot, if that makes any sense.

There are many things that I need to work on to improve my photography. One is to learn all the ins and outs of an external flash. I have been incredibly stubborn about learning how to use a flash properly (and intimidated by it) and it has bit me too many times (especially during our last WDW trip in September).

ITA with this as well. My external flash is something that I have mostly used for light painting, and that's about it. I'm not a huge fan of the "look" you get with a flash, but I know that if I read up on it more and really did some research, I could probably use the flash in a way that it wasn't even obvious it was used.



I have my whole life to improve on my photography. Right now I'm in a 12-step program for vignette-aholics. After I graduate from that class, we'll see what I can move onto next.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Right now time isn't on my side. With my wife in school during the day (she'll be out in May )and myself working nights, I barely have time to see both of my kids, let alone have time to myself and remain awake. Presently, my main source of knowlege is through the boards on here and flikr. I've been trying to figure out different settings used by just looking at different pictures and then checking the EXIF info out on Flikr. Also, when I have a few minutes I've been downloading video from Google and Youtube on techniques and post processing and watching them when we have downtime at work. I'm hoping to take a class or two in the spring/summer that are offered at our Community College after Tina completes her nursing program.

 

[boBQuincy]

So what are you doing to because a better photographer? Are you participating in any technique/practice threads? Are you visiting technique oriented websites like the Strobist? Are you attending any workshops? Are you experimenting? What's your plan for becoming a better photographer?

My hope is that your plans might inspire others to make them their plans. Put down the B&H catalog. Take a break from the DPReview style gear debates. Let's talk about the best ways to become better shooters. I'm also motivated because I've just been shooting lately and my shooting isn't improving as much as I'd like. I'm looking for new inspiration.

One of the best ways to improve our art is to see what others have done. Not to imitate, but to see what is possible, what works (and what doesn't), and to generate ideas of our own. We like to go to as many photo shows as we can, even if it is stuff we don't like. If you live in an area with plenty of museums and galleries you are in luck.

Books are next, not the technical ones since I suspect you already know as much technical stuff as you are ever likely to need, but the "soft" aspects of photography. Barr's book, "Taking Your Photography to the Next Level" is particularly good for getting me thinking about what it is that I want to convey with a photograph. After that is sorted out the "how" is relatively easy (and often involves B&H).
Another book I really love is "Boulevard Photographic", about an automobile ad agency and how they took the photos in the pre-digital era.
Finally, if you like flash check out O.Winston Link's work. No one did night flash photos better!

A workshop with someone whose work we admire could pay off. We would love to attend one of Alain Briot's workshops trips some day and plan to in the next few years. Photo walks may help generate ideas but they don't seem to work for me.

We get to the point of diminishing returns, where getting to the next level does not show a big improvement but takes a huge amount of effort. It's the old "good is the enemy of excellent" idea and the only thing that will push us to go further is ourselves. For any of us who have gone that far (and I consider some on this board to be there) it is quite an achievement just to be at that level!

 

[manning]

I think you can tell from my post count that I am mainly a lurker- mostly because I am not as interested in talking about gear as much as talking about technique (and I love looking at everyone's photos!)

The way I work on improving my technique is shooting with film. Digital is great because you can shoot away and in a set of 20 shots, have a single good one. Working with film requires you to think. With film I really think through the composition of each shot. Don't get me wrong though, I LOVE digital, I just can be more lazy with it vs. film.

Good thread.

Plus 1 for shooting film- you beat me to it SunnyMel. Welcome out of lurk-dom by the way

I have found that over the last year or so the amount of film I have been shooting has had a positive effect on my digital photography as well. With digital it is so easy to spend a weekend somewhere and literally come home with a thousand or more pictures which is just ridiculous. I go to Disney and there were things I would take a picture of every single time I was there and get home and it’s no more interesting than the last time I took a picture of it and none of them ever get processed and just continue to take up even more hard drive space. (I need to learn how to delete but I guess being a digital file pack rat is another thread for another day.) But walking around someplace interesting for an entire day with nothing but 4 rolls of 12 exposure 120 film you really start to evaluate and think about every single photograph. When you do find something that’s worth taking a shot of- or wow- maybe even TWO shots of- you really take a lot of consideration in approaching your subject. You pay more attention to ‘getting it right’ in the camera- (I think I remember a recent thread on that) more attention to making it interesting- more attention to every little nuance since after all you will never know it’s bad until it’s too late (well- sometimes you just KNOW when you snap it- but anyway.)

Your points are valid. With me digital has been a great help. It helps me to get instant feedback. I will take a picture and immediately study it. I see the mistake and because the picture was taken only a few minute ago I am able to conclude what I did wrong and correct the error. We all process info differently. I found out this was right for me back in college when a teacher would give a test, collect it and hand out the same test and we would go over it. I found that I retained what I learned better.

 

[ShanF]

This is a wonderful idea - I am subscribing and i am looking forward to picking up some tips.
For myself, i am a newbie and i just take a lot of photos of everything and anything and i play with settings, etc. Then when i upload them to my computer i compare the photos and the different settings. i have a few books that i have been reading, these boards, etc.
i would love to look into taking a class in the spring as well, to learn as well.

Shannon

 

[wenrob]

I'm learning not to get upset if something new I've tried doesn't quite work out. I'm always working on something, focus, depth of field, natural light, flash and I like to push the limits just to see how far I can go. What I've learned in the last year is that even though you have it down you still sometimes don't have it down, lol. I agree that reading others EXIF is a great way to learn and now I play a game to see if I can guess what someone did before I look. I'm getting pretty good at it actually.

My next mission is to learn off camera flash. I'm also learning not to feel "guilty" for being a flash user. It's as valid technique as any other and takes just as much work to learn to get right as any other aspect of photography.

Got to learn to read the light better. I'm getting there but I still have a ways to go.

On the subject of film, I was going through some old pics looking for something and realized just how much I miss it. I mean really miss it. The look, the texture and over all feel are just something that can't be had with digital. So look out that may be next!

 

[WillowBelle]

For me I just read, and read, and read, and read. Then try to remember what I read when I go out camera in hand. I get the gist of how to handle lighting. For me shooting in the dark is a breeze - I struggle with brighter (think outside mid-day) lighting. I am terrible at math and sometimes, in my mind it becomes a gigantic trig equation that I can't work out. Lurking in several different forums helps to teach me how to get the proper end result that I want.

 

[mom2rtk]

Right now time isn't on my side. With my wife in school during the day (she'll be out in May )and myself working nights, I barely have time to see both of my kids, let alone have time to myself and remain awake. Presently, my main source of knowlege is through the boards on here and flikr. I've been trying to figure out different settings used by just looking at different pictures and then checking the EXIF info out on Flikr. Also, when I have a few minutes I've been downloading video from Google and Youtube on techniques and post processing and watching them when we have downtime at work. I'm hoping to take a class or two in the spring/summer that are offered at our Community College after Tina completes her nursing program.

I'm with you on this! I have SO little time to devote to learning more about photography. These boards, and the willing helpfulness of the skilled photographers here has allowed me to up my game with a small investment of time. I've already learned SO much in the past year and am finally venturing out of the automatic mode.

I hadn't even considered tutorials on youtube!

Thanks to everyone here who contributes on a daily basis. It's just amazing to be able to sit down and have a quick photography lesson in between shifts at my sewing machine! I do look forward to one day having more time to devote to this growing hobby!

 

[J3nn78]

One thing I like to do is when I have time to goof around in the house, Ill grab a lens out of the bag and see what I can find to make use of it. That is sort of the "backwards" way of how I shoot when actually trying to get a result.

When working a wedding, I know the shot I want and use the lens I know I need for that shot. It's very "production" feeling and not creative at all.

When playing around: I like to stick on a random lens, find something of a subject that often doesn't work, and try to figure out a way to make a good image. I think this teaches a bit of variation in how to use your equipment.

example...last night I was dorking around with a D3 and a 10.5 fisheye DX lens trying to make a strange shot of a hungry hungry hippos game my son just got. Completely useless pictures, but it's low pressure experimentation.

 

[Marlton Mom]

[QUOTE=SunnyMel;Working with film requires you to think. With film I really think through the composition of each shot.

I think you are right with this particular point! I remember as a poor High School student having to make every shot count because money was so tight.

That 'paying attention to the composition' thing has really stood me well as time goes by and my photography shifts focus here and there. During the switch to digital it remained one of my priorities even as I had to bang away quickly, taking pictures of school kids engaged in school activities.

Now I am in a new phase of my photography and I realized that the old phase left me lazy and dependent on the Auto programming of the camera. There was no time to play with the controls when shooting "live action children" (LOL is there any other kind?) so I completely ignored all the other facets that encompass creative control over my images.

Now that I am free of that obligation I find that I really want to explore my equipment's creative possibilities. When I say 'equipment' I mean the camera as well as the computer. To me the computer is the new darkroom!

So to re-flex my creative muscles I took a 4 week intro to Photoshop course at the local community college. I am also concentrating on exploring my cameras abilities to manipulate images both before the shot and after with the image processing software that is included in the camera.

I have come to the realization that there is a huge learning gap ~ and ~ leap in complexity between the manual 35mm cameras from the days gone by to what a digital camera can offer.

I am sinking my teeth into my Nikon D60 and I'm learning that when you switch away from automatic you really have to keep track of all your settings because sometimes the camera defaults you into having unintended settings or settings that you wanted to shoot with which are not compatible with the mode that you are in........ In short, the variability and the complexity that that brings are real mind bogglers at times.

I can't help but think that the foundation of understanding photography that I built by using film is ~still~ relevant in today's digital age, even (and perhaps especially) with all the post processing that is going on.

All that being said, it's still natural to be in the "equipment acquisition" phase that we all seem to be in. Shooting kids all the time never left me with a 'need' for an ultra wide angle lens, but I realized it was what I craved! This upcoming Disney trip has really lit a fire under my 'photography butt" and I now have a subject that is worthy of all this effort to go deeper into my understanding of photography in the digital age.

So that's my creative journey so far, stay tuned for more of my exciting adventures!


Marlton Mom