Have you ever satisfied with the photos you shoot?
- Thread starter dRebelXT
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The best critics is yourself. There always something you can nitpick about any photos, even those taken by famous photographers. But if you have never been satisfied with your shot, have you tried to analyse them to see where you have gone wrong or what can be done to improve your skills.
You mention you have been taking photos for 1 year, that means you are still in the infancy stage. I'm sure there will be photographers with more than 10, 20 years experience that will still say there is things to learn or room for improvement in their photography. I've been playing around with photography for almost 5 years now. While I still feel that I'm still not up to standard to the many "gurus" in CS, but at least I have seen lots of improvement in my photography since I first picked up my first SLR camera.
What I'm trying to say is, don't be discourage and continue to take photograph. Have the courage to learn from the many "sifu" here, better still, post some of your shots for critiques even if you feel it is not up to standard. I'm sure you can learn much more from others pointing out your mistake, than to hide your photos fearing negative comments. All comments taken in a positive light can be useful.
You mention you have been taking photos for 1 year, that means you are still in the infancy stage. I'm sure there will be photographers with more than 10, 20 years experience that will still say there is things to learn or room for improvement in their photography. I've been playing around with photography for almost 5 years now. While I still feel that I'm still not up to standard to the many "gurus" in CS, but at least I have seen lots of improvement in my photography since I first picked up my first SLR camera.
What I'm trying to say is, don't be discourage and continue to take photograph. Have the courage to learn from the many "sifu" here, better still, post some of your shots for critiques even if you feel it is not up to standard. I'm sure you can learn much more from others pointing out your mistake, than to hide your photos fearing negative comments. All comments taken in a positive light can be useful.
Yup. Don't be discouraged.
I also shoot lots of cannot-make-it pictures.
Maybe I'm more forgiving to myself.
I still post on whatever website.
There are two parts in the journey of learning photography.
One part is the artistic part. Photography is just like painting or drawing.
The other part is the technical part. The medium itself requires technical knowledge and mastery of equipment.
I decided to learn the technical side first before the artistic side
You can set yourself goals in both technical side and art side. That way you will feel encouraged everytime you achieve a goal.
You can start learning either way or even both ways. But you have to know that a sharp photo is a technical achievement and a photo that makes you keep looking at it is an art thing.
The idea is to see what you like about other photos, and analyse what is good about it before trying to achieve that effect.
I recommend you visit www.photo.net to see some examples of some good photos. (just don't look at mine hehe. They suck.)
There are many elements to making a good photo.
Composition: Rule of thirds for example... Don't always put the focus of the picture in centre, unless there are 'lines' in the picture that leads to the centre.
Sharpness/Focus: Are your pictures sharp where they're supposed to be? If they are blur, isit cos your shutter speed not fast enuff for your focal length? Camera shake in hand? Should you use tripod? Or is the subject moving too fast?
Choice of background in relation to subject in foreground: Does the background make the subject stand out or enhance the look of the subject? Or is it too messy and not blurred out enough? Does the background explain or complete the story of the subject?
Give yourself goals to achieve so you can feel good once you've achieved them, and go on to give yourself new goals.
That said, you can choose to ignore everything I've said... cos I'm also a beginner :bsmilie:
I also shoot lots of cannot-make-it pictures.
Maybe I'm more forgiving to myself.
I still post on whatever website.
There are two parts in the journey of learning photography.
One part is the artistic part. Photography is just like painting or drawing.
The other part is the technical part. The medium itself requires technical knowledge and mastery of equipment.
I decided to learn the technical side first before the artistic side
You can set yourself goals in both technical side and art side. That way you will feel encouraged everytime you achieve a goal.
You can start learning either way or even both ways. But you have to know that a sharp photo is a technical achievement and a photo that makes you keep looking at it is an art thing.
The idea is to see what you like about other photos, and analyse what is good about it before trying to achieve that effect.
I recommend you visit www.photo.net to see some examples of some good photos. (just don't look at mine hehe. They suck.)
There are many elements to making a good photo.
Composition: Rule of thirds for example... Don't always put the focus of the picture in centre, unless there are 'lines' in the picture that leads to the centre.
Sharpness/Focus: Are your pictures sharp where they're supposed to be? If they are blur, isit cos your shutter speed not fast enuff for your focal length? Camera shake in hand? Should you use tripod? Or is the subject moving too fast?
Choice of background in relation to subject in foreground: Does the background make the subject stand out or enhance the look of the subject? Or is it too messy and not blurred out enough? Does the background explain or complete the story of the subject?
Give yourself goals to achieve so you can feel good once you've achieved them, and go on to give yourself new goals.
That said, you can choose to ignore everything I've said... cos I'm also a beginner :bsmilie:
dun worry.. you are not alone. I also never satisfied with my pics.
But I still luv taking photos.
But I still luv taking photos.
Klose said:
the english is only half broken leh... left out the "been" but includes the "with".
Unless you mean .... :nono:
if its any consolation... michael reichmann on luminous landscape once said... he had to find 40 images for a coffee table book. and he had trouble making up 40 images, from the 500,000 thousand or so pictures he had shot over a 5 year period.
so dont feel so bad.. for me, if i have even one keeper from a photoshoot wer i might snap 300 shots, im already quite happy.
tahts why sometimes i wonder why so many people feel compelleted to post what are obviousyl not their best pictures on CS...
so dont feel so bad.. for me, if i have even one keeper from a photoshoot wer i might snap 300 shots, im already quite happy.
tahts why sometimes i wonder why so many people feel compelleted to post what are obviousyl not their best pictures on CS...
benedium said:
Yeah, it's much easier to grasp the technical aspect for me since i am engineer. It's
more difficult to understand artistic aspect however, I always try to simplify things
for example try to spot the characteristics like lines, curves, patterns and colors of the
subject then put these in my pictures. As a result, I feel my photos are constrained by
these mimics.
One benefit of taking pictures is going out and it helps me keep shape and fit. Connecting
with people was the second objective when I first thought of getting picture though this
objective was not successful. Third objective was taking good pictures. I guess my priority
has been wrong.
Right now the first thing I think about before pressing shutter was keeping the photo sharp
and properly exposed. Then I need to make my photoshop consistant. I always feel embarrassed when two pictures shot on the same scene have different colors.
The concept is not in photography (film or digital).dRebelXT said:
The concept is within urself.
If u shoot aimlessly, without a purpose, your photos will be at the best technically correct but without a purpose and aim.
Its like learning how to play soccer. Simply just by knowing how to kick, dribble and shoot is going to get you goals. But kicking the ball with finese is going to get u glorious goals.
Last time, when I started, I was more concerned about the technical aspects, it was very often I end up with photos I'm not happy about, because I missed that i included this etc..
1 day, a "teacher" of mine told me, "photography is more about feeling. The best setting to use, is the one which produces the photo you like most. No point taking a photo if you can't imagine what it should look like, because if you don't know what you're doing, no one else would too."
I've stopped wondering about the technical aspects (it sure helps to have a couple of good lenses). Nowadays, before I even bring the camera up to my eyes, I'll try to take a photograph in my mind, and I'll sorta examine "the final product". I'll do the corrections when I look through the viewfinder, to make it/compose it more to my liking.
Instead of snapping away, I usually try to make the 1st shot that I take count. Background, foreground, DOF, FOV, point of focus, exposure, all planned before I even press the shutter. When I'm on the ball, I even notice minute stuff in the viewfinder, and correct them before I shoot. That's even when I'm working on paid assignments/event shots.
someone ever commented on me "..I don't see how you can notice so many things through your tiny viewfinder..."
Anyway, point of my long winding story is, just because I decided to pay attention the final image before it's even taken, I'm getting more and more keepers, or photos that I'm actually happy with. Perhaps, you should try it too..
1 day, a "teacher" of mine told me, "photography is more about feeling. The best setting to use, is the one which produces the photo you like most. No point taking a photo if you can't imagine what it should look like, because if you don't know what you're doing, no one else would too."
I've stopped wondering about the technical aspects (it sure helps to have a couple of good lenses). Nowadays, before I even bring the camera up to my eyes, I'll try to take a photograph in my mind, and I'll sorta examine "the final product". I'll do the corrections when I look through the viewfinder, to make it/compose it more to my liking.
Instead of snapping away, I usually try to make the 1st shot that I take count. Background, foreground, DOF, FOV, point of focus, exposure, all planned before I even press the shutter. When I'm on the ball, I even notice minute stuff in the viewfinder, and correct them before I shoot. That's even when I'm working on paid assignments/event shots.
someone ever commented on me "..I don't see how you can notice so many things through your tiny viewfinder..."
Anyway, point of my long winding story is, just because I decided to pay attention the final image before it's even taken, I'm getting more and more keepers, or photos that I'm actually happy with. Perhaps, you should try it too..
It will be good if all digital user think like film user.
Digital consider almost free for every shot.
Film, every shot is $$$.
Think twice
Digital consider almost free for every shot.
Film, every shot is $$$.
Think twice
dRebelXT said:
This is actually a good thing.
I'd participated in some management training recently and one of the things I learned wasa framework for learning. It went soemthing like this...
Stage 1. Newbie - knows nothing, very enthuastic and keen, wants to take on the new challenge with vigour.
Stage 2. Novoice - knows a little, but motivation is starting to drop because results don't match expectations.
Stage 3. Journeyman - knows enough to know what they don't know. Motivation increasing because results improving due to learning and practice.
Stage 4. Expert - knows it all, can accomplish what he/she sets out to do.
Sound like you? To me it sounds like your a classic Stage 2. This is a good thing because it means that you are progressing and have already moved on from Stage 1. You have already learned enough to know what is possible, but not enough to know how to achieve what you want. Keep shooting, keep learning and you will soon reach Stage 3. Goog luck and happy shooting........:thumbsup:
Just enjoy yourself shooting. dun think so much about end product.
it's the process that's fun =)
once u enjoyed more and get so addicted to shooting, i think it's natural u will improve...
when u enjoyed shooting, u will naturally go and learn and see other's works, improve without feeling stress.
hee................
just my own view.............hope it helps =)
it's the process that's fun =)
once u enjoyed more and get so addicted to shooting, i think it's natural u will improve...
when u enjoyed shooting, u will naturally go and learn and see other's works, improve without feeling stress.
hee................
just my own view.............hope it helps =)
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