How to know you're on the right track?


Bigpiece

New Member
May 16, 2011
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hey guys,

Just bought my first DSLR, a Pentax KR 2 weeks ago. I'm not sure if I posted in the right section..
Want to ask fellow photographers how do you guys know if you all are on the right track when you all first started out? as in how do you know which areas you must improve on etc?

I took some photos and asked some of my friends but i guess they are not really interested in photography so could not give me any constructive feedbacks. also noticed that CS need a min of 50 posts before we can post links to our photos.

So would like to find out the different sources you guys learn from... thanks in advance.:D
 

Would think, before exposure and all those technical stuff, composition should be one of the important skill to learn. It's not easy and there's never an ending to it as for shooting different things, u will apply slight different composition pattern/style. The technical stuff are easier to pick up and there are lots of aid from technology.

I took the wrong path in which now I feel I'm lacking a lot in the composition aspects in photography.
 

hey guys,

Just bought my first DSLR, a Pentax KR 2 weeks ago. I'm not sure if I posted in the right section..
Want to ask fellow photographers how do you guys know if you all are on the right track when you all first started out? as in how do you know which areas you must improve on etc?

I took some photos and asked some of my friends but i guess they are not really interested in photography so could not give me any constructive feedbacks. also noticed that CS need a min of 50 posts before we can post links to our photos.

So would like to find out the different sources you guys learn from... thanks in advance.:D

You are your best and worst critic. Be hard on yourself , not to the extent of making photography a chore.

How to improve - always have an open mind, and take constructive advice well. Think every comment through, and you can thank people for their well-meaning advice, but not everyone is good at giving comments. Just because someone has shot for 20 years doesn't mean that he's very good at photography. He would just have had a lot of experience with cameras.

What do you like? Where do you want to go? Why do you shoot? These are questions you have to ask yourself, and before long, if you can't be clear on all these and have to keep relying on external parties to define yourself, what you do, what you shoot, then there's something wrong. You should always feel happy to shoot, always feel happy to process, and you should never be too content with what you get.

Like it or not, photography needs an audience. You have to decide what sort of audience you want, there's the general appeal sort of photo, there's the artistic type that targets a niche audience... And of course for the "artistic" type it is easy to get confused with the arty-farty variety where only YOU and your bunch of inner circle buddies understand what's going on, and then all of you just carry out some sort of circle jerk and tell each other that you're up and coming and you will be the next photography Picasso.

At the end of the day, it's up to you. Everyone has their style of learning, everyone has their likings, and everyone is better at some things more than others.

You can try to start off by looking at what is termed as "good", and decide for yourself, which ones you like more (and you will have preferences, for sure). Then you can always begin by emulating. Read, digest, internalise, and put everything you've learnt into solid practice until it becomes a habit, so much that you don't even think - that you know what you want, roughly how to get it the moment you look at a scene, or when you're planning a themed portrait shoot, etc. Before long, the style will come, and if it doesn't, what does it matter?

This isn't really a straight answer, I suppose, but there are no straight answers for this sort of thing. :) Just a lot of questions, that you have to answer yourself.
 

Last edited:
Bigpiece said:
hey guys,

Just bought my first DSLR, a Pentax KR 2 weeks ago. I'm not sure if I posted in the right section..
Want to ask fellow photographers how do you guys know if you all are on the right track when you all first started out? as in how do you know which areas you must improve on etc?

I took some photos and asked some of my friends but i guess they are not really interested in photography so could not give me any constructive feedbacks. also noticed that CS need a min of 50 posts before we can post links to our photos.

So would like to find out the different sources you guys learn from... thanks in advance.:D

Post in critique corner maybe? If u think your pics are nice that's good enough though. Save you the headache. Hahaha. :bsmilie:
 

To me the most impt thing is that you want and can manage to capture a scene beautifully, esp those pic that will form a piece of memory abt your life. If course we may not produce competition winning photos but if they put a smile in us I think it is a great way to continue in this hobby and venture into different areas of photography.

I am more of want to share pictures i took with the rest to share what are the things ard me rather than going purely into getting the perfect techniques and be praised.
 

gundamseed84 said:
To me the most impt thing is that you want and can manage to capture a scene beautifully, esp those pic that will form a piece of memory abt your life. If course we may not produce competition winning photos but if they put a smile in us I think it is a great way to continue in this hobby and venture into different areas of photography.

I am more of want to share pictures i took with the rest to share what are the things ard me rather than going purely into getting the perfect techniques and be praised.

A lot of people say that but sometimes people say that just for the sake of saying and portraying a 'good image' of themselves than really mean it.

And also sometimes people might really mean it but along the way they lose track and slipped to the category 'I shoot for praise' without knowing.

Take a minute to sit down in a quiet place and think. Normally i would do this in the shower(LOL!) and just take awhile to think through. (It's a waste of water though..) :shy:
 

crystal1993 said:
Normally i would do this in the shower(LOL!) and just take awhile to think through. (It's a waste of water though..) :shy:

Crys pls watch what you say esp on the Internet. :bigeyes::bigeyes::bsmilie:
 

Crys pls watch what you say esp on the Internet. :bigeyes::bigeyes::bsmilie:

didn't see any issue with that...some do it under the waterfall :bsmilie:
 

bonrya said:
Crys pls watch what you say esp on the Internet. :bigeyes::bigeyes::bsmilie:

Bon bon not everyone is as dirty minded as you!! :bsmilie:

SkyStrike said:
didn't see any issue with that...some do it under the waterfall :bsmilie:

I would do that too!!!

...if i can find a waterfall....
 

SkyStrike said:
didn't see any issue with that...some do it under the waterfall :bsmilie:

There's a diff uncle skystrike..1. Crys is a girl 2. A waterfall is outdoors. :bsmilie::bsmilie:
 

bonrya said:
There's a diff uncle skystrike..1. Crys is a girl 2. A waterfall is outdoors. :bsmilie::bsmilie:

:sweat: and what are you trying to imply bon bon? :bsmilie:
 

hey guys,

Just bought my first DSLR, a Pentax KR 2 weeks ago. I'm not sure if I posted in the right section..
Want to ask fellow photographers how do you guys know if you all are on the right track when you all first started out? as in how do you know which areas you must improve on etc?

I took some photos and asked some of my friends but i guess they are not really interested in photography so could not give me any constructive feedbacks. also noticed that CS need a min of 50 posts before we can post links to our photos.

So would like to find out the different sources you guys learn from... thanks in advance.:D

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/threads/309544-Photography-Notes-For-Newbies

this is one of a good place to start

and if you got the time

http://www.kenrockwell.com/

well, shoot more, the more you shoot, the more better you will get.

I can't be bother what people say as long as the picture you take look nice to you can already. :)
 

Post in critique corner maybe? If u think your pics are nice that's good enough though. Save you the headache. Hahaha. :bsmilie:

Haha, I will still need to hit a min of 50 posts before I can think of this source. Thanks for your advice though!! :D
 

Bigpiece said:
Haha, I will still need to hit a min of 50 posts before I can think of this source. Thanks for your advice though!! :D

Time to post more then! :) I didn't face this when I first joined.. Hmm maybe I forgot. Hehe
 

this is one of a good place to start

and if you got the time


well, shoot more, the more you shoot, the more better you will get.

I can't be bother what people say as long as the picture you take look nice to you can already. :)

Thanks! I will definitely have a look at the links you provided. Yea, i agree, I feel that shooting more gives you a larger perspective of how things can actually be. I guess I need that extra confirmation to know whether i'm on the right track.. cuz others may have a different point that I can't see that could make my pictures much better. :D
 

Hi, go to Rapidlibrary.com and type "nature photography" in search page.You will see these books.Take note free downloaders are allowed 1 file only and the next one will
have to wait 30 minutes and so on but if there is another file server with the same file then you can save next instead of waiting from same provider.Some files are PDF
so don't need winzip or winrar to decompress.Ssshh...don't mention copyrights.After clicking free download there is a 5 minute wait to save file.

These books will give you a good start and foundation.

1. Digital Nature Photography -the art and science. John and Barbara Gerlach. Focal Press.

2. John Shaw's Nature Photography field guide. 2000 Amphoto Books.

3. Nature Photography - insider's secrets from the world's top digital photography
professionals. Chris Weston. Focal Press.

4. Photoshop CS5 for Nature Photographers - a workshop in a book. Ellen Anon and
Josh Anon. Sybex 2010.

Enjoy reading and learning.Of course there are other titles but start with these first.

Wow! Thanks alot for this information. I'll do it one by one i guess. hehehe..
 

bonrya said:
Time to post more then! :) I didn't face this when I first joined.. Hmm maybe I forgot. Hehe

You spam so much you will face that problem meh? :sweat::bsmilie: