Photography thread (closed thread, see first and last post)

[redtailgal]

Due to the nature of this thread, it is hard for me to keep up with each persons pictures and what they are needing to focus on all crammed into one thread. ***If you want critiques or other information, please start a thread labeled as such >photography (Your name) (your topic Critique, question, discussion etc)

One thing that I enjoy about this forum is the wonderful pics. There are alot of very talented photographers in here.

I was thinking that, esp with all the contest going on and the pic of the week deal, perhaps it would be nice to have a thread for helps with photography in general.

Those of us that are more advanced could help others (and each other).

If there is enough interest, I would be willing to type out some lessons and excercises to help the newer photographers in the mix. If you are interested, please let me know a couple things.

1. What type of camera do you have (point and shoot or SLR)

2. What do you want to learn?

If we decided to have "lessons", I will make them on their own specific thread, and leave this one for "just questions" and photography related chat.

 

[elevan]

EXCELLENT idea!!

1. What type of camera do I have? - My digital camera is MIA (missing in action) and so I'm stuck with a bad camera phone.
2. What do I want to know? - In looking for a new camera what should I be looking for? Minimum MP...and anything else I should look for.

 

[redtailgal]

EXCELLENT idea!!

1. What type of camera do I have? - My digital camera is MIA (missing in action) and so I'm stuck with a bad camera phone.
2. What do I want to know? - In looking for a new camera what should I be looking for? Minimum MP...and anything else I should look for.

Well if you want a point and shoot style camera:

Get the highest amount of zoom that you can get. Digital zoom does not count towards anything, you are going for a high OPTICAL zoom. Most people can *get by* with 3x, I would recommend going with at least a 5x.

As far as Megapixels, more is better. Bare minimum of 8, around 12 would be great. I wouldnt recommend going over 14, as you are more likely to have "noise" in your pics.

Those nifty little LCD screens are battery hogs, so I would recommend a camera with a rechargable battery, and get an extra battery so you are never without.

Make sure to HOLD the camera before you buy. Is it comfy in your hand? Does the casing feel cheap? Is the size appropriate for what you want to do (large camera are harder to lug around)?

I highly recommend Nikon Coolpix series.

It's pretty much the same thing with SLR cameras, except you would not have to consider the zoom. Instead you would get the proper lens for your camera. Any wide angle lens would be fine, but esp in the 18-50mm range.

 

[Livinwright Farm]

1. What type of camera do you have? Canon Power Shot S2 IS - Digital - not sure what SLR means...

2. What do you want to learn? Anything and everything... I have already had some help form Chubbydog811.. she is a photography nut! I am sure she will chime in here in no time. She helped me figure out what certain modes were,, which allowed me to figure out a lot more stuff on my own... progressively getting better.

 

[redtailgal]

First, I am sorry it took me so long to reply. For some reason this didnt show up in my new posts. I promise I wasnt ignoring you!


SLR means single lens reflex. Its one that you change the lens on.

You have a very nice point and shoot type camera that should give you some excellent pictures.

I'll give you some basic tips, and if you have more questions or something particular to ask, please let me know. Dont hesitate to post some pics in here.

Some tips just wont work for a quick shot, dont miss a great pic trying to set up for it!
Tip#1

Use a tripod when you can. If you cant buy one improvise, a chair and bag of rice works great. A fence post or a tree stump. Even use someones shoulder.......anything. That little bit of extra stability will go a long way in giving your pics a nice crisp sharpness.

Tip#2

Hold your shutter release button down for a second, to give the camera time to focus clearly and then take the pic. If you are photographing a person or animal, dont focus on the person or animal, focus on the EYES. The face is where our eye will fall naturaly, so this needs to be the sharpest part of the photo.

Tip#3

Use natural light as much as possible. Dont be afraid of shooting on overcast days. Color is esp vibrant right after a rain.
Turn off that flash sometimes! Middle day sun is harsh, but can still make some wonderful pics. Mornings and evening offer a softer more attractive light.

If you need to use your flash, you can use an index card held at a 45 degree angle pointing upward to soften the effects a little (this works esp nice inside a room with a white ceiling, and will do along way towards getting rid of shadows)

Tip#4
Composition is EVERYTHING.

Draw a rectangle, and then draw a tic tac toe board right thru it, extending it all the way out of the rectangle. This will show you the "rule of thirds". You want your main subject of the pic to fall along one of those lines, preferably where two lines intersect. If you are photographing a landscape, try to get the horizon along one of the horizontal lines. Using this method forces the eye to move around the whole picture, taking in the scenery as well as the subject, without losing emphasis on the subject.

If you are photographing something that is moving....move the subject off to the side of the frame and allow them room to "go forward" in the shot. Of course, they wont really be moving in the pic, but it will make more sense to your eye and therefore be a more pleasing picture to look at.

Think outside the box, get down low for a shot, stand up high on something, dont wait for your subject to be looking at you all the time. Zoom in and get a close up. Everyone else shoots at eye level, do something different to give your pics a little pizazz!

Pay attention to the background. A beautiful horse is great! the dumpster behind him.....not so much.


Tip#5
If its something that you really like, be sure to take multiple shots from different angles (side to side and up and down), and take the pic at different times of the day as well.

Questions? comments?

Can you use the rule of thirds? take a pic and show me!

 

[kstaven]

Only camera I use now is my Hitachi Mv 380, DVD ram, 10x optical zoom, 240x digital zoom. Had it for quite a few years now. I like having the option of shooting video.

 

[redtailgal]

I've never held a Hitachi, but have heard that they will work forever, lol.

 

[Livinwright Farm]

Okay, critique away!

 

[redtailgal]

Nice job on catching the clouds and sky color. I like the way you caught the shadows playing on the mountain, although it did take my eye a couple minutes to find them.

I also like the compostion........they way the horizon is laying in the bottom third. For future reference, divide your screen into three and place your horizon on the bottom line (like this pic) if you want the emphasis to be on the sky and place the horizon on the top line for emphasis on the land. A horizon placed in the middle of the pic, kills the "energy" of the eye and deadens the photograph. Excellend horizontal placement in this pic.

The things that bug me about this pic would be the little thing sticking out of the bottom left corner. This could be cropped out easily, so not a biggie.

The other thing is that little tree at the bottom of the mountain. That is a tough one. You cant really run out there an move the tree for the shot. It seems trivial, but that little tree cuts your scene in half and interupts the eye.

The lighting in the foreground isnt great, but again not something you can control. It could have been darker in the foreground for a more dramatic play on the sky (this could be done by adjusting settings on the camera). I think that a bright foreground would have washed the sky out and a gorgeous sky like that just needs to be shown!

One other thing that would help this shot, is something else in the foreground. Perhaps a different angle to bring something in closer to the eye, or zooming out until that front little bit of trees had a sharper focus. This gives the pic more depth, and give the eye a better way to scale and appreciate the size of the mountain and distance to it.

I'd like to learn about the "journey" your eye takes on this pic. And I would like to know WHY you took this pic? What made you think that should be in a picture? What exactly were you trying to "show" (my guess is the sky)?

All in all, you did a nice job.


Go back and look at the pic again, but do it in stages
Where does your eye fall first?
Where does it go next?
where does it stop to linger?
And where does it go last, before going back to the beginning?
(I'll answer these for my eye in a minute, but answer these questions before you read my answers)

When you take a landscape pic, you are wanting the eye to take a journey on that landscape before drawing back to take in the whole scene.










First my eye fell on the large cloud in the upper right, then it goes along the sky taking in the shapes of the clouds. After a few seconds, my eye notices that there is a mountain in there, and slides along the horizon to the mountain, and then gets "stuck" on that tree, and pulls over to the left bottom corner were that "thing" is sticking out.

 

[Ms. Research]

Thanks Redtailgal for starting this thread. DH is an amazing photographer and I get lots of guidance from him. But I like to hear from other professional photographers (and you are one IMHO) and reading what you posted so far, with the critique of Livinwright's photo (beautiful picture by the way, Livinwright) gives me some excellent pointers.

Haven't picked up a camera in a long time, but looks like I'm getting the "camera bug" again. Got bunnies to shoot pics of. Will post too to get your critique of the pics.