MWGL Photography thread
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it was a pretty overcast morning....]
dmn23
Duller than cardboard
This was taken Monday night on the pedestrian walkway of one of the major bridges across the Rio Grande here in Albuquerque. It looks pastoral from this angle, but we're actually in the middle of the city and immediately behind me is a four lane clogged with rush hour traffic.
http://wiki.worldflicks.org/montaño_bridge.html
Theodore
I gotta move
Far out. On further inspection I see some sign of human habitation at upper left.
dmn23
Duller than cardboard
That's pretty broad. What are you really asking? Do you want to know about equipment, composition, jargon, accessories, philosophy, improving your skill set, specific tips...? Do you already have a DSLR or are you wanting to just get better with a point-and-shoot? Do you own a copy (no matter how old) of Photoshop?
I've found that (for me, anyway) most anything Scott Kelby has written is valuable for a noob. Hit up your library for these two:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Digital-P...keywords=scott+kelby+digital+photography+book
http://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-Dig...9878&sr=8-1&keywords=scott+kelby+photoshop+cs
My budget's pretty limited but I've had my Nikon D5100 for a little over a year and I've been thrilled with it. Everything I've posted in this thread has been taken with that camera and, in most cases, the 18-55mm lens that came with it.
Chad
Slender Hobbit
The only camera I have us my iPhone. I would be starting from scratch. I guess I would want to start with philosophy (I know photography is expensive and I don't want to drop a ton of cash on something that isn't gonna work for me). I think if there is a way to get my feet wet without dropping a ton if coin that is the route for me.
I don't have photoshop, but I could get that or aperture.
jaxn slim
Your Worst Nightmare
If I were you I'd invest in Adobe Lightroom for post processing. Photoshop is great for detail work, but for everyday adjustments to exposure, color, sharpness, etc, I just use Lightroom, which is much cheaper.
Then as far as cameras, it's hard to go wrong these days. Canon and Nikon have been kind of the big dogs for a long time, but Sony and Panasonic are doing a lot of great things right now, too. It doesn't take a whole lot to start getting your feet wet, but I would recommend you expect to spend around $500-1,000 for a reasonable kit including a good starter body and kit lens (18-55mm or 18-135mm).
the_huge
Theoretically Chaotic
dmn23
Duller than cardboard
Philosophy? A few thoughts:
1) Any "name" photographer that you and I would recognize used 35mm film cameras. We're in the age of a gazillion megawhatevers and Photoshop. So with that in mind ANY CAMERA YOU BUY is going to the equivalent of a fucking spaceship (comparatively speaking). Annie Leibowitz and Ernie Pyle and Ansel Adams and everyone else before us worked within a much stricter set of limitations. You can't blame the tools these days.
2) Learn how everything works. Seriously. Even if you never move from the couch you can test almost every bit of functionality your camera offers. There's no excuse for not knowing your tools.
3) Shoot a lot. And I mean a lot. "Film" is cheap these days. My win/lose ratio is getting better but I still shoot 200 photos for every five or ten that turn out worth a darn. And that's on a good day.
4) Take your time. I think people are self conscious about using a camera, and they tend to snap in a hurry just to get it over with. Maybe they're worried about looking like a dork, I don't know. But If you take an extra minute to make sure you've got your settings correct and your composition is mostly okay and there's no visual clutter here or... well, you get it. But after enough times of "#$%, I should have___" it will become second nature.
5) They're never perfect straight out of the camera. I only crop, slightly tweak the color, and sharpen a little bit, and that's it. But it needs to happen.
6) YouTube tutorials.
1) Any "name" photographer that you and I would recognize used 35mm film cameras. We're in the age of a gazillion megawhatevers and Photoshop. So with that in mind ANY CAMERA YOU BUY is going to the equivalent of a fucking spaceship (comparatively speaking). Annie Leibowitz and Ernie Pyle and Ansel Adams and everyone else before us worked within a much stricter set of limitations. You can't blame the tools these days.
2) Learn how everything works. Seriously. Even if you never move from the couch you can test almost every bit of functionality your camera offers. There's no excuse for not knowing your tools.
3) Shoot a lot. And I mean a lot. "Film" is cheap these days. My win/lose ratio is getting better but I still shoot 200 photos for every five or ten that turn out worth a darn. And that's on a good day.
4) Take your time. I think people are self conscious about using a camera, and they tend to snap in a hurry just to get it over with. Maybe they're worried about looking like a dork, I don't know. But If you take an extra minute to make sure you've got your settings correct and your composition is mostly okay and there's no visual clutter here or... well, you get it. But after enough times of "#$%, I should have___" it will become second nature.
5) They're never perfect straight out of the camera. I only crop, slightly tweak the color, and sharpen a little bit, and that's it. But it needs to happen.
6) YouTube tutorials.
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