this + that = ( )

indiegirlindiegirl Registered Users Posts: 930 Major grins
edited September 23, 2007 in The Dgrin Challenges
What's your best tip, trick, trade secret or/and golden nugget you can share with us about photography?

Comments

  • peterst6906peterst6906 Registered Users Posts: 267 Major grins
    edited September 20, 2007
    If only I had tips, tricks, trade secrets or golden nuggets.....maybe that's what's wrong with my photography...eek7.gif

    Actually, the only one I can think of relates to taking self-portraits (you know, because I'm in the middle of one of those cliched 365 projects):

    When trying to focus, position yourself where you will be posed and then focus back at the mount on the tripod. Afterwards, leave the focus setting as is and place the camera in on the tripod. After you go back to your position, you'll know with certainty that the focus is spot-on.

    Regards,

    Peter
    It's not my camera's fault, I'm just visually illiterate
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited September 22, 2007
    Post moved back to Challenges - carry on, Indie thumb.gif
  • mr peasmr peas Registered Users Posts: 1,369 Major grins
    edited September 22, 2007
    Take as many photographs as you can. Read books magazine articles forums online tutorials to gain as much knowledge you can without having to hold a camera. Play with Photoshop as much as you can as if its a video game and learn it like the back of your hand. Grab as much experience as you possibly can, there's no real get good quick tip. Learn to love doing it and I guarantee you'll get better.
  • GreensquaredGreensquared Registered Users Posts: 2,115 Major grins
    edited September 22, 2007
    1. Don't be afraid to try something new.
    2. Learn to "see light".
    3. Allow yourself to love your own work.
    4. Appreciate other photgraphers for their unique visions.
    5. Never give up.

    Emily
    Emily
    Psalm 62:5-6

  • Gary GlassGary Glass Registered Users Posts: 744 Major grins
    edited September 22, 2007
    Slow down. Seeing is what it's all about. Stop. Look. Wait. Attend.
  • kp-pixkp-pix Registered Users Posts: 191 Major grins
    edited September 23, 2007
    Love what you do.

    Take images of what you love. If other people hate it, it will just drive you to take better images of it so someone will love it eventually

    Be true to yourself and what inspires you

    Watch light - as said above

    Take opinion on board but only to perfect what you love as art is personal taste and if you love it, someone somewhere does too

    Get a low aperture lens - you need it in digital land <--- tech people can insert more of what I mean here, as I often don't explain things properly - 2.8 and below lol

    Party like it is 1999 <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/wings.gif" border="0" alt="" >
  • imaximax Registered Users Posts: 691 Major grins
    edited September 23, 2007
    Have FUN
    Shoot what YOU like
    See What You Want To Shoot With Your Minds Eye and Then Shoot It
    Have FUN
    Carry your camera with you whenever you can
    Oh and did I mention
    Have FUN


    Joe
  • SwartzySwartzy Registered Users Posts: 3,293 Major grins
    edited September 23, 2007
    I'll narrow it down to one
    Get it right in camera....exposure, focus, composition. If you're out shooting 1000 images (wedding, event, etc.) the less you have to deal with underexposure issues and the like, the better. Don't ask me how I know....read about a guy who made lots of mistakes mwink.gif
    Swartzy:
    NAPP Member | Canon Shooter
    Weddings/Portraits and anything else that catches my eye.
    www.daveswartz.com
    Model Mayhem site http://www.modelmayhem.com/686552
  • PrezwoodzPrezwoodz Registered Users Posts: 1,147 Major grins
    edited September 23, 2007
    When photographing climbing make sure to think beyond the regular tilt angles of pictures.

    In the picture below notice how its in 3 sections. Rock , wall, personal. All have a relative same amount of space on the photo and dosent really give to much to focus on. If she wasn't doing something even remotely interesting it wouldn't be very good I think! Plus going directly down the wall as such makes it look like a slanted wall where it drops down from me to the ground at an angle instead of sheer vertical.
    177012937-L.jpg

    Now in the photo below if you look off into the mountains behind and the lake as well you can tell that the angle of the photo is very skewed. The mountains seem to rise instead of fall and the lake should be spilling into the valley below! But what it does is change the angle of the rock that is in the immediate frame and make it look intimidating. It looks as steep as the rock in the first photo but I assure you it is not. ;) These type of things are very common in photographing climbing. Once you take a picture at such odd angles you can completely change the picture just by making a simple rotation. How many other pictures can you think of where you can rotate it 90 degrees and you can't tell if it looks better vertical or horizontal?

    197195168-L.jpg
  • LlywellynLlywellyn Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 3,186 Major grins
    edited September 23, 2007
    When trying to focus, position yourself where you will be posed and then focus back at the mount on the tripod. Afterwards, leave the focus setting as is and place the camera in on the tripod. After you go back to your position, you'll know with certainty that the focus is spot-on.

    Holy crap! So much easier than the methods I've been trying. I'll have to give this whirl. Thank you! bowdown.gif

    My rule of thumb is pretty much, "don't be afraid to crawl on the ground." I often get high, get low, get sideways, walk around something completely until I find the angle/perspective that highlights what it was about the object that caught my eye in the first place. I often look like an idiot doing this. mwink.gif When shooting with a group of other photographers, several stop to photograph me in one of my weird vantage points because it amuses them. I've learned to get over the embarassment and just go for the picture. :D

    I have also learned to love the gigantic picture windows in my new home and stick everything I want to photograph in front of them, whenever possible. thumb.gif
  • HoofClixHoofClix Registered Users Posts: 1,156 Major grins
    edited September 23, 2007
    The "trick" that comes to mind isn't one that I use so much in LPS, but I fugure it comes in handy all the time. It has to do with how I shoot at an event. I just basically make sure that every shot I take is properly lit by the sun so that a simple auto-correct will get it as ready as it needs to be for delivery. I spent so much time fixing brightness and contrast in backlit and poorly exposed shots that I was going crazy. I decided that I needed to choose better positions and angles, and if that meant that I took a few less shots per competitor, but that the ones I took were really good, then that's the way it was to be.. Hope that makes sense...
    Mark
    www.HoofClix.com / Personal Facebook / Facebook Page
    and I do believe its true.. that there are roads left in both of our shoes..
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