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36 Comments
- Lewisham, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11I *hate* it when people pose for camera shots. If I wanted you to pose, I would ask. If I don't ask, I don't want you to pose! I want to take a shot of life.
And then people bitch you out saying "Oh, I'll look ugly" or "delete it! delete it!" Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't buy a film camera with an LCD viewfinder, just so people couldn't get rid of shots I've taken. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+92 suggestions missing:
Take lots and lots of shots. The more you take, the better your chances of getting a good one.
If your camera supports an external flash, buy one. Preferrably one that can be angled to bounce off the ceiling. The results are stunning. No more need for red eye reduction, better lit photos, more professional looking. - !3en, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8"2. Walk-and-Talk. Hold the camera low, with your thumb on the shutter. I use this technique when I follow the kids around."
Did that statement make any one laugh. Or was it just me? You got to be care-full now a days with strangers taking pictures of your kids. - zydehkim, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Anyone who picks up a camera is a photographer just as anyone who drives a car is a driver. There can be bad drivers and there can be bad photographers.
- dstart, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Dansdata has a pretty good photo tutorial, thought I'd share also..
http://www.dansdata.com/phototute.htm - t0ny, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Bah lcd screens are for little old grandmas. :)
I use the view finder. Plus I have an DSLR camera. The lcd is only good for checking your photo afterwords or changing settings :)
One tip from me is play around and try new things :).
My photos http://flickr.com/photos/t0ny - defectDS, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I was quite impressed by this article, but some of them feel like new ways to stalk people. :)
- drewcurtis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4as a pro photog, i can not stress enough the use of fill flash in sunny outdoor shots. -- unless you are going for some artsyfartsyshadowylooky thing. external flash with a bracket is going to improve a lot of your shots too.
- xile, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I wasn't very impressed by this article. Some of the things it suggested were questionable or poor form, and it missed basic composition--the rule of thirds is the sole technique responsible for making my digital photos good.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Some good advice here mixed in with some absolute rubbish
Never, ever, ever shoot in black and white, for example
You can always decolourise in photoshop, you can't add the colour back
Couldn't agree less with the not-looking-through-the-viewfinder tip either, you might get slightly more naturalistic reactions, but your composure and focus is going to be well off
Instead of doing that I'd suggest just not making a big deal out of taking a photo, and do it quick, more often than not you can get one off before people even realise you're taking one
It's worth spending a little time reading up on how exposure time, aperture size, focus and ISO speeds all relate too, it'll allow you to be alot more creative with your photographs
Worked on a Newspaper for a while, nothing improves your photography quicker than having an impatient picture editor breathing down your neck - stobor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3perhaps a better way of saying it would be is 'remember you have post.' taking too long thinking about framing or perfect exposures can cause you to miss photos when you are beginning. As he/she takes more and more photos, a photographer should start seeing which photos worked and which didn't.
Also, Im a little surprised with the article's suggestion to shoot in pieces. I haven't had many shots like this work out well. There are a lot of tools to help merge montages, but esp. with the baseball game, too much changes between frames for stitching your shots to work well. I guess it doesn't hurt to try, but if you see the shot as one piece, take it! - melts, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Did anyone else notice sentences that just ended, like they were chopped off?
Other than that the article seemed a little too strange for me, don't use the view finder, don't even look at what you're shooting advice is rather too freaky for me. I guess its a guide to taking some photos for your blog of choice, rather than anything more important. - livet0ski, on 08/17/2009, -1/+3nice article... I like the images they have of the red guy taking pictures. i know it will help me taking pics.
- ThinkBox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2As a videographer and ameture photographer I find these tips very good for the average guy. Scrolling through flickr will give you a good idea how many people need this.
http://smu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013188&l=0d739&id=18803496
http://photos-375.facebook.com/n12/113/20/18803496/n18803496_30369375_4066.jpg - operator99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Additionally, as a professional photographer for many years - most pre-digital and always looking thru the viewfinder, I, and my associates at the studio I worked for always kept the eye that wasn't looking thru the viewfinder open as well. It takes a little practice, but gives the peripheral vision and the ability to anticipate. And yes, always think first about composing and "processing" in the camera and then just like the "old" days, touch up in the darkroom/digital darkroom. Lastly, not mentioned, but train yourself to see in perspective, it will really help your composition, ie, when looking at say a street scene, learn to notice how the buildings head toward a vanishing point.
- dirtyfratboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Good tips for the novice photographer... I hope my photos don't turn out as boring as they usually do...
- norbiu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If I pose, I turn out ugly as hell, but when I'm caught off guard the pictures come out quite nice.
- d3designs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I second that. There are chances that just shooting without looking through the viewfinder can return some interesting results... but does that actually help the person to become a better photographer? You are much better off thinking about composition and framing the shots properly, than just pointing the camera around snapping pictures aimlessly. One of the worst thing he said was "Plan for post." How about this instead... learn how to use your camera, and get it right the first time. I would rather think first, and get the photo I want straight from the cam, then spend an hour in Photoshop trying to fix my lame mistakes. That's just faulty logic. I'll give him one thing though, B&W photos do help you see things differently.
- Rndm_Tngnt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Yeah, purists never create great.
Y'know except for most of the photographers, filmmakers, painters and artists of note.
But yeah, aside from those *****, not a damn thing. - TheGalacticFork, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3The first page in the link w/ the man in red is basically what my friends and I call 'Sniping'.
Though for motion shots, quantity over quality works best, because if you take 5 shots of a motion, 1 is bound to come out good.
Though the rest of it was great, up until it said to look at what George Lucas does. - trod13, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Nice, the more you know the better. Lets see if I can use these tips know.
- MartyMcFly, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"You can also stabilize the camera by resting your elbow against your chest." -----
--------------someone show me how this is done.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gearhart/
Good article - saska, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Those of us who started taking pictures when it actually cost money to do so will always cringe at that statement "plan for post". Yes, I postprocess my images, but I don't depend on it to make me a better photographer. If people would just learn to frame their shots, they'd be 2/3 of the way to being better. 10 megapixel cameras exist for those too lazy to frame, who need to crop instead.
- kindrobot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Seems like simplistic advice by telling us to "shoot more images", but it's the best advice I recieved from my photography teacher. If you have the memory, use it. Also, if you find that your images are often not composed well, pull back a bit and shoot *wider* so you can crop the image to a pleasing composition. The "rule of thirds"
does NOT apply only to shooting, not in the age of photoshop. It's a good thing
to learn. Hell, it's a good thing to turn into instinct. But pulling back and editing to the rule of thirds when you know your eye is a bit off "in the moment" isn't a bad idea. I've also noticed that the more the eye is accustomed to seeing good photography, the better it becomes at the rule of thirds.
I know a lot of photographers brag about their negatives being perfect without need
for editing, but purists suck. Purists almost never create great art. But purists always breed and inspire loads of mediocre, cookie-cutter artists. Every new tool just means you can concentrate on some other aspect of your work that you never had time for before because you were too busy doing the work the new tool now does FOR you.
But that never means it's a bad idea to absorb tradition in some way.
I think it's a good article. - Diela, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yeah.... I just got a new camera. Good timing! Thanks Kev.
- lochness, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1A How-To for vouyer photography :-)
I love my twist-out screen on my Canon G3. Really lets me get up high, down low, round corners, anywhere but my eye level which is boring... - dbr_onix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Good ideas, I hate posed photos.. Though I find just always having your camera in your hands/around your neck, people start to ignore it, and don't notice (as quickly) when you bring the camera up/kneel down to take a photo, and don't have time to complain till after it's taken.. But learning to use the camera without having to look though the viewfinder is very usefull, not only for taking un-posed images, but for taking pictures quickly where you wouldn't have time to bring it up to your eyes and frame it properly etc, or taking pictures from heights that are hard/impractical to get to (Say sitting the camera on the ground, which can be impractical to lie on the ground if it's not clean or something)
And as for the complaining part, quickly look at the photo,
if it's acctauly a half-decent picture, show them it,
if their mouth is half open, eyes shut etc, delete it and dont show them, as this'll just make them more determined for you to delete any future pictures
but if it's good, and they still ask to delete it (This assumes the people are your friends, if it's a picture of someone elses kid, say, it's probobaly a good idea to delete it....) just say "Maybe" or something, and keep it, it might be the best picture you've ever taken when you see it on the computer screen... 99% of people don't really mind I've found, and will not care once they see it's a half-decent picture..
As for holding the camera steady, the way you hold the camera is imporant, with the compact cameras it's kinda hard, but with the DSLRs, or ones in a similar shape (I.e have a larger lens), hold one hand underneath that, and the other on the right-side with your finger on the shutter button.. Basicly you should be able to let go of either hand and the camera still be fairly stable..
Then either stiffening up your arms, going onto one knee, sitting on something, or putting your back against a wall should steady the picture, if not, and you have a camera with manual settings (A lot do now), use shutter-priority mode ("S" mostly), and remeber the shutter-speed the auto-mode said, and make the number bigger, maybe 5 clicks, take a photo, if it's still blurry, make the number bigger, if it's too dark (Remeber you can brighten it up a bit on the computer) make the number smaller.. And if you can, put the ISO number higher
Erm, this comment is far to long now.. Oh well
- Ben - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Telling people to use the large LCD is a horrible idea, that will produce "snapshot" style pictures.
- mike_c, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1not so sure if "freeing myself from the viewfinder" will help much, especially since i have a dslr so i can't use the screen for taking pics, actually when making the transition from point and shoot to slr that using the view finder made images much more focused and profesional looking just an opinion though.
- chrisdelta, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Live LCD previews breed poor photography form. Period. The LCD should only be used to review AFTER the image is recorded.
- Diggiee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0nice
- obezyana, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I think what seumas means is that everyone now thinks they have the ability to take "artistic" photographs.
There is a huge difference between a beautiful, creative, well-composed photograph and a casual snapshot. Many people don't see any difference whatsoever and automatically assume that a) ANY photograph is a work of art, or b) NO photograph is a work of art. Both sides are wrong. One is a work of art and the other is not.
Also, the car analogy is not a very good one. "Driving a car" is rarely seen as an art form, unless you're talking about racing or stunt driving or something like that. - mooatr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I think the pics were the best part. I did quite a lot of that before, what with using everyday objects to steady an image. I only worry about people seeing me trying to stick a camera to a lamppost.
- thestatic, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0i feel pretty cool .. i did this already :-)
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+6I think the sad thing since the invention of the digital camera is that now everyone thinks that they're a photographer.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4Yeah, whatever. And everyone who has ever been in a photograph or a polaroid is a "model".
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