webmonkey.com— "To become a more effective photographer, shoot a lot more pictures. Here are a few key tips: Free yourself from the viewfinder..Shoot more images in one setting..Shoot now, edit later..Plan for post."
Apr 9, 2006View in Crawl 4
2 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.
Yeah, purists never create great.Y'know except for most of the photographers, filmmakers, painters and artists of note.But yeah, aside from those f**ks, not a damn thing.
Good 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 picturesbut 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 higherErm, this comment is far to long now.. Oh well- Ben
I 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.
livet0skiApr 9, 2006
nice article... I like the images they have of the red guy taking pictures. i know it will help me taking pics.
Closed AccountApr 9, 2006
2 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.
rndm_tngntApr 9, 2006
Yeah, purists never create great.Y'know except for most of the photographers, filmmakers, painters and artists of note.But yeah, aside from those f**ks, not a damn thing.
diggieeApr 9, 2006
nice
Closed AccountApr 9, 2006
Good 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 picturesbut 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 higherErm, this comment is far to long now.. Oh well- Ben
obezyanaApr 9, 2006
I 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.