Any photographers in here?

Here are some random shots from Maine and Bushkill Falls (in PA). They were taken with a Cannon G3 on auto mode. Feel free to criticize, maybe I can learn something! Seriously though, I love to take pictures, but have no training, never took a photography class, etc. Where can I go to learn about how to take better pictures and to better compose a scene to relay what I actually see?

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^^^
i like the first one and the vertical one of the waterfall.

you can try taking an online course, or even an in class course on it. or you can do what i do and just try and read up on different techniques, etc etc. i'm self taught, but i'm sure taking a class would teach me alot too. are you using a point&shoot camera or a DSLR? i have tried to read up on photography before when i only had a small point & shoot camera, and it was hard to pick up the lingo and apply it b/c my camera didn't have any settings at all. when i got my DSLR, it was easier to understand b/c i could directly apply it. i say just read up on alot of website or join some photography forums and learn from others. I'm on http://www.thephotoforum.com and http://photography-on-the.net/forum/
 
I have a few photography books, but I don't really think they are worth much. I've spent a great amount of time trying to find digital SLR based books who teach beyond the "this is a memory card, this is what you should bring w/ you, this is how you import into Photoship, this is that...." I need something beyond that.

I just got my near $2k in tax return last night and I plan on investing in some books.
 
NICE pics Brad!
a lot of photography is luck.. you either get the shot or you don't. :D
 
HorsepowerFreak said:
I have a few photography books, but I don't really think they are worth much. I've spent a great amount of time trying to find digital SLR based books who teach beyond the "this is a memory card, this is what you should bring w/ you, this is how you import into Photoship, this is that...." I need something beyond that.

I just got my near $2k in tax return last night and I plan on investing in some books.

i would say take an intermediate or advanced class specifically on digital photography. i think that would teach you more than any book will. i shoot mainly in RAW mode, so alot of it is the post processing afterwards using PS CS2.

i took this one on Saturday at a friend's house.

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ChopstickHero said:
^^^
i like the first one and the vertical one of the waterfall.
Thanks!
ChopstickHero said:
are you using a point&shoot camera or a DSLR? i have tried to read up on photography before when i only had a small point & shoot camera, and it was hard to pick up the lingo and apply it b/c my camera didn't have any settings at all. when i got my DSLR, it was easier to understand b/c i could directly apply it. i say just read up on alot of website or join some photography forums and learn from others. I'm on http://www.thephotoforum.com and http://photography-on-the.net/forum/
No DSLR as of yet. Right now I have an old Nikon 5400 with the standard lens, a telephoto and a shoe-mounted flash and a really hi-quality tripod to play with. We might be getting a D70 or D200 at work soon, so I might have a DLSR to screw with soon! The 5400 lets me adjust the aperture and f-stops and stuff, and set it to different modes like aperture priority and stuff, its ok but not great nor SLR...
I will check out the forums and read up on stuff, thanks for the links!!

HorsepowerFreak said:
I have a few photography books, but I don't really think they are worth much. I've spent a great amount of time trying to find digital SLR based books who teach beyond the "this is a memory card, this is what you should bring w/ you, this is how you import into Photoship, this is that...." I need something beyond that.

I just got my near $2k in tax return last night and I plan on investing in some books.
Nice return!! I have the same problem with some online stuff I found as your books. Teaching me how to frame a shot and not to put fingers infront of the lense...gee, thanks!

Lisakay said:
NICE pics Brad!
a lot of photography is luck.. you either get the shot or you don't.
Thanks! It took forever to get the shot of the wave breaking...slow-ass G3, even when focus locked, would lag so much I missed it a bunch!
 
ChopstickHero said:
i would say take an intermediate or advanced class specifically on digital photography. i think that would teach you more than any book will. i shoot mainly in RAW mode, so alot of it is the post processing afterwards using PS CS2.

The digital photography class that's available is only so during the day. Not to mention it does not work for my AA. So I don't see myself taking it. I think I might finish my current degree and then go to an art school for something like photography.

I haven't used RAW. But I hack the crap out of my pics in PS.
 
HorsepowerFreak said:
The digital photography class that's available is only so during the day. Not to mention it does not work for my AA. So I don't see myself taking it. I think I might finish my current degree and then go to an art school for something like photography.

I haven't used RAW. But I hack the crap out of my pics in PS.
Here's another one, where did you learn to use PS? Any good books anyone can recommend on that?
 
I have a pile of PS books... I have read a few of them. I've also taken a few classes that use the program.

I'm a 'multimedia major' so quite a few of my classes use the program. And use it quite often at work/home. The classes just give you a few ideas here and there, and every teacher will have a different aspect though. I've just learned things here and there, but just using it helps fill in the blanks.
 
HorsepowerFreak said:
The digital photography class that's available is only so during the day. Not to mention it does not work for my AA. So I don't see myself taking it. I think I might finish my current degree and then go to an art school for something like photography.

I haven't used RAW. But I hack the crap out of my pics in PS.

if you like using PS and fiddling with pictures trying to get a certain look, then you should definitely try shooting in RAW mode. It will give you a bit more control over the look of your pictures. if you don't feel like processing each one individually, you can batch process them all at one time. I personally like to touch up each one, even if it's just correct some levels, exposure, contrast, etc. i think post processing is part of the fun of photography.
 
Yeah, shooting is cool for the sake of doing something outside and thinking something might be a cool shot, but I get the enjoyment part of of editing.
 
HorsepowerFreak said:


LOL... buy it! haha

i have an old tripod that i use. it was my father's, he bought it in the early 80's. works great, works fine. a little on the heavy side, but it's pretty solid and it can hold my camera, the battery grip and a heavier lens just fine. it has the classic screw, pan and tilt head. not the fancy rotating ball heads. i guess it depends on what you like. the legs on mine have clips that you tighten and untighten to get the right length of the leg. if i had to buy a new one, i would get the one with twist legs.
 
If you guys are shooting digital, you guys need to learn how to process them in PS as well (as chopstickhero said). In fact, PS is probably the most important step to get the picture magazine quality. Of course you'll need to have good composition first.
 
Some advise for those aspiring to be a photographer, it's not simply the equipment you have, but the content you shoot. Example, I took this snap 6 years ago with a 3.2 megapixel Minolta S304 camera and I still love it today.

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I love taking pictures...aspire to be an amatuer photographer. Here are two pics I took from the grand canyon this last weekend. This first one is absolutely beautiful! I have a sony DSC-T33 5.1MP

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This one just looks cool.

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wow. any of you try to double exposure? done on a manual 35 mm camera w/ the right lighting and exposure makes pretty cool pictures.
 
I've just upgrade from a Canon Powershot A60 to a Powershot A620. 7.1 Megapixel. I read up a few things and i'm getting used to using flash fill during the day and outdoors. I keep it on Av (Aperture priority) and i'm trying to learn manual settings. One thing that's giving me trouble is learing to figure out what Aperture setting works best with what situation. Setting range is from F2.8 to F8.0. Any help on what difference it makes in the final shot and which setting I should use for say an indoor close-up, car during daylight, and say daytime landscape and sunset/sunrise?

I've got a 1 gig memory card and keep the reso and quality maxed. Never thought a 1 gig card could only hold about 500 to 600 shots. :)
 
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