First time photographer

[hauntedheadnc]

I'm not sure this is the right forum for this post, but I hope so. I'm also hoping that you seasoned veterans can help me.

I received for Christmas a digital camera, like I've been wanting for a very long time now. I know that most of the really great picture-takers in the City Photos section have all sorts of expensive and fancy cameras that I wouldn't know what to do with, and I know my little cheapo Kodak Easyshare won't compare. However, I'm hoping for some tips so that I can still take respectable pictures.

I'd like to be able to contribute my own photos to the forum, and I don't want to them to suck, in other words. Can anyone give me some tips for that?

[Ninjatune]

2 things...

*keep the sun behind you
*learn photoshop

and i'm totally serious.. no sarcasm here... learn how the camera works and the rest will follow/develop.. practice parctice practice...

[mSeattle]

I'll build on Ninja's advice.

Cary it: Take it with you as often as you can, wherever you go (like a part of your body). You never know what you'll see.

Photo Editing: Photoshop is a pretty penny. I'd love to get it and see what all the fuss is about but it's too expensive for me. You might find some other products that are helpful at a lower price. Photo Impact is one I know of but there are probably more.

The Sun: Keep the sun beside you too and get a polarizer filter if your camera can fit lens filters. Let it get in front of you only if you're doing silhouettes.

[i_am_hydrogen]

Experiment. Just go out and try different settings. Learn from your mistakes and your successes.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Picassa will let you do some basic corrections for fill light/highlights/shadows and it's free. It's not detailed like Photoshop, but for free it's decent and will give you a bit of an idea the difference adjustments can make before you lay out some money on a program and a longer learning curve.

Composition is the best thing you can do for your photos. Watch the photo threads and see how different people compose things. Given one subject, everyone will shoot it differently. Try to decide what you think is important in the photo and what you want to say about it. If you can go out with other people and shoot the same subject, do it and compare compositions. Your eye is your most valuable asset.

After that I would concentrate on using exposure compensation, the various light metering options, and AE Lock if you've got it.

Just go out and take pictures, lots of them. Photography is a learning experience and you just have to do it and have fun.

[volguus zildrohar]

Experience is the greatest teacher. You absolutely must pore over the manual to learn the mechanics of the camera but the tech know-how isn't going to teach you what's best in every situation, it isn't going to teach you when you shouldn't bother trying to get a shot, it isn't going to teach you how to look and what to look for and neither can anyone else. For the first two years or so I had my camera that thing went with me everywhere except the shower and I tried using it in every condition - bright sun, overcast, hazy days, fog, rain, snow, dusk, dawn, high noon, 2am. I'd recommend you start yourself out shooting in simple conditions paying very careful attention to lighting and composition. How you fill the space of your frame is almost as important as what you're filling it with and always get it in the best possible light. You'll develop an eye for more thoughtful or expressive shots as you go on but at the start, learn how to point and shoot, how to adjust and how to make the camera's lens see exactly and only what your eye wants it to see.

[DTO Luv]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

I'm not sure this is the right forum for this post, but I hope so. I'm also hoping that you seasoned veterans can help me.

I received for Christmas a digital camera, like I've been wanting for a very long time now. I know that most of the really great picture-takers in the City Photos section have all sorts of expensive and fancy cameras that I wouldn't know what to do with, and I know my little cheapo Kodak Easyshare won't compare. However, I'm hoping for some tips so that I can still take respectable pictures.

I'd like to be able to contribute my own photos to the forum, and I don't want to them to suck, in other words. Can anyone give me some tips for that?

That sounds like how I got started. I got a Kodak Easyshare camera for Christmas a few years ago and just a few weeks ago finally got a pro camera.

I looked at some pictures I took with my Kodak after I first got it and cringed at some of them. The more pictures you take the more you'll figure out what works and what doesn't. Even if you don't have the greatest photo editing software tool around with what you have. I think photography should be fun so don't think too hard about it.

It would also help if you could get in touch with some local photagraphers where you live. I'm on an Omaha forum with about 3 other photographers from paid professionals to amateaurs and we all give each other pointers from time to time.

Here are some pointers that worked with my Kodak that hopefully will work for you.

-Shoot with the sport/action setting so your pictures will blur less.

-I know this might sound really cheap but take a few pictures you want developed, take them into Walmart and they will give you a photo editing program called PictureIt. It's a Microsoft program and I've used it for all of my pictures and it actually works really well.

-When you get a tripod and are taking pictures at night use the timer on the camera. This way you don't have to touch the camera (which will blur the image) and your night shots will come out WAY clearer than if you tried to hold the camera in your hand.

To give you some ideas of what you can do with a Kodak Easyshare and PictureIt here are some I've done that are as good as my Canon 20D.

[hauntedheadnc]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I've been playing around with the camera and have actually managed to capture one or two pictures worth keeping already. I need a few accessories before I'm ready to start trying out for the City Photos thread, but hopefully it won't be too long...

[flar]

You'll be able to get many good photos with your Kodak. I've been using an Easyshare z760 on all my threads. It does have its limitations, and I'd certainly rather have a nice DSLR, but for now the Kodak does fine. I have a tripod and a wide angle conversion lens. Photos that are scaled down sometimes look clearer and sharper with unsharp mask applied (but don't overdo it). Hopefully your model has lots of manual settings, mine does, but lacks manual focus, which is frustrating. However you can often trick the autofocus to get what you need. Most important is just to take lots of pictures, and be patient and take the same picture over and over with different conditions and settings till you get it right.

[Lexy]

Originally Posted by Ninjatune

2 things...

*keep the sun behind you
*learn photoshop

and i'm totally serious.. no sarcasm here... learn how the camera works and the rest will follow/develop.. practice parctice practice...

Good points. If I may add to that, keep the shots as level as you can, and center you subjets if you are trying to capture a particular "thing". If not, then do as you wish on the composition of the shot. Let the camera do the work, you just push the button. <<<That is the hardest thing to learn right there.

[MJPhilly]

Some pretty good advice here, especially what Volguus said: take a lot of pictures in a lot of different conditions. I have no formal training but I've taken about 200,000 shots in the last 3 1/2 years. If you do that and spend time developing your craft, you'll improve.

Another recommendation would be to take a few of your best shots - ones you think are absolutely perfect - and post them for serious critique. Unfortunately, they won't be perfect, and you can learn a lot of the finer points that way. Putting shots up on this forum usually results in comments of "great pics!" from almost everyone. Sometimes it's frankly not true, but a lot of us aren't about to jump in and give someone a serious critique when they haven't asked for it.

So, when posting your pics, ask for that serious critique, swallow your pride, and take the suggestions. When considering the suggestions, know your source. Everyone will have advice, but take the advice from people whose photos you admire.

City Photos on this forum is not the place to get critique, since most readers there are urban enthusiasts and maybe picture takers, but not serious photographers. In that situation, people tend to judge the beauty of the subject matter rather than the quality of the photo. (IE, a mediocre photo of the NYC skyline would get more praise than a better photo of an ordinary streetscape.)

General Photography is better, since many of the more proficient photographers on SSP visit here. But I would recommend going to other forums that are more centered specifically on photography. I found ThePhotoForum.com to be pretty good. They have a section for critique.

99% of pros use photoshopping to some degree, so don't be discouraged from it by those who say their pics weren't edited at all. Usually when I see that, my thoughts are "they needed to be." Just don't overdo it. People will tell you if you've overdone it as part of the critiques.

Good luck and take a lot of shots!

[MJPhilly]

Originally Posted by Lexy

center you subjets if you are trying to capture a particular "thing".

No beef with Lexy but I would have to disagree with this. His photography is good so I'm probably misunderstanding or saying the same thing he was trying to say with the rest of his post.

Anyway, there are exceptions to every situation, but centering a subject, which is a natural thing to do at first, often makes the composition bland. Look up the "rule of thirds." It's not necessarily a rule, but a good thing to consider.

[LSyd]

try all of the above suggestions, and take a lot of pictures in lots of settings, play with the different features, compare, see what you like, fuck the critics, and have fun.

-

[TheMeltyMan]

I'm in the same situation as you haunted head. I just got my first camera for Christmas and all I can say is I just started snapping photos left and right. A little minor technical advice here seems to help out but just enough to steer you along at your own pace. I think i've had some beginner's success just going around and taking as many pictures as possible, and honing in on what seems to work. Before my Powershot died a week ago, I was taking pics in classrooms, dates (haha), between classes, in the metro, etc. I don't really have many other hobbies here but nothing beats just wandering around taking pictures until your batteries run out or frostbite sets in.

[Lexy]

Originally Posted by MJPhilly

No beef with Lexy but I would have to disagree with this. His photography is good so I'm probably misunderstanding or saying the same thing he was trying to say with the rest of his post.

Anyway, there are exceptions to every situation, but centering a subject, which is a natural thing to do at first, often makes the composition bland. Look up the "rule of thirds." It's not necessarily a rule, but a good thing to consider.

If I take a picture of this...



I don't want it to be off-center in any way. It is a descrioptive photo that is showing a particular focal point, that being the tower in the middle. Of course, you can get artsy with it and angle the shot, or the camera, but that would serve no purpose but to confuse the viewer in this case. A shot like this should be centered and straightened to the max. That's what I was talking about. Centering a shot doesn't always make a shot bland, but sometimes adds a bit of character to it or professionalism that is otherwise lost. It depends on the shot and what you are shooting.

[MJPhilly]

I agree with you on that photo, I only bought it up because you mentioned it as general advice, and I don't think it applies quite so generally. For skyscraper shots, especially of a single building, you're absolutely correct.

[Lexy]

Originally Posted by MJPhilly

I agree with you on that photo, I only bought it up because you mentioned it as general advice, and I don't think it applies quite so generally. For skyscraper shots, especially of a single building, you're absolutely correct.

No prob. To be honest, one of the first things they teach you in photo school is centering your subject. If you are a first timer to it, do it the basic way for a while, and then when you get more comfortable with it let the artsy stuff come out. Kinda like a crawl before you walk type thing. Again, it's not a big deal. LOL!!!

[Smevo]

With a digital camera, you have a tonne of freedom to just point and shoot and pick out the best. You probably just have a small memory card that came with it, so I'd pick up a larger one, and the more successful shots you have, the more you can include in City Photos or here in General Photography or in your regional subforum as the case may be. Only thing I can say is, if you see something you like, it could be the way the lighting is or it could be as simple as "hey, there's a dumpster in the alley between these two brick buildings with graffiti on them", then take the picture. Don't be shy, a lot of different types of photography styles get really good responses in City Photos, so develop a style of your own through practice and figuring out what combination of lighting, subject, and weather is giving you the photos you like best.

As for photo-editing, I personally have yet to use it for more than stitching panoramas, but that may be one of the reasons my threads usually die off pretty quickly in City Photos, or it could be that the vast majority of my threads are small cities and towns in Atlantic Canada, or a combination of both.

Start with what you've got and improve from there. I started with a beat up film camera and paying for Kodak Picture CD's when I got the film developed because I wanted to represent my area on here, and I am now using a 3MP Fuji digital camera, so like I said, use what you've got and you might be surprised at what turns out.

But definitely commit the suggestions from the above forumers to memory to be pulled out at an instant's notice. The forumers above definitely know what they're doing.

[Smevo]

Originally Posted by MJPhilly

99% of pros use photoshopping to some degree, so don't be discouraged from it by those who say their pics weren't edited at all. Usually when I see that, my thoughts are "they needed to be." Just don't overdo it. People will tell you if you've overdone it as part of the critiques.

Just noticed this. MJPhilly is right, if you have access to photo-editing software, don't be discouraged from using it. Personally, I just don't have the time. All I was saying above was if you don't have access to photo-editing software, don't be discouraged from posting your photos unedited.

[RaoulDuke]

Originally Posted by Smevo

Just noticed this. MJPhilly is right, if you have access to photo-editing software, don't be discouraged from using it. Personally, I just don't have the time. All I was saying above was if you don't have access to photo-editing software, don't be discouraged from posting your photos unedited.

Of course, everyone uses photo-editing software so don't be shy to use it. Even in the darkroom days, photographers had various techniques to do things like burn and dodge images to darken shadows or bring details out of highlights. Anyway, photo editing gives you a lot of control and can help you drastically improve your images if done right.

Two important corrections that you'll find yourself having to make in many instances are noise reduction and sharpening using unsharp mask.

I've put up two tutorials on noise reduction and sharpening using unsharp mask if you want to give them a try. Let me know how they work for you.