Becoming a better photographer

Interesting thread indeed.
Ola, the most important advice I've read here was already in the second post (first answer) shoot, review, improve.
Unless you are an exceptional character, no one is able to review i.e. criticize his own work absolutely honestly. If you are able to do that you would have taken better pictures in the first place. So most important and most difficult task : to find an honest reviewer of the prints and discuss what's wrong/needs improvment and why. Good luck and have fun.
 
icebear said:
Interesting thread indeed.
Ola, the most important advice I've read here was already in the second post (first answer) shoot, review, improve.
Unless you are an exceptional character, no one is able to review i.e. criticize his own work absolutely honestly. If you are able to do that you would have taken better pictures in the first place. So most important and most difficult task : to find an honest reviewer of the prints and discuss what's wrong/needs improvment and why. Good luck and have fun.
Click to expand...


I could not agree more...
 
You have lots of advice here so I might not add much. Any camera you buy will have some quirks you do not like. Concentrate on what that camera does well. You are right about heavy dslr's. Even a Leica M6 will not take a good photo if you leave it at home. I would avoid the scanner route for now as you don't become a better photographer sitting in front of a scanner for hours. This I know. I would go film but turn its expense into an advantage: really concentrate on each shot and don't blaze away as you can with digital.
Last, look at thousands of images on the net and in books and see what really grabs you. Best wishes from this old photographer. I hope it is as big a joy for you as it still is for me.
 
Here is a shot from last weekends bouldering trip that I´m somewhat pleased with. I´m posting it here as proof that I´m trying, and I´m also curious to hear feedback from non-climbers

What I like:
+There is some harmony between the climbers body and the crackline he´s following
+the trees kind of fades him in
+although you don´t see his face (a big no-no in most climbing shots) it´s fairly interesting.

What I dislike
-the bright "crash pad" bottom right. These are a necessity for bouldering, unless you want a lot of broken ankles that is.
-You don´t see the top out - deliberatly cropped out because the sky was properly blown
-If his right foot was placed in the right crack-line it would have been better (i think)
-The climb looks easy,because it´s a crack, and not scary because it´s only 3 feet above ground. Makes it unappealing to non-climbers??

Click the image to see it larger.
 
IMHO, the trees sort of get in the way of subject, and the pad at the bottom could have been cropped out. In fact, if you cropped the ground completely out, then there would have been an illusion of height.

I think this one's better:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22450452@N05/2609118092/

But you could crop the ground in this one also, to make the climber seem higher up. Maybe lower your vantage so the climber's hand is intersecting the skyline... also try a horizontal layout so the right two-thirds of the picture can be a landscape shot of the background...

(Just some ideas... )
 
Having a look at your Flickr account I see the seeds of some good images but clearly you need to be shooting tighter/closer. The two nature photos are your strongest ones from my perspective.
 
Hi Ola,

here some ideas after the first glance......;)

The first impression is as follows:

A person is walking with his dog and suddenly he sees a climber. Hmmm, interesting but not so dramatic. He moves off and the dog is sniffing somewhere else.....:D

You should try to tell a story. Here is my:

Get much closer as told above. I, as a non climber should feel the strain? in my two feet carrying the weight of my body....

SHOW that through a close distance, you have to lay on the ground - the parallel view to the rock and the over-pronounced underside of the shoes with it's marks tells something to us.

Or, try to make a more graphical drawing BUT get rid of the small tree it disturbes a lot.

The other story is to get closer to a hand or two. This is more 'pulling' the climber. The arms are becoming a bit longer due to a close-up distance but this is ok.

In your pics about climbing we should smell the sweat - than it's ok!

Try to avoid the regular 6 feet height shot - because this we see as average adults the rest of our lifes.*

*some are taller.....:D

Cheers
Bernd
 
Ola, I like it.

I think your intuition helped, as you composed for the crack dividing the frame in four parts that in some way make the shot dynamic and stable at the same time... Cartier-Bresson used to say that the decisive moment was a geometrical moment... Take out the bottom pad. I don't feel disturbed by the bushes or trees: they make me feel there surrounded by nature. His effort is clear as comes from his hand in the crack. Color, focusing and exposition look fine too. Well done!

Now forget it and shoot more...

Cheers,

Juan
 
I am wanting to become a better photographer. I am moving out on my own soon. And I want to take some real good pictures and put them on my wall. My aunt and I are going to get our pictures taken with each other and I am not sure if we should get it in black and white or color. Anyone have some ideas on what color I should use?
 
You're no different than the majority of people around you. Everyone wants something but most aren't willing to put out the effort for it whether it's losing weight, getting rich or being a great photographer. Look at the fad diets and instant weight loss drugs out there. Sleep and lose weight and never exercise. It doesn't work that way. Make millions in your spare time working for home. I made $5XXXXX in one week in my spare time. It doesn't work so if you're not willing to work and work hard then move on to another hobby. Some people can be artists and others no matter how much they work can never be more then average at best. Some people have the aptitude and others do not.

Quit worrying about equipment and get a simple P&S and work on composition and then on your other skills. When you have that down then move up. You're wasting your time and money on analog. I suspect you'll shelve it after two or thee failures and chalk it up as too much work.

Excuse my direct comments. I've had many students just like you.
 
thank you ever so much for the advice you're giving me, it is all appreciated.

If you have any book reccomandations, please feel free to share them. (preferably those still in print).

-ola
 
Two things have really helped me.

1. Martin Parr very rightly said: shoot the things that interest you, not the things you think you should be interested in.

and

2. Enjoy yourself.

I do agree very much with what has been said here too, equipment isn't the magic bullet, settle on a camera that is pleasing to use and then really work it and it may take some time but if your ideas are strong enough, they'll begin to shine through eventually.

Vicky
 
ola.b said:
thank you ever so much for the advice you're giving me, it is all appreciated.

If you have any book reccomandations, please feel free to share them. (preferably those still in print).

-ola
Click to expand...

Are you looking for books of photographs or books of technique? If the latter, all you really need are the three Adams books (Camera, Negative & Print).

The real fun is finding the books that contain photography that grabs you by the throat, shakes you like a cat shakes a mouse and makes you just want to go shoot. An example of this, for me, was "End of an Era" by David Plowden or his "The American Barn". This is not to say I want to buy a Hassy and make images exactly like his, but they fill me with the desire to get out and make the best images I possibly can.

The books that will do that for you are up to you to find.

William
 
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