whats really improved your photography ?

[DaveP]

The one thing that has turned me around is the 50mm lens. I started photograpy in the early 80's at a time when the older shooters didnt trust meters in cameras, hated zoom lenses and reguarded 50mm lenses as student lenses. I picked up on this stuff and never really shot with a 50mm until I started with the fsu cameras. using the 50 and trying to make each shot look good really honed my skills, now all the wide angle shots are much better along with tele shots. I think the 50 is still an over looked lens and I benefitted from using them greatly.

 

[vha]

For my part it helped a lot go get rid of my all too automatic slr and then got a fully manual camera with some good lenses. Automatic can be nice but when you have to fight it it´s no fun.
Use something that you know, use one type of film, one camera and a few lenses for a long time so you learn how it works together. And remember the lens cap on your rangefinder 🙂

VH

 

[sf]

now I'm really getting somewhere. . .

now I'm really getting somewhere. . .

Come to think of it, there was ONE moment when I felt as if I'd finally reached some comfortable understanding of photography basics:

I was on a trip in Northern/Central Calfornia. It was a road trip, and I brought two cameras. A Nikon D70 and a Graflex Crown Graphic. We were driving through Bishop, CA when I saw the most beautiful sky and this awesome shot across tumbleweeded and flat landscape into some blue mountains. I knew the digital was not going to cut it, so I stopped the RV, grabbed my Manfrotto tripod - heavy but REALLY sturdy, and jumped out the back. I noticed a fence in the way, and knew that if I wanted to really exxagerate my field of view, I could set up the camera on top of the RV and shoot angled down, in the terrible wind, and take the shot using an old Camera as a meter. I think it was a Canon AE-1. I metered for f16, and did some math to get an exposure for f45. I grabbed a film holder with some Velvia 100F in it, and climbed up there. The wind was terrible, but I got under the hood, focused to the hyperfocal point, took my little homemade focusing loupe, composed the image, slid the film in there, and tapped the shutter.

I knew I had finally come to the point where i could call myself a photographer because I knew what to do, I had the tools - or improvised - and bit the bullet to make things happen. It was scary to climb on top of a small RV in high wind (really high - the camera and I almost flew off) and with traffic screaming by at ungodly middle of nowhere speeds. I didn't have a focusing loupe, so I use the 50mm lens from the Canon, after metering the scene with it. I just saw the shot and knew I had to have it. And now I do. It is my prize shot and I have it in 4x5 chrome. I rule.

 

[RML]

First step was going from SLR to RF.
Next step was shooting loads of film.
Thirdly, change of location (having a GF living in Mongolia and, later, in India makes things easier).
Then came reading up on techniques and looking at photo after photo of those photogs that interest(ed) me.

Finally it all comes down to me. I have to be willing to take advantage of all those previous steps and turn them into shooting habits that will improve my shooting.
I'm now ready to start reading up on the "why" of my shooting (the philosophical reasons) and the "for what purpose" (am I shooting just for my own pleasure or am I going public with it?).

 

[cp_ste.croix]

the one thing that has caused the greatest improvement for me is practicing thinking and seeing photographically, even when i don't have a camera.

 

[Duncan Ross]

For my part it helped a lot go get rid of my all too automatic slr and then got a fully manual camera with some good lenses. Automatic can be nice but when you have to fight it it´s no fun.
Use something that you know, use one type of film, one camera and a few lenses for a long time so you learn how it works together. And remember the lens cap on your rangefinder 🙂

VH

Same here. Ditching an automatic SLR and buying a manual RF completely turned me around. And meeting everyone here on RF forum (blatant toading). 😀

 

[Doug]

I have to admit no dramatic change... no dumping of gear, just accumulating different stuff... and I think what has made the most difference for me recently anyway are these online discussions and pictures. Opening up other points of view, pondering different ideas, seeing a lot of pictures and LOOKing at them. Thank you all!

 

[zuikologist]

I have to agree. The infectious enthusiasm of RFF members and the high quality of the gallery images is an inspiration. The variety of images in the galleries is also an education in seeing things differently.

 

[varjag]

Once I made a hundred shots of a boring coffe mug and found a combination of light, framing, angle and focal length that made it look good. Since then am certain that a side of beauty can be found for any mundane object: it is very reassuring to know and removes a great part of frustration. Of course digital helped a lot with learning this fact: otherwise I'd never shot three rolls worth of a coffee mug.

Then, as I found that street photography is the genre appealing me most, owning a Kiev became the major stimulating factor. Seeing that camera makes me want to pick it, and once it in my hands it pushes me to get out and shoot.

 

[Pherdinand]

I think it's only goin' downhill for me. If I review the stuff I produced in the last 2-3 years of "serious" photography as hobby, I can see that my photos became shallow and repetitive; I have no patience to try out new ideas, after the first (unsuccessfull) try I give it up. And I am trying to subconsciently escape from this by buying more stuff which, of course, is stupid from my part.

Well, that's kinda different answer from all the rest i read here, but hey, it's my answer!

 

[Jeroen]

- My step to medium format with a Yashicamat: slowing down, metering and composing.
- Using the 50 again instead of wide angles.
- Always having my Stylus Epic in my pocket. And every now and then out of my pocket, ofcourse.

 

[hoot]

Strangely enough, it was incident metering that did it for me. I always figured that kind of stuff was for nature photographers like Ansel Adams. My biggest problem was that even when I had "The Vision" while looking through the viewfinder, the negatives (and scans or prints) never lived up to what I felt when the shutter clicked. I didn't understand why the work of famous street photographers had so much better tonality than mine (not to speak of all the other factors that made their work superior). Fact is, in-camera meters suck, plain and simple. They think the world is 18% gray. It will take some practice to get to the point of judging exposure by eye, as I'm guessing most of these famous street photographers have done. But the incident meter will do for now.

 

[RML]

Strangely enough, it was incident metering that did it for me. I always figured that kind of stuff was for nature photographers like Ansel Adams. My biggest problem was that even when I had "The Vision" while looking through the viewfinder, the negatives (and scans or prints) never lived up to what I felt when the shutter clicked. I didn't understand why the work of famous street photographers had so much better tonality than mine (not to speak of all the other factors that made their work superior). Fact is, in-camera meters suck, plain and simple. They think the world is 18% gray. It will take some practice to get to the point of judging exposure by eye, as I'm guessing most of these famous street photographers have done. But the incident meter will do for now.

Hoot, I find that the meter in my Bessa L, Besa R and Leitz Minolta CL are pretty accurate. Couple that to the fact that I tend to over-expose 1/2 to 1 stop and I end up with good tonality and plenty of detail in the shadows (while retaining enough detail in the bright areas). I tend to prefer quite contrasty lighting situations, which offer plenty of opportunity to shoot different shots with different effects (back lit, or high key, or a middled shot, for instance).

 

[Rockford]

My photographs started to get better when I got a hand-held meter. Not just because the exposures got better, but beause I started to pay attention to the light, direction, intensity, etc. Most probably do this with an in-camera meter. I was not that sharp. Great discussion by the way!

 

[Rockford]

Ought to add that, like Hoot, my Gossen will read incident light.

 

[GeneW]

Dave, I think that, like you, limiting myself to a single lens has forced me to work harder and often get better images. I love shooting with the 50mm as well. I'm currently using a 35mm lens for most of my single-lens self assignments ...

Gene

 

[TPPhotog]

With you on the single lens method. 50mm on the SLR and 40mm on the RF but I admit I have little choice with the QL17 as it's not changeable. It does make you work for the shots though and much easier to know the results that lens will give before taking the shot.

 

[Jarvis]

1. No automation what so ever
2. Handheld lightmeter
3. Spotmeter
4. Minimalism; standard lenses only 50mm for 35mm and 80mm for 6x6
5. Own processing; film development and printing
6. Sticking to standards for film, developer, development process
8. Practice
9. Keeping nots on what, when, how, etc (however boring this may be ...)
10. Constantly measuring light, even if no pictures are taken, I always carry a lighmeter with me, use of a grey card .....
11. Being able to stand Critique from others (not easy !)
12. Reading, no mesmarising standard literature, Adams, FDC ....


And the most important thing:

.... LOVE THOUGH CAMERA GEAR !

... Try not always to think of the next item you will purchase, it's not the hardware that matters, build up a relationship with excisting stuff, give it a chance ..... !!!!

 

[Rob]

Three things.
1. Bolting my camera to a tripod and promised myself I would not unbolt it for any reason for one month...Using a tripod for everything really improved what I was doing and stopped me from being a snapshooter 20 years ago.
2. Switching to slide film. Wow what a difference, I could tell if I metered correctly and the colors were so much more vibrant than prints.
3. Joining my local photo club 10 years ago, learned a lot there. Enjoyed the monthly theme compositions.

 

[stephen_lumsden]

Last year when we got married we got a digital for the wedding and honeymoon, instead of getting a dedicated photographer. Initially I thought the Kodak 6440 was good, but after going to Boston, Cape Cod and New York on honeymoon I realised that all our shots had good colour and balance all right but no real depth, and were not suitable for enlargement.

I realised that this lack of manual control tends to make everything look rather bland and in some circumstances what the camera will construe as flaws can actually be pluses, if you get my drift.

I felt I had given up on film too soon and so went back to my EOS 500, but was not happy with the kit lens and the autofocus speed.

Then, 2 things improved my photography

1.
I read up on photographyreview.com and anything else I could get my hand on , and got a better lens (28-105 3.5/3.4) and a EOS 300v. The quality of my shots went up immediately and I started shooting some slides.

2.
I got cheesed of with the bulk of the SLR setup and after seeing Canonets on EBay, checked them out on the web and got one. That led me to this site and this has also dramatically improved my b/w stuff although I have still much to learn. Have got a Kiev 4a now and the learning process goes on..
Very manual, but would not have it any other way.

rgds

Stephen

PS : the wife still uses the digital so it was no loss , really.