Fedzilla_Bob
man with cat
ROFL, best I have seen all dayStuartR said:
whats really improved your photography ?
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Bertram2
Gone elsewhere
Jarvis said:
Jarvis,
from da Vinci comes the "Golden Cut", which is a different rule ,more 4 to 5 , there are numerous links in the web about it's definition.
The rule of the thirds might be a derivative, I always have it in my mind when I compose a land- or cityscape. Imho you should not give it up because of the guys in the club.
But I admit the most exciting photos are those which achieve a perfect balance and harmony together with a certain tension without following any rule. VERY difficult tho !! The true master can do it.
Best,
Bertram
kbg32
neo-romanticist
cp_ste-croix said:
Ditto, and don't forget to live life..
Cheers!
Last edited:
back alley
IMAGES
in all seriousness, my 'good shot' count went up almost immediately when i found a good editor.
she looked over my contact prints, told me which ones to print and i was a better photographer.
joe
she looked over my contact prints, told me which ones to print and i was a better photographer.
joe
Allen Gilman
Well-known
My contact sheets. The camera doesn't matter too much. i could use a rf, slr, or autofocus tank set on program and still get the same shot - same sort of action between the ol index finger and shutter button.
R
Rodinal Addict
Guest
Taking a beginning photo class at a local junior college.
This made me re-learn all the things i have known about photography starting in high school 25 years ago. It also gave me "assignments", reasons to take photos I would not normally be led to take. I'm improving some, and will continue to take more classes, as I seem to need an assignment, a clear direction or goal to strive for.
This made me re-learn all the things i have known about photography starting in high school 25 years ago. It also gave me "assignments", reasons to take photos I would not normally be led to take. I'm improving some, and will continue to take more classes, as I seem to need an assignment, a clear direction or goal to strive for.
S
Socke
Guest
What realy improved my photography was a Canon Powershot G1 and a D60 later, and reading lots of webpages 🙂
I learned more in one year with a dSLR than the 20 something befor.
I learned more in one year with a dSLR than the 20 something befor.
jshaw63
John
Computers. Seriously!
I was thinking digital, film, SLR, rangefinder or some other categories of tools that made the most difference in the way I worked and saw and decided it was computers that really made the difference. I can open digital files. I can scan film. I have replaced my darkroom with a laptop. The images are there to see and edit and I work more with them than I could in the past. The computer is a seeing tool for me. It is a light table and archive and access to a gallery.
On the shooting end any improvement has to do with taking time and better seeing and less with the particular camera used, though it helps to have access to the right tools.
John
I was thinking digital, film, SLR, rangefinder or some other categories of tools that made the most difference in the way I worked and saw and decided it was computers that really made the difference. I can open digital files. I can scan film. I have replaced my darkroom with a laptop. The images are there to see and edit and I work more with them than I could in the past. The computer is a seeing tool for me. It is a light table and archive and access to a gallery.
On the shooting end any improvement has to do with taking time and better seeing and less with the particular camera used, though it helps to have access to the right tools.
John
back alley
IMAGES
good point john.
weclome to the forum.
joe
weclome to the forum.
joe
dphotoguy
Member
Discovering Platon's portrait work (www.platonphoto.com/index.html), listen to Mary Ellen Mark speak at World Press Photo, World Press Photos, instructed by James Fee (www.JamesFee.com), and had a sit down with Chris Buck (www.ChrisBuck.com). All has help me figure out what I would like to do and what I like to shoot. Shooting a crap load of film with a RF/manual/4x5 cameras has help a great deal too. I definitely have more keepers now with film than I did with digital. Digital made me lazy and my photography actually went down hill. After discovering this forum, I stored away my D1x and purchased a RF and never looked back. This forum and people has helped a great deal too.
SolaresLarrave
My M5s need red dots!
Squat! That's my trick! 🙂
When I photograph, I consciously avoid shooting from a standing position, so I go down on my knees if I can. It's just an unusual angle but it can turn an ordinary object into something new.
Same with tilting the camera to the right or left.
And, of course, looking at other's work. I'm still looking to reproduce Rich Silfverberg's "over the shoulder" shots. You know... imitation as flattery...
When I photograph, I consciously avoid shooting from a standing position, so I go down on my knees if I can. It's just an unusual angle but it can turn an ordinary object into something new.
Same with tilting the camera to the right or left.
And, of course, looking at other's work. I'm still looking to reproduce Rich Silfverberg's "over the shoulder" shots. You know... imitation as flattery...
Gordon Coale
Well-known
The thing that improved my photography the most was a drawing class. Drawing teaches you to see.
parks5920
Well-known
Using a camera that made me have to think about what I was shooting. Being digital for the past 5 years made it all to easy for me to really not have to think about what was in front of the camera, I could always take 50 shots of the same thing and then tweak one I liked in PS. The first 3 rolls I shot with my RF were either a disaster or really nice, it's going to take a minute for me to get my 'focus' back.
Little Prince
Well-known
What has improved my photography?
...nothing?...
But I can imagine that I may improve, and that counts for something. Someone mentioned intuitition and I feel that is a good point. The thing about intuition is that you can't decide to be intuitive can you 🙂 ?
So many interesting points made here. This is a very educative thread.
Joe, you have a way of making things sound funny. Like with the editor thing. As John says, computers yeah! Without them, I woulnd't know of RFF or of practically any of the (photography) books that I have read either. I guess the only such book that I have ever got hold of without having seen some mention of it on the web is a book called 'the photographed cat'. Small digression: I see that there are many people here fond of cats. You must check this book out. It includes pictures by such luminaries as HCB, Kertesz. Orkin and many others. Looks like an old book though.
Jarvis, your words ring true ... "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". Now if only I could build relationships with existing people 🙁 . At least I must try with cameras, they're a lot easier 😀 . I also like your point about finding most of your requirements around where you live. I wish I could do that. I have some ways of rationalizing with this however. One thing is familiarity. That always seems to take something away from the whole thing. Can't quite nail it down. The other is that I always feel more free and unhindered in a strange place, where I know no one and no one knows me.
Glad to read about all your thoughts.
...nothing?...
But I can imagine that I may improve, and that counts for something. Someone mentioned intuitition and I feel that is a good point. The thing about intuition is that you can't decide to be intuitive can you 🙂 ?
So many interesting points made here. This is a very educative thread.
Joe, you have a way of making things sound funny. Like with the editor thing. As John says, computers yeah! Without them, I woulnd't know of RFF or of practically any of the (photography) books that I have read either. I guess the only such book that I have ever got hold of without having seen some mention of it on the web is a book called 'the photographed cat'. Small digression: I see that there are many people here fond of cats. You must check this book out. It includes pictures by such luminaries as HCB, Kertesz. Orkin and many others. Looks like an old book though.
Jarvis, your words ring true ... "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". Now if only I could build relationships with existing people 🙁 . At least I must try with cameras, they're a lot easier 😀 . I also like your point about finding most of your requirements around where you live. I wish I could do that. I have some ways of rationalizing with this however. One thing is familiarity. That always seems to take something away from the whole thing. Can't quite nail it down. The other is that I always feel more free and unhindered in a strange place, where I know no one and no one knows me.
Glad to read about all your thoughts.
hoot
green behind the ears
Yeah, I might have been metering wrong. Dunno what I'm doing differently now, but at the moment, my incident meter is in perfect agreement with most of my in-camera light meters. All this comparing business has been good practice for metering with my eyes, too. 😀RML said:
You know, perhaps the reason it improved my photography wasn't purely technical, after all. Just because metering more deliberately may not have had an effect on viewfinder composing (which I've always taken pains over), I suppose it did remind me that even though photographs consist of ideas, on another level they consist of LIGHT. Ignoring this fact will usually lead to a misrepresentation of the ideas behind a photograph.
hoot
green behind the ears
You're in good company. If I recall correctly, it was Imogen Cunningham who said that a great photographer should be able to create a masterpiece in their own back yard.Jarvis said:
back alley
IMAGES
anand,
i try to add a bit of humour when possible.
i was , however, serious about having an editor.
i have no editor now and i think it impacts my shooting.
i often don't like any of my pics after a shoot and in the old days after making a contact sheet, i would be get very down and not print anything.
my wife at the time was an artist/photographer with a phenomonal eye. she would take my contact sheet and after a short study would circle several shots and tell me to print them.
i would mumble and grumble my way back into the darkroom and start to print.
soon i would be thinking that this shot wasn't SO bad, and then after some more work i started to really like this shot and feel good about it.
it was the editor who ordered me back into the darkroom that did it for me.
same shot - before editing - was crap - after editing not so bad>ok>pretty good>i like it!
worked for me...
joe
i try to add a bit of humour when possible.
i was , however, serious about having an editor.
i have no editor now and i think it impacts my shooting.
i often don't like any of my pics after a shoot and in the old days after making a contact sheet, i would be get very down and not print anything.
my wife at the time was an artist/photographer with a phenomonal eye. she would take my contact sheet and after a short study would circle several shots and tell me to print them.
i would mumble and grumble my way back into the darkroom and start to print.
soon i would be thinking that this shot wasn't SO bad, and then after some more work i started to really like this shot and feel good about it.
it was the editor who ordered me back into the darkroom that did it for me.
same shot - before editing - was crap - after editing not so bad>ok>pretty good>i like it!
worked for me...
joe
S
Stephan
Guest
Buying a digital camera and going through 10000 shots in a few months for me 😛 (sorry about mentioning digital here, I'll say three "hail Adams'" and have two bloody maries 😀)
richard_l
Well-known
Learning about effective composition by studying the paintings of great representational artists and illustrators such as Winslow Homer, Maxfield Parrish, and Howard Pyle.
S
Sean Reid
Guest
Gordon Coale said:
Gordon,
I agree that learning to draw is very valuable. I studied drawing with a very old woman in Budapest and learned a lot sketching from life and making my own drawings after the old masters like Caravaggio.
Cheers,
Sean
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