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  • #448502
    smudged-blue
    Default

        :wave: Hi all,

        I thought that we could do a thread full of everyone’s best photography tips. It may help beginners to photography and give all us regular’s here new idea’s.

        Also if you have any photo’s to better show your examples by all means throw them in.

        After all aren’t these forums ment to help us learn.

        I’ve got many tips, but will kick start us of with just a couple.

        1) Keep an eye on what’s going on in your background when you take a photograph, messy backgrounds aren’t always appealing and can give the photo a completely different feel. Also make sure no poles etc… aren’t coming out of peoples heads.

        2) Try to take the time to make sure you have the correct area of interest in focus, nothing frustrates me more then when I get back home to check out my photo’s and my subject wasn’t in clear focus.

        Hope you all will decide to add your best tips for better photo’s.

        Sonia.
        My photos available as reference
        "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." ~ George Bernard Shaw.

        #525000
        Greggo
        Default

            Always take every shot from at least 4 different locations.

            Take a notebook to record location, details in case you need that info later.

            Shoot the plaque: if it has an informational plaque, always record it.

            keep turning around and around. Some of my best shots were because I am always looking everywhere, especially up and down.

            WATCH WHERE YOU ARE GOING! as you are looking thru the viewfinder stand still- do not keep walking. and I have the broken toes to prove it!!! If you think walking while texting is dangerous just ask any group of photographers about their injuries

            Greg

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            #524993
            Becky Foster
            Default

                Great tips!

                Mine are:

                1. shoot TONS of shots

                2. if the light or sky or whatever is changing, stay in the same place and keep shooting TONS of shots

                3. take light readings from different areas of your composition, and take TONS of shots of each

                4. try not to have anything dividing the image in half, vertically or horizontally (unless it somehow adds to the image, and this is rare)

                5. mood and atmosphere transform an image from snapshot to art – if you didn’t catch this in the original shot, make it happen with the editing

                Have fun!

                -Becky

                beckrobbins.com
                instagram

                When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. ~John Muir

                #524972
                Anonymous

                    Thanks for starting this thread – I predict that it will help a lot of people.

                    1) If in doubt, under-expose (I usually do this by choosing a faster shutter speed) because you can recover details hidden in the dark but not those that the sensor didn’t capture in the first place due to overexposing.

                    2) Break out of your routine: photograph a subject you never shoot, try portrait orientation more often, experiment with whatever advanced features your camera has rather than relying too much on Program Mode or Scenes Mode, give black & white a try (either in camera, or better yet in post-processing).

                    3) Get a monopod: you’ll have fewer OOF shots, it’s inexpensive, can be used in crowded or cramped places where a tripod can’t. (Also doubles as a handy carrying device – I regularly hang my grocery or other shopping bags from it when walking home. Although this sometimes make some people assume I’m a hobo or homeless person.)

                    4) Walk, don’t drive – you see lots more to shoot when on foot.

                    5) Always carry your camera (and monopod). Seems like the best shot is in front of you when you don’t have your camera.

                    #524970
                    moccasin
                    Default

                        Excellent tips so far!

                        1. Don’t shoot the whole joke – shoot the punch line.

                        Example (St John’s Wort)

                        The whole joke …

                        The punch line …

                        2. Compose your shot in the viewfinder – don’t rely on cropping your picture later. You may need those lost pixels someday.

                        3. Check your horizon – is it straight? Or is the water running out of your ocean/lake on one side?

                        4. Always edit a copy of your original photo. The original is your digital negative. If you save over it, you will never get it back.

                        Nikon D70 with Nikkor 18-70mm, Nikkor 50mm, Sigma 105mm, Sigma 70-300mm, Sigma 28-300mm lenses and a doubler! Editing in CS2 [FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly.
                        #524973
                        Anonymous

                            Sue’s excellent tip about always working with a COPY of your original file reminded me of the dangers of JPG format. JPGs use a compression algorithm to make the file smaller – that’s a good thing. But unfortunately this a “lossy” format, meaning that when the file is saved, the quality of the image immediately suffers.

                            1) Some cameras insist on saving in only JPG format. This means that right from the start the image loses quality – your camera actually takes a better picture than what is saved. If your camera saves only in JPG format, after you transfer the files to your computer, immediately save the keepers in a “lossless” format: TIFF, PNG, RAW, PSD.

                            2) Some cameras let you choose between JPG and other better (lossless) formats. Consider choosing anything but JPG. The downsides are that your files are larger, saving to the card is slower (meaning, for example, that burst mode may not be available or will be slower). But the big advantage is that you get the highest quality image – no deterioration. Some cameras even let you save in BOTH JPG and one of the better formats.

                            3) When editing your image files, be very careful if they’re in JPG format. That’s because if you open a JPG (which is lower quality already), make some edits, and then resave the file as a JPG with the same filename, you get hit with a second round of compression that causes additional image deterioration. If you do this several times, the image gets worse each time – kind of like making a Xerox copy, taking that copy and making another copy, taking that second copy and copying it yet again, and so on. After just a few iterations of making a copy of a copy, you end up with garbage. So I strongly recommend that after you save your JPG in a lossless format, do all your editing on the version in that better format. (The only good reason to ever reopen your original JPG is if something happened to the better version.)

                            And one unrelated tip:

                            If you camera has both digital and optical zoom, immediately turn off the digital zoom.

                            #525030
                            smudged-blue
                            Default

                                Thanks all who have shared there tips so far, some really excellent info to keep in mind.

                                Sue – great photo’s to show your example, really love that close up :thumbsup: .

                                Dave – Thanks for that info on format types as this was helpful for me. As JPG’s is the main format I thought it was a better one (besides RAW), have just learnt that’s not really the case.

                                1) When photographing animals or children for example get down low to there level, (rather then just standing and pointing the camera down at them) as it makes for a more interesting photo.

                                2) Most times you are best to shoot with the sun behind you. And try your best to avoid shooting in the middle of the day on sunny day’s as this is when the light is the brightest and makes it more challenging and usually overexposes everything. Your best to shot early morning or late afternoon on these type of day’s.

                                Overcast day’s are great for photography.

                                I have so many other little pointers but will hold back a little to give others the chance to add there ideas and tips.

                                Sonia.
                                My photos available as reference
                                "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." ~ George Bernard Shaw.

                                #525001
                                Greggo
                                Default

                                    Following up:

                                    When photographing a popular subject, lay down on the ground pointing up at the subject — try that. Be careful >>people will trip or step on you in busy areas.

                                    a shot in a shot in a shot can come out really well, or can be gimmicky

                                    I am always looking for the “bones” of the phot, are there strong lines?

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                                    #524974
                                    Anonymous

                                        I want to expand on what I wrote about using JPGs.

                                        If you only post your photos online (many sites – like WetCanvas, I believe – accept ONLY JPGs for posting, some also accept PNGs), or if you just email them to friends, or if you make only small prints (4×6, for example), then probably JPG is fine.

                                        But if you make larger prints (for display in your home, for sale, for gifts, for competitions) you’ll get better quality prints using one of the common lossless formats (PNG, TIFF, RAW, PSD).

                                        #525039
                                        mzzdori
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                                            If you do have your photo’s or artwork printed, you want to save the file with a resolution of around 300. The 300 is DPI, or Dots Per Inch. What this means is that when the picture is printed more color is put into each square inch. I personally always use 300 DPI when saving a photo for printing, that way I know it will render a good quality print.

                                            The resolution is set in the resizing window. Both Corel Paintshop and Adobe Photoshop work the same, so I am sure that other photo editing programs do as well, or at least close to it.

                                            There is a bit of a trick to it. In the following example I show three resizing windows for the same photo. In the first window the resolution is typically set at 72. When you change the Height or Width, the resolution will not change. However, in window two I changed the resolution to 300 and the Height and Width increased drastically. Window three shows that once the resolution was where I wanted it, changing the size back down to 600 x 400 did not affect it. I did use both Paintshop and Photoshop and have found they both react the same way.

                                            [ATTACH]789132[/ATTACH]

                                            In the following example I took a photo I have that is 600 x 400 pixels and zoomed it in 5,000%. As you can see, each pixel is a little block of color. The lower the resolution, when printing, the less fine detail the photo will have.

                                            [ATTACH]789142[/ATTACH]

                                            #525031
                                            smudged-blue
                                            Default

                                                Another one and I’m not sure if it helps with the P&S cameras though.

                                                I can get a little shaky, quite easily, knowing I have to keep still just makes me more shaky :D. I have to stand with my feet apart (usually about shoulders width), knees slightly bent (unless I’m laying flat on the ground in level with the subject) and time everything with my breathing, I take a few deep breathes as I get what I want into focus and best position in the “view finder”then I breathe out at the end of the breath I hold my breath then “click”.

                                                When I take many photo’s one after the other, so I don’t miss that moment one tends to get a little whoozy from lack of air :lol: .

                                                And if you really need extra help and to get a little more technical. You can even learn to “click” between heart beats.

                                                As funny and extreme as this sounds it’s the best way I come up with to not have such shaky results.

                                                How’s your posture when photographing?

                                                Sonia.
                                                My photos available as reference
                                                "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." ~ George Bernard Shaw.

                                                #524971
                                                moccasin
                                                Default

                                                    How’s your posture when photographing?

                                                    Posture? Shaky?

                                                    Not me!

                                                    Nikon D70 with Nikkor 18-70mm, Nikkor 50mm, Sigma 105mm, Sigma 70-300mm, Sigma 28-300mm lenses and a doubler! Editing in CS2 [FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly.
                                                    #525032
                                                    smudged-blue
                                                    Default

                                                        Sue – good to know I’m not alone :D , I had a few examples I was going to share with some cockatoo’s I snapped up a couple of months ago, add shakiness and trying to point up a tree (mouth shut of course) and it all gets a little more challenging with keeping still, However I had deleted my bad shot’s so couldn’t really show the difference of my focused breathing verses not focused.

                                                        Sonia.
                                                        My photos available as reference
                                                        "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." ~ George Bernard Shaw.

                                                        #525040
                                                        mzzdori
                                                        Default

                                                            All of your tips are great, but the shaky takey really made me go duh! Yeah, I have a lot of those kinds of pictures too. Some of them look like I was trying to take the pic while riding in a car going 35 miles an hour down a washboard road.

                                                            What made me go duh was how to try and avoid it. On occasion we go out target shooting. One of the disciplines I learned a long time ago was to breath deep and slow to steady myself and squeeze the trigger, not just pull. Well duh, that works for shooting photographs too :eek: . I don’t know why I never put the two together.

                                                            I have already learned so much by reading some of the threads. The school room is especially helpful. I am so glad I found this site. I can’t wait to do some experiments and post them for critique (In the dark room, correct?).

                                                            #524979

                                                            All of your tips are great, but the shaky takey really made me go duh! Yeah, I have a lot of those kinds of pictures too. Some of them look like I was trying to take the pic while riding in a car going 35 miles an hour down a washboard road.

                                                            What made me go duh was how to try and avoid it. On occasion we go out target shooting. One of the disciplines I learned a long time ago was to breath deep and slow to steady myself and squeeze the trigger, not just pull. Well duh, that works for shooting photographs too :eek: . I don’t know why I never put the two together.

                                                            I have already learned so much by reading some of the threads. The school room is especially helpful. I am so glad I found this site. I can’t wait to do some experiments and post them for critique (In the dark room, correct?).

                                                            I’ve not read all the thread nor am I in any way going to try and reduce the tips others may have posted.. So forgive me if you have already said it.

                                                            shakey takey, indicates to me that the subject has been brought up.

                                                            In this day and age cameras do what you tell them to do just as they always did. Only now.., they take all the manual work out of it.

                                                            My tip is.. turn the camera to manual settings.. and replace the lens with one that cannot tell the camera anything other than that light is coming through it.

                                                            Practise.

                                                            On breathing, remember to pull the trigger on release of breath.

                                                            use a sand bag.. another shooting tip..
                                                            or a drop-chain, maybe even a fence post?

                                                            The average hand held camera can stop its own movement at upwards of 60th sec. ie: you are less likely to hold a camera steady at less than 1/60th than you are above that figure.

                                                            Plus the lens droop. The longer the lens, the higher that shutter speed goes.

                                                            Then there’s the wind and other things.. If you really want to freeze wingtip feathers and keep the bird in focus, then shutter speeds need to be @ more than 1,000/sec.. preferably above 4,000/sec.

                                                            >
                                                            all that said.. A lot of my hand held photos(which is practically all of them), many of which are macro shots of less than a square inch, are taken @ 1/15th sec and less. The dew drops on spider webs in small depressions in arid country, are some of which I speak. A breath of a breeze will really muck up any chance of such shots being anywhere near recognizable at all.

                                                            Yes you can ask in the darkroom.
                                                            However I think most people into photography will see your posts in this forum as well.

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