Discussion: Improving Your Photography

10/09/2002 08:41:52 AM · #1

DPC is a great site to provide motivation to improve. I think that participating here has been the single greatest source of improvement in my own photogrpahy. I have learned to pay attention to detail... I have learned about good composition... I have learned about subjectivity and objectivity... I have learned to appreciate alternative 'challenge' interpretations...

If you could improve any aspect of your photography skills, what would be your first choice? Let's take a look at a few different areas for improvement here and then we will start some separate threads to deal with some of the specific topics...

Azrifel

Fujifilm X100VI

10/09/2002 09:03:35 AM · #2

Originally posted by JohnSetzler :

If you could improve any aspect of your photography skills, what would be your first choice?

Subject choise, shot setup and composition.

* This message has been edited by the author on 10/9/2002 9:01:32 AM.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

10/09/2002 09:10:31 AM · #3

Originally posted by JohnSetzler :

If you could improve any aspect of your photography skills, what would
be your first choice?

Meaningful content. Having something to say. How to move on from
the 'craft' side of things.

* This message has been edited by the author on 10/9/2002 9:11:24 AM.

10/09/2002 09:16:34 AM · #4

Gordon, would meaningful content fall in line with the previous suggestion of subject choice? Would you be willing to start a thread here called "Discussion: Subject Choice & Content" and let's talk about it?

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

10/09/2002 09:21:00 AM · #5

Originally posted by Azrifel:
Originally posted by JohnSetzler :
[i]
If you could improve any aspect of your photography skills, what would be your first choice?

Subject choise, shot setup and composition.

[/i]

Azrifel, I think these are probably two different topics we could discuss... Subject choice, and setting up / composing a shot..... I think that these areas are definitely good ideas :)

LindaLee

Canon EOS-40D

10/09/2002 09:21:14 AM · #6

First choice: how to use lighting appropriately to get exactly the look I'm going for.

Second choice: knowing my camera, (and what I can get it to do), better- but hey, this part is coming along thanks to DPC.

10/09/2002 09:25:10 AM · #7

Originally posted by lhall:
First choice: how to use lighting appropriately to get exactly the look I'm going for.

Second choice: knowing my camera, (and what I can get it to do), better- but hey, this part is coming along thanks to DPC.

Two more good ideas :) Understanding your camera is key... I think we can definitely discuss that... i hope to start individual threads on each of these issues. I'm trying to solicit some assistance from a few others in doing this :)

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

10/09/2002 09:26:22 AM · #8

Originally posted by JohnSetzler :
Gordon, would meaningful content fall in line with the previous suggestion of subject choice? Would you be willing to start a thread here called "Discussion: Subject Choice & Content" and let's talk about it?

John,

I'm not sure exactly what it is I mean by it :) But I'm willing to
start a thread on it later today. I don't really think it falls under
'subject choice' so much as trying to understand how I can make my
pictures convey something beyond 'here is the thing that was infront
of my camera when I pressed the shutter'

It is almost the discussion of 'art vs photography' (which I find a
bizzare notion) that I've seen raised a few times in the forums. Not
'is photography art' but how do I get the art into my photography.

Snapshots vs pretty pictures vs interesting pictures

Meanings, motivations and means to an end.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6G ED

10/09/2002 10:22:58 AM · #9

Is anyone interested in helping with some of these individual issue threads?

DougPaz

Nikon D40

10/09/2002 10:33:38 AM · #10

Originally posted by lhall:
First choice: how to use lighting appropriately to get exactly the look I'm going for.

Lighting is a big issue for me. Mostly indoor stuff. I would love some pointers on how to set up for a shot with limited access to any "studio lighting." What can you do with a couple of desk lamps and such. What wattage, what do you look for etc. The shots that Gordon had in the forums earlier this week with the wine glasses is a good example. I saw them and wondered a lot how they were set up and taken. I haven't had a chance to ask him yet.

The other thing for me is that I would like to know more about post-production. I have very limited experience in Photo Shop/Paint Shop Pro. I would like to know more about what you look for in regards to Hue/Saturation, Curves, contrast, etc. This would be a huge help. I generally just play around with stuff until I like the look but I know there has to be a better way than that.

I like to think that I generally have a pretty good eye for a shot but I also kind of feel as if any success I've had on DPC is more luck than skill and I would like to learn to turn that around the other way.

Seeker

Canon EOS-30D

10/09/2002 11:08:24 AM · #11

John - excellent thread, for a while there I thought all the forums were going to be just discussions on peoples attacks, arguments and frustrations. I really, really need some of the information this thread is attempting to bring on board.

One of the things I just learned had to do with the "compression" of light ranges of the camera/film/sensor versus the human eye. A whole new world opened up when it finally sunk in that what I see through the viewfinder is not necessarily what is going to show up in the shot. Most people are not aware that their camera can only record 4-5 fstops worth of exposure while the scene may contain dozens. Anyone out there with more on this?

* This message has been edited by the author on 10/9/2002 11:07:11 AM.

aelith

Olympus C-3020Z

10/09/2002 11:08:46 AM · #12

I suppose croping would be part of the composition discussion.

There could also be threads for the different types of photos: What makes a good portrate, lanscape, abstract, etc.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

10/09/2002 11:12:32 AM · #13

Originally posted by DougPaz:
Originally posted by lhall:
[i]First choice: how to use lighting appropriately to get exactly the look I'm going for.

The other thing for me is that I would like to know more about post-production. I have very limited experience in Photo Shop/Paint Shop Pro. I would like to know more about what you look for in regards to Hue/Saturation, Curves, contrast, etc. This would be a huge help. I generally just play around with stuff until I like the look but I know there has to be a better way than that.

I like to think that I generally have a pretty good eye for a shot but I also kind of feel as if any success I've had on DPC is more luck than skill and I would like to learn to turn that around the other way.
[/i]

For post-production, I haven't found many better explainations than
the one
here

You may well find it overkill for most pictures, but it at least explains
the steps in the process. There are also several other good tutorials
there, such as the curves primer.

As to your lighting question, this
shows ths setup I used for the red wine shot, and the white wine shot
was very similar, except with the place covered with white sheets, rather
than black card. Lighting was via walmart 500W work lights and canon
speedlite 420EX flash.

Post production plays an important part of doing these sorts of shots,
particularly if you want to use a cheapo lighting setup. White balance
was set in photoshop and also used a tungesten white balance, which moves
the rather warm/ yellow worklight lighting to a cooler/bluer white point.

You might also find some of the stuff I wrote here
useful in terms of workflow. I need to update it as I don't tend to
do the linear processing components much any more, which is again I think
part of my current desire to move away from being too concerned with
the technical aspects, towards actually taking rewarding pictures.

I'd suggest reading through these various workflow things, trying some
of it out on your own pictures, and take from it what works for you.

I usually do the following

Import image.
Initial crop/ framing if needed
Dust/ scratches fixing if needed.
Adjust colour, firstly for brightness/ contrast then saturation.
If needed I may set a whitebalance using the Levels command, or inspect
the histogram with the histogram command. Typically then I apply
a contrast stretching "S" shaped curve to the image.
At this point I do any cloning that needs to be done (but not for dpc, obviously)
Convert image to 8 bit from 16 bit (better to do all the colour
manipulation on 16 bit images - more space/ colour buckets to move
things about - do curves/ levels work on an 8 bit image and it gets
quite quantised, quite quickly which is unpleasent. You can also
use adjustment layers in 8bit mode to avoid a lot of these problems,
and then apply the final version.

resize picture to final size e.g., 640x480 for web display.
Sharpen, using KPT equaliser.

Save for web and upload.

* This message has been edited by the author on 10/9/2002 11:22:44 AM.

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical DF for Canon

10/09/2002 11:14:52 AM · #14

Post processing is really a different idea than what I had originally intended here. We can definitely talk about it though, and I agree that cropping/resizing is a big issue. However, on the new and improved version of DPC, you will not be restricted to two specific size ratios, so I really think that most of that problem will go away.

I want to stay on the photographic side of these questions for a while and focus on the camera itself. How can I improve my photography with the camera? What is missing in my photos? What do I need to do to make my photos more impactive?

I am compiling a list from this thread... I would like to start individual threads on quite a few of these topics to see if some answers and help can be delivered :)

MarkRob

Canon EOS-50D

10/09/2002 11:35:11 AM · #15

Originally posted by lhall:
First choice: how to use lighting appropriately to get exactly the look I'm going for.

Second choice: knowing my camera, (and what I can get it to do), better- but hey, this part is coming along thanks to DPC.

I wholeheartedly agree with this one... You could title it, "Where do I put the Freaking Desk Lamp?" It's all I got now, and I don't know how to use it!

magnetic9999

Canon EOS-20D

10/09/2002 12:16:48 PM · #16

Please have a look at

Simple Lighting Tutorial by Magnetic9999

This might be helpful to you :).

Originally posted by MarkRob:
Originally posted by lhall:
[i]First choice: how to use lighting appropriately to get exactly the look I'm going for.

Second choice: knowing my camera, (and what I can get it to do), better- but hey, this part is coming along thanks to DPC.

I wholeheartedly agree with this one... You could title it, "Where do I put the Freaking Desk Lamp?" It's all I got now, and I don't know how to use it!

[/i]

jimmsp

Canon EOS-60D

Tamron SP 24-70mm F/2.8 Di VC USD for Nikon

10/09/2002 12:33:32 PM · #17