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10/19/2007 03:23:52 PM · #26 |
Originally posted by mouten:
Originally posted by scarbrd:
I'll throw equipment into the mix as well. (...) when I upgraded my gear my scores and placement went up.(...). Maybe the better gear made up for a lack of PP skills. |
You mean equipment like in :
"a Minolta DiMAGE 7 can make you  Joey Lawrence or  whiterook"
Just teasing you david. But I always thought that equipment lead to better score only because people improve over time and in parralel buy better gear. Trying to short circuit experience with better gear... not fully convinced. However it's true that some lenses beyond the kit lens and some lighting and such equipment can definitely help. I'm much more doubtfull about camera body. For example I thought about buying the 40D, but just told myself: not until I feel that I am actually constrained by my 350D.
But I may not be the best placed to judge. |
You're just saying that becuase you edged me out of 2 challenges, Natural Light Portrait and School Days: Music with your 350D! ;-)
I didn't mean to imply that equipment made the photographer, but rather better equipment CAN make a good photographer better. I did notice your top scoring images were taken with the 85mm 1,8, not the kit lens. And I do think lenses are more important to image quality than are cameras.
Originally posted by mouten:
I do however strongly agree on your second point re. PP. PP skills help A LOT. If you have you basic composition and lighting skills ok, I would urge anyone to invest some time in PP.
And then of course all what the other said about work, planning, trying and testing etc.
Well I'm really only starting all that myself... |
I think it's a combination of things and no one rule set is 100%. You can win a ribbon with a grab shot and no planning. My PB is just that. The OP was aksing how to break through a plateau.
BTW Nicolas, I really like your work! |
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10/19/2007 04:01:34 PM · #27 |
Things that helped me:
> Do domething you've never done or use a prop you've never used.
> Plan on using a tri-pod (or rock).
> Drama. The composition itself or at least the subject needs drama.
> HAve A cooperative model (mine is me).
> Shoot in RAW for more processing options (processing can make or break you of course).
> After you have some shots to work with - focus on processing - I tend to go too far sometimes, but color and contrast can add emotion.
> Have someone else take a look - if they say "oh my!" or "WOW" then try another person, if they say the same you might be 7-ish in my experience.
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10/19/2007 04:08:08 PM · #28 |
No one ever starts threads about that - - that would be a good idea: Topic: "Images about 7.0 that I can't stand" ;P ... I'm too scared to start it though!
Originally posted by msieglerfr:
There are some pictures with rates higher than 7.0 that I really can't stand... |
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10/19/2007 04:32:03 PM · #29 |
I have noticed two things I really need to work on.
1 - I took about 50 shots and thought they looked pretty good. The next day I looked at them again and thought they all looked like crap so I re-shot that night. And did the same thing again. But the next day I still thought they were fairly good. So I did all my PP that night and submitted.
2 - has to do with my PP. I came back and looked at the picture and my PP again the next day and wasn't too pleased. I will always try and take a break (or a night) and come back and look at my PP the next day. I also noticed that the picture I choose to do my PP on wasn't as good as I thought and I found a picture I wish I would have used. I tried PP that one and still after 4 days I think its still much better than my entry!
I guess in review - time to step back and get a 2nd perspective or a fresh view???? |
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10/22/2007 05:38:17 PM · #30 |
Originally posted by treimee:
...I guess in review - time to step back and get a 2nd perspective or a fresh view???? |
I've even edited to where I thought it looked "great" and then when I'm all but finished, I'll let my wife look it over. There's been more than once that she'll point out something that I had totally overlooked because I was concentrating on some other aspect of the image.
Getting that 2nd look or opinion can help you "think outside the box" if you feel like you're in one.
Please take my comments with a grain of salt as I still qualify as a NOOB here. I'm still trying to learn from experience and others input.
Go get 'em! Brandon
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10/22/2007 05:42:56 PM · #31 |
I find I can only consistently do it if I shoot things I'm not particularly interested in, in a style I don't much like. Not sure if that is helpful advice or not though.
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10/22/2007 05:47:18 PM · #32 |
Originally posted by DrAchoo:
Looking back at the files for my last few shots above 6.5 I find:
Macro: ~175 shots, multiple days
Flora: ~70 shots, two days
Deja Vu: ~100 shots, multiple days
Rural Landscape: ~100 shots, one day.
You see the pattern. |
Conversely, my most recent score of a 6.8 was the first of 6 frames, taken on the way back to the car after several beers at lunch. I think different people have different processes that can lead to strong images. It doesn't have to require lots of retakes and multiple days of shooting. That may work for you but totally kill the creativity of someone else. I don't believe there is a recipe as such, just what works for someone to access their creativity. You can over think a composition. Quite often that first instinctive frame is the best of a sequence.
I'm often at my most creative after a couple of days not sleeping. The more strung out and tired I get, the more creatively I seem to solve problems or make connections. For others, that totally shuts them down.
Message edited by author 2007-10-22 17:55:34.
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