How to take great photos - can't miss !

[velvet4269]

Originally Posted by jiminyClickit

kirbinster,

It isn't how many photos you take. If you're still getting 99 unsatisfactory shots, you haven't been paying attention. Practice is essential, but it has to mean something, as a source of learning. Otherwise you're just burning up batteries and wasting your time.

When I first took my friend's DSLR out for a test-spin, I took a bit over 200 photos. As the days went on, I found I was taking fewer and fewer photos; not because I was finding fewer things to take pictures of, but because I (at least felt that I) was getting better: composition was getting better, and I was playing with more things (manual focus, changing apertures & shutter speeds, etc).

I won't say I'm still getting 99 unsatisfactory shots, but I'm certainly taking less & deleting less. I take that as a good sign.

[jiminyClickit]

velvet4269,

You can see that over the past few months of posts here, too. Often along with the learning is a conscious decision of what you find pleasurable to photograph. No longer "anything and everything," you become specific in your subjects. So fewer and better makes sense. Hope it's less trouble and more fun, too!

[Richard Britt]

About the number of picture you take hoping for a good shot. There is a middle ground here. If the image, seen, landscape etc is appealing and time permits I first shot with purpose. Framing, composer, DOF verses blur, focus, filters may all be considered then take a few shots while varying the settings. Before I quit or move on I will shot a few in auto mode. All in all may twenty if it is something that will be hard to return to or may not be there again.

I suggest several memory cards. When I take one out to view on the computer I immediately slide in another one. I have not seen the “no memory card err” after starting this practice.

Leave the camera in auto mode – auto focus, I have found the processors in these cameras quit good and when time is sort you have the best chance of getting the good shot with the first click.

[blinsky]

Recently I have made a move back towards medium format, and I have done it via the unique plastic 'toy' camera dubbed the Holga. It takes 120 film, you get 12 exposures if you are shooting 6x6, it has 2 f stops, thats right, 2, you get f8 and f11, it has one shutter speed, 1/100 (approx) and thats all you get. If you google Holga Images you will find that because of the natural defects in the poorly made body and lens, Holga exposures have a tendency to produce quite a creative effect, including vignettes, light leaks, and soft focus...

I am posting this b/c the thread is 'How to take great photos'. If you can get a few great photos from a roll of 12 with a Holga, then you have mastered the ability of patience, which is something the digital world is taking away from us. We go out and shoot 1000 images at a wedding, and only keep 30% of them...someone had said 'its a numbers game', well that doesnt sound like photography to me, it kind of sounds like economics...and i didnt get into photography to become a 'salesman' either...Shooting with a Holga with 12 exposures to work with forces one to be creative and patient, to enjoy the mystery of photography and to build the suspense of the 'great shot'...there's nothing like pulling a 'keeper' out of the tray.

B

[jdepould]

I think a holga also costs about as much as a roll of film too.

[velvet4269]

Originally Posted by jiminyClickit

velvet4269,

You can see that over the past few months of posts here, too. Often along with the learning is a conscious decision of what you find pleasurable to photograph. No longer "anything and everything," you become specific in your subjects. So fewer and better makes sense. Hope it's less trouble and more fun, too!

Absolutely - and while I'll still occasionally take multiple shots of the same image, it's typically because in that split second review on the LCD display, I'll have decided that the exposure was off, or my angle is off, or the darn thing moved right as the shutter released, and NOT because "I have no idea what I'm doing, so let's just see what I can get."

.oO(Of course, I'm still convinced I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm getting there )

[blinsky]

Originally Posted by jdepould

I think a holga also costs about as much as a roll of film too.

Yes, Holga's cost around 20 twenty bucks. I am quickly appreciating the kind of discipline it takes to produce a 'quality' image with this camera...I feel it can only help in our digital world.

When i'm shooting a wedding or event or portrait session I take one shoulder bag worth of digital equipment, in my opinion if it doesn't fit in my shoulder bag then I don't need it...and I absolutely throw my Holga and a few roles of 400 in their too!

Can't say enough good things about it, master a Holga and you understand basic concepts of photography that Auto mode will not teach, aaaaaand it is a lot of fun to use!

[sunsetter]

I carry an extra P&S in my car all the time just in case something to shoot.

[jdepould]

Originally Posted by blinsky

Yes, Holga's cost around 20 twenty bucks. I am quickly appreciating the kind of discipline it takes to produce a 'quality' image with this camera...I feel it can only help in our digital world.

When i'm shooting a wedding or event or portrait session I take one shoulder bag worth of digital equipment, in my opinion if it doesn't fit in my shoulder bag then I don't need it...and I absolutely throw my Holga and a few roles of 400 in their too!

Can't say enough good things about it, master a Holga and you understand basic concepts of photography that Auto mode will not teach, aaaaaand it is a lot of fun to use!

How big is your bag, just out of curiosity.

[blinsky]

Originally Posted by jdepould

How big is your bag, just out of curiosity.

about the size of a daypack in hiking terms, but more specifically it fits three bodies, 2 digital nikons and 1 holga, 2 lenses, 2 speedlights, 1 quantum battery pack, a bunch of extra AA's, a few diffusers, and a few rolls of film for the Holga.

less is more, i try to just use one body the whole job, only taking an extra body for 'emergency', i switch between the 2 lenses a bunch but i prefer this as opposed to having two bodies slung around my neck or i've seen photographers carrying around extra bodies and laying them down which i'm definitely not a fan of...

i try my best to be creative with the light that is available to me, only bouncing my light where light is needed, working with the available light instead of trying to 'fight light with more light'...

but this is much more info than was requested, sorry for the tangents =)