How to take great photos - can't miss !

[kirbinster]

I have found a fail-safe method to taking great photos.

1.) Take your camera with you whenever possible. Lately I have been taking my new Nikon- D40 with me just about everywhere. I find that I am paying much more attention to my surroundings always looking for something that will make a good shot.

2.) Think outside of the box. Look for things that you don't usually see together or are somewhat out of place - they make for great subjects.

3.) Push the shutter button a lot!!! This I find key. For each hundred or so pushes I usually come up with at least one gem. Its just a numbers game - unless you are a pro.

[wulf]

Even if you haven't got your camera with you, it is still a good idea to look at what might make a good photo. Of course, it is frustrating if you see something amazing and don't have any way to capture it but at least you are training your eye to spot things when you do have your camera around.

Wulf

[Nicole]

You forgot the most important steps :

1a.) Take the lens cap off
1b.) Make sure there's a memory card in your camera
1c.) Make sure your battery is charged

I highly agree with #2, and #3 is pretty important too, and make sure that you're not just taking multiples of the exact same shot when pushing that button a lot. Move left or right or up or down and zoom in or zoom out. One of them will hopefully come close to what you were trying to accomplish

[jdepould]

Originally Posted by wulf

Even if you haven't got your camera with you, it is still a good idea to look at what might make a good photo. Of course, it is frustrating if you see something amazing and don't have any way to capture it but at least you are training your eye to spot things when you do have your camera around.

Wulf

Camera phones are better than no camera at all. I often forget that my phone has a camera on it though.

[kirbinster]

Originally Posted by Nicole

You forgot the most important steps :


1b.) Make sure there's a memory card in your camera

YUP! First week I had my camera I headed into town to take some shots and got an "err". Thought my brand new camera was broken, then checked and sure enough no memory card. I had left it in the computer dumping shots the night before. Good thing there was a Staples in town that was selling some SanDisk Ultra II 2 gig cards for $20 that day! I find that the Ultra is just as fast in use as my Extreme III.

[jdepould]

Originally Posted by kirbinster

YUP! First week I had my camera I headed into town to take some shots and got an "err". Thought my brand new camera was broken, then checked and sure enough no memory card. I had left it in the computer dumping shots the night before. Good thing there was a Staples in town that was selling some SanDisk Ultra II 2 gig cards for $20 that day! I find that the Ultra is just as fast in use as my Extreme III.

That's an amazing price. I could've used two or three more this weekend; I resorted to shooting JPEG.

[praesentire]

I carry a small steno pad and a pen. When see something I wish to photograph but a) don't have the time, or b) don't have the camera, then I just jot down the basic idea. Next time I'm out looking for things to shoot, I already have a 'to-shoot' list.

[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.

[kirbinster]

Originally Posted by jiminyClickit

kirbinster,

It isn't how many photos you take. If you're still getting 499 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.

I don't agree with you, but we can each have our own opinion. Its like salescalls, the more you make the more sales you will make. X number of leads convert into Y number of sales. It you keep taking pictures of things you will have some gems. Only take one shot and at best you will have one gem.

[jiminyClickit]

kirbinster,

I agree 100%: we can have our own opinion.

Photos aren't sales calls, no matter how I try to make the analogy work.

You're taking 100, and at best getting one gem. Blind kids in a project on photography had a higher success rate. They shot at smells and sounds. If it doesn't make sense to you that it isn't a matter of luck getting a very well-composed, adequately lighted, in-focus interesting photo, we all must be wasting our time here.