Comments on: How do YOU Recognize a Good Photo Opportunity?

By: Debashis

Debashis — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:20:38 +0000

Each of us has a fairly good idea of what we like to photograph. My suggestion would be to practice on familiar and interesting (to the photographer) subjects until you are able to control your camera well. Progress to spending a little time in visualising your shot before looking through the view finder….once there start looking around at other things….that is my two cents worth of suggestions

By: Larry

Larry — Sat, 30 May 2009 00:15:00 +0000

It always happens, the perfect photo op happens, when you walked off and left the camera at home, or no extra batteries. Or in one case, while instructing a class of youngsters in photography we discovered a water fall that no one knew about, I went to photograph it and I had forgotten to replace the memory card in the camera before leaving home.

By: Maxwell

Maxwell — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:43:52 +0000

1st. something has to catch your eye — and be of intrest to you. In digital photo land, you can take dozens of photos if you like, composing in every imaginable angle….. Then if you can, turn off your automatic features on your camera and do the same thing again changing your settings between shots. This way, you will have a lot of pictures you will want to delete, but will usually wind up with a favorite….. Don’t think the pros find easy shots all of the time, because they take thousands of photos and probably only keep a few

By: VonMansfield

VonMansfield — Tue, 26 May 2009 04:09:45 +0000

Try editing a publication or newspaper. I was an editor for my college’s newspaper. Every night I edited I was presented with hundreds of images and tasked to find the best 5-10 to run in the newspaper. From doing this over the course of a year, I learned about other photographer’s styles and what makes a good photo. Knowing what kinds of photos best tell the stories in the paper, helps you take the photos, which best tell the story. Editing also teaches you to rapidly critique your own photos.

By: Jan

Jan — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 10:50:05 +0000

I’m starting to see everything in ‘frames’. When driving, I’m mentally looking at the scenery thinking ‘That’s a nice shot.’ or ‘That would make a fantastic photo.’ I don’t always have time to stop, but I make a mental note to come back at a more convenient time or when lighting would be better. Sometimes I’ll pass a subject several times until the lighting is just right, then stop and shoot. I often drive out in the region, off the beaten track so I can drive slow, and just look for an opportunity. With snow on the ground now, I look for the sculpted shapes the wind makes, or a hawk sitting high above watching a field for mice. My friend and I often pick a theme and go out looking for that.

The latest theme we chased was trains. That one day as we drove to another city to get a ‘different’ shot, we passed an old cemetery, turned around and went in. This cemetery was very old and had beautiful statuary and snow laden trees, the sun was bright and the shadows were distinctive. Fresh untouched snow covered everything.

From there we located the train station and discovered, to our delight, that a train was due in within 1/2 hour. While waiting we took shots of the heritage building. Our wait was rewarded with a big bright gold engine pulling shiny silver passenger cars. Upon leaving the station we spotted a cathedral on the top of a hill and stopped there. We had thought to take photos of the outside and soon discovered the doors unlocked. The massive columns and ornate stained glass were just begging to be recorded.

Heading home we grabbed a lunch and went to a local park to eat and found an old fashioned carrousel house beside a river. What a photographers dream! I have to go back in the summer when the carrousel is operating.

Then back in the truck to head home once again and low and behold, we pass a nursery that’s open all year round. We went in and asked if we could photograph some of the exotic flowers. We were given permission and had a ball! They even had a live parrot for a mascot!

The total cost for the day was some gas and lunch.
So pick a theme and go out and shot! You never know where you’ll end up. I get my theme ideas from amateur photo contests on sites like FaceBook and sometimes other contest sites or even what other photographers are shooting.

You don’t wait for an opportunity to happen, you go out and make it happen.

By: Tigreramon

Tigreramon — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:55:36 +0000

I don’t look for those good oops, they just appear in front of me shouting me to take my camera out off my bag, that it why I take it with me almost all the time

By: Don

Don — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:02:25 +0000

Having been a semi-pro and pro photographer for almost 40 years and having a partner that has been an artist and pro photographer for over 30 I could lecture on this subject for hours and only scratch the surface. However, one respondent, John the musician/photographer struck a cord with me,(pun intended),and leads me to some analogies that may help. A master photographer is much like a concert pianist. Natural talent is what probably sets them apart from all the others. In photography that talent is commonly refered to as having a “good eye” and although it can be “acquired”, if you aren’t born with it you probably won’t live long enough to reach the top of the heap. My point is…a good eye is what you are looking for. You can acquire this by looking at every great photo by a master that you can. But you must also be able to identify what makes it great. In music, notes and rythem are the rudiment elements. In photography they are light and composition. With out these there is no music or image respectively. Don’t put down you camera but invest more of your energy in understanding these two elements first. Yes, take your camera everywhere and if you can’t stop to shoot at least shoot with the camera in your mind and shoot, shoot, and shoot some more. However, don’t let yourself become a “digital shot gunner”. That is a person that takes tons of pictures to get one good one and doesn’t really understand why that one is good and all the others aren’t. I know that this sounds like a lot a work but I can tell you two things. When you start seeing the parallels between your work and the masters the gratification far outweighs any kudos you receive from others. And, maybe even more importantly, you will start seeing the world around you in an entirely different and grander way where even the most mundane or qrotesque scene has deep meaning. You will have the eye of a master and none of us can really describe what that is like.

By: T-Fiz

T-Fiz — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:45:09 +0000

I’m reminded of a line from the first Superman movie when photographer Jimmy Olsen asks Lois Lane, “How come you get great stories?” She responds with, “A good reporter doesn’t get great stories Jimmy, a good reporter makes them great!”

Additionally, in Superman 3, after all the hype of what just went on in the city, Jimmy’s boss Perry asks him why he didn’t have any pictures of the day’s events. Jimmy tells him that he didn’t have his camera with him. Perry then tells him, “A photographer eats with his camera; a photographer sleeps with his camera…”

Cheesey references, I know, but I definitely got the point!

By: Scot

Scot — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:32:26 +0000

I think that the most important thing is that which has been mentioned many times here. Slow down, stop and watch. I believe that there are those that “look” and there are those that “see”. Train yourself to be the one that sees. A university instructor of mine once said something that has stuck these many years “realize that the world around you is fluid and given enough time something of interest [to you] is going to happen”. It may seem a simple statement but is one that packs a lot of meaning for me.

An example might be the following which occured at one of those very few moments that I actually took my own advice to slow down, stop and watch.

During the local chinese New Year celebration and Lion Dance, I observed a group of young martial artists, all dressed up to participate in the dance, biding their time along the sidelines. In particular, two pre-teen young ladies were having a heated discussion about something very important to only them. One carried on a nervous continual bouncing motion while the other waved her index finger around like a magical wand. At the moment the Chinese lion moved in behind them the bouncing one bounced high and the waving one made a sweeping upward motion. The result was a charming photo of one little martial artist levitating the other with one finger, in the shadow of the lion.

I don’t believe that I have a particularly keen eye for recognizing a great photo op, but at that moment I knew “something if interest” was about to happen and I set myself to be ready.

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:01:11 +0000

I like to have a caption in my mind for my images. I took an image of a mother duck with 2 ducklings trailing behind. The caption was “Are we there yet”? See something and imagine what could be printed under it.
I am a firm believer in “filling the frame” and there are so many things out there that we really do not look at. Look at macro photography. Everyone knows what a bug looks like but not when it fills the frame.
I read alot of photo mags I get from the library and so many images inspire me to capture one like it for myself. Thats the challenge. Sunsets and sunrises have been done to death but there is a great deal of satisfaction in witnessing and grabbing your own. No two are ever the same
Finally, capture the light. Anything can make an image if the light is right. cheers