wanted to take photo like a pro, need help

jacklew · Jul 31, 2002

hello professional,

I own a fuji S602. I know that this is not the professional series but I would like to learn how to shoot like a pro. I have already understand those manual setting such as Aperture priority, shutter priority and so on. I could take some nice photos but I would like to go further. I believe that every photo must carry a mood and emotion and perhapes, tells a story. I do not know how to frame a picture before shooting. what angle could I capture the spirit and mood of photo expression and so on. I do not believe in trial and error shoot and hopefully with many shoots, get one good shoot with strong photo expression. I believe that I should have all these consideration in mind before I take the snap and after I snap, it should be what I have wanted. I just do not know where to start with to learn what I have written above. Could anyone give me some advise to start with? I have an online album which you could view as reference.
http://www.elink.net.au/~jacklew

Thank you.
jacklew

Jim DeLuco · Jul 31, 2002

jacklew said:
hello professional,
I own a fuji S602. I know that this is not the professional series
but I would like to learn how to shoot like a pro. I have already
understand those manual setting such as Aperture priority, shutter
priority and so on. I could take some nice photos but I would like
to go further. I believe that every photo must carry a mood and
emotion and perhapes, tells a story. I do not know how to frame a
picture before shooting. what angle could I capture the spirit and
mood of photo expression and so on. I do not believe in trial and
error shoot and hopefully with many shoots, get one good shoot with
strong photo expression. I believe that I should have all these
consideration in mind before I take the snap and after I snap, it
should be what I have wanted. I just do not know where to start
with to learn what I have written above. Could anyone give me some
advise to start with? I have an online album which you could view
as reference.
http://www.elink.net.au/~jacklew

Thank you.
jacklew

--

I would recommend joining a professional photographer's organization. I'm sure you don't have to be a professional to join. You will then have the opportunity to learn posing, composition and lighting. Yes, your camera may limit you in the area of full creativity, however you don't need a professional camera to learn posing and composition.

Jim DeLuco
DeLuco Photography
http://www.delucophoto.com

Jo Lovell · Jul 31, 2002

Hi,

I know that its best to take a picture as well as possible in the first place, but if you find yourself camera-limited learn how to use photoshop (elements if you cant justify the full package). Its incredibly powerfull and you will only get the most out of it by reading and constantly learning. For example, cant afford a shift lens? (thinking of your church (?) shots), learn how to use the perspective correctio facility in the crop tool in PS - voila. It no substitute for, but a very usefull adition to, photographic know-how. Mundane landscapes can become far more interesting with colourbalances/levels etc tweeked.
Jo

jerryp · Jul 31, 2002

see if a local college has a photography course. If not then you could try the NYIP photography course.
http://www.nyip.com

I am currently taking this course and some of it is a little outdated, but for the most part, I've learned a lot. It will give you a better understanding of how your camera works and how to use it. Congrats on entering this great world of picture taking and good luck.
jerryp

Jo Lovell said:
Hi,
I know that its best to take a picture as well as possible in the
first place, but if you find yourself camera-limited learn how to
use photoshop (elements if you cant justify the full package). Its
incredibly powerfull and you will only get the most out of it by
reading and constantly learning. For example, cant afford a shift
lens? (thinking of your church (?) shots), learn how to use the
perspective correctio facility in the crop tool in PS - voila. It
no substitute for, but a very usefull adition to, photographic
know-how. Mundane landscapes can become far more interesting with
colourbalances/levels etc tweeked.
Jo

Larry Wilson · Jul 31, 2002

jerryp said:
Jo Lovell said:

Hi,
I know that its best to take a picture as well as possible in the
first place, but if you find yourself camera-limited learn how to
use photoshop (elements if you cant justify the full package). Its
incredibly powerfull and you will only get the most out of it by
reading and constantly learning. For example, cant afford a shift
lens? (thinking of your church (?) shots), learn how to use the
perspective correctio facility in the crop tool in PS - voila. It
no substitute for, but a very usefull adition to, photographic
know-how. Mundane landscapes can become far more interesting with
colourbalances/levels etc tweeked.
Jo

Click to expand...

-- The local library has books on photography. Also, many public libraries have lending arrangements with the universities in Australia. Eastman Kodak has published many books about photography. You may live many miles from the nearest library so if you look at the pictures in magazines and analyze them, you will see how the pros arranged the composition, lighting, etc..

There are many avenues open for you to pursue.

Larry Wilson

Sharon Jackson · Jul 31, 2002

Ok heres a few for starters.

Classes are available at local community colleges usually listed as Contiueing education meaning its not a real college course but it is setup to teach a skill. Such as photography.

Our local community college teaches "BASIC PHOTOGRAPHY", "INTERMEDIATE PHOTOGRAPHY" , "ADVANCED PHOTOGRAPHY", "WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY" nature and portrait.

Also check out books all kinds of books the more reading you can do the better. Books on the rule of thirds and composition, and exposure and how to properly expose for a scene. All of these things are important. Lighting and use of flash as main light or fill light.

John Shaw, Outdoor Photographer magazine, shutterbug, etc all have great articles and more.
Go to zuga.com look for the articles by MONTY or MONTI

this guy really knows his portrait work and lighting techniques and his articles are free and very imfomative.

Join a photography club alot of them have guest speakers that teach as well andmost of the members are old pros at it themselves. Alot of competition and learning is available thru a club or organization.
And visit web sites like these and ask questions of course
robgalbreath.com
nationalgeographic.com
naturephotographers.net
luminous landscape . com

luminous landscape has alot of articles that teach and this is probably a great site to go to if you are just learning
Thanks and good luck Mke

http://thepixelphotographer.com

Steven Lott · Jul 31, 2002

I agree with Michael,

except the courses at our college
are available for credit ( 3 credit hour per course )

I would also like to add that you really need to shoot to help develop and learn. It helps you "see" what you are doing and are not doing right.

Learning to look through the foreground all the way to the background so you see the Tree that appears to be sticking out of someones head
does not happen untill you see the trial and error results.

Steven Lott
http://www.LottsPhoto.com/ProTips.htm

Michael Rutherford said:
Ok heres a few for starters.
Classes are available at local community colleges usually listed as
Contiueing education meaning its not a real college course but it
is setup to teach a skill. Such as photography.
Our local community college teaches "BASIC PHOTOGRAPHY",
"INTERMEDIATE PHOTOGRAPHY" , "ADVANCED PHOTOGRAPHY", "WEDDING
PHOTOGRAPHY" nature and portrait.

Also check out books all kinds of books the more reading you can do
the better. Books on the rule of thirds and composition, and
exposure and how to properly expose for a scene. All of these
things are important. Lighting and use of flash as main light or
fill light.
John Shaw, Outdoor Photographer magazine, shutterbug, etc all have
great articles and more.
Go to zuga.com look for the articles by MONTY or MONTI
this guy really knows his portrait work and lighting techniques and
his articles are free and very imfomative.

Join a photography club alot of them have guest speakers that teach
as well andmost of the members are old pros at it themselves. Alot
of competition and learning is available thru a club or
organization.
And visit web sites like these and ask questions of course
robgalbreath.com
nationalgeographic.com
naturephotographers.net
luminous landscape . com
luminous landscape has alot of articles that teach and this is
probably a great site to go to if you are just learning
Thanks and good luck Mke
http://thepixelphotographer.com

--
Steven Lott
http://www.LottsPhoto.com/WebCam/steve.htm

Michael Long · Aug 1, 2002

jacklew said:
I just do not know where to start
with to learn what I have written above. Could anyone give me some
advise to start with?

On the one hand, I applaud anyone who wants to learn how to do something better.

On the other hand, take a class? Read a book? Practice?

These things are not rocket science. How does anyone learn anything?

Type "photographic technique" into Google and you get 169,000 hits.

Try "photography class australia" (seems to be the posters location) and get 93,000.

There's 23,000 books at Amazon on photography.

My local Barnes & Noble bookstore has about 200, just on technique alone.

Heck, my local library has about 50.

There's plenty of resources out there.

How can someone NOT know how to find them?

Hans Kilian · Aug 1, 2002

Hi Michael.

I agree that the links you provided are very useful. Unfortunately you misspelled some of them. Normally I don't care about mistakes like that, but in links, it's important to get it right.

Sharon Jackson said:
Go to zuga.com look for the articles by MONTY or MONTI

http://www.zuga.net . Run by Monte Zucker and Gary Bernstein. Great site for wedding and portrait photography.

Sharon Jackson said:
robgalbreath.com

http://www.robgalbraith.com/

Sharon Jackson said:
luminous landscape . com

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/

Kind regards,
Hans

Jim DeLuco · Aug 1, 2002

Michael Long said:
Michael Long said:

I just do not know where to start
with to learn what I have written above. Could anyone give me some
advise to start with?

Click to expand...

On the one hand, I applaud anyone who wants to learn how to do
something better.

On the other hand, take a class? Read a book? Practice?

These things are not rocket science. How does anyone learn anything?

Type "photographic technique" into Google and you get 169,000 hits.

Try "photography class australia" (seems to be the posters
location) and get 93,000.

There's 23,000 books at Amazon on photography.

My local Barnes & Noble bookstore has about 200, just on technique
alone.

Heck, my local library has about 50.

There's plenty of resources out there.

How can someone NOT know how to find them?

--
Precisely why he would ask here. Chastising someone for asking doesn't help.

Jim DeLuco
DeLuco Photography
http://www.delucophoto.com

Tim Lozinski · Aug 2, 2002

Hi there

I am not sure if any of the posters so far have actually looked at your gallery. I have and I will give you a few pointers that will help you in teh basics.

First off I am not a 'pro' but have studied photographic/motion picture at college and have experimented with a variety of digital cameras and film cameras. Bearing this in mind, check out my site http://www.at0z.com and let me know if you are interested in how I acheived a particular effect. (You may not think much of my photos

but if you find this any help I will be glad)

I will be critical but fair about some of the things you could use improvements on

ok - tip one:

NEVER overexpose a sky, if you do, either try to correct with some after effects in Photoshop or Pain Shop Pro. Bleached out skies are a big nono and instantly reveal inexperience and poor quality photography.

tip two:

Check your horizon is HORIZONtal

Unless you have a specific aim to slant the angle of the horizon, MAKE SURE its flat from edge to edge. One of your night shots has a badly slanty horizon, which could easily be corrected in Photoshop, but its better obviously to get the shot right at the time of taking. This one is not such a disaster as over/underexposure can be since it is fairly easy to correct if things go awry.

tip three:

Try a few add on lenses. Your camera can take a variety of add-on lenses, including a very nice wide angle lens (superb for landscapes and a variety of other uses)

http://www.fujifilm.co.uk/FUJIDC/accessories/general-access/gen_access.html

tip four:

learn about filters and how to get the best out of them. A polarizer (will need to be 'circular' will help with reflections (increasing and decreasing) and also bringing out details in light skies) Density filters will help increase contrast also, and also experiment with some graduated filters (where the filter has a gradual coating so it creates effects only one certain places of the frame)

tip five:

experiment and no matter what anyone says, keep trying, the only way to learn is to get out there and TRY. All the books in teh world wont help if you dont ever go out and shoot

. The camera you have is capable of producing VERY nice photos, almost as good as the average FILM SLR. If you try hard and push yourself you will gain a wealth of good photos.

Finally, dont be afraid to 'copy' pro photos. By this I dont mean taking credit for other people's work, but trying to reproduce the same results as a photographer in your area has. This is a challenge, its not as easy as it seems and it most certainly isnt 'cheating'. Obviously as you gain knowledge and experience you will want to develop your style and make your own mark on your photos. Many photographers MIGHT disagree on this last point, but Homage is a good way to learn how a photographer you respect achieved their results. It also helps you compare your photos with some others - in which case find some nice photos of where you live and try to recreate or even surpass them

Keep posting on here with your progress and p.s. - your night shots are good, love the water, you might try longer exposures with a Density Filter or the Aperture stopped down, so you can get car trails if there are roads, these can be a bit 'tacky' (as in overdone), but theres no harm in you doing a few for your own pleasure

Cheers - Tim

Freeman · Aug 2, 2002

jacklew,

People write entire books on photography, so it's hard to give advice in just a couple of paragraphs. You have to be willing to put in work studying how to make good pictures, from whatever source, and then put that knowledge into practice. I learned through books, video tapes, and now, over the internet. Show your images to advanced photographers for critique, either in person or online. It's hard to judge your own work because it can be such a personal thing. Don't rely on just one person's opinion, though, because art is so subjective.

I've seen the photos you've posted, and right now they're at the snapshot stage. They're all right as record type pictures, but they would be of little interest to others. Think of trying to create something that a person would want to hang on their wall.

If there were two specific things that could help you immediately, I would say it's cropping and attention to backgrounds. Remove or crop out anything that doesn't add to the picture. Think of the background as a whole other subject. It should generally be simple, uncluttered, and not compete for the viewer's attention. I'm posting two of your images as examples.

The second picture is a vast improvement over the first. In the first picture, the background is really busy and distracts from the people. The human eye is attracted to brightness, so in the first picture it's hard to look at anything else besides the bright building in the background. There's a tree sticking out of the fellow on the left. Unless you wanted to capture some of the background as a "we were there" type of photo, leave it out by cropping in more. This is what you've done in the second picture. The background is very simple and uncluttered, so there's almost nothing to compete with the main subject. Sometimes the background IS the subject, like a beautiful sunset or landscape. But where people are involved, the background should either be complimentary or neutral. No busy patterns or wild colors.

One of the best one-liners I've ever heard was, "Don't just take pictures; create pictures." It's rare that you can just walk into a scene and point and shoot your camera without thinking. There are dozens of decisions to make before you snap the shutter, and these will come through practice and experience. You should have the final picture in your mind before taking it. Don't rely on post production to save it. Move your eye around the viewfinder. Look for distracting elements that can be eliminated by getting closer, zooming in, or changing the camera angle.

For the most part, you are in charge of the final image. You can't control the weather, so revisit a location, if possible, in order to capture it in a more flattering light. Yes, I know, this means extra effort, but that's what makes the difference between a good photographer and an average one; the williness to go the extra mile.

Doug Mac65597 · Aug 2, 2002

jacklew said:
I do not believe in trial and
error shoot and hopefully with many shoots, get one good shoot with
strong photo expression. I believe that I should have all these
consideration in mind before I take the snap and after I snap, it
should be what I have wanted.

Your desire to be more assured of your results before you take the photo is admirable, but one of the best ways to get there is through trial and error. I think the more you shoot, the better you get, as long as you take the time afterward to examine your results. Your instincts are right, a thoughtless "shotgun" approach will not advance your ability. You would benefit from experimenting, the "trial" part. Go ahead and take photos you know won't work. I learn as much from my "bad" photos as I do from my "good" photos. Also, keep in mind that some types of photography, like casual portraiture, require many exposures.

Keep in mind that Ansel Adams felt he had to make hundreds of exposures to get a negative worth printing. You'd be astounded at the thousands of exposures National Geographic photographers take only to have a handful show up in print.

Think about what you're doing, but avoid limiting yourself.

Regards,
Doug

jacklew · Aug 2, 2002

Tim,

Thanks for all your valuable advises. I will give it a try the next day. I will try to take some pictures of buildings with sky and graduate decrease in exposure and see what is the effect. Kind of experiment.

The slant was caused by my tripot. I bought a cheap Nikon tripot and now I regretted. Should have buy a better one. I have already done something to level the tripot. So will not have such problem again.
Thanks
Jack

Thanks.

Tim Lozinski said:
Hi there

I am not sure if any of the posters so far have actually looked at
your gallery. I have and I will give you a few pointers that will
help you in teh basics.

First off I am not a 'pro' but have studied photographic/motion
picture at college and have experimented with a variety of digital
cameras and film cameras. Bearing this in mind, check out my site
http://www.at0z.com and let me know if you are interested in how I
acheived a particular effect. (You may not think much of my photos
but if you find this any help I will be glad)

I will be critical but fair about some of the things you could use
improvements on

ok - tip one:
NEVER overexpose a sky, if you do, either try to correct with some
after effects in Photoshop or Pain Shop Pro. Bleached out skies
are a big nono and instantly reveal inexperience and poor quality
photography.

tip two:
Check your horizon is HORIZONtal Unless you have a specific aim
to slant the angle of the horizon, MAKE SURE its flat from edge to
edge. One of your night shots has a badly slanty horizon, which
could easily be corrected in Photoshop, but its better obviously to
get the shot right at the time of taking. This one is not such a
disaster as over/underexposure can be since it is fairly easy to
correct if things go awry.

tip three:
Try a few add on lenses. Your camera can take a variety of add-on
lenses, including a very nice wide angle lens (superb for
landscapes and a variety of other uses)

http://www.fujifilm.co.uk/FUJIDC/accessories/general-access/gen_access.html

tip four:
learn about filters and how to get the best out of them. A
polarizer (will need to be 'circular' will help with reflections
(increasing and decreasing) and also bringing out details in light
skies) Density filters will help increase contrast also, and also
experiment with some graduated filters (where the filter has a
gradual coating so it creates effects only one certain places of
the frame)

tip five:
experiment and no matter what anyone says, keep trying, the only
way to learn is to get out there and TRY. All the books in teh
world wont help if you dont ever go out and shoot . The camera
you have is capable of producing VERY nice photos, almost as good
as the average FILM SLR. If you try hard and push yourself you
will gain a wealth of good photos.

Finally, dont be afraid to 'copy' pro photos. By this I dont mean
taking credit for other people's work, but trying to reproduce the
same results as a photographer in your area has. This is a
challenge, its not as easy as it seems and it most certainly isnt
'cheating'. Obviously as you gain knowledge and experience you
will want to develop your style and make your own mark on your
photos. Many photographers MIGHT disagree on this last point, but
Homage is a good way to learn how a photographer you respect
achieved their results. It also helps you compare your photos with
some others - in which case find some nice photos of where you live
and try to recreate or even surpass them

Keep posting on here with your progress and p.s. - your night shots
are good, love the water, you might try longer exposures with a
Density Filter or the Aperture stopped down, so you can get car
trails if there are roads, these can be a bit 'tacky' (as in
overdone), but theres no harm in you doing a few for your own
pleasure

Cheers - Tim

jacklew · Aug 2, 2002

freeman

Thanks for your valuable advises. Will take note of the background and minimise distraction when taking photo of people.
Thanks
jacklew

jacklew · Aug 2, 2002

Doug Mac

Thanks for your encouragement. It is really a wonderful to be able to express feeling throught photograph. Just wonder if there is a 10 commandment about composing a photo?
Thanks.
jack

jacklew · Aug 2, 2002

Tim Lozinski

I have seen your photo and they a fantastic! Every photo has a subject being emphasised. Nothing in the back ground to distract the attention of the suject. Building shoots were taken from buttom up which gave them a superior feeling.
Thanks
jack

Tim Lozinski · Aug 3, 2002

Hi again

Thanks for your good feedback on my photos

A variety of lenses helps get the effects I want (widest being the best of building and landscapes and longest lenses bewing useful for birds and sports shots) - - -

Composition of photos involves a range of techniques. The PRIME rule for composition is called the 'thirds law' or 'rule of the thirds', which states that a frame should be 'sliced' into three horizontally and vertically

Check out THIS site for some more info on this, I havent checke dhte site out much but it will probably be a great resource for you (better still its FREE unlike buying a book

)

http://photographytips.com/page.cfm/345

The plan is to attempt to position your frames so that the various subjects and or backgrounds are corresponding with a 3rd - not to let horizons or subjects run through the dead centre lines (this looks odd and shows a lack of knowledge of the basics

)

If you cant grasp what I am saying because I havent been able to offer any clear examples, please ask and I will trisect some pictures with annotations and show you how it works.

You dont have to worry about exact thirds, but they are a guide that helps. If your camera has lines in the viewfinder it is rather helpful since it also helps you keep horizons horizontal

Another tip would be to use THUMBER, a program that lets you read the EXIF (a standard information coding) info embedded in your JPEGS, which tells you what aperture and shutter speed you used, this helps recall what you did right (or wrong

) An evalutation version of Thumber is available here... and I am sure many people on here already use it - It is handy to make web galleries too

http://www.tawbaware.com/thumber.htm

I am not sure you understood the principal of using graduated FILTERS, check out this link as it shows how filters are useful

http://www.belaircamera.com/showpages.asp?pid=1022

I think the principal you suggested you would try would be called 'Exposure Bracketing', your camera should have a function for this, check out the manual to see what it says about it

Cheers again - T

jacklew · Aug 3, 2002

Tim Lozinski,

thanks for the link. There is just so much to learn. I guess photography is as difficult as playing a piano.
Thanks
jack

TonyK_in_Texas · Aug 3, 2002

It is not a simple matter of reading a book. It is also getting objective feedback. Friends and family tend to gush over photos. To learn a person needs to risk getting hurt.

If all a person hears is how good their images are they won't learn. If they hear that composition could be improved (and then how it could be), looking at the subject in a different way and have that explained. The list could go on for a long time.

The point is a class or a critique group (online or live) goes a long way in helping to learn the art of photography. I say art because photography is both an art and a science. The science comes in when making the perfect exposure, white balance, etc. The art is to know the science and when to bend or break the rules to get the shot you are seeing.

Buying books is great to learn some things. Doing is better, especially when we learn from attempts that are not 100% successful. We should study why and how to correct them in the future.

Take care,

Michael Long said:
Michael Long said:

I just do not know where to start
with to learn what I have written above. Could anyone give me some
advise to start with?

Click to expand...

On the one hand, I applaud anyone who wants to learn how to do
something better.

On the other hand, take a class? Read a book? Practice?

These things are not rocket science. How does anyone learn anything?

Type "photographic technique" into Google and you get 169,000 hits.

Try "photography class australia" (seems to be the posters
location) and get 93,000.

There's 23,000 books at Amazon on photography.

My local Barnes & Noble bookstore has about 200, just on technique
alone.

Heck, my local library has about 50.

There's plenty of resources out there.

How can someone NOT know how to find them?

--
TonyK

wanted to take photo like a pro, need help

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