John King
Veteran Member
Gidday Bob
As I said to Leo, I am truly humbled by such words of praise as yours. Thank you for expressing that to me. While I have been taking piccies for a very long time (over 50 years ... ), it is really only since moving to digital in around 2004 that I started to think more creatively about my photography.
As others here have already said, I read many books by and about successful photographers; I looked keenly and closely at their images; I looked even more closely at my own, knowing that something in that frame had attracted my attention ... But what was it?
Then I started to see better what I was looking at, both in pictures in books and on the screen. I have been enormously inspired by many here, from old lags like myself to complete newbies who naturally have that "eye" that I have been striving so hard to learn. I found that the ability to zoom in on areas within my pictures on the computer (and on the camera display at times ... ) has helped me enormously to isolate the thing within the scene that tells the story about the whole scene, without just taking a "holiday snap" of the whole scene.
Don't get me wrong; I am not looking down on "holiday snaps" - these are probably the most important images we will ever take with our cameras, both for ourselves, and for posterity.
I think that I am only now starting to see the essence of what I want to capture at the time of capture. Ansel Adams called it 'pre-visualisation'. I am not seeing the world "through the viewfinder of a camera" (God forbid!!), but I am starting to be able to see the essence of the thing I want to capture within a larger scene, and then to isolate that thing with my photograph. I only very rarely crop any of my images (sometimes this is unavoidable). I rarely do much PP on them either. I want to get it "right" as best as I am able at every step of the way.
I shoot RAW + JPEG with all of my cameras. I try to get the image as right as I can at the time of capture. Discipline in framing, composition of form and colour, precision in focusing, getting the precise, essential, story telling thing in precise focus (I only ever use the centre focus point, even with my E-30 which has 11 cross-type points ... ). If necessary (it often is ... ), I focus and re-compose.
I only ever use the JPEGs for 'quick and dirty' upload to my web site. They almost always only ever have an automated PS action applied to them. I never print from JPEGs.
When I PP the RAWs, I try to get everything "just so" in ACR, before opening the data file as an image file. When I do open the file, I do so in ProPhotoRGB and 16 bit so that no data is lost in the data mapping process from RAW file to IMAGE file. I usually save these files as either PSD-16 or TIFF-16 files.
Sorry to rabbit on, but it seemed to be the right time and place. What I am saying in a very roundabout way is that your gear is unlikely to be limiting you. Maybe it is.
Could you tell us about what you currently photograph? Perhaps post some examples (most here do not care what camera you took images with if these things are done in good spirit). Think about what is limiting you. It helps to write these things down, as it is helping me writing these words to you ... It focuses one's attention better than anything else does.
Thanks once again for your very kind comments. I can assure you that they mean a great deal to me (as do Leo's).
--
Regards, john from Melbourne, Australia.
(see profile for current gear)
-- -- --
The Camera doth not make the Man (or Woman) ...
Perhaps being kind to cats, dogs & children does ...
Gallery: http://canopuscomputing.com.au/gallery2/main.php
Bird Control Officers on active service.
Member of UK (and abroad) Photo Safari Group
How does one represent blushing with an emoticon?
As I said to Leo, I am truly humbled by such words of praise as yours. Thank you for expressing that to me. While I have been taking piccies for a very long time (over 50 years ... ), it is really only since moving to digital in around 2004 that I started to think more creatively about my photography.
As others here have already said, I read many books by and about successful photographers; I looked keenly and closely at their images; I looked even more closely at my own, knowing that something in that frame had attracted my attention ... But what was it?
Then I started to see better what I was looking at, both in pictures in books and on the screen. I have been enormously inspired by many here, from old lags like myself to complete newbies who naturally have that "eye" that I have been striving so hard to learn. I found that the ability to zoom in on areas within my pictures on the computer (and on the camera display at times ... ) has helped me enormously to isolate the thing within the scene that tells the story about the whole scene, without just taking a "holiday snap" of the whole scene.
Don't get me wrong; I am not looking down on "holiday snaps" - these are probably the most important images we will ever take with our cameras, both for ourselves, and for posterity.
I think that I am only now starting to see the essence of what I want to capture at the time of capture. Ansel Adams called it 'pre-visualisation'. I am not seeing the world "through the viewfinder of a camera" (God forbid!!), but I am starting to be able to see the essence of the thing I want to capture within a larger scene, and then to isolate that thing with my photograph. I only very rarely crop any of my images (sometimes this is unavoidable). I rarely do much PP on them either. I want to get it "right" as best as I am able at every step of the way.
I shoot RAW + JPEG with all of my cameras. I try to get the image as right as I can at the time of capture. Discipline in framing, composition of form and colour, precision in focusing, getting the precise, essential, story telling thing in precise focus (I only ever use the centre focus point, even with my E-30 which has 11 cross-type points ... ). If necessary (it often is ... ), I focus and re-compose.
I only ever use the JPEGs for 'quick and dirty' upload to my web site. They almost always only ever have an automated PS action applied to them. I never print from JPEGs.
When I PP the RAWs, I try to get everything "just so" in ACR, before opening the data file as an image file. When I do open the file, I do so in ProPhotoRGB and 16 bit so that no data is lost in the data mapping process from RAW file to IMAGE file. I usually save these files as either PSD-16 or TIFF-16 files.
Sorry to rabbit on, but it seemed to be the right time and place. What I am saying in a very roundabout way is that your gear is unlikely to be limiting you. Maybe it is.
Could you tell us about what you currently photograph? Perhaps post some examples (most here do not care what camera you took images with if these things are done in good spirit). Think about what is limiting you. It helps to write these things down, as it is helping me writing these words to you ... It focuses one's attention better than anything else does.
Thanks once again for your very kind comments. I can assure you that they mean a great deal to me (as do Leo's).
--
Regards, john from Melbourne, Australia.
(see profile for current gear)
-- -- --
The Camera doth not make the Man (or Woman) ...
Perhaps being kind to cats, dogs & children does ...
Gallery: http://canopuscomputing.com.au/gallery2/main.php
Bird Control Officers on active service.
Member of UK (and abroad) Photo Safari Group
