How do photographers get that good so quickly?

it was shot in raw. I only use raw. I only have an outdated student copy of Photoshop though.

I want to improve but as I said, I'm limited when it comes to hear, time and surroundings compared to most other photographers. I spent lots of time trying new things and shooting everything I could but there was no improvement whatsoever. And other here just started and create awesome work in a matter of weeks or months.

If you're shooting RAW, then software that can properly process that RAW should definitely be part of the workflow, and might be something you'd want to look into. I believe there are free/cheap options out there that might be better options than an old copy of Photoshop. Others on this forum can offer names of software packages.

snomer said:

I want to improve but as I said, I'm limited when it comes to hear, time and surroundings compared to most other photographers. I spent lots of time trying new things and shooting everything I could but there was no improvement whatsoever. And other here just started and create awesome work in a matter of weeks or months.

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If you want to get better, then what does it matter what someone else is doing?

What they are doing has nothing to do with what you are doing.

The trick is, to keep doing something.

You say you are restricted in time and surroundings.

But . . . there are still a lot of things you could be doing to exercise your mind.

Grab something, like 2 forks and an egg, grab your Sony A850, toss on your Sigma 50mm f1.4 and take pictures of it late at night. It may not be landscape, but take the best picture you can. And then . . . do it all over again the next night.

Heck . . . take everything in your kitchen and make a landscape out of it. And then take a picture.

I've read quite a few books on photography. And quite a few of them are laid out as a series of exercises. You read the lesson and then try to get shots that play with the concept from that lesson, such as rhythm, repeating patterns, positive and negative space, etc.

All these little exercises can be done anywhere, anytime.

Will the pictures from these exercises be great? Probably not.

But after going through these exercises, they become part of your visual vocabulary.

And then when you are presented with a scene that you want to capture, you are more likely to be able to recall one of these tools / elements to incorporate into your work.

So, although you can't get to a landscape that inspires you . . . it doesn't mean that you can't be working on exercises to keep your mind working visually.

Take care & Happy Shooting!


--

My Personal Flickr Favs . . .

snomer said:

Thanks for the answer. Guess I have to get rid off my old and used lenses and save up for new ones. Unfortunately I won't be able to afford most of them. But thanks for making it clear that my lenses are one of my problems.

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NO! Gear is NOT your problem. Real people, not gearheads, will not see any differences between lenses (unless one of the lenses is broken). DO NOT throw money at a problem. It will not help. Spend the money on a couple of dozen good photo books--not 'how-to' (although those may help), but pictures you admire.

snomer said:

Thanks for the answer. Guess I have to get rid off my old and used lenses and save up for new ones. Unfortunately I won't be able to afford most of them. But thanks for making it clear that my lenses are one of my problems.

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Old lenses still have their place.

In fact, they have a character that modern lenses do not.

Here are two of my favourite photos taken with 'cheap' lenses:

(Sorry they are dog pics. She is the subject I am using to progress my photography).

Photo 1 - taken with a 1976 Helios 44M 2/58 (£12.50 on eBay + £1.75 adapter).





Photo 2 - taken with a Minolta 50mm 1.7 (£35.00 on eBay). Of unknown age, but discontinued in 2006.

I have spent five years trying to become a good photographer. My handicap is where I live. I opened a thread asking for photogenic places near me. The nearest was two hours away. In mean while I have been studying.

I am now away on a photo safari. The first week I made a lot of technical mistakes. So it was a week of learning. “From your mistakes you shall learn.” So far on the second week, the weather has been horrible for my landscape shots. Nothing to do about that.

After almost a decade using a camera, in 1927 Ansel Adams had an epiphany that enabled him to become a great landscape photographer. Eventually he made about 40,000 images. Of these we see less than 500. He just kept shooting, learning, and working in the darkroom.

Of course working full time with an established professional can shorten the learning time.

It is always possible to come up with a great shot by chance. Someone with little skill and experience with photography, by chance, gets that great shot.

I have seen few people posting great shots on dpreview.

There's only one way to get better at photography (or ANY skill) once you know the basics - and that's to do it.

Who cares if it's boring? Take boring pictures for 100 days and your 100th day will probably have much more interesting pictures than your 1st. Who cares if there's noise? Take noisy pictures for 100 days and your 100th day will probably have pictures with much less noise than your first. Who cares if there's bad lighting? Experience will improve your ability to see the lighting and judge what will look good or not.

Unless you're trying to sell your pictures, you don't need anyone's approval. Take the pictures that look good to you. Sure, you can ask others for feedback - but each bit of feedback you get is one person's opinion. If you agree, incorporate their advice into future pictures. If you don't agree, then put it out of your mind and move on. If you know it's the best you could have done given the circumstances, even if a few people don't like the result, then feel proud of yourself.

snomer said:

Again, as I said before (probably incomprehensible) I'm no beginner. I know how to expose a photo and select my aperture. But the overall results still get negative comments no matter what lenses or settings I use, both technicals as well as artistic criticism. And yes,I have a tripod, polarised and lens goods. Doesn't make a difference apparently.

Here is an example photo that was repeatedly said to be awful boring and technically poor. Tripods weren't allowed that's why I used ISO 1600 and a large aperture. It's an older photo too and I can't retake it since going there was a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me.

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I see one thing that could improve this photo: it would have been more interesting if you had waited for persons to be in the foreground. But that is my personal opinion, nothing wrong with this photo if you like it.

here a photo for people who wanted to see a sample. Black and white to save what was possible to save.

I would have had to ask permission upfront since street photography showing people close up is technically illegal in Germany unless you ask prior to taking the photo.

snomer said:

I would have had to ask permission upfront since street photography showing people close up is technically illegal in Germany unless you ask prior to taking the photo.

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Who cares ? It is a scene and not the people are the subject. Somehow this scene looks familiar but I can not remember where. Hamburg ?

Btw. I happen to be in the same country, that is why I asked where you are so that I might be able to give you some tips in your surroundings.

snomer said:

I want to improve but as I said, I'm limited when it comes to hear, time and surroundings compared to most other photographers. I spent lots of time trying new things and shooting everything I could but there was no improvement whatsoever. And other here just started and create awesome work in a matter of weeks or months.

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No. Not true. They started much earlier than when you first saw them on this site, for the most part. I think of Rudy Pohl, who came to the Nikon DX site wanting help with his new D7100. He was fighting and nothing seemed to be working. He was coming from a bridge cam and was trying to take wildlife shots. We helped him, and within a month we watched a fully-fledged wildlife photographer emerge. But that rage of progress was deceptive...he bad spent a lifetime in graphic arts, and his bridge cam shots were already at an extremely high level. In that month of transformation, he was out in the wild nearly all the time, in extremely uncomfortable conditions, with endless patience and dedication. The tool he purchased was a catalyst for taking the pictures that he always wanted to take.

Rob has told you exactly what is wrong with your picture taking results, and how to improve, to the level that lies within you. If you are not able to give yourself a break and take opportunities to let your own voice surface, you will never be happy with what you produce. It will always be derivative. 95% of what I produce are just snapshots, too. But the other 5% comes from a place where I was present in the moment and felt a story to be told through images. I will never sell a photo, and I am regularly humbled by what talented professionals can produce. But I am not shooting for their approval, or anyone else's. I'm taking photographs because I like to.

You seem to be trying to take photographs to garner external approval. Of course the camera is rendering you mute or in your eyes trite. You are technically competent but still in the "developing your eye" phase of the craft. That includes much rehashing of well-worn themes and capturing of visually obvious scenes. That can last a long time, a lifetime, particularly if it is interrupted by something mundane like earning a living. If you continue to beat yourself up over your lack of progress, it only makes your mood worse and your pleasures sparse.

Those of us who have some rational/logical talents often make the mistake of expecting our forays into the artistic to yield just as easily to our efforts as those pursuits for which we have a natural talent. They don't. A flying squirrel glides, but does not soar like a seagull, as much as we might wish it. But it glides just the same, and is glad for the ability to do so.

Give yourself a break. Allow your muse to express itself. It may not be a photographic one, or it may not be the right time for it to manifest. Consider your stage of life, and whether a consuming pastime like top-level photography is even possible for you now. If you are still committed to advancing in the craft, make time to read and internalize this book:

The practice of contemplative photography, by Andy Karr and Michael Wood

Then relax, be present with the scene and yourself, and appreciate what you have been able to create. That in itself is a glorious gift that we too easily discount.

snomer said:

here a photo for people who wanted to see a sample. Black and white to save what was possible to save.

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So the subject matter is a tree, and not a particularly interesting tree ... that means the rest of the frame has to provide an interesting composition. The bottom half is a blurry dark blob. The clouds aren't particularly interesting. I'm not sure if there are a couple of points below the tree where the flowers effectively form two "leading lines" that draw my eye to the bottom, but whatever the cause, my eyes keep getting draw to the OOF foreground. One thing you might do, in addition to trying to find new things to shoot, new ways to shoot, is to look at the photos that you see that you think are better than yours and ask "why ?". By "why" I don't mean how it was shot - whether the photographer had better gear, a more exciting location, whatever. I mean what's in that two dimensional rectangle that makes it better. Practicing is a big part of getting better, but there's not much point in practicing without knowing *what* to improve.

- Dennis
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Gallery at http://kingofthebeasts.smugmug.com

mosswings said:

I will never sell a photo, and I am regularly humbled by what talented professionals can produce. But I am not shooting for their approval, or anyone else's. I'm taking photographs because I like to.
You seem to be trying to take photographs to garner external approval. Of course the camera is rendering you mute or in your eyes trite.

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Well said ! I'm actually quite content with my photographic skills; that is to say, I'm as good as I expect to be given how much effort I put into photography. I'm better at certain types of photography than others (stuff I do a lot), I've been better at other things in the past and gotten rusty ... I understand that good photography take effort; better photography takes more effort.

Here's a link:

http://theonlinephotographer.typepa...15/08/open-mike-the-photographers-lament.html

- Dennis

--

Gallery at http://kingofthebeasts.smugmug.com

thank you for your reply. That's exactly what I mean. This one was a photo where I really tried to do something new and not totally normal. I tried to play with DOF, low angle, a bit more abstract and people tell me the photo is useless and rubbish back to front

snomer said:

thank you for your reply. That's exactly what I mean. This one was a photo where I really tried to do something new and not totally normal. I tried to play with DOF, low angle, a bit more abstract and people tell me the photo is useless and rubbish back to front

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Just accept it, see what can be improved, go back and try again, repeat until you get a something you like. You can only get better with practice.

snomer said:

thank you for your reply. That's exactly what I mean. This one was a photo where I really tried to do something new and not totally normal. I tried to play with DOF, low angle, a bit more abstract and people tell me the photo is useless and rubbish back to front

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I'd strongly advise you to get some better reviewers.

It's not a bad photograph, particularly for a first try, for heaven's sake. You're attempting perfection without practice. Remember that, if you're of a religious bent, God's first try at the world failed...

Critics (actually cynics) have often been described as those who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

In this world, where it is so easy to find technically proficient photographs with the click of a mouse, we lose the scale and scope of the curation, the context of the creation of those images, all the hours of practice, the random gift of talent, the skill in self-promotion, the other opportunities for perhaps a more comfortable life forgone, we seem to collapse the spectrum of what we are willing to accept into a very tiny space at the very top. Like the residents of Garrison Keillor's Lake Woebegone, where "everyone is above average", we forget the circumstances that grant us the privilege to be hypercritical. In the "advanced" countries, we suffer endlessly from it.

What I haven't heard from you is what YOU think of this image, period. What do YOU like about it? How would YOU improve it to satisfy YOURSELF? Drop all of the references to other so-called experts. Only if they produce images that speak to you, that tell you stories that resonate with you, consider consulting them. If they are wise, they will answer kindly, and realize the steepness of the road we are all climbing. These people are MENTORS, and you sound like you are in dire need of a mentor right now, not a critic.

snomer said:

Sorry for the maybe stupid question but I've been wondering how most photographers manage to advance so quickly. Many start with smartphone and about a year later, many have awesome gear and produce outstanding photos continuously. Many beginners here show photos that are way,way better than everything I've ever accomplished so I've been a bit shocked.

I've been into photography and editing for about 10 years and my work still sucks. I hardly have opportunities to shoot regularly and certainly don't have anything even remotely interesting to shoot nearby but I've watched tons of tutorials and how-tos but overall my photos are just as bad as when I started.

Is it just the gear and the motifs or real talent? My gear is old and all used and pretty useless compared to modern standards and the fact that I can't show photos or interesting subjects doesn't help. But looking at other people's work and progress I started wondering whether I just have no talent whatsoever and no eye for good photos.

Its just frustrating to try over and over again and other just get awesome shots after a short while. Have you experienced the same?

P.S.: Sorry for my poor English. I'm German and naturally bad at other languages.

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No great photographer got good quick. Forget about the equipment too. Really has nothing to do with it and honestly, probably has more of a chance to make you take a step back because every piece of new equipment or editing program comes with a learning curve.

This is not as bad as some are telling you. It's no more than okay, mind you, but it's not a disaster that should make you give up. A little crop and toning helps a bit.




Crop, Levels, Toning



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Flickr: username "wogears"