Hello from Florida
May 11, 2016 08:55:55 #
Hello everyone. I'm glad to find this forum and I hope it will be a good resource for me. I have a Canon Rebel T3i, and I have zero budget for anything better, so I'm doing as well as I can with what I have. My lenses are: the 18-55 kit lens (ignored), a Canon 50mm fixed lens (LOVE it), and a Tamron 18-270mm. I shoot for a living, but I don't get a choice of my settings at work. At home I take hundreds of photos, and play with settings as much as I want to. I'm eager to learn as much as I can, and I hope this forum will prove to be a valuable asset. I stay in M mode and use natural light. My greatest weakness is my lack of knowledge in lighting techniques. I have a flash that I've barely used. I would like to learn to use reflectors (I've seen various types on Amazon, not too pricey). My dream camera is a Canon T6s, or a Nikon D7100, same type I use at work. I have recently decided that owning a Nikon and becoming extremely familiar with it would make me more valuable to my company. Either way, I would like a camera with more sophisticated options than what I have now.
May 11, 2016 08:59:28 #
Welcome to the Hog. You'll find lots of friends & plenty of good advice here. Looking forward to seeing some of you work. Be sure to explore all the forums here.
May 11, 2016 09:38:33 #
May 11, 2016 10:27:34 #
May 11, 2016 11:52:40 #
"Hello everyone. I'm glad to find this forum and I hope it will be a good resource for me. I have a Canon Rebel T3i, and I have zero budget for anything better, so I'm doing as well as I can with what I have. My lenses are: the 18-55 kit lens (ignored), a Canon 50mm fixed lens (LOVE it), and a Tamron 18-270mm."
Welcome to the Forum......I also shoot with a Canon T3i with the Tamron 18-270mm and love it very much. It is one of my favorite lenses, although I also really like the Canon 10-18mm for tight locations as well as landscape. Glad you took the leap and decided to join in the fun!!!!
Welcome to the Forum......I also shoot with a Canon T3i with the Tamron 18-270mm and love it very much. It is one of my favorite lenses, although I also really like the Canon 10-18mm for tight locations as well as landscape. Glad you took the leap and decided to join in the fun!!!!
May 11, 2016 18:56:17 #
Welcome to the Hog DaughterAlice.
Don't feel bad about the T3i, I got a T1i years ago for the same reason!
It meets my needs.
Don't feel bad about the T3i, I got a T1i years ago for the same reason!
It meets my needs.
May 12, 2016 06:53:39 #
May 12, 2016 07:16:39 #
May 12, 2016 07:52:46 #
DaughterAlice wrote:
Hello everyone. I'm glad to find this forum and I ... (show quote)
Welcome to the HOG, and don't feel that your equipment is sub par, T3i is still a good camera, and your lenses are good too, practice, try different settings, personally I'm not a proponent of full manual, had enough of that when I was learning, learn what you want to do and learn how to tell the camera to do that. After all most of us no longer shift our cars transmissions or use DOS on our computers. Bob.
May 12, 2016 08:06:41 #
Welcome Alice. Where in Florida? I am in Sarasota and we have many resources to help you learn. If we know your location, then perhaps we can help you find local resources to help you out. Gary
May 12, 2016 09:34:32 #
May 12, 2016 11:38:25 #
DaughterAlice wrote:
Hello everyone. I'm glad to find this forum and I ... (show quote)
Welcome. Nothing wrong with your equipment. It will be quite useful in refining your craft. It may be shocking to learn that you can make great images with almost any camera, if you know what you are doing and stay within the limits of the hardware! But it's true.
I would encourage you to do some research into the works of the late Dean Collins, responsible for training thousands of photographers in the 1970s and 80s and 90s in the art of portrait and product lighting. His simple concepts can be applied to the most complex situations with just a little imagination. He never worked digitally, but all his concepts work in digital photography. (He shot mostly transparency materials, which behaved more like JPEG digital capture than anything.)
The Internet is FULL of great resources regarding lighting. Visit Westcott and Alzo sites for drool-worthy gear. Visit YouTube and subscribe to as many channels from professionals as you like. Tony Northrup is the first name I'd search for. Know that there are many levels of quality in the lighting world, but everything must follow the same laws of physics. I like lights from Paul C Buff, Inc (Alien Bees, White Lightning, and Einstein). But I also like Norman, Dyna-Lite, Photogenic, Quantum... Lots of gear is available.
BUY USED. It will save you a ton of money. B&H, Adorama, KEH, Cameta Camera are companies you can order from with confidence.
Join PPA or WPPI, or a state chapter of either. If you're in Las Vegas in January, go to the CES show and attend some PMAI events.
From your comments, I would guess that you work for a portrait or event photography company similar to Lifetouch, Interstate, Strawbridge, etc. You've probably noticed that they don't want creativity. They want you to follow their formulas... There is nothing wrong with their formulas. The challenge is to make the most of them, as often as you can. But understanding the theory and thinking that went into the formulas can help you when the situation deviates from what the formula was designed to achieve. Situations deviate from ideal more often than the boys and girls at headquarters ever want to admit!
Finally, keep looking at great images. THINK about the composition, lighting, perspective, time of day, and other elements that went into the images you like. Make notes.
May 12, 2016 11:40:01 #
May 12, 2016 13:22:17 #
May 12, 2016 13:50:43 #
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