Newbie Overwhelm (Page 4): Welcome to uhh. You've asked for and received a pretty wild welcome. I think someone may have touched on it earlier but, looking back about 50 years, were I...

gessman Loc: Colorado

MegTee wrote:

Hi everyone, br I'm excited to be here. I will say... (show quote)

Welcome to uhh. You've asked for and received a pretty wild welcome. I think someone may have touched on it earlier but, looking back about 50 years, were I in your shoes today before i did anything else, I would do a real good survey of what my potential interests are and make a list of the various aspects or major categories of photography that pretty much require specialization in order to ensure success and I would approach my learning process using that list from the top down. Photography is such a broad subject that it makes the possibility of success in even learning it much more difficult if you just charge out "willy nilly" shooting whatever pops up in front of your camera. For instance, there are aspects of knowing how to be a good sports photographer that cross with what it takes to be a good portrait photographer but there is also a lot you have to learn about shooting sports that will do you very little good shooting portraits and vice versa. Product photography, that you mentioned, is a specialty unto itself and people spend all their working careers doing it. Then there's macro for shooting bugs, etc., there's birds-in-flight, all a matter of "making pictures" but require such different equipment and skills to achieve success and being good at one doesn't guarantee success in the others - it's what interests you, what you are good at.

Everything also has to be appropriate for where you live unless you plan on extensive travel and most of us start out close to home. You need to narrow things down into whether what interests you is inside or outdoors. If you crave shooting snow-capped mountain scenes when what you have is gators and egrets, you'll need some bucks, some time, and good transportation or you'll be constantly frustrated. If you want to shoot indoor events, that too takes special knowledge and equipment all of which must be learned in order to do the best possible job and build for the future.

Taking "photography" on as your goal is not realistic. It'd be like setting out to know the requirements of every job in a company like General Motors. There is a lot of common knowledge among all the different jobs but there is also a lot of specialization required to master a particular segment. If you try to take it all on at once, you will truly come to know what bewilderment is. The first mistake is thinking about the equipment. There is not one good camera that can "do it all" but the ones that come closest would be the most expensive and it would have a lot of features that you might never use, and I know - "it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it," but cameras are a special case.

Before I gave any further thought to the exposure triangle, or a new camera, or a shooting partner whose interests might not be a good fit for you, I'd set out to do some research in the library, if you have a good one, on the various aspects of photography, see where you think your greatest interests lie, and make that list. You may find that you will be interested in more than one segment and you may not. I've seen portrait photographers set up a studio, set up their lights, put their camera on a tripod, and retire thirty years later without ever moving either one. I can assure you that if you decide that you want to "do it all," the learning never stops.

If you prioritize your approach, you enhance your chances of seeing some short-term success and rewards that will keep you going and at which time you can branch out by adding another area of interest. You will know more about equipment needed and how what you already know crosses with what you are learning. That process will continue with each area of interest you find yourself drawn to. While you sound like a talented and resourceful person, I guarantee you that if you start out "helter-skelter" there's a good chance that it will take you forever to get really good at any specific area unless you have a really extraordinary talent and fantastic memory. There is just too much to remember as a newbie generalist. You don't want to frustrate yourself to the point of giving up so give a little thought to what you think interests you most and then begin. If you decide to follow some modified form of my suggestions, you will be able to isolate the equipment you will need to add to what you have to get the job done. I assure you that each special area of photography requires certain special equipment and without it only leads to frustration and often failure. It's a lot simpler to add a few special items than it is to try to get everything you will need to do whatever you choose when you aren't focused on one thing at a time.

The problem with failure in the beginning is often we don't know whether it is the person or the equipment that's deficient. An example would be the person who takes a ball bat into a rifle fight thinking they had a good chance. There are many here who don't think it can ever be the equipment but some of them have limited their experience and just don't know what some of the other aspects of the craft requires. They'll tell you that they never do this or that and that's a giveaway - it let's you know that they have limited their interest and exposure so they don't have to compete in the arena where "this or that" is done. By no means does it mean that they can and do those things they don't do because if they did they wouldn't say "I'd never do that." Good luck with however you decided to go about it but just remember, small chunks are a lot easier to chew.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

MegTee wrote:

Hi everyone, br I'm excited to be here. I will say... (show quote)

Welcome to the Hog. If you went to Imaging USA, you already know something about PPA, the Professional Photographers of America. They usually conduct seminars designed to prepare you for the Master Craftsman (person) credential exam. Look at their web site. Also look up local chapters. There's a PPNC (NC is North Carolina) in our state.

Some of the best video training is by Photovision. https://photovisionvideo.com It is going under PPA as a benefit to members. I have a thick stack of their DVDs from a decade ago. Their library is extensive.

There are TONS of how to videos online. Julieanne Kost, an Adobe Evangelist and Master Trainer, has a wonderful site http://www.jkost.com I've seen her live a bunch of times.

YouTube is full of great "how to" videos — Creative Live channel is a good example. Just do a search for "photography video training," and you get oh, about 1.4 BILLION hits. Fortunately, mostly good ones come up first.

Remember that photography as a profession is, first and foremost, a business. Success depends a lot on selling, accounting, cash flow management, lab relationships, customer relationships, marketing strategies, and many other subjects totally unrelated to photography. Don't try to reinvent the wheels. Get some strong support from PPA and other organizations related to your particular interests.

Also, here's a word of caution: Photography has been universally democratized by the developments of the Internet, social media sharing sites, smartphones, and digital cameras of all types. There are few barriers to quality these days. Some of the work amateurs can do with smartphones rivals work professionals did with film, 30 years ago. That has lowered the perceived value of photography. So, check out Sarah Petty's https://www.joyofmarketing.com and read her book. She explains how to build a value proposition for boutique business clients.

jack schade Loc: La Pine Oregon

Welcome to the forum Meg.

Jack

PAR4DCR Loc: A Sunny Place

Welcome to UHH MegTee, glad you found us. I am originally from New Orleans, moved to Florida about a year ago. You have received a lot of info to sift thru. Good luck with your pro plans.
Have fun, learn and enjoy the forum.

Don

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

gessman wrote:

Welcome to uhh. You've asked for and received a pretty wild welcome. I think someone may have touched on it earlier but, looking back about 50 years, were I in your shoes today before i did anything else, I would do a real good survey of what my potential interests are and make a list of the various aspects or major categories of photography that pretty much require specialization in order to ensure success and I would approach my learning process using that list from the top down. Photography is such a broad subject that it makes the possibility of success in even learning it much more difficult if you just charge out "willy nilly" shooting whatever pops up in front of your camera. For instance, there are aspects of knowing how to be a good sports photographer that cross with what it takes to be a good portrait photographer but there is also a lot you have to learn about shooting sports that will do you very little good shooting portraits and vice versa. Product photography, that you mentioned, is a specialty unto itself and people spend all their working careers doing it. Then there's macro for shooting bugs, etc., there's birds-in-flight, all a matter of "making pictures" but require such different equipment and skills to achieve success and being good at one doesn't guarantee success in the others - it's what interests you, what you are good at.

Everything also has to be appropriate for where you live unless you plan on extensive travel and most of us start out close to home. You need to narrow things down into whether what interests you is inside or outdoors. If you crave shooting snow-capped mountain scenes when what you have is gators and egrets, you'll need some bucks, some time, and good transportation or you'll be constantly frustrated. If you want to shoot indoor events, that too takes special knowledge and equipment all of which must be learned in order to do the best possible job and build for the future.

Taking "photography" on as your goal is not realistic. It'd be like setting out to know the requirements of every job in a company like General Motors. There is a lot of common knowledge among all the different jobs but there is also a lot of specialization required to master a particular segment. If you try to take it all on at once, you will truly come to know what bewilderment is. The first mistake is thinking about the equipment. There is not one good camera that can "do it all" but the ones that come closest would be the most expensive and it would have a lot of features that you might never use, and I know - "it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it," but cameras are a special case.

Before I gave any further thought to the exposure triangle, or a new camera, or a shooting partner whose interests might not be a good fit for you, I'd set out to do some research in the library, if you have a good one, on the various aspects of photography, see where you think your greatest interests lie, and make that list. You may find that you will be interested in more than one segment and you may not. I've seen portrait photographers set up a studio, set up their lights, put their camera on a tripod, and retire thirty years later without ever moving either one. I can assure you that if you decide that you want to "do it all," the learning never stops.

If you prioritize your approach, you enhance your chances of seeing some short-term success and rewards that will keep you going and at which time you can branch out by adding another area of interest. You will know more about equipment needed and how what you already know crosses with what you are learning. That process will continue with each area of interest you find yourself drawn to. While you sound like a talented and resourceful person, I guarantee you that if you start out "helter-skelter" there's a good chance that it will take you forever to get really good at any specific area unless you have a really extraordinary talent and fantastic memory. There is just too much to remember as a newbie generalist. You don't want to frustrate yourself to the point of giving up so give a little thought to what you think interests you most and then begin. If you decide to follow some modified form of my suggestions, you will be able to isolate the equipment you will need to add to what you have to get the job done. I assure you that each special area of photography requires certain special equipment and without it only leads to frustration and often failure. It's a lot simpler to add a few special items than it is to try to get everything you will need to do whatever you choose when you aren't focused on one thing at a time.

The problem with failure in the beginning is often we don't know whether it is the person or the equipment that's deficient. An example would be the person who takes a ball bat into a rifle fight thinking they had a good chance. There are many here who don't think it can ever be the equipment but some of them have limited their experience and just don't know what some of the other aspects of the craft requires. They'll tell you that they never do this or that and that's a giveaway - it let's you know that they have limited their interest and exposure so they don't have to compete in the arena where "this or that" is done. By no means does it mean that they can and do those things they don't do because if they did they wouldn't say "I'd never do that." Good luck with however you decided to go about it but just remember, small chunks are a lot easier to chew.

Welcome to uhh. You've asked for and received a p... (show quote)

Excellent advice

Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY

Welcome to UHH Meg. I'm probably repeating what many have said, but a photography club where you live is a good place to start. Also, get yourself a copy of Bryan Petersen's book "Understanding Exposure". Here is a link for the 4th edition at Barnes and Noble. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/understanding-exposure-fourth-edition-bryan-peterson/1122186929/2673804228475?st=PLA&sid=BNB_Core+Catch-All,+Low&sourceId=PLAGoNA&dpid=tdtve346c&2sid=Google_c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlom92emU4AIVBIbICh0oCAmGEAQYASABEgJD3vD_BwE

They also have used copies available for a few dollars. Here is another link to a site that might be beneficial to you as well. https://digital-photography-school.com/understand-exposure-in-under-10-minutes/

This one is from Adorama TV and covers the exposure triangle and camera settings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eVjUrY9a9c and this is Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCo81YyO2p4

You can find lots of tutorials on youtube covering all different aspects of photography, as well as here on UHH. Check out the different sections on UHH that cover subjects that interest you and ask for help in them. Sometimes going to say the "Landscape" section or "Macro" section and asking questions in them will help you more, as usually the people that subscribe to certain sections are interested in that subject matter.

Good luck, keep shooting and ask questions.

MegTee Loc: Mesa Arizona

thanks so much for taking time out to give your bit of advice, it is much appreciated. it's weird that for a long time i didnt even understand the manual that came with my camera and dumped it somewhere but now that i've learnt a few things and gone back to it, i'm kicking myself for not learning from it sooner! sadly two of the lenses for my camera was lost by an airline so i'm making do with the standard 18-55mm lens i have. for now i'm determined to master my camera's manual mode by shooting and learning from the mistakes.

amfoto1 wrote:

Hi and welcome to UHH, br br You'll get lots of ... (show quote)

MegTee Loc: Mesa Arizona

thank you so much Vince, i appreciate this!

Vince68 wrote:

Welcome to UHH Meg. I'm probably repeating what ma... (show quote)

MegTee Loc: Mesa Arizona

thank you Don, looking forward to the journey. hopefully i dont tear my hair out too much.lol

PAR4DCR wrote:

Welcome to UHH MegTee, glad you found us. I am originally from New Orleans, moved to Florida about a year ago. You have received a lot of info to sift thru. Good luck with your pro plans.
Have fun, learn and enjoy the forum.

Don

MegTee Loc: Mesa Arizona

Thank you so much Bill! Imaging USA was exciting and even though i was a bit overwhelmed with all the info there it was totally worth it. thank you for the links also. I attended Julieanne's class at Imaging and i said to myself i want to know what she knows about Adobe! You're absolutely right about the business fundamentals of photography, i'm no stranger to having a business but i want to perfect the art before moving to business side of things. I will look into the info you've shared on business et al. thanks again

burkphoto wrote:

Welcome to the Hog. If you went to Imaging USA, yo... (show quote)

MegTee Loc: Mesa Arizona

Hello Gessman and phew! (to your response) . i think its safe to say that you made me see the light. there is much sense to what you've outlined and yes i have come to know what true bewilderment is on this knowledge journey. My main goal is to be the best at whatever field i choose and until now i seem to have been walking around in a large room, blindfolded and yet trying to grab a hold of something! so i'm going to start off in one direction interest (the list) and see where that takes me. i think that will give me some sanity because right now i have varying interest and there's no way i can learn a little bit of each without going crazy!! so i ask you; isn't there a photography basics that will help in any or every area of focus?

thanks again.

gessman wrote:

Welcome to uhh. You've asked for and received a pretty wild welcome. I think someone may have touched on it earlier but, looking back about 50 years, were I in your shoes today before i did anything else, I would do a real good survey of what my potential interests are and make a list of the various aspects or major categories of photography that pretty much require specialization in order to ensure success and I would approach my learning process using that list from the top down. Photography is such a broad subject that it makes the possibility of success in even learning it much more difficult if you just charge out "willy nilly" shooting whatever pops up in front of your camera. For instance, there are aspects of knowing how to be a good sports photographer that cross with what it takes to be a good portrait photographer but there is also a lot you have to learn about shooting sports that will do you very little good shooting portraits and vice versa. Product photography, that you mentioned, is a specialty unto itself and people spend all their working careers doing it. Then there's macro for shooting bugs, etc., there's birds-in-flight, all a matter of "making pictures" but require such different equipment and skills to achieve success and being good at one doesn't guarantee success in the others - it's what interests you, what you are good at.

Everything also has to be appropriate for where you live unless you plan on extensive travel and most of us start out close to home. You need to narrow things down into whether what interests you is inside or outdoors. If you crave shooting snow-capped mountain scenes when what you have is gators and egrets, you'll need some bucks, some time, and good transportation or you'll be constantly frustrated. If you want to shoot indoor events, that too takes special knowledge and equipment all of which must be learned in order to do the best possible job and build for the future.

Taking "photography" on as your goal is not realistic. It'd be like setting out to know the requirements of every job in a company like General Motors. There is a lot of common knowledge among all the different jobs but there is also a lot of specialization required to master a particular segment. If you try to take it all on at once, you will truly come to know what bewilderment is. The first mistake is thinking about the equipment. There is not one good camera that can "do it all" but the ones that come closest would be the most expensive and it would have a lot of features that you might never use, and I know - "it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it," but cameras are a special case.

Before I gave any further thought to the exposure triangle, or a new camera, or a shooting partner whose interests might not be a good fit for you, I'd set out to do some research in the library, if you have a good one, on the various aspects of photography, see where you think your greatest interests lie, and make that list. You may find that you will be interested in more than one segment and you may not. I've seen portrait photographers set up a studio, set up their lights, put their camera on a tripod, and retire thirty years later without ever moving either one. I can assure you that if you decide that you want to "do it all," the learning never stops.

If you prioritize your approach, you enhance your chances of seeing some short-term success and rewards that will keep you going and at which time you can branch out by adding another area of interest. You will know more about equipment needed and how what you already know crosses with what you are learning. That process will continue with each area of interest you find yourself drawn to. While you sound like a talented and resourceful person, I guarantee you that if you start out "helter-skelter" there's a good chance that it will take you forever to get really good at any specific area unless you have a really extraordinary talent and fantastic memory. There is just too much to remember as a newbie generalist. You don't want to frustrate yourself to the point of giving up so give a little thought to what you think interests you most and then begin. If you decide to follow some modified form of my suggestions, you will be able to isolate the equipment you will need to add to what you have to get the job done. I assure you that each special area of photography requires certain special equipment and without it only leads to frustration and often failure. It's a lot simpler to add a few special items than it is to try to get everything you will need to do whatever you choose when you aren't focused on one thing at a time.

The problem with failure in the beginning is often we don't know whether it is the person or the equipment that's deficient. An example would be the person who takes a ball bat into a rifle fight thinking they had a good chance. There are many here who don't think it can ever be the equipment but some of them have limited their experience and just don't know what some of the other aspects of the craft requires. They'll tell you that they never do this or that and that's a giveaway - it let's you know that they have limited their interest and exposure so they don't have to compete in the arena where "this or that" is done. By no means does it mean that they can and do those things they don't do because if they did they wouldn't say "I'd never do that." Good luck with however you decided to go about it but just remember, small chunks are a lot easier to chew.

Welcome to uhh. You've asked for and received a p... (show quote)

gessman Loc: Colorado

MegTee wrote:

Hello Gessman and phew! (to your response) . i thi... (show quote)

Sorry that I got a bit long-winded with my comments. I didn't mean to "pound you into submission."

Of course there's room for some basic learning independent of what route you take in the future or what additional equipment you may need. Several other posters recommended "Understanding Exposure," by Bryan Peterson. That'd give you a better understanding of the basics independent of any particular camera and David Bush's book about the camera you have now would be good to have as would watching some youtube videos or other reference materials on composition. The camera you have can take you a long way in your pursuit and prepare you to move in any direction from where you are with minimal fuss.

What I said about trying to sort out future equipment needs based on a lack of a clear understanding of which direction(s) you may want to go in from where you are was offered to deter you from getting bogged down in decisions that you have plenty of time to make or not, decisions you could later regret based on the direction you take.

I would think it would be a good approach to investigate the photography business where you are to see what's in demand and what opportunities might there be that could get you started off. Line up what you learn about where you feel your interests lie and you might even find something with strong appeal just sitting there waiting for you. Only you know where your interests will take you but you do need to know what those interests are. I should think a good place to start would also be to pick up a book on careers in photography from either the library or a book store. Amazon.com likely has a good selection from which you can pick. Unless you plan on leaving where you are, your aim needs to be toward something you can break into where you are and it can be tough figuring all that out.

You'll just need to do some digging to see what's available. Following is a url to an article I recently came across that has some good information and at the end there's a group of urls that direct you to some more valuable information on issues like finding a mentor, etc. https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cameras-photography/tips/how-to-start-your-own-photography-business2.htm

Backing up a step at that url you will find a lot of comment on several aspects within photography that might help you get a clearer picture of a direction you might want to take: https://search.howstuffworks.com/serp?q=photography%20companies&segment=hsw.b.005&s1aid=173111806&s1cid=308454656&s1agid=1262239482421346&s1kid=kwd-78890049292127:loc-190&utm_source=adcenter&MSCLKID=0ac0dd939877169c9fc881cf0815ab63

Go back and read what others have said in this thread. There's some colossal wisdom been handed you and even if you're not in a position to grasp the significance of it all right now, it'll be in your head and chances are that when the right time comes for you to utilize it, it'll pop into the forefront of your thoughts.

DickC Loc: NE Washington state

Welcome aboard!!

Granddad Loc: UK

Welcome to the Hog.
Dave.

jpgto Loc: North East Tennessee

Welcome, enjoy