luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I hope you have picked up some pointers!

Dodie

Hip Coyote

First, the idea of leaving the camera at home to become a better photographer is like telling someone to leave their tennis racket at home to become a better tennis player. Just sayin.

You have received quite a lot of good advice. The one that has helped me get better, from pretty awful actually, was to join a camera club where you submit photos and they are critiqued. Then, get in the habit of enjoying the critique process. Stay away from the usual, "nice set" crowd on UHH where people submit photos and want no critique. Its is a waste of time. The continuous loop of improvement will be key. The hardware discussions are also often a waste of time. (If I see one more, "filter or no filter", "RAW vs. Jpeg", "Nikon v Canon v Sony" discussion, I may lose my mind.) Focus on technique and critique.

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Wonderful advice! One of the hardest (but best) lessons I learned in life was to not take "critique" personally but to use it as a basis to learn and improve. Several times a UHH member has caught something I missed or saw a photo in a different way that offered me new perspective. Joining a good club would be beneficial to motivate you to get out and take photos and to learn directly from other people.

Thank you!

Dodie

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

Nothing beats in class or one on one learning. Online is fine but, if you can get into an in person class do it.

bobfitz Loc: Kendall-Miami, Florida

I would have to say...learning how to see. Learning composition, framing, light and previsualization for post. Do not only see your subject but also see the distractions in the scene and either eliminate them by reframing or in post. I always look at a scene and not only see it at the moment but imagine what time of day, angle of view and/or weather conditions could enhance the shot. I have been doing this for 59 years so I don't really have to think about it too much anymore. That wasn't always the case. After a time the way you see, frame and all the other points become your style. I hope you enjoy photography as much as I have for so many years. One more point...always shoot in RAW so it will be you and not your camera making artistic decisions.

Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving

Bob

Bbarn Loc: Ohio

Learning the purpose and use of aperature and shutter priority, and manual modes is important for technically good pictures. If using a digital camera made in the last five or so years, embrace auto ISO. Those things are easily learned.

Good composition is much harder to achieve. For that, study those who's work you enjoy or appreciate.

Practice regularly.

That's helped me as an amateur.

kmielen Loc: Eastern NC

Photo clubs can be a source of multiple mentors as well as a reason to get out and shoot.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you Dodie! I've done some posts on ETTR:

ETTR in Practice

ETTR in Practice II

But honestly, my best coaching 'success' to date has been the work from Bob (Redyogi) at Old Car City. He found his subjects and has done his own processing, but I did the scouting and the lead walking to find the light and shadows in the park. Such as:

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-719269-1.html
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-719178-1.html

Another thought for those new to digital photography is the question of 'crop' in camera vs on computer. A big improvement in my technique was looking at my edited results and saying, if that's the crop I want, then try to shoot at the distance and / or with the lens (focal length) that generates that end-result coming out of the camera. I have a draft of this discussion, but it still needs some editing and images to bring the topic together for post.

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Learning from another photographer is absolutely one of the best experiences. I recently finished a beginning class. I am not a beginner and have been shooting for most of my life but I always learn something new in these classes. Each photographer has his/her preferences and style of shooting that if different from yours gives the opportunity to try a different method. In January I will take another class under a different instructor and I look forward to new methods and more input on the photos I submit.

Thank you!

Dodie

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Thank you for your insights, Bob!

I agree composition is extremely important. When I look at a photo the first thing I want to see is the choice of composition. My preference is foreground, middle ground, background then I expand to leading lines, shapes etc.

When I started learning post processing I set my camera to shoot RAW and jpeg so that I had a decent photo available in case my post processing skills failed. As I progressed I discontinued the jpegs and deleted the earlier ones once I had processed the RAW.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!!

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Wonderful advice! Having a good understanding of your camera and how it works makes it easier to concentrate on the aspects that make a good photo.

Thank you for contributing!

Dodie

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Absolutely!! Like most people I stay in during the worst of the pandemic and wanted a "kick in the pants" to get back out to take photos. I signed up for a beginner's photography class because I liked the instructor plus a refresher course never hurts. It did make me very aware of how much knowledge I had over someone just starting out and yes, I did learn some things that I didn't know. Very worth it and will take an intermediate course in January to "keep my pants kicked".

Thank you!

Dodie

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Thank you for the additional information and links. I very much enjoyed Redyogi's photos and it seems you both had a wonderful day. I'm envious!!! I look forward to your next tutorial and will have to stock up on ink for my printer so I can print them.

Dodie

wide2tele Loc: Australia

I began working for a very established studio as an assistant back 3 decades ago. There was nothing that was more influential to my photography.

However, I wouldn’t recommend this approach today. Modern day professional photography is not what it was and I really feel the knowledge being passed on today is often contradicting or just plain wrong. The internet is as much a part of professional photography as taking pictures and internet likes/clicks are important. Photographers tend to look for sensationalism in order to get likes/clicks and subsequently photographic work. In order to get these, information can be skewed or complete BS. Some are also very well regarded but their success can be due more to what they do away from the camera than what they do behind the camera. I personally consider some modern day highly regarded pros as being massively overrated and poor photographers. It’s their work away from the camera bringing them success.

I’d approach modern learning today using multiple avenues, not one single person. Find as many sources as you can and then use your own best judgement as you develop experience for the advice you wish to take and the advice you wish to drop.

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Very good point about using multiple avenues to learn.

I agree that just because a photographer on the internet has a lot of followers or number of views for their video, that doesn't necessarily make them a good photographer. The viewer should decide if the video content is informative and if they like the photos presented. A video that makes you want to run out and try to duplicate what was viewed is certainly worth watching a second time and possibly following.

Thank you for your input!

Dodie