What Is The Secret Behind

[Kan Win]

Anyone wishes to tell us?

Yours truly,

Kan Win

[lopburi3]

Composition (which most of us do not have time for). Luck for us without the talent or time to really compose. Knowledge of technical aspects (exposure/focus/motion/balance/effects etc). Darkroom/video editing to make final corrections later. And a subject we like.

Even when we use automatic cameras we should have some knowledge of where to focus and obtain exposure readings or we may be too far out to correct later. I have become a point and shoot rather than the compose type I was back in the twin lens reflex days and photos need a lot of out patient surgery these days.

[Chang_paarp]

Anyone wishes to tell us?

Yours truly,

Kan Win

Easy.

1) Find subject.

2) Previsualise what you want as final result.

3) Compose to achieve the previsualisation.

4a) If camera is manual, do the exposure and focus thing.

4b) If the camera is auto;- pray.

5) Press shutter.

(If digital you can play here)

6) Take image to lab.

7) Negotiate with lab to fix or adjust image to get your visualisation or correct what you missed.

8) Collect your print, pay lab.

8a) Show to all and sundry as often as you can.

Repeat 1-8 above regularly,

Read:

Ansel Adams; The negative, The print and The camera (3 Books)

As many other books on art and visual imagery as you can.

Study photoshop to supliment what you learn from Mr Adams.

[ourmanflint]

the secret is this..... get close! Very close!!! In fact you should be within arms reach of your subjects, or if you are using a telephoto( not unless you really have to!) then you should also get really really close to your subjects, fill the frame with your subjects. Or if you are doing landscapes there is the golden section and rule of thirds, both of which work best when pushed to the extremes...

I have to disagree with Chang paarp on the Ansel Adams thing though, not remotely useful unless you are in the western united states and have huge vistas to work with... just my opinion though!!

[edd]

Easy

Right place

Right time

Right camera

and a bucket full of luck and talent.

see i told you it was easy

[Polymer Head]

Practice, practice, practice and it's easy with a digital camera. Also, a short course in the fundamentals of photograhpy if your serious enough.

[donna]

I think luck has everything to do with it. Most of my photos posted on TV have been taken with a point and click digital camera. Before this I had a Canon SLR which I loved (before it was sadly stolen).

Every time I took my photos in to be developed, the lady in my camera shop would keep a few for herself. She loved my pics and said I should make postcards. I did consider it, but as I am not 'pro' with a big camera I didnt have the confidence to do it.

My pics are mostly taken willy nilly and with not much thought. Admittedly, I DO delete many now, choosing to keep the best ones, but luck, in my opinion, has about 90% of the say in my photos.

[astral]

Donna

I like you avatar.

Astral

[xty]

Practice, practice, practice and it's easy with a digital camera. Also, a short course in the fundamentals of photograhpy if your serious enough.

But digital camera made me stupid still. I've been more than a year learning photography from zero, starting directly with digital camera (used film only with compact point & shoot camera). Read photography magazines. I shots thousands of pictures, but still know nothing about how to measure lights/exposure CORRECTLY and MANUALLY. Digital camera makes me lazy. I get used to bracketing, trusting what the viewfinder/LCD says, Program mode, and other automatic stuffs.

Wish I could practice more on using my camera's Manual mode. Just like when using manual film camera where every single negative film should produce a good photo.

[donna]

xty - when i was using a regular slr camera, if i got just one or two fantastic shots from a roll, i was very happy. the beauty with a digital is that you can delete all those duds.

i dont touch up at all really on photoshop.

but there is some depth or something that the digital just doesnt capture. i love the quality and feel of conventional photography as opposed to digital.

[Polymer Head]

Practice, practice, practice and it's easy with a digital camera. Also, a short course in the fundamentals of photograhpy if your serious enough.

But digital camera made me stupid still. I've been more than a year learning photography from zero, starting directly with digital camera (used film only with compact point & shoot camera). Read photography magazines. I shots thousands of pictures, but still know nothing about how to measure lights/exposure CORRECTLY and MANUALLY. Digital camera makes me lazy. I get used to bracketing, trusting what the viewfinder/LCD says, Program mode, and other automatic stuffs.

Wish I could practice more on using my camera's Manual mode. Just like when using manual film camera where every single negative film should produce a good photo.

Same for me when I switched to a digital camera, so it was mostly in full auto mode occasionally testing the shooting and picture styles modes. As with donna, if 1 shot out 36 was 'good' I was happy. Besides, pros still take numerous shots and pick the best ones.

Getting slightly off topic, we now need to understand how the sensor of a digital camera 'reacts' and processes light in its various modes. Just as how negative or positive (slide) film reacts differently to the aperture and shutter speed settings. If you're using a DSLR then sensor size and crop factors come into play.

See if the link below is of any help

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm

[ourmanflint]

I never ever set my camera to auto except at night with flash attached etc... If you are going to use auto, don't use program use AE ( aperture priority) or S ( shutter priority) I would recommend AE as you can set the depth of field you want, then let the camera pick shutter speed, which in sunny Thailand is 95% fast enough.

Edited April 7, 2006 by ourmanflint

[xty]

I never ever set my camera to auto except at night with flash attached etc... If you are going to use auto, don't use program use AE ( aperture priority) or S ( shutter priority) I would recommend AE as you can set the depth of field you want, then let the camera pick shutter speed, which in sunny Thailand is 95% fast enough.

Most of the time I use Program mode. I play a bit on ISO setting and fill-in flash depends on the environment. I use Shutter mode mainly for night shots. I rarely use Aperture mode because unless you use 35mm film camera or full frame digital camera (mine is prosumer digital camera), then you may not see the difference on DOF. The only obvious difference on DOF is when I extend my lens to maximum 200mm (equiv) to shoot portrait.

[astral]

I too use aperture priorty as my main setting.

I find a telephoto is too big for convenient use with portraits.

I prefer the old 28-70mm that came with my canon EOS600 film camera

is ideal with the Canon 10D for portraiture. The effective focal length

is 50-100mm and it is not too bulky. I use it a lot for photos at family

events.

Since I went digital I take many more photos than before, and am generally delighted the results.

Duds are easily deleted and cost nothing.

Edited April 8, 2006 by astral

[donna]

Thanks Astral. I just cant figure out how to get her looking 'normal' as opposed to stretched. Ive tried with my avatar options but cant seem to crack it.

Donna

I like you avatar.

Astral

[Kathe]

I dont have any secret to make some good pixs. First of all , I studied and read many books and the technic of using camera, light, speed shutter , films , lens, etc...all about camera. And you have eager in your heart to take pictures. And you ask youself why they can make such a great pix with such normal perspective and color. Eager to know and eager to experiment with your camera. There are still many technic that untill now I never can be able to do it and didnt understand well, is taking picture by moving camera. Digital camera opened the fastest and better result of taking pixs for me. Experiment and delete and choosing the best you can get. I have luck, I dont need to delete that much after using Digital now. Sad is my good old 2 SLR Cannon and EOS Canon are kept only in the shelf right now.

[sylvafern]

When I had my Canon EOS SLR and also with my Sony DSC-F717 I almost always use the auto functions unless there is a need to change something due to the type of photo being taken. (I only know simple stuff like changing the shutter speed.) Lots of people comment on my photos and I've sold a few just by people approaching me (one day I would like to actually 'do' something more along these line ) so I think that the biggest secret behind taking photos is having an eye for what makes a good picture and being able to compose it correctly (especially zooming in on the subject). Of course, knowing how to play around with your camera and knowing how to use all the settings means your photos will be even better, but I've seen some photos taken by people who know all the technical stuff and the photos still aren't that great because they haven't got a natural instinct for what makes a great pic.

Thanks Astral. I just cant figure out how to get her looking 'normal' as opposed to stretched. Ive tried with my avatar options but cant seem to crack it.

When you upload your picture it seems to automatically make it square shape .... it says that your avatar can't be more than 90x90 pixels. Try cropping it first so that it is a square shape, that way you should be able to upload and keep her face in proportion.

Edited April 13, 2006 by sylvafern

[The Skipper]

During some of Ansel Adams courses in Yosemite Park, he would send his students out for the day to take one image.

Imagine it "framed on the wall" he told them.

Additional comment deleted.

Moderator

Edited April 16, 2006 by astral

[ColPyat]

Unless one only shoots large format Black and White landscape and still life images, has his own darkroom, has his own negative developing and printing fine tuned to absolute perfectness, has a steady supply of the same chemicals and papers, maybe even mixing chemicals yourself, i would forget bothering with Ansel Adams. His extremely complex technique only works under those circumstances, was never meant to work any differnt. Ansal Adams is highly scientific photography for very limited purposes.

There is no other secret to "good" photography other than years of hard work following ones own vision and developing a particular style expressing ones views and vision on life. In todays world there are no fixed parameters anymore in what makes "good" photography. As many photographers, as many viewers - as many opinions on photography.

Raw snapshot photography, lomography, classical and modern photo journalism, glossy stock photography, post modern photography, etc, everything is permissable and has its space, or market, if one is inclined so. It all depends on usage, personal style and taste, and subject matter. All rules regarding composition and exposure can be and should be broken if one sees fit and has a reason to.

The best way to start is browsing through a good store specialised in photo books, look through the amazing range of what is done, and has been done, be open minded, and start experimenting in what one is impressed with. If one is serious enough, one will after some time find his/her own style. And after that it is years, if not decades, of complete dedication, and very hard work. Which should of course be lots of fun with it as well.

Edited April 19, 2006 by ColPyat

[Kan Win]

Thank you all for your views, greatly appreciated.

Anyone wishing to contribute further to this topic?

Yours truly,

Kan Win

[The Skipper]

For begginers:

Get closer to the subject.

Set the camera menu for higher saturation.

Use fill flash.

Consider the background.

[triangular]

I believe a good photograph is about one thing first, PATIENCE! So many times catching the right thing is about sitting and waiting. Waiting for the right moment, the right profile, right action, right lighting, etc. Good photographers spend a lot more time either waiting or setting everything up before ever pressing the shutter button.

Other than that, try out different things for artistic effect, such as different angles, exposures and compositions. The "rules" can and are often broken when there is a reason for doing it differently.

A good photograph should either tell a story, or be able to stand upon its own artistic merit in some other way. If the eye moves around the photo trying to figure out whats going on, the interest is already gone. This is as much about focus and composition as it is about saturation or subject matter.

[Vegemite]

Donna

I like you avatar.

Astral

How do I blow up ( make it bigger ) the avatar??????

[mark lamai]

well i'll put in my two pence worth.

1. understand that what the camera sees and what you see are not the same.

2. learn to know what and how the camera sees.

3. the plague of zoom lenses is a terminal photo disease.

you have to know in your mind's eye what focal length you want to use for a particular shot.

you have to know the different look a shot has because of focal length.

so learn what 20mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 105mm look like.

above 105mm is just boring telephoto, you will rarely get a good shot with a long lens.

gaffer tape your zoom to the 24mm equivalent and spend a day using just that focal length.

you will find that you have to move yourself to make the pic.

repeat more days with other fixed focal lengths.

then you will know what focal length to choose for a particular look/feel.

portrait? 85mm or 105mm? they are very different.

landscape? 20mm or 24mm? again very very different.

so rule number 1.

never never never zoom to frame a picture, choose a focal length and move yourself.

when you are trained like this, you can see a potential shot 100 metres ahead and already know what focal length you will use and where you will stand/sit/squat to frame the pic when you get there.

you will know what it will look like well before you get there.

note: above focal lengths are in relation to 35mm film, so adjust for digital equivalent.

other thoughts.

often overlooked nowadays because of digital is the difference a lens makes.

compare japanese leneses to hasselbald or leica lenses.

dianne arbus could never have achieved the look of her portraits without a hasselblad 50mm lens.

going out for a day's shooting? try this. just plonk yourself somewhere and let the pic come to you,

instead of running around shooting like a crazed nutter.

[Jimmyd]

Interesting ideas, mark lamai.

[MarkBKK]

I'd agree with most of the above. All I could add would be: Get some decent primes (for me that's 24mm, 50mm and 120mm), take loads of pictures and try to remember what you were trying to do when you took each one (so you can hopefully judge if you succeeded and why, or why not), don't think you can't take good pictures with decent zooms and telephotos, and remember -- bekoh is often your best friend, well, mine anyway.

[astral]

Mark Lamai's comments are good, but it should be pointed out that they apply for a standard format SLR.

The new generation with the smaller format alters the effective focal length of the lens by x1.6

which alters the playing field a great deal. Especially when considering depth of field.

[thai_narak]

3 most important things you should know:

- shutter speed

- aperture

- ISO settings

you will go from here...

[Jimmyd]

Mark Lamai's comments are good, but it should be pointed out that they apply for a standard format SLR.

The new generation with the smaller format alters the effective focal length of the lens by x1.6

which alters the playing field a great deal. Especially when considering depth of field.

I'm aware of this, but is that the whole story? For example, is my 50mm prime on a 1.6 SLR essentially the same as a 80mm prime (50mm x 1.6) on a full-frame camera? Are there other factors to consider that I don't know about?

[canuckamuck]

Composition, Composition, Composition - if you don’t have a feel for this, your photographs don’t have much of a chance.

Fortunately there are endless articles and books on the subject, since it applies to all visual arts.

The next step is learning to see what the camera is going to do to the image you see through the lens. This comes with practice. Beyond that it is a matter of learning to see where you can take it in Photoshop, which is as much a part of photography today as anything.

My photos are generally on the fly and journalistic. No opportunity to arrange and select a lens. A good photographer knows how to predict, and adapt. I can go on a three week assignment with only a wide angle lens and get what I need. 90% of my most usable shots are in very close with a wide lens. But if I have time, I do carefully select a lens and I pose the subjects if possible.

Take a million photos (digital is free) and have a good look at them, show your friends you will soon be making great shots.