Photographers : Advice on Learning
 

Had a D70 for a while, it got lost and I replaced it with the Digital Rebel XT. Only problem is my skill is horrible. I have consistently tried to take my photos in 'manual' mode, raw format and colour balance on my own. I've read a few 'starter' photography books about framing etc but still am not satisfied with the quality and 'framing' of my pics.

I'm ALWAYS taking photos to practice.

That having been said can anyone reccomend a decent book I could invest in. Chapters has a bunch and it's hard to sort through what is shit and what is not.

Composition would be my strongest skill and therefore I need to learn how to get the pictures coming out of the camera like I envision em.

Ever try cropping in post?
 

The easy way to make up for weak composition is good cropping in post when you color correct and sharpen your images.

Do you best compsing a shot, then "fine tune" it in post before publication.

Tom

Practice is the only way to learn. If you made no mistakes, you would not learn.

I found a cool thing on my D70, hopefully your new camera has this. When I went into Photoshop CS to edit the pictures, I looked at the meta info and it is PACKED full of information of the camera's settings for that image.

You can do some bracketing and later see which exposure worked best for you.

Perhaps you can try to go to Aperture priority mode and shoot around a bit. Go back to the PC, look at the pics and shutter speed info in the meta and over time you'll get an idea of what worked best for you.

The great thing about digital is you can take as many pics as you want and it doesn't cost anything. With film, you have to be very careful and mindful before taking a picture. With digital, I can take dozens or hundreds of shots and only wind up with one shot that I'm fairly pleased with.

The drawback to digital is that you start shooting everything, and it can get you in the habbit of not setting up the shot as well as you would if it were film....you may start to cut some corners without realizing it.

Good luck and have fun with it!

Mike B

there a book on exposure by petersen I dont know exact title look it up on amazon thats a good place to start. Also while at the book store get the ez guide for your camera so you learn it cold :)

Taking some photography classes at your school (if they offer it) may not be a bad idea either...

practice practice practice.

I have the Rebel XT as well and take 500+ pictures every time I go out with it... at least. Some are great, some aren't... I figure it out as I go.

Sure I'm not professional photographer myself.. but I'm happy with what I can get when I keep trying :)

A book cannot teach you to have an "eye". Everyone else is correct in saying practice, but you cant just keep taking snapshots and think that your photo skills are going to get any better.

One little thing I can tell you about shooting models/people, is to shoot medium and close up shots. Usually at the beginning amatuer photograpehrs always take wide and full body shots of people. I dont know why this is, but I did the same thing.

Id also suggest going to seminars or college classes to beef up your skills. If you really want to get better, and you really work at it, you'll get there.

Composition is the least of all problems I see in porn photography. Actually, I have seen hundreds of thousands of porn photos...and I believe that there are about 5 photographers that even know how photography works. The rest of them are just pointing and shooting.

I can offer you some tips but I have never shot porn...but that doesn't matter because 99% of porn photos suck.

1) Aperture effects depth of field. Most people, really MOST, interpret shallow depth as "good" photography. Shoot on aperture priority. This means that your camera's meter will control shutter speed based on your aperture setting.

2) For the love of god either learn how to use a light meter or take advantage of your camera's exposure HOLD function or zones. Meter for the subject or the zone and hold -- or use your camera's zones...but actually use them. If you're taking a picture of Teen Jelly on the beach and the bright sand is behind her -- you are going to need to expose her face and body...not the sandy beach, right? Right??? Meter the subject, nothing else.

3) If you're shooting outside on a bright day you might need ND filters. This will keep your camera from freaking out above 1/6000 and allow you to keep that aperture wide open.

If you master those 3 simple tips...you will be set. I don't care what anyone says :thumbsup

4) Oh jeez I left out white balance... unless your white balance is dead on you can practically rule out photoshop. Next thing you know Teen Jelly is orange in all the indoor photos, and blue in all the outdoor photos. Bummer. You can get photos ready to go from a d70 all day long. Get the nikon software and carry around a laptop with you...you can have the photos pop up on the laptop as you take them. Ignore the lcd on the n70 -- it is useless.