I wanna shoot... now what?

[keith204]

When events arise, I find it easy to find things to take photos of. However... let's say I just want to go "practice" because I have free time? Where do I go? What do I do? The town park just gets old.

A friend of mine recommended to get some posterboard (for a background), a shop light, and find random objects to photograph... so i could get used to lighting, and the solid color backgrounds. This is neat...

I'd like to learn more about lighting and composition.

When you want to practice, what do you do?

 

[strick]

I guess it depends on what you like to shoot. Me I am more of a landscape/nature type of guy. If I don't have anything in particular in mind I just take a ride and look for things to shoot. I have found a few good shots that way. Or just pic a weekly theme and find things that fit.

 

[keith204]

What are some suggestions of 'weekly themes'? That sounds like a good idea... it'll keep me thinking and looking.

 

[strick]

There are a few in the "theme" section. In the past I have done barns, pets, and fences to name a few. You could do silhouettes or textures.

 

[WDodd]

I often find myself bored in my room, or when I'm waiting around for the girlfriend I will snap some pictures of random stuff. Just the other day I got out my 430EX and was taking pictures of pens, pencils, and this bobble head on my shelf: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wdodd04/918862299/

You mentioned you wanted to learn more about lighting: http://strobist.blogspot.com/ is a great place to start.

 

[newrmdmike]

you wanna shoot, now what? <--- i thought you were joking before i opened the thread! the solution is easy, carry your camera with you, get out, go on a walk. anywhere!

what interests you outside photography? human rights? boxing? racing? dairy farms? go to those things and shoot.

I think you will find it hard to not find a photograph if you make yourself go out and look for one.

 

[ANDS!]

I carry my camera with me at all times - I take pictures of all kinds of dumb stuff. . .not every photograph has to be "worthy" of being taken. . .even the most mundane bullshicksa is great, if it helps you get more comfortable with your camera, then do so.

Says you have a macro lens in your bag - go hogwild with that. . .a whole world of shiznit that you can photograph.

 

[marinaw]

Another option that can be fun is to take shots of very mundane objects using very unusual angles or extreme close-ups. If you get creative enough, it can be fun watching people try to puzzle out what they are photos of.

My brother-in-law did that when he was house-sitting for us once. When we came home he showed us the photos. He had fun looking around the house with a different perspective, and we had fun trying to figure things out.

 

[dangergoinoff]

Do you get sunsets or sunrises where you are?
Near a city?
Beach?
Mountains?
Old rail yard?
Get out and have a look around.

 

[Garbz]

Why go anywhere. As an exercise try and photograph something mundane in the house in an intersting way.

 

[keith204]

Do you get sunsets or sunrises where you are?
Near a city?
Beach?
Mountains?
Old rail yard?
Get out and have a look around.

yep, nope, nope, nope, nope, ok-sounds good.

I'm in the ozarks... but there are some lakes around here.... mainly I need to get out and about during sunrise & sunset when natural lighting is at its best. In the morning, I sleep through the sunet, and in the evening, am on this forum and not outside

No... but the replies here have definitely helped give me direction and inspiration. I'm not the "get out and shoot" type of person (last time i tried this, the only picture i got was of my neighbor peeing on his house........ok it was worth it) So, having an idea --a theme--an objective--a goal-- will really help. Thanks for the advice!

 

[DSLR noob]

When I bring my camera to school, I'll take pictures of what people would call "nothing". Ceiling tiles, posters, desks, the teacher (the surprisingly don't care). People will ask what I'm taking pictures of of andI'll just say "stuff". They think it;'s weird then I'll go "oh look at how I captured the legs of this desk from this angle!" They'll look at it and go "wow, you're good, I didn't think that someone could make this look that nice, you should charge people for pictures." and all from a picture of "nothing". Just snap away, make little goals in your head (I want to take a picture where this fountain's droplets are frozen in place, I want to take a picture with the foreground blurry and the background in foucs, now the reverse, I want to tka e apicture where the sky is exposed properly, and silouhuettes lie in the foreground, etc. You'll be proud when you nail these goals, and more importantly, be more accostomed to donig them when you're REALLY taking pictures. you'd be surprised that you may find a few keepers amungst your practice shots.

 

[LokiZ]

Here I was a state away from home for work training... What do I do? Well for one I drove around just prior to dusk...Seeing beautiful sunsets chasing them down with my car trying to find a decent place to pull off in an unknown city and capture it's beauty before it was gone.

Other ideas...

Find a river, brook, sprinkler and practice slow shutter speeds to capture water in motion. If that doesn't work perhaps a leaky gutter or a down spout.

Grab your tripod and capture some night shots, find a place to capture some car lights painting light lines into your image.

Go around town and capture the sites monuments, statues, public buildings.

The possibilities are endless.

 

[table1349]

Keith, I am going to suggest an exercise that we were given 30 years ago in a college photography class I was taking. Have someone else that you know select a single, simple object and have them give it to you. A single, solitary object that you are stuck with. Now put together an portfolio of 20, yes I said 20 photographs that feature that object as the main subject. Not just in the picture, but as the main focus of the picture. It can really get your mind working when you are limited as to what you shoot.

I still have the portfolio that I shot of a single chicken egg. That is what the teacher handed me. Everyone in the class was given something different. It was hard in the beginning, but it really made me think and see outside the box. Once you can think outside the box it is easy to see and shoot outside that same box. Good luck.

 

[Deena]

If you are in the Ozarks there are a ton of gorgeous places to photograph! Perhaps living their has made you forget what you have, or maybe your Ozarks is not what I think of when we go visit!

I live in a small river town, with not much here, and i recently went out and challenged myself to photograph the sites...It was quite fun... Getting out is really what is helpful...