At some point photography does get easier

[imagemaker46]

It's more of a statement than anything else and it's directed to the amateurs and camera owners new to photography. I read a lot of the posts on the forum and many I don't respond to because they are being written by the magazine readers, the ones that read an article on photography and spew out the information so they can sound like they know "how" to take pictures. I have to say that there are a lot of people that can tell people what is wrong with the photos that have been posted and yet they have no clue what they are talking about. I don't read magazines or books, never have, certainly not anything related to photography, but I do know that the more information you can aquire the better. I grew up in the business, it's been a lot of years. I can also say that I don't find photography hard or difficult, I understand light, I can walk into any room/venue and know where the best pictures will come from, it takes only a few minutes to figure everything out. Like anything, the more you do it the easier it gets. Don't give up because you've had a bad shoot, don't give up because you find it too much of a challenge. Every professional has gone through the same things.

Most camera owners will never make a living doing this, many will try and many will fail, but just enjoy it. When you start to doubt yourself, you add stress and that's not what the hobby is all about. Always remember to be ready for a picture, when you are walking around, keep the camera turned on, throw the lens cap in your pocket, have your settings all set, if the light changes, change the setting, don't wait for the picture to disappear because you weren't ready.

Photography doesn't have rules, you don't need to know or try to understand half of what is said on this forum, just learn what you need to know, some great pictures just happen, be ready. Have fun. It does get easier.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Photography doesn't have rules, you don't need to know or try to understand half of what is said on this forum, just learn what you need to know, some great pictures just happen, be ready. Have fun. It does get easier.

By tossing out all the "rules", you just made photography very easy for everyone! I suggest everyone stop posting for critique now, as tilted horizons just became acceptable!

 

[imagemaker46]

I suppose I could have just said I find photography really easy because I was never told it had rules. I didn't know anything about the rule of thirds until I joined this forum, I had to look it up. For the past 40 years I never knew that photography had rules. Can you imagine how embarrased I was when I found out that I was doing everything wrong.

 

[manaheim]

I'm confused. Was this encouraging the noobs or just getting the demons out and bashing people?

You know, it's interesting... my latest endeavor is learning to write novels. So the first thing I decided I should do is research a bit of what it takes to write one. I mean sure, I could just go start writing (much as I did with photography- I just started shooting), but I figured 'Hey, you know, I might be able to shorten the learning curve if I just researched a bit".

You know what I'm finding? There are some commonalities, at least as far as the learning process is concerned. And one thing I've seen THREE successful authors say or write about writing novels is this... [para] "There are some rules... or perhaps hard guidelines. It's not that you can't break these rules, but you have to understand them to understand how best to break them and when it is most appropriate to break them."

Each and every one.

Now, granted, each one of these authors was teaching something, and in teaching something I suppose one has to sort of assume there are some specific guidelines or rules to teach... otherwise you can't really teach it to big groups of people, but it's still noteworthy that each one said something VERY similar to what I see experienced photographers say more often than not.

Being perfectly honest, I assume most people saying "there are no rules" are probably shorthanding it a bit. I mean, no, you do NOT have to RELIGIOUSLY ensure your picture conforms to the rule of thirds/golden mean/magic triangles, etc, right? Of course not. (same with every other "rule") And I think people do get lost in these rules and not realize that each picture must follow every rule. However, I think in saying that there are no rules is doing as much of a disservice to the new learners as saying that they must follow them all the time in order to make photography work.

 

[tirediron]

...Photography doesn't have rules, you don't need to know or try to understand half of what is said on this forum, just learn what you need to know, some great pictures just happen, be ready. Have fun. It does get easier.

Noooo.... not rules per se, but there are some very useful guidelines, the thorough understanding of which would help many amateurs in their quest for better pictures. I'm sure that you use many of them every day, probably without even thinking about them; simple things like "watch your point of focus" and "select an aperture that will provide appropriate DoF", or "use a shutter-speed fast enough to freeze the motion"...

...I can also say that I don't find photography hard or difficult, I understand light, I can walk into any room/venue and know where the best pictures will come from, it takes only a few minutes to figure everything out.

Here again, this is something that you are able to do because of year's of experience. It's not an ability you were born with. Being able to do this does make photography easy, but you don't learn it overnight.

 

[manaheim]

I suppose I could have just said I find photography really easy because I was never told it had rules. I didn't know anything about the rule of thirds until I joined this forum, I had to look it up. For the past 40 years I never knew that photography had rules. Can you imagine how embarrased I was when I found out that I was doing everything wrong.

Did it ever occur to you that you may just be naturally good at composition? You were born with more natural talent than, say, me? My mom is like this. She had no concept of any of these rules, but her compositions were waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than mine for a long time. She's just naturally good. I'm a naturally good IT manager. No one ever taught me any rules. It just made sense. These days they have something called ITIL, which is teaching good IT management. No one ever taught me these rules, and yet clearly many people need some guidance.

 

[tirediron]

I suppose I could have just said I find photography really easy because I was never told it had rules. I didn't know anything about the rule of thirds until I joined this forum, I had to look it up. For the past 40 years I never knew that photography had rules. Can you imagine how embarrased I was when I found out that I was doing everything wrong.

Meaning no disprespect, you have a family advantage that most people don't. If I had to guess, I would say that your education started at an early age, and while you may not have been instructed on things like the "Rule of thirds" you were coached as to what did and didn't work in composition and developed a subconious ability to employ those lessons you didn't even know you had learned.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Yeah yeah. No rules. No rules.

I think you did well on these, there is still room for you to crop them a little more, take out a little more background. The horizon line should always be straight as mentioned. If sports are played on flat horizontal surfaces then the surface should stay that way. I like them all.

 

[tirediron]

Yeah yeah. No rules. No rules.

I think you did well on these, there is still room for you to crop them a little more, take out a little more background. The horizon line should always be straight as mentioned. If sports are played on flat horizontal surfaces then the surface should stay that way. I like them all.

I think that's a "Gotcha"!

 

[manaheim]

Yeah yeah. No rules. No rules.

I think you did well on these, there is still room for you to crop them a little more, take out a little more background. The horizon line should always be straight as mentioned. If sports are played on flat horizontal surfaces then the surface should stay that way. I like them all.

I think that's a "Gotcha"!

burn.

Can we award Bitter 10 points for taking the effort to go find a post where OP was citing a rule?

burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrn...

I know it's totally childish to call burn, but come on... that's just classic.

 

[rexbobcat]

I suppose I could have just said I find photography really easy because I was never told it had rules. I didn't know anything about the rule of thirds until I joined this forum, I had to look it up. For the past 40 years I never knew that photography had rules. Can you imagine how embarrased I was when I found out that I was doing everything wrong.

Did it ever occur to you that you may just be naturally good at composition? You were born with more natural talent than, say, me? My mom is like this. She had no concept of any of these rules, but her compositions were waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than mine for a long time. She's just naturally good. I'm a naturally good IT manager. No one ever taught me any rules. It just made sense. These days they have something called ITIL, which is teaching good IT management. No one ever taught me these rules, and yet clearly many people need some guidance.

I don't want to sound like I'm tooting my own horn...

I was kind of like this when I was learning how to use a camera in high school. I was very ignorant and didn't study photography formally at all. It was more of a trial and error "ooo that looks nice" sort of thing, but when I go through my early photos I realize that the rule of thirds and everything was all there even though I had NO idea that it existed.

I mean, that whole schtick has since worn thin and it's just not enough anymore. A lot of those photos weren't very good. And I'm still not all that great. It's just that there was something visually that clicked with me in terms of composition and in some instances light on a subconscious level...I think. Maybe it's like someone who can't play the drums but has natural rhythm.

This was one of my very first photos taken when I got my little Canon P&S in early 2009.

I think part of it has to do with emulating what's already seen. I believe that my thinking for this photo was "if this photo was in Nat. Geo. what would it look like" or something along those lines, you know? I think that's how a lot of people think when starting something new.



And just to show that I was a crappy photographer regardless of how "naturally good" I was at composition...

This photo was taken at around the same time. It was maybe about a 6 month difference.



Now who was talking about crooked horizons?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Any timehe critiques someone's images, and suggests cropping, there is a reason for it. Something backs up his recommendation. Could it be about balance? Space? Composition? Yup. No rules. No wait! It's those pesky rules that become intuitive, that you no longer have to think about, that simply become instinct.


None of these people use those rules either. Oh wait! Yes. Yes they do! Browse the Book :: AtEdge

 

[imagemaker46]

Well I suppose I'll post my thoughts before the beer and not after. I was given a huge family advantage when it came to photography, I'm the first to admit it, but I was never really taught what was good and what was bad, I grew up seeing the best all the time, so yes advantage. My thoughts on rules for photography do come from the fact that I was never told that there were rules. I have talked to me Dad about rules and he says that same thing, he knows about them, but naturally it's not something that comes to mind when putting a photo together. People do get wrapped up in following, and forget about just doing what looks right for them.

As far as the horizon line goes, if a sport is played on a flat surface the horizon should should be straight, unless the image works better with a slant, I don't think it as a rule in the strict sence, I see it more as a correct guideline.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

All the elements of design and theories of composition are guidelines.

When you use the term ALWAYS, as in "always make the horizon line level", that's a RULE. Your rule.
Please continue to walk back your statement though.

 

[manaheim]

Well I suppose I'll post my thoughts before the beer and not after. I was given a huge family advantage when it came to photography, I'm the first to admit it, but I was never really taught what was good and what was bad, I grew up seeing the best all the time, so yes advantage. My thoughts on rules for photography do come from the fact that I was never told that there were rules. I have talked to me Dad about rules and he says that same thing, he knows about them, but naturally it's not something that comes to mind when putting a photo together. People do get wrapped up in following, and forget about just doing what looks right for them.

As far as the horizon line goes, if a sport is played on a flat surface the horizon should should be straight, unless the image works better with a slant, I don't think it as a rule in the strict sence, I see it more as a correct guideline.

Being exposed over and over again to things that are "right" or "good" is going to affect you significantly. Whether the person who created those things knows or extolls the virtues of "rules" or not is essentially irrelevant.

I honestly think that much of my business sense and management skills comes from being stuck listening to my parents talk about work all the time. They never once directly educated me on how to do this or that in management, and yet I find my ideals, methods and responses to things are extremely similar to my father's.

I mean come on man... I know what you're saying, but even you have to see that you pretty much just shot a series of large holes in your own position.