best "trick" to learn first

[Mrgiggls]

Photography is an art. I wouldn't worry about tricks to wow your wife into understanding why your money spent is worth it. Try to put it in terms she'll understand. For example, Did Michelangelo use the same size chisel for the whole David statue? Did Da Vinci use only one brush? The DSLR lets you change so much about how an image is created that simply isn't possible with a P&S. If she doesn't get that, just buy her something expensive and call it a day.

 

[jamesbjenkins]

composition means nothing if you can't expose properly.

 

[480sparky41 41]

Best trick to learn early: There's no easy shortcuts.

 

[Josh66]

composition means nothing if you can't expose properly.

Is exposure really a "trick" though? That's something everybody should just 'know'.

If you don't have a good handle on exposure, you're not ready for more advanced shooting. Simple as that. Get the basics down first (and exposure is as basic as it gets).

More advanced topics would include - balancing daylight with flash, composition, and probably something else...?

If it's in the manual, it isn't a 'trick'. I'm not really sure what 'tricks' I know that I could share... It's hard to tell you what to try next without knowing what you already know...

 

[analog.universe]

I'm of the opinion that you can't practice composition in auto mode. You don't know what the depth of field will be, you don't know where it will focus, you don't know if the flash will fire, you don't know if it will stop motion... all you can do is frame, that's not composition. Auto is for grabbing a shot because you want a memory, it's not for "creating images".

Learn the exposure triangle first, and learn the physics of it, not just the practice, that way you can make decisions intuitively. Learning exposure includes learning how to use your meter. Then learn how to see light and compose a shot. Then maybe think about adding light to the scene with a flash or whatever.

I think the tricks come once you know everything else... ways to push your gear to its limits etc, you need to know why it works first however.

 

[OscarWilde]

Fastest way to get better? Take a LOTof pictures. There really isn't a lot else.

Thats the best trick there is. Take ALL of the above advice and use it... a LOT. Everyday. as much as you can. and you will quickly get better. The more you take the more you can see what you don't like and learn how to improve it. The more you take the more experience you'll have. The more you take the more mistakes you'll make!

And the more mistakes you make the more you'll learn!

Just KEEP shooting!

Cheers!

 

[pgriz]

The problem with that approach, is that if you don't know what "good" is, you may be making the same mistake over and over and NOT getting better.

So somewhere in that process of taking lots of photos, you have to bring in someone who does have experience and can say "Ok, that is good (and here is why), that is crap (and here is why), that is so-so (and here is why)". So join a photo club, participate in some competitions, get involved with the workshops, and continually put your stuff up for comment. You'll learn pretty quickly from the feedback what people think.

And then, there is the problem of not knowing what you don't know. That is where workshops, classes, seminars and even tagging along with a good photographer can start opening up the horizons in terms of what is possible.

I love to experiment myself, but it is not the most effective way of learning.

 

[cgipson1]

composition means nothing if you can't expose properly.

Is exposure really a "trick" though? That's something everybody should just 'know'.

If you don't have a good handle on exposure, you're not ready for more advanced shooting. Simple as that. Get the basics down first (and exposure is as basic as it gets).

More advanced topics would include - balancing daylight with flash, composition, and probably something else...?

If it's in the manual, it isn't a 'trick'. I'm not really sure what 'tricks' I know that I could share... It's hard to tell you what to try next without knowing what you already know...

I too have a problem with the term "TRICK"! It isn't a trick.. it is knowledge and skill, that comes with practice, time, and learning!

 

[Snakeguy101]

found this on another thread and I don't think I could have said it better.

I don't think it's about the equipment, to me it's all about the eye of the person pressing the button on the camera. Just because you can afford the best "professional" equipment, doesn't make you a professional photographer.

I found this quote on Flickr
"A photographer is the one who knows where to stand, where to look, what to see, how to use the camera to capture that very moment of life for the generations to come."
~ The Visions of Kai

 

[pgriz]

Success in photography is not either/or. Both technical and artistic/compositional skills are needed. This is no different than the other artistic endeavors of painting, drawing, pottery and ceramics, tissue-making, paper-making, woodwoorking, etc. If you haven't mastered your tools and your materials, you cannot truly call yourself an artist in that discipline.

To the OP, to WOW your wife, you need to do the basics well. The technical stuff is described in the tutorial thread http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photography-beginners-forum/123160-tutorial-thread.html. If you manage to get most of what is in that thread, you'll be ahead of most beginners, and even the intermediate photographers. But there is also the issue of learning to "see" which is not trivial, as you have to unlearn many visual habits and shortcuts that we all have. And finally, there is the little matter of anticipation and preparation - once you know how to make photographs of the things/subjects you see, you also need to learn to read the light (or construct it), choose the decisive moment (or anticipate it), and once you've captured the image, process it to bring out the best of what that situation contained.

You'll also learn that the pro gear is not just an excuse for the camera manufacturers to make money. At a certain level of skill and ability, you will benefit from the things that expensive gear can give you in terms of dynamic range, low-light performance, resolution, and flexibility to handle almost any condition. But unfortunately, few of us are skilled enough to push our gear to the limit - most of the time the limits are our own skills.

 

[bhardy501]

Understanding The Exposure Triangle: A Tutorial | Digital SLR Guru - Digital Photography Tips, Tutorials & Reviews Digital SLR Guru this was helpful. dont know enough to know if it is depth enough but it was easy to understand.

 

[the5allens]

I want to thank everyone who posted here. I know I have a lot of work to do, and I appreciate your comments and suggestions. Particularly the links and reference materials !!

happy to hear any other comments as well.

 

[Mike_E]

There aren't really any tricks in photography, it's all about experience - both using your camera and looking at the work of others and trying to reverse engineer what they've done.

There are a couple of tricks to get your wife off your back: 1) Being able to get a shot without having to wait for the P&S to acquire and fire and 2) BOKEH learn it, live it, preach it. It's one of the things that really sets apart a DSLR.

 

[KmH]

Fastest way to get better? Take a LOTof pictures. There really isn't a lot else.

Thats the best trick there is. Take ALL of the above advice and use it... a LOT. Everyday. as much as you can. and you will quickly get better. The more you take the more you can see what you don't like and learn how to improve it. The more you take the more experience you'll have. The more you take the more mistakes you'll make!

And the more mistakes you make the more you'll learn!

Just KEEP shooting!

Cheers!

You have to know what is and isn't a mistake, or as pgriz pointed out, you just keep practicing your mistakes - turning them into 'bad habits'.

I think the often given advice to "take a lot of pictures" is very wrong, or at least is stated poorly.

The goal is to learn how to "make a photograph", not how to "take a picture".

 

[OscarWilde]

You have to know what is and isn't a mistake, or as pgriz pointed out, you just keep practicing your mistakes - turning them into 'bad habits'.

I think the often given advice to "take a lot of pictures" is very wrong, or at least is stated poorly.

The goal is to learn how to "make a photograph", not how to "take a picture".

Fair enough; this is essentially what I meant. Its why I said to take all of the above advice and apply it. I was a tad vague though: what I was trying to say was to keep learning from other people and keep taking a lot of photographs.

That way he actually has some critical advice; whether it is from himself (through the books etc.) or from other people.

Long way of saying "Practice makes perfect"

That saying doesn't apply to anything if you don't add some kind of critiquing or model... so I implied that critiquing or modeling was necessary~