High school photographer looking for advice

sprokuski · Mar 13, 2009

This last semester I started a new photography course which has led to somewhat of a hobby. Though I don't get too much time to dabble, I am really interested in spending some good sum doing so over the next few years in college--especially if i can find a niche in PJ. But frankly, to get to that point I am really in need of any advice you guys might have, particularly in the technical shtuff seeing as though I'm kinda lacking in any sort of mentor. I'd really appreciate the second. -Sebastian

I also can't quite figure out how to get the colors in my shots as vibrant and crisp as I'd like so I tend to stay black and white...

dxqcanada · Mar 13, 2009

I have always found it easier to shoot B+W.

There are many factors that can affect a colour image ... quality of optics, colour of light, quality of the atmosphere ... etc.

When I started I did not have a living human mentor to work with ... I eventually discovered Ansel Adam's books ... this opened my technical understanding of exposure and light. I would suggest reading at least his Negative or Camera book.

I would suggest you ask specific questions on this forum.
Try not to ask too much in one post.
You will find many of us have our own opinions and answers that will in the end educate you.

Keep shooting, always question why you think an image is "good", ask other people about your images, when you do not know something make sure you acknowledge that you do not know it ... yada yada yada ... you get my point.

The images you have posted show that you have a natural eye to match the camera. I like 2,3,4, and 6 ... reminds me of what I used to shoot.

Jaszek · Mar 13, 2009

actually B&W is not that easy. When shooting B&W the best thing to do is to get the most range from white to black in one image (just like Ansel Adams did). The higher range you have the better the photo looks and sometimes (at least for me) it almost feels as if it was in color. If you have a subscription to Rangefinder magazine the whole magazine for April is about black and white, which shows how many different techniques there are for B&W, and not Rangefinder is not a thin Magazine. Also in April's Popular Photography they talk about using color filters for B&W photos, and since most of us are digital now we can play around with different filters in Photoshop. As to getting more info I learned almost everything from this forum. You can also try books, but the reason I never picked up a photography book because I hate reading books altogether lol. Also Rangefinder and After Capture Magazines are free from their websites and you can also learn from those two. And the Popular Photography subscription is only $24 fro 2 years ($1 per month for the lazy ones that don't want to do math ;-P) and you learn a lot about technique and stuff like that from there.

EDIT: Sorry for the long post, I got carried away lol.

Edit 2: Sorry I have to add more lol.
I'm also a High School student and noticed that sometimes I don't have time for photography but always try to find some time in the day to grab my camera (look in my sig for 365 project). You can try something similar or different, like i.e. some people take one picture every day into which they put a lot of thought into. Also if you feel like there is nothing to shoot try a different perspective, like from the bottom, from the top, different lighting and stuff like that. Hope I helped