How to advance my photography?

[nsteezyy]

I have been in photography for about 1 year now.

I switched from Nikon to Canon.
I learned most of the Manual Controls (Aperture, ISO, Shutter ETC).
So far I have a 18-55mm and a 50mm f/1.8 II.

I just want to know how I can advance and how I can improve.
And if anyone knows any good places to start Photoshop-ing Please recommend them, I would love to get into editing my photos.

 

[Overread17 5]

Here are a few references to get you started:
Ron Bigelow Photography Articles
Cambridge in Colour - Photography Tutorials & Learning Community

Those two sites both have an extensive range of articles on both shooting and editing practice and methods.


That video has a whole workflow start to finish. It's broken into specific methods per video so you can pick and choose, but also see one example of a persons start to finish workflow. I will note that advances in programs such as Lightroom 4 means that some parts of this tutorial which are done totally in photoshop can now be done in lightroom on the RAW file itself.

pmcc150 - YouTube
A final series of tutorials which, whilst I've not gone through many, do give some solid advice and some more creative ideas.

 

[adichiru]

IN my opinion this is the best resource for Lightroom and Photoshop:

http://tv.adobe.com/show/the-complete-picture-with-julieanne-kost/

I would suggest to start with LR first.

Also, I think you should not have made the decision to switch from one system to the other so soon. I am a Nikon fan but I do know Canon as I used to shoot with Canon. After 3 years in Canon I switch to Nikon for many reasons...

One rule that is always and ALWAYS true, that you can apply to advance in photography is to take/make as many photos as possible. Every single day at any time in any place!

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

One rule that is always and ALWAYS true, that you can apply to advance in photography is to take/make as many photos as possible. Every single day at any time in any place!

False.

Shooting far less, with greater purpose and understanding will get you farther than merely shooting thousands of images just for the sake of shooting.

 

[Tee]

Try MeetUp.com groups or classes at your local camera shop. Many camera shops offer classes ranging from portraiture to Lightroom/ Photoshop. MeetUp groups can be beneficial if you find the right one. It's a great way to shoot the bull and learn.

 

[OpticMemory]

One rule that is always and ALWAYS true, that you can apply to advance in photography is to take/make as many photos as possible. Every single day at any time in any place!

False.

Shooting far less, with greater purpose and understanding will get you farther than merely shooting thousands of images just for the sake of shooting.

Awesome quote Bitter Jeweler. I hope to get to this point sometime in the near future.

 

[nsteezyy]

Here are a few references to get you started:
Ron Bigelow Photography Articles
Cambridge in Colour - Photography Tutorials & Learning Community

Those two sites both have an extensive range of articles on both shooting and editing practice and methods.


That video has a whole workflow start to finish. It's broken into specific methods per video so you can pick and choose, but also see one example of a persons start to finish workflow. I will note that advances in programs such as Lightroom 4 means that some parts of this tutorial which are done totally in photoshop can now be done in lightroom on the RAW file itself.

pmcc150 - YouTube
A final series of tutorials which, whilst I've not gone through many, do give some solid advice and some more creative ideas.

Thanks<3 This helps so much..

 

[nsteezyy]

IN my opinion this is the best resource for Lightroom and Photoshop:

http://tv.adobe.com/show/the-complete-picture-with-julieanne-kost/

I would suggest to start with LR first.

Also, I think you should not have made the decision to switch from one system to the other so soon. I am a Nikon fan but I do know Canon as I used to shoot with Canon. After 3 years in Canon I switch to Nikon for many reasons...

One rule that is always and ALWAYS true, that you can apply to advance in photography is to take/make as many photos as possible. Every single day at any time in any place!

What is light room? What does it do?
I do take many pictures, I take my camera to school daily.

 

[KmH]

It is one word - Lightroom (Adobe Photoshop Lightroom), and it is a software application Adobe designed for photographers. Digital photography, photo software | Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4

At Amazon.com - Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4

Lightroom's main function is image database mangement. Adobe designed Lightroom as a compliment to Photoshop CS5.

Lightroom has several modules used for image ingestion, organizing, editing and output. Lightroom's Develope, used for image editing, is a parametric image editor. Parametric editing means the original pixels are not altered ( so called non-destructive image editing). Edits are instead software line commands appended to the image file metadata as text.

Many people run into problems with lost/missing images when using Lightroom because they don't understand the basics of how a database manger works, which is different from the way a browser works.

To learn how to use Lightroom 4 - The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 Book for Digital Photographers

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Forget editing. Learn the abc's first.

"Shooting far less, with greater purpose and understanding will get you farther than merely shooting thousands of images just for the sake of shooting."
So very true. I've gone back and forth in my mind but I now totally agree. :thumbup: