New to photography

[newonmars]

Hello photoforum!

Im pretty new to photography, like serious photography, and I was wondering what is a good way to start to really get into it.
Thanks in advance!

 

[tirediron]

Read your camera's manual, then read it again. Search YouTube for 'How to' clips on things like exposure, composition, etc, shoot LOTS (Remember, it's digital, film is cheap!) and post images here for critique and review.

 

[KmH]

Start by reading and making photographs.
+1 on reading (and studying) your camera user manual.

Everything you need to know about buying a camera | The Verge

Info for those new to photography:

Digital Photography Tutorials

Digital Photography Tutorials | Learning Photographic Techniques

Learn Digital Photography Basics

10 Top Photography Composition Rules | Photography Mad

Advanced Composition -- Part I

Photographic Lighting stuff:

Light Science and Magic, Fourth Edition: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

Strobist: Lighting 101

http://neilvn.com/tangents/flash-pho...hy-techniques/​

 

[Designer]

Select a theme and shoot that theme.

Some people do a "project 365" taking (at least) one picture a day following a theme.

Learn to tell a good photograph from one that is just "so-so".

 

[TCampbell]

A lot of reading will help:

1) Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" is a very good primer intended for those who are completely new but want to learn to use a DSLR (or any camera that can be used in "manual" mode.)

2) The Scott Kelby Digital Photography Boxed Set -- this is a four volume set.

3) The Michael Freeman series "The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos", "The Photographer's Mind: Creative Thinking for Better Digital Photos", and "The Photographer's Vision: Understanding and Appreciating Great Photography".

I would also say "get out there and shoot" but I prefer to say "get out there and shoot with a goal or purpose" ... deliberately created photos will force you to learn faster than just shooting randomly, hoping to get lucky, and then for some reason thinking that when a random shot turns out to be good you'll actually know specifically WHY that shot was good. However you will have to "get out there and shoot".

 

[Derrel]

Hello photoforum!

Im pretty new to photography, like serious photography, and I was wondering what is a good way to start to really get into it.
Thanks in advance!

Well, however you can get into it, do that. If there is something you really like, like landscapes, or portraiture, or macro or close-ups, or night time work, or light painting at night, or photographing models, or butterflies, or windmills...SHOOT THAT stuff!

I think compositionally, the best tip is to look through the viewfinder at the subject, and then to look, really LOOK HARD, as you scan with your eye around the subject in a counter-clockwise direction, and really try to SEE if there are things that do not belong in the photo. The tendency is to zero right in on your "subject:", but to ignore the many other small,little things that can somehow work their way into a shot. LOOK HARD through the viewfinder, and see what needs to be eliminated. Look through the camera and walk around, left or right, forward and backward a bit, crouching down sometimes, to see if you can find a placement for the camera that makes the picture you WANT to see.

If you have an 18-55mm zoom, try making a shot with the wide end, 18mm, and also one with the 35mm setting, and then one with the 55mm setting. See how those three angles of view work for a few weeks.

HAVE FUN!!!!!!

 

[407370]

Like Derrel said take pictures, lots of pictures and compare them to pics of the same subject elsewhere on the web.

Do not get bogged down in the technical side just have fun taking pictures of things you like. There will be plenty of time for triangles and stops.

 

[hamlet]

Study light, study the absence of it and everything in between it. Photography is all about light.

 

[minicoop1985]

Welcome!

Fill those memory cards! Think of something you want to photograph. Do some reading on how some particularly good shots of that kind of thing were done, then go burn that knowledge into that memory card. Learn, apply, study the results, then repeat, and you'll find a huge improvement as long as you've got a good attitude. If that's not working on something, post it up and the other members here are happy to help.

 

[dennybeall]

I always find it helpful to tell myself "I want a photo of ------- in ------- about ---" Then I research to find out how to get that and try the various ways that come up until I get the shot.
Almost always learn something new each time.
Do the same thing with Photoshop CC.....
but then I don't have any "make a living" pressure so can use this approach.
Denny

 

[elizpage]

Like Derrel said take pictures, lots of pictures and compare them to pics of the same subject elsewhere on the web.

Do not get bogged down in the technical side just have fun taking pictures of things you like. There will be plenty of time for triangles and stops.

This. You can know everything about Aperture, ISO, and shutter speed and still take awful photographs. In my opinion, the best teacher is experience

 

[mkoller]

Put your camera in Manual - figure out how to get a good exposure using the light meter - take lots of images. Then take some more. Create something you like. that is the most important.

 

[mcgeegee]

take pictures of toilets and make it into a coffee table book!

 

[PaulWog]

Hello photoforum!

Im pretty new to photography, like serious photography, and I was wondering what is a good way to start to really get into it.
Thanks in advance!

Remember a few things:

1) Keep at what you love shooting. For me, that's a wide variety of things. For you, it could also be a wide variety of things, or you could have very particular interests. Regardless, keep shooting, keep practicing, and find what you like to do (no matter how narrow or broad that may be). Become creative, and don't forget that a good photo usually will invoke some kind of emotion. A technically excellent photo might be very nice in some cases (good framing, good exposure and lighting, good editing), but a perfect photo usually is one that captures emotion; a perfect photo is animated by the emotion the viewer experiences from it, despite being a static image.

2) Continue to learn the technical aspects of things. Take it day by day, or week by week. But if you haven't mastered everything, then set out with at least one new thing to learn every once in a while. Maybe it could be a project to get lighting just right on a photo you want to take. Maybe it could be as basic as getting a photo of someone moving tack sharp, or more complex by shooting a bicyclist and getting him in focus while you have motion blur in the background of the photo. Take time to learn new things and to really understand them.

3) Don't shy away from the software/digital end of things. Shoot in RAW. Learn Adobe Lightroom. If you can acquire/pay for Photoshop, it's a highly useful tool as well and well-worth learning (but it's pricey, even on a monthly subscription). Photoshop can be a hobby in and of itself, although Adobe Lightroom is different entirely and is quite easy to learn and very necessary.

 

[Proulxski]

Welcome to the wonderful world of photography.

I asked myself this very question almost four years ago. I have this gear, now what?

Everything that has been said, is all great advice. The internet is a vast source of free material for you to learn your camera, and perfect your skills. Starting right here on the photography forum, to the millions of youtube videos. (Though, not all of them give sound advice).

But no matter how much you read, or how many videos you watch, nothing changes if you don't get out there and shoot. I recomend getting used to shooting in RAW format. Don't be afraid to get out there, and try new, different things. Even if a certain style, or theme doesn't intrest you, attempt it, challenge yourself, do various personal projects. By getting out there, and shooting on a daily/weekly basis, and trying differnt things, you will begin to learn more about yourself, your camera, and the things around you. What looks good, what doesn't, what intrests you, what doesn't. You truly won't know, untill you try.

Good luck, and I hope you enjoy it!