Share some tips and tricks

hamlet · May 9, 2014

Participate in sharing some of your trade secrets and letting us know some techniques to make life easier as a photographer. The advice can be anything from carrying lucky charms, giving advice on how to handle people or animals, or you can say how you did a certain shot.

Here is my tip: take 1/4 of glycerine and 3/4 of water and mix them in a little spray bottle. Spray this concoction on plants to get bigger water droplets accumulated so you can have some awesome macro photos to brag about to your friends.

weepete · May 9, 2014

Think about what you'll be shooting and how. Set your modes up before you go so you spend less time fiddling about with settings when you are shooting.

Derrel · May 9, 2014

Carry LESS stuff and focus on shooting with what you can easily carry. STOP with the backpacks filled with gear. STOP with the second big zoom lens. Pare down your carry kit to what fits in a waist pack and maybe one lens pouch slung over your shoulder to hold your "big lens" when it is removed from the body and another lens is on the camera. The less you carry and the less-encumbered you are, the better you shoot throughout the whole day.

Stop worrying about ultimate "lens quality" and worry more about the compositions and the "pictures" you want to get. Don't obsess over lenses you do not own or that are not "with you" that day. Concentrate on what you HAVE, and focus all your attention and mental energy toward what you can do with the small amount of gear you have on you. Not the gear buried in a 22-pound backpack--the gear you have "on you". In a waist pack, or in a jacket pocket.

Investigate a small, lightweight, compact, yet very easy-to-use, sharp, non-threatening prime lens or two, like a 50mm f/1.8 or 50/1.4, or an 85mm f/1.8, or perhaps an older manual focus lens like the Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 in Ai or Ai-S mount; the one-oh-five two-point-five is a very special lens, and works on most Nikons, and adapts very well to Canon d-slrs; carry THAT instead of the heavier, slower 70-300 f/4 or f/4.5~5.6, or 70-200 2.8 or 70-200 f/4; the 105/2.5's optics are the equal of $2,500 zooms, and people feel less-threatened when such small lenses as a 50mm, 85/1.8, or 105/2.5 are aimed in their direction.

weepete · May 9, 2014

That reminds me of some advice I was given when going fishing. I had all my gear packed and a heavy box, one of the lads turned round and said "see when you go home tonight Pete, go through your bag and take out anything you haven't used today, cos you don't need it".

I apply that principal to my photography too, and leave behind the stuff I probably won't use.

robbins.photo · May 9, 2014

Ok, well a couple of quick tips I guess:

1. Find what works for you. Don't worry if someone else always uses this mode or that mode or does this or that. Try a variety of methods and see what gives you your best results in a given situation.
2. Good technique can often compensate for a lack of gear. Nothing can compensate for a lack of technique. So spend a lot more time practicing than you do worrying about what lenses you need to buy or what your next upgrade should be.
3. If you plan on starting your own photography business, don't mention that on TPF.

gsgary · May 9, 2014

one camera one lens for a month (prime lens)

table1349 · May 9, 2014

77 photography techniques, tips and tricks for taking pictures of anything | Digital Camera World

nzmacro · May 9, 2014

For birds and only for me really. So only IMO and we are all different.

Go out there without a camera, watch carefully how things react, which direction they turn, how they move, learn every move they make, how they interact with each other and certain behaviour is a HUGE part of it, etc. So without a camera will you miss a shot or two, you bet, but you will be better prepared next time with the right focal length, lighting, settings, position, etc. Most important of all is patience, stubbornness and learn to relax even when hand holding a large lens. Practise, practise, practise, practise and you might as well practise some more. It takes time.

Disappointment is to be expected at first, if you are not prepared for that, don't even think about it. Just ask any of the bird shooters here. That's where stubbornness and patience comes into play. Spooky huh

It still scares me.

Danny.

minicoop1985 · May 9, 2014

Derrel said:
Carry LESS stuff and focus on shooting with what you can easily carry. STOP with the backpacks filled with gear. STOP with the second big zoom lens. Pare down your carry kit to what fits in a waist pack and maybe one lens pouch slung over your shoulder to hold your "big lens" when it is removed from the body and another lens is on the camera. The less you carry and the less-encumbered you are, the better you shoot throughout the whole day.

This is probably sage advice. I wish I would have thought about that last weekend... My neck is still sore. :lol:

Just because you can erase things later and have a 64 gb card doesn't mean you should stop thinking as you shoot.

Think about the final product. Think about what you want to capture, and how you will achieve it.

Get out and throw photons onto film or a sensor. If there's one thing that teaches best, it's PRACTICE. And when you do practice, before you first bring that camera to your eye, think about what you learned between the last time you practiced and now, i.e. the critiques and pointers you received from people far more experienced.

Sometimes, entire shoots just turn out to be crap. Don't let this discourage you.

Fred Berg · May 10, 2014

Shoot jpeg more often, not raw all the time. This way you'll get to know your limits, as well as those of your camera, and be able to concentrate on being creative whilst shooting.

gsgary · May 10, 2014

Metering off grass (with same lighting as subject works well when shooting sports) will usually give you a good exposure

480sparky · May 10, 2014

Fred Berg said:
Shoot jpeg more often, not raw all the time. This way you'll get to know your limits, as well as those of your camera, and be able to concentrate on being creative whilst shooting.

Better yet, "shoot like film". Pick one ISO, pick one white balance (usually daylight), turn off auto focus and auto exposure, and turn off the monitor.

Learn to look through the viewfinder, focus and set exposure manually, and you can't chimp. Limit yourself to a set number of exposures, like 20 or 24 or 36 or a multiple of those.

All this as well as shoot JPEG only.

Then, when you get back to your computer at home, do some serious self-criticism. You'll be surprised how much you missed that you shouldn't have, and you'll learn to be more aware of it next time.

Mike_E · May 10, 2014

Borrow or buy a large format view camera and learn how to use it.

Either with real film or a loupe on the ground glass and just practice.

This will give you a much better idea of how optics behave and make your 'small' format photography that much better.

hamlet · May 10, 2014

If you want to save some money and you want to invest in a really good polarizer or ND filter from a reputable brand, then buy a filter as big as 77mm and invest in some step up rings to save a lot of money down the line.