There's better things to worry about than mastering your camera

[ralphh]

Great post, OP!

I have a friend who does photo shoots for her family and friends several times a year. I talk photography with her a lot, and while she's no "blank slate" by any means, I know that my understanding of anything the least bit technical (including exposure) is 1000x better than hers. I'm always trying to explain certain concepts to her and she just bobs her head but usually I can tell nothing is sinking in.

BUT... her photos are excellent! Markedly better than mine, that's for sure. She just knows how to not only dream up a scene, but she's also excellent at "working" with the subjects. She's living proof that your basic point is valid.

There's nothing more obnoxious on a photo forum than condescending gear snobs, so this post was a breath of fresh air; thank you for posting!

Glad it struck a chord, thanks for the feedback :thumbup:

Rather than trying to teach her, might be worth flipping that around and see if she can teach you whatever it is she's doing. If you can put together your knowledge and hers sounds like you'd be unbeatable!

And you're very welcome, I really enjoyed writing it and shooting the photos for it.

 

[Helen B]

Interesting read, particularly the revelations about the motivation to write it. It's sometimes difficult for those of us who have always primarily been driven by what we see, our sense of wonder and curiosity, to remember that not everyone starts that way, and that not all those who help beginners try to teach technical understanding as being no more than an enabling factor. I would have hoped that the OP's view was closer to the predominant view rather than the exception.

 

[ralphh]

^^^ I'd rather be wrong than right on that front, but I just don't see it happening....

 

[CherylL]

I suspect it will be a little long for most people to read (we have short attentions spans), but your discussion of how you were looking at the light shows your sensibility is evolving. Part of the reason more people don't start "with the light" is that that is not a question that even know to ask. It only starts making sense once you begin to see the way the various sources of light interact to give you the scene you're seeing. And that awareness of the light "nuts and bolts" doesn't come to the surface for most, because it is irrelevant for pretty much all everyday living. Only when you start creating images (either photography, or drawing or painting), does the play of the light on your subject, and the way it creates the shadows that give depth, reveal texture, and paint the highlights, become something to notice and understand.

I am hoping that you will get feedback from other photographers who have not yet travelled as far down the road as you have.

From someone who has been on the photography road for 8 months, I did enjoy reading the OP's post & the thought process behind it all. I hope there will be other posts like this one.

Having started with zero dslr skills, I think it is important to know how the camera works to take advantage of the light. With the D40 I shot in auto mode since this wasn't my interest. But with the T4i I wanted to learn all of the settings so I could shoot video in Manual mode. Coming from video I have had to think about composition since you can't crop video and you want a person walking in frame with space in front of them, watch out for back lighting,etc. I shot in Auto mode with my camcorder so learning a new skill set has been a challenge with aperture, ISO, lenses, focal point or points, and other camera settings.

And the light didn't come into play until I learned the basics and I mean very basics. The first few months was information overload on the mechanics & PP. Getting a speedlite 3 months ago has helped me to really think about the light. I see now how the light has a cause & effect on the settings. I agree with Pgriz that the light comes later because that was a question I didn't know to ask.

 

[Designer]

I think it would be easier just to tell them the settings you used.

 

[ralphh]

LOL, ok, f2.8, Av mode, +2/3 exp comp, ISO.. I can't remember, whatever gave me >= 1/60th. 400 or 800 probably - was quite bright today. Top focus point, then recomposed. Shot RAW cause i have better things to do with my time than worry about WB being correct at point of capture.

Damn, you're right, that was a lot less typing! Just feels less useful somehow... can't quite put my finger on it...

Better still, I could have just posted the photo and said "look at the exiff and use those settings"

 

[gsgary]

Oooooh, mate, I think you've just changed the way I think about my pics. Thank you.

I'm gonna start hunting light the same way I go about hunting fish (glad you got the analogy btw). I also happen to be one of the few dedicated sea anglers in the UK, so I understand completley the fishing analogy, again thanks.

I'm at the stage that when I go fishing I expect to catch fish, that is what I'm there for and that's what I like. A blank ruins my day and I'm no afraid to admit it either. I do a lot of work to increase my average chances of catching. Don't get me wrong, I like being outside in wild. places but if I'm no fussed about catching a fish I may as well leave the rods at home.

So, time to do that with my photography too.

If your thinking of doing street photography the best way is to find a spot a wait for the picture to develope infront of you, because last time i was working in Glasgow there were lots of interesting people to shoot

 

[weepete]

Cheers mate, I've not quite got to a place that I feel comfortable shooting candids, but town has a lot of cool places to shoot so I'll give that a go next time I'm shooting in town

 

[jrizal]

I am about to master my D3100 and would WANT a better body. But I really NEED to master my skills. And not surprisingly, I still have a long way to go.

 

[Garbz]

While I agree with you wholeheartedly that composition and the important elements of photography are often overlooked, it really depends fundamentally on what you're photographing. Look through the various forums and you'll find a lot of posts about people complaining that they simply can't figure out how to take night photos, or other difficulties with camera settings. There's no point having great composition skills in a night photo if you can't figure out how to drive your camera in manual mode because ultimately in 90% of cases it'll foul up the exposure beyond repair.

The two go hand in hand. Claiming one is more important than the other is disingenuous.

 

[ralphh]

it really depends fundamentally on what you're photographing.

100% agreed.

I was thinking about beginners and the things beginners tend to photograph - their friends, their children, their cat.... Or the mum who's bought a camera to photograph her kids and now wants to start a little back-room business photographing other kids.

With this stuff, it really doesn't matter quite so much.

Obviously when you get into more advanced protography topics camera settings become more and more important, and in some cases, perhaps more impotant than anything else; there isn't many ligthing decissions to be made when taking a night-time city-scape...

I will add a caviat to the original post to make it clearer what I meant.

 

[EIngerson]

I'm not sure I agree with everything you said, but if it motivates someone just starting out, I say role with it. It can't hurt.

 

[premortho]

... i meant absolutely no disrespect.It was just too long for me.It's kind of funny,tho,that what I've been looking at is the darkness/shadows.Some video I watched gave an Italian name for it which escapes me,but it had to do with the play of light/dark.

Curioscuro? The use of light and dark in composition...is that what you mean?

 

[premortho]

Good comment. I come from the film world, and I found Super 8 cameras to be too automated. I went back to double 8, because I could set my manual settings to match the light and/or what I wanted to emphasize or subdue.(through controlling depth of field via f-stop.)

I suspect it will be a little long for most people to read (we have short attentions spans), but your discussion of how you were looking at the light shows your sensibility is evolving. Part of the reason more people don't start "with the light" is that that is not a question that even know to ask. It only starts making sense once you begin to see the way the various sources of light interact to give you the scene you're seeing. And that awareness of the light "nuts and bolts" doesn't come to the surface for most, because it is irrelevant for pretty much all everyday living. Only when you start creating images (either photography, or drawing or painting), does the play of the light on your subject, and the way it creates the shadows that give depth, reveal texture, and paint the highlights, become something to notice and understand.

I am hoping that you will get feedback from other photographers who have not yet travelled as far down the road as you have.

From someone who has been on the photography road for 8 months, I did enjoy reading the OP's post & the thought process behind it all. I hope there will be other posts like this one.

Having started with zero dslr skills, I think it is important to know how the camera works to take advantage of the light. With the D40 I shot in auto mode since this wasn't my interest. But with the T4i I wanted to learn all of the settings so I could shoot video in Manual mode. Coming from video I have had to think about composition since you can't crop video and you want a person walking in frame with space in front of them, watch out for back lighting,etc. I shot in Auto mode with my camcorder so learning a new skill set has been a challenge with aperture, ISO, lenses, focal point or points, and other camera settings.

And the light didn't come into play until I learned the basics and I mean very basics. The first few months was information overload on the mechanics & PP. Getting a speedlite 3 months ago has helped me to really think about the light. I see now how the light has a cause & effect on the settings. I agree with Pgriz that the light comes later because that was a question I didn't know to ask.

 

[premortho]

While I agree with you wholeheartedly that composition and the important elements of photography are often overlooked, it really depends fundamentally on what you're photographing. Look through the various forums and you'll find a lot of posts about people complaining that they simply can't figure out how to take night photos, or other difficulties with camera settings. There's no point having great composition skills in a night photo if you can't figure out how to drive your camera in manual mode because ultimately in 90% of cases it'll foul up the exposure beyond repair.

The two go hand in hand. Claiming one is more important than the other is disingenuous.

Then I'm going to be disingenuous. Anybody who can read can learn to operate the camera. The "art" in photography is in composition and the use of light. Someone on this forum has a quote on his posts "The amateur worries about gear, the pro worries about time, the master worries about light." I don't change cameras very often. Why? I use them until the operation is second nature to me. I don't want obsessing about gear issues interfering with the creative process.