Wanting to take photography a bit further

[Seventen]

Hello,

I have been getting more and more into photography everyday if not out taking pictures i am at home reading about it and am eager to learn more and keep taking it to the next level. I am not a pro and still have plenty to learn. I have done a couple of parties for free for friends and they have love the out come of the images but there friends, friends never really say anything bad.

But what I was considering doing with contacting local a photographer that may do small events and ask can I just come along take shots at the event with them and i dont get paid, Just do it for the experience and maybe even in return for some feedback.

I dont know if this is what people do to try to get more hands on experience but if anyone knows if this happens? or if its a good thing to do? would love some feedback please. Kind of itching to get some hands on experience.

My gear isnt the greatest but if there happens to be a picture that come out great that they like and use ill be over the moon, I am not trying to set up my own company as I am not experienced enough for this and speak little of the language. My main goal is just to get that experience and if one day a job is ever offered to me that would be a dream come true but its not something I am aiming for so I wont be disappointed if that never happens.

Thanks

 

[slackercruster]

Well, good for you.

Keep plugging away at it if that is what you want.

 

[NedM]

It's called shadowing.

You ask someone in your field of interested, someone usually an expert as what he/she does, and ask if you could tag along as an apprentice or in some cases an assistant. Much like your shadow does whatever you do, hence the term shadowing.

Try it!

 

[Seventen]

Thanks thats what I would like to do sorry not to good with the terms used so good to know its called shadowing.

 

[grafxman]

I would recommend the you learn how to photograph everything you can see. That means indoors, outdoors, bright light, very little or no light, near and far away. That should provide you with the knowledge about the limitations of your equipment and the limitations of your skills. Equipment can be purchased but your skills must be acquired through the experience of obtaining an acceptable image under all circumstances. A suggested mission assignment would be to photograph all the exhibits inside a museum including all the information placards that accompany the exhibit. You will have to photograph in dim light through Plexiglas that will give reflections. Photograph all the animals in a zoo including the information placards accompanying the animal. You will have to photograph through wire mesh as well as Plexiglas. Needless to say, all placard information should be legible.

Photograph anything and everything under all circumstances. Here's a few hints for you. A wide open aperture will give you a shallow depth of field and possibly render wire mesh invisible. Holding the camera off to one side, above your head or below your waist may eliminate reflections from Plexiglas. A slow shutter speed can provide a photo in low light but you must hold the camera very steady as well as use an open aperture. Once those skills and perhaps others are acquired you will be up for just about any normally encountered photographic challenge. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Seventen]

Thanks for the tips and the challenge but i actually done most of that last summer, and one of the main reasons for getting the Nikon d5100 was for the twisting screen so i could get some strange angles while still able to view where i am pointing at. Here is a image i took through wire mesh to get this shot of bambi. Its not a perfect image but for a low light situation at 300mm with shutter speed of 1/125 turned out quite ok at least in my mind.


Also taking images of animals under water through glass was great images and was happy how i manged that as was very worried i would see myself but didnt manage to capture any reflections.

Taking pictures of text has become quite a normal thing for me in everyday life as i live in a country i know little language i take text home to translate at a later date. I was actually taking pictures of text of words on washing machine just now as giving it away as moving house next week and text was in great reading condition.

I dont want to sound like a know it all as I am not and theres a lot i need to do to get better and with photography it is a endless learning game that will never end. Even looking over photos from just one month ago i see how many mistakes there is and at least now i see the mistakes clearer and will try to rectify them to make better next time. Next summer we will revisit this zoo and i will get better images than last time.

 

[grafxman]

Nice photo. Did you manually focus?

 

[Seventen]

Yer. Tried auto focus but was only focusing on the wire fence.

 

[grafxman]

The single best mod I ever did to my cameras was to remove the auto focus function from the shutter button and use the back focus button to focus the camera. That allows you to get shots such as this:

IMG_0752 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Notice the bird's eye is in focus while the intervening foliage is out of focus. I simply focused on the bird's body since that was the only part of the bird that was in the open. I then reframed the shot and took the picture. The camera did not focus on the foliage because it was already focused on the bird's body with the back focus button so pressing the shutter button had no effect on the focus. I'm not sure if that would have helped you in that particular photo unless there was something the same distance from you as the deer was. Sometimes using a narrow point focus setting if your camera has that feature may work. Also, if you can get close enough, place the front of the lens up against the fence or at least very close to it. That way it will be so close the camera won't try to focus on it.

 

[Seventen]

I love that image you done there.

I have tried to use a back button focus but it replaces the AE-L button and then i miss the AE-L button too much which I use quite often. But with the Tamron 70-300 f4-5.5 USD VC I tend to aim the auto focus to something similer distance then adjust the focus ring to get the focus where i want it to be. Or if it is just a really difficult place just use full manual focus but really just depends on situation where i am conditions etc.

 

[vintagesnaps]

If there are photographers in your area you could try making some contacts and ask if you could observe a photo session; it could be a one time opportunity that could lead to future mentoring if they have time to work with you. If there are any art centers in your area you could attend art events and exhibits that might lead to meeting people and making some contacts.

It seems like you're still fairly new to photography so you might find that they'd want to see your work/your portfolio, and if you don't find an opportunity now it might be something that you could do after you spend more time learning and practicing.

I like in the photo the way the leaves frame the deer; it seems like you saw an opportunity for a photo when the deer peeked thru at you.

 

[Seventen]

Yep you are correct I am still new to this and still wont move forward quite yet and ask anyone but just getting advice and ideas if its a sensible thing to do in the future, Thanks for the tip on art exhibits will be putting that into action next time I see one nearby. I have recently been going to sports events to practice there to mainly rally and motorbikes but trying different things. But I think what I lack is that friend that is also into photography and can compare work with so meeting new people will be a huge bonus for me. Thats why I was thinking what if I could shadow someone one day.