What was the one photography tip you learned after which you no longer felt like a beginner?

[textures4photoshop]

When you read a pro tip and think to yourself "well, heck, everyone knows that" and then read the comments and realize that "well, everyone doesn't know that".

you really hit the nail on the head there! while documenting for my article I did touch upon explaining ISO and how a higher ISO means more noise in the picture. That really started a debate between photographers and as it turns out, it's not as simple as that, and sometimes a higher ISO can actually mean less noise

 

[Gary A.]

Yep. It's a feeling that develops over time and really can't be boiled down to just 1 thing.
The length of that time frame is a function of how aggressively a new photographer pursues learning the art and craft of making photographs.

A pro photographer told me that going out and shooting is the best photography class you can take

Yes. I tell beginning photographers to:

1) Shoot;
2) Shoot some more; and at the end of the day when you think you're finished,
3) Shoot again.

 

[Gary A.]

Shooting a ton needs to be tempered with savage self-critiquing. You have to be hard on yourself, lean heavily on the delete key, you can always do better. No one cares, except maybe your mother, what you went through to capture the image ... the only thing that matters is the final image.

 

[tirediron]

...I've written an article called "A Photographer Journey From Beginner to Pro. Rules and Tips From Pros" (don't want to post the link here since this is my first post on the forum).

Thanks, and we appreciate your understanding. You are however welcome to post the entire article in the "Articles of Interest" forum if you'd like.

 

[textures4photoshop]

Fill the Frame.

Definitely a good one!

btw, love the photos on your website! Did you really take the photo of Gregory Peck?!?

Also, may I ask what film/camera you use?

Yes those are mine. I used to be a news photog during the film only days. Those old B&W's were all shot with Tri-X and various Nikons: F, FTn, FM, F2, F3 and an occasional photo with a Hasselblad.

That's super! I've only shot film using a Smena 8M and a Ricoh KR-10 which I bought 2 months ago. For BW I used the Fomapan, but I will for sure give the Tri-X a try

I can really tell from your photos that you know what you're doing. I would appreciate it a lot if you can take a look at the article in my signature and get your hones feedback regarding information accuracy and completeness (I know I can never be complete with such a vast domain)

thank you so much

 

[weepete]

I think the biggest ting for me was framing. Pay attention to the edges and allow a bit of space around the subject!

 

[Gary A.]

The problem with photography is one tends to speak in generalities and ignore all the exceptions. I haven't read the article, yet ... but I find I have to provide alot of thought to qualifying what I post.

Please post your article.

 

[Gary A.]

I think the biggest ting for me was framing. Pay attention to the edges and allow a bit of space around the subject!

If that space is for cropping, I come from a different school. In my prime, I shot full-frame ... as in ... no cropping. If the horizon was crooked or something skewed/needed cropping, I would dump the shot. I am trying to get back to that level of framing.

 

[weepete]

I think the biggest ting for me was framing. Pay attention to the edges and allow a bit of space around the subject!

If that space is for cropping, I come from a different school. In my prime, I shot full-frame ... as in ... no cropping. If the horizon was crooked or something skewed/needed cropping, I would dump the shot. I am trying to get back to that level of framing.

Not for cropping mate, but it's about creating a deliberate composition in the frame particularly with landscape shots. If, for example, you have a shot with a big rock in the foreground that's being used as an anchor point cutting off the bottom of the rock makes the shot look careless, just giving it a little room and showing the bottom of it gives the entire image a more considered look. Same with buildings, if you include a couple of edges at the side of the frame rather than cut half way through a building it really does make the whole composition look more deliberate.

Admitedly as a photographer you need to decide where the edges lie, and invariably something will be cut off, but making it have minimal impact on the scene is the key.

 

[ClickAddict]

...I've written an article called "A Photographer Journey From Beginner to Pro. Rules and Tips From Pros" (don't want to post the link here since this is my first post on the forum).

Thanks, and we appreciate your understanding. You are however welcome to post the entire article in the "Articles of Interest" forum if you'd like.

Well considering the link is in his signature, he's already "posted" it here about 10 times. Not sure what an extra one would hurt or not.

 

[john.margetts]

thank you for the feedback!

and now you got me curious, I've recently picked up a couple of film cameras myself. what agfa camera model did you have and what did the levers do?

It was a 1930s folding medium format camera. Lever 1 was aperture, lever two shutter speed, lever three shutter cocking and lever four shutter release.

 

[Braineack]

Being able to consistently frame & focus with appropriate settings and technique.

If I look back at images I've taken from even 2010 my framing was bad (very close up of faces) and many were blurry because I just shot in A without any regard to what the camera was choosing.

I also shoot almost exclusively in A - but that's Aperture priority, I think you meant A as in Auto

Framing is very important indeed, and a lot of beginner photographers don't realize that. Cutting parts of the subject is not really desirable.

Also, background is as important as the foreground, so you need to pay attention to both.

Thank you for your response

actually A an in aperture. Camera would chose a silly shutter speed like 1/60sec when I'm at 200mm or something. that just don't work.

mastering the camera as a tool first and foremost has helped me the most. That has allowed me to understand the situation, then apply any/all the artistry I want.

 

[pjaye]

Being able to consistently frame & focus with appropriate settings and technique.

If I look back at images I've taken from even 2010 my framing was bad (very close up of faces) and many were blurry because I just shot in A without any regard to what the camera was choosing.

This was absolutely my moment too.

 

[TamiAz]

When I could use off camera flash and take a decent picture.

 

[jcdeboever]

So far it's developing film. Journaling the different effects that agitation, pushing, pulling, and temps. Really and eye opener when comparing them, seems like I am moving towards something as opposed to regressing.

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