My wife and I decided that we would invest some of our forthcoming tax money for a nicer camera. The first priority will be for our daughter and other family moments, then for the blog, probably, and then for nice pictures. Until that time, I'm trying to get better at taking pictures with what we have, which is an old Kodak point and shoot. I've been reading a lot of Ken Rockwell, and if there's one thing that he drives home in every single article I've read (seriously, like every one), it's that good photography isn't dependent on the camera, but the composition and vision of the photographer. So I'm going to be practicing with what I've got and trying to get better with that while we're waiting.
These are pretty boring; I was just walking around the apartment yard this afternoon, but I think some of them turned out OK for a noob like me. Any pro tips would be appreciated.
I'll probably be doing more posts like this, hopefully once a week, of experiments with taking pictures. So get used to it. Sorry if you hate it.
Conor
3 comments:
Hey Connor, Longtime fan...
I'm actually a budding photog too. Well, a photog in the sense that my wife and I just bought an SLR.
The only thing I would suggest is learning the rule of thirds. There is even a cool article floating around about using a Fibonacci spiral to frame you photos. Give it a shot if you have some time.
The rule of thirds actually is just a simplification of the golden ratio (the fibonacci spiral also comes from this "essential constant").
A photographer needs to get a clear feeling for what's essential to him. Essence is always relative. Always asks yourself: Is it necessary that this is in my frame? Is something missing?
I personally don't really like Ken Rockwells style, but I must admit that he's right when he says, that the camera doesn't matter (it depends though, if you try to shoot sports f.e. you'll need to get good equipment). A good camera doesn't make good photos. A good photographer does.
You can start your "journey" by learning the basics and keeping your eyes open. You can get a "clearer" view for photos by simply watching your enviroment very carefully. It doesn't matter where you are.
The basics are geometry, lighting, etc.... It takes a lot of time to get behind all of this, but in the end it's pretty easy. You'll need to get a basic understanding of the golden ratio for example. This means that you need to know what exactly it does: "How does it affect the flow of my eye in the picture?". Then, later, you could possibly end up always breaking the "rule of thirds"/golden ratio. But: you will know why you don't use it. Or maybe you learned the basics, but just I hope you get what I mean.
Now, that I've written so much without actually saying something, I'll give two links away:
www.lightstalking.com - photographic blog, just see for yourself.
1x.com - a site with loads of brilliant pictures. They even have curators there. You can get a lot of inspiration from there. Don't get frustrated when viewing these pictures: they are the best photos from hundreds of photographers that all have years of practice.
I actually came to your blog for the first time. ;)
Regards, Marc
Bob, thanks for the comment and the longtime readership. It means a lot to me. I've read a little on the rule of thirds, but haven't really figured out how to incorporate it. But I suppose that's what practice is.
Marc: Thanks for the comment and welcome to the blog. Thanks for the great comment. I really appreciate it. And thanks for the links. I've actually got Light Stalking bookmarked and check it pretty often nowadays. And I've looked through 1x.com a few times, but will make it more of a habit. Thanks again for stopping by and for taking the time to write that great comment.
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