Photography Education

I took a few classes in collage, but am always open to learning more. Thanks for being willing to teach others.

 

Hey now!

 

One of the best sights always occurred in Hawaii when I would be there photographing the Triple Crown circus. I'd be standing on the beach at Pipeline and there would be hundreds of photographers lined up. A huge line of white lenses. Every so often, you'd see a black one. You always knew the Nikon guys.

 

you sure can... we're the ones who can recognize good glass without having to paint it white and slap a red stripe on it.

 

outstanding!!!

 

I used to have a Nikon...

 

If she needs any advice, get in touch. More than happy to talk shop with her.

 

One of the 'nifty fifty' lenses. Great to have.

 

I used to too 35mm and it was stolen

 

Mine was a semipro digital (that's how it was advertised) back in 2001-2002 when I was trying to get into photography as a hobby. Mine burned down along with the rest of the house.

 

Bad timing.. it looks like we'll be moving to Broomfield with a 3 month old next year...

 

Must have been a constructive trip the other week. Congrats and welcome to the neighborhood.

 

ha, thank you! ... not there just yet but it seems they're very keen to get me out there. I'll stop jacking your thread, I'll be watching & learning

 

I can help too. I use a Canon 6D. First learn how to use the manual setting on your camera. That way you have more control of what you're doing.

Learn this chart and how adjusting 1 can change the others.
Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO

 

That sucks....I'm sorry

 

This is a phenomenal chart. Understanding it (it's easy once explained) and you can really be pretty dangerous with the right camera.

Subject composition and framing the subject are others.

 

Family and pets got out ok. And I still got time to go back for my 4runner And warn the neighbors. Silver lining. Must stay on top of those annoying smoke alarms. It's scary how little time you have if there's and actual fire. It took less than half an hour for the whole thing to collapse.

 

Great chart. Thanks for sharing that. I'll be getting there but not quite yet.

Those topics are coming as well.

 

Just glad everyone was ok

 

Lesson 1: Learning to See

If you break it down, what is photography really about? At its core? It’s really about your ability to see. To really see. You need to see details, nuances, the little things that are commonly missed.

Just like any muscle, your vision needs to be exercised. As part of exercising your vision, you begin to develop your own sense of style. As with any art, photography is totally subjective. Beauty in the eyes of the beholder and all that. With that being said, there’s a good chance that whatever your find visually pleasing, someone else will as well.

Your goal for an end result is to have an image that draws the viewer in. Something that gives them pause, details that give their eyes a reason to keep hunting.

Now, how do you learn how to see? Funnily enough, a camera is not involved.

The first step is seeking out other art that speaks to you. It can be other photography or paintings or films or dance or… You get the picture. When you find that thing, let yourself fall into it. Get completely absorbed. Then, pick it apart. What is that you like? Where does your eye start? Where does it travel? Is there a pattern? Do you even like the pattern?

I study a lot of art. A few times a month, I like to go to the art museum and just sit. Sometimes I’m watching the art. Sometimes I’m watching the people. Occasionally, I take a camera with me and photograph people studying the art.

I also draw inspiration from a number of different genres of photography. My biggest source comes from conflict photographers. James Nachtwey is at the top of that list followed closely by Tim Hetherington. There are others but those two managed to put humanity into their conflict images. Something that is extremely difficult to do. Sadly, Tim died in Misrata, Libya 6 years ago from a gunshot wound. From them, I developed my documentary vision.

The second step is to get outside. Open your eyes to life unfolding around you. Why does something, or someone, suddenly catch your eye? Is it a color? A shadow? It could be the shape of something. Maybe it’s the lines of the highway or a building that draw you to something off in the distance. Take a mental picture. Start building a catalog of these little things. You’ll need them when we start talking about composition.

Now, we’ve found some art that speaks to us and we’ve started to look at our world just a little bit differently. Nope, we’re not picking up a camera yet. There’s one more thing to study.

Light.

You need to be able to see light. I know it sounds weird but hear me out.

Light has a few basic qualities. It can be hard or soft. It can be warm or cool. As a photographer, you need to understand how to take those qualities and bend them to your vision. Your vision, while it is made up of all of the things I mentioned above, is also about what you want that final product to be. More on that later.

The sun is very far away but is a very large light source. This makes it hard. Take a look around you. Are the edges of the shadows distinct or fuzzy? What happens when that cloud passes overhead? The light softens and the shadows get a little fuzzy. How does the light change with the seasons? When that light changes, where is the sun in the sky? My first tipoff that fall is coming is not the weather. It’s the subtle change in the light. The sun dips south, some of the harshness dissipates, mornings and evenings become slightly warmer.

Between now and the next lesson, I would like you to just see. Take notes, written or mental, and post up what you have discovered. What did you see? What did you like/not like? How did the light affect what you were seeing? Did what you were seeing give you any kind of emotion?

Next up, composition.

 

Light has always confused me. for instance I would see an image and think the world of it, but if I try to reproduce it through a picture it is generally too bright and not what I saw at all. Thanks for the this lesson fall is a great time to start seeing.

 

I'll talk about how to fix that. Glad you found it useful.

 

Same here. My problem is at dusk. It all looks like a dark fuzzy mess. Very hard to capture the subtle tones as the light fades away.

 

We'll talk about fixing that too. That's more of an execution problem and figuring what to meter off of and why.

 

yes!!! let the lessons start

time to work on homework!

 

You are not nice, sir! I've only ever received 1 F in my life.....NEVER again!