So I bought a camera!

[Peteroni]

And having bought a camera I stumbled across CinC and was very impressed with ..well, everything. The tutorials ... All of your photos .. Yeah really impressed with the photos. I know very little about photography but occasionally i 'see' situations which I think deserve to be recorded. If I have a camera ready and I'm lucky I get something which I like to look back at pretty much for ever.( have some very old photo I still enjoy looking at.
I'm wondering if this is the norm i.e. always having the camera ready .... or is it more normal amongst serious amateurs and pro's to engineer the event or force the moment ????
Having browsed the uploaded photo's I'm thinking you are all far more organised

[Donald]

Peter

Great to have you join up to CiC.

I hope that you've seen that, as well as the tutorials, this forum is very much a learning resource with lots of people willing to share extensive knowledge and experience.

I'm wondering if this is the norm i.e. always having the camera ready .... or is it more normal amongst serious amateurs and pro's to engineer the event or force the moment ????

The fact is that there are so many approaches to photography that there is no right or wrong. I'm not a 'always have the camera at the ready' type of shooter. But some folk are and they produce images that blow you away. It's just finding out what suits you and what 'lights your fire', as they say!

But, whatever style/approach you find works for you, I hope you enjoy being part of CiC.

[tbob]

Peter: Welcome to CIC. Great advice,support and personalities here.

I for one always have a camera at the ready. The battery fully charged, a spare battery and at least one memory card as a spare. Sitting at home in the entrance way. I tried the "always carry a camera" route but I soon discovered that 99% of the time if I was traveling in the car I was either on my way to work, on emergency call or on a set time schedule. So it became a frustration.

Now I go on little photographic expeditions within an hour of home. As for "engineering the event'" or "forcing the moment" I have discovered that serendipity is my friend. I find it is best to have a loose agenda and always,always be open minded to the unforeseen and unexpected. Let the light and the circumstance dictate. 99% of my pictures are landscape type taken in natural light, I have to wait for the light. (Either that or invest in a thermonuclear device to provide fill flash.) And often in the waiting comes an opportunity i could never have foreseen; I just have to be mentally open to the opportunity.

A good exercise is to sit in one place for fifteen minutes and look about , you might be amazed at what you will see.

[Colin Southern]

Hi Peter,

Big welcome to CiC from me too

I guess I'm in the "camera is never too far away" camp -- usually the SLR is in the car, but if all else fails, there's always the iPhone, which can be quite surprising in what it can capture ...

[Pjerry]

Hi Peter,

Welcome. I'm a newbee too in CiC (just lost my "New" state).
Your impression is right. A lot of outstanding expertise and knowledges, a lot of people willing to help you and ...... a place for everyone. Starters and pros, always-ready-guys and the now-and-than shooters, everyone is here all alike and will be helped (if necessary).

I've never seen something like CiC before, it's really great.

Cheers

Pierre

[MiniChris]

or is it more normal amongst serious amateurs and pro's to engineer the event or force the moment ????

The natural "shot" is always there; one merely has to "see" it in the state they wish to record as "that" moment. The unnatural event, fires, accidents, etc., would require having the camera with you at all times. For that event, I have a friend who carries a good P&S when it is not convenient for the big camera.

More like most of the others on here, I give way to weekly sorties in search of a great shot. Sometimes I gets lucky, sometimes I doesn't (bad English for serendipitous moments which I believe account for 99% of all really great non-studio photographs).

[FrankMi]

Hi Peter, I joined a local camera club to get opportunities to shoot things of interest in my local area. From time to time we get together to photograph a subject, like the botanical gardens, or do a river-walk. This provides me with the occasional planned outing, along with other photographers of all experience levels. Sometimes we just meet at a local coffee shop to share images, talk about shooting, post processing, and to just make new friends that have like interests.

[Donald]

... or is it more normal amongst serious amateurs and pro's to engineer the event or force the moment ????

I didn't really pick this up from the original post in the thread.

I think we can probably understand the point being made, but I think the language maybe doesn't reflect a key aspect of what making images is about; i.e. planning the shot.

Now, that may be something that, for some people in some situations, takes a few seconds or minutes. For others it can take weeks or months. And once the planning is done and depending on the subject matter, you may have to wait a long time in order to execute it.

So, it's not about 'engineering the shot' in the sense of managing the elements (although that can be done with, for example, people and objects and lighting in a studio). In relation to landscape in particular, it's about knowing the location, knowing the shot you want (visualising it in your head) and then waiting for the elements (light, clouds, etc.) all to be in the right place, doing the right thing, at the right time - together.

As an example, another member on here asked if I would be able to make a picture for him of a structure that he was involved in building quite a number of years ago. And he no longer lives in Scotland so can't get back to see it easily. I will get it, but I've been trying now for 3 months. It's a wonderful challenge and I'm loving it. With his permission, I'll post it up here when I get it.

I know exactly what the finshed B & W image looks like. All I have to do now is make it.

I know the location I want. I know the lens I'll use. I thought I was on to it a couple of weeks ago. I travelled to the location confident that today was the day. But a great b..... cruise ship had docked right in my line of sight. Day not wasted, because I drove around just looking at other possibilities.

And indeed today, as I write this, is another very real opportunity. Unfortunately, the sky is too clear, but I'm keeping a watchful eye on it and hoping for some cloud build up. So, I'm holding off for another 3/4 hours, 'til the sun starts to move over a bit and, hopefully, for some cloud to come in. I can be on location within 40 minutes from this keyboard.