Beginner post

[rpcrowe]

We are fortunate to have photographers with a wide variety of experience and skills on this site. I have always liked the way we try to help each other and offer critiques in a constructive and non-threatening fashion...

[William W]

. . .I will upload some of my pictures and ask for corrections.

Good idea.

When you post your photos here, include the EXIF data and also - a note as to what you feel is lacking and ask for advice as to WHY you didn’t get what you wanted.

When you can identify why you are NOT getting what you want in your pictures, you will be much better informed as to what is the next best course of action: most of the time it will simply be attaining new skills and techniques.

WW

[alex159753]

Hello Guys, I am also a newbie to photography. I know sometimes a photos depend on the idea and the imagination of the person who takes it, some would say that it is an inborn talent. But i would like to learn it, so i could also take great shots. Therefore if you know any articles online, related to photography and which you presume could be useful. Then please do share them. Could benefit me and the other newbies in the community.

Thank you in advance
Alex

[Donald]

I know sometimes a photos depend on the idea and the imagination of the person who takes it, some would say that it is an inborn talent.

I'd say that good photographs depend 100% on the vision developed by the photographer. The scene in front of you is the blueprint. You turn it into an image.

As for being an inborn talent - No. An artistic appreciation is certainly needed, but like most other things that can be learned. One of the main ways of learning to go and shoot photographs. Practice, practice, practice and then practice some more. Look at other photographs in a critical way. What makes the great photographs great, in your opinion? Is it the composition? The way the light is managed? The depth of field in the photograph? etc.

Ask people on here to offer critique on your photographs (NB - Can be hard to receive comments that seem to be negative) and be prepared to analyse the comments. You might not agree with them all, but if they come from some of the really good photographers on here, they'll be worth listening to.

By the way, do you want to go into your profile and put where your from in, so that everyone can see that.

Welcome to CiC.

[DanK]

Therefore if you know any articles online, related to photography and which you presume could be useful. Then please do share them.

I'm afraid that's too general a question--it covers pretty much everything in photography. A narrower question might get you more useful answers. For example, are you most interested in learning camera controls? Exposure? Composition? Basic post-processing?

IMHO, for inspiration and ideas about what you would like to accomplish, one of the best things to do is examine the work of accomplished photographers. For example, if you are interested in landscapes, you could start with some of the classic B&W--e.g., Ansel Adams and the rest of the f/64 group. Some people here could give you a much better list of portrait photographers than I can, if that is your interest. If you are interested in macro photography, check out the outstanding work of Brian Valentine ("Lord V"), https://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/. And so on.

When local museums have photography exhibits, go check them out. For example, a museum in this area currently has an exhibit of the work of Olivia Parker, whose work I am a bit embarrassed to say I had never heard of. It gave me all sorts of ideas, and I ended up buying a book of the exhibit so that I could study it more at home. I've been going back to a little book of Edward Weston's photographs from time to time for several years.

Likewise, if you join a local club, you will probably get ideas from people doing very different types of photography. the two clubs I belong to have people doing a wide variety of work, including portraits, landscapes, abstracts, macro, nigh photography, and photojournalism.

[Shadowman]

Hello Guys, I am also a newbie to photography. I know sometimes a photos depend on the idea and the imagination of the person who takes it, some would say that it is an inborn talent. But i would like to learn it, so i could also take great shots. Therefore if you know any articles online, related to photography and which you presume could be useful. Then please do share them. Could benefit me and the other newbies in the community.

Thank you in advance
Alex

Won't be as fun as reading the manual but this video will help get you started learning the functions of your camera.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUEikbIgwEM

[Manfred M]

To be honest Dank, you are absolutely right, I agree with you 100 percent. There was a time some of them told me to buy expensive gadgets and now after hearing all these my mind has completely changed and I do nit believe in all these anymore that you have to have a expensive gadget to become a good photographer. I am trying my best to come up with something great with what I already have.

I wish the answer were that simple and straight forward, but it is not. I call out people that say otherwise quite often.

If you are a beginner then there is some truth to the statement. You are at the stage where you are trying to come up with a nicely composed image and that can often be done just as easily on a phone as with any other camera. Light is one of the most important "ingredients" in a strong image and you can go a long way figuring that out, even with very basic tools.

As you progress in your image making you may find that you get to the point where you find you cannot get the image that you want with your current tools. You can either stop there and stick within the limits of what your tools let you do or you can move up and get better ones. Very few highly successful photographers have the very basic gear and tend to rely on some fairly high end stuff. That should tell people something - in the hands of an experienced photographer, the quality of the tools does make a difference. Just as a beginner will not get the best out of a high end musical instrument, but a concert musician does. Tools matter, if you can handle them...

The other thing that people that just start out in photography do not realize is that the image that comes straight out of the camera is as good as it gets. The built in software can create a good image, but rarely a great image. Almost since the beginning of photography, photographers have refined their images using post-production tools to improve the overall strength of the image. It can be as simple as tweaking the exposure or straightening the horizon or cropping out some distracting elements at the edges of the image. Often even more sophisticated (and timeless) techniques are introduced to bring out (or tone down) what the camera has captured.

Share your work and have it critiqued. That is the best way to learn and improve as a photographer. Even advanced photographer attend classes, masterclasses and workshops to improve their work.