Beginner Begginer

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Jack
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Hello!

I have just bought a new camera, have long wanted to get into photography but have not had the time or omph to get on it. I have now got a Fujifilm X-T100 as was recommended for a beginner like myself and was also quite reasonably priced for a beginner.

Very interested in landscape photography and can’t wait to go out and start taking pictures, does anyone have any recommendations/tips?

all the best!
 
Hi Jack and welcome.

If landscapes are what you're interested in then you should get out and take lots of photos. Also have a look at the work of other landscape photographers to get ideas and inspiration. When you look through your pictures, try to understand why you like some and not others - learn what makes a photo good or bad and use that as a tool to develop your skills.
 
Excellent, thanks for the advice, can’t wait to get out and start taking photos! Living in the south of England I’d like to think there are a lot of lovely places to go to.

Had to wait in all day for an SD card, so have been reading up to try and get a bit more knowledge.
 
Landscapes usually require a slightly wider lens than a standard kit lens, may I ask what lens you'll be using?

Les

PS welcome to TP :)
 
Hi Jack and welcome.

If landscapes are what you're interested in then you should get out and take lots of photos. Also have a look at the work of other landscape photographers to get ideas and inspiration. When you look through your pictures, try to understand why you like some and not others - learn what makes a photo good or bad and use that as a tool to develop your skills.
:agree: In a nut shell. :)
 
Landscapes usually require a slightly wider lens than a standard kit lens, may I ask what lens you'll be using?

Les

PS welcome to TP :)

Each to their own I suppose but personally I rarely use the bottom end of my 24-100 and hardly ever go wider even though I have a very good ultra wide angle.
 
Each to their own I suppose but personally I rarely use the bottom end of my 24-100 and hardly ever go wider even though I have a very good ultra wide angle.

Agreed, each to there own. I use a 10-24mm for landscapes, sometimes an 8mm

Les :)
 
Landscapes usually require a slightly wider lens than a standard kit lens, may I ask what lens you'll be using?

Les

PS welcome to TP :)

Hello! The lens I have is a 15-45mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS PZ Which came with the camera. If I am right (50/50 chance here) this is not a wide lens? So maybe have to invest a bit more!

From research I also get the impression that a tripod of some sort is also essential?
 
Hello! The lens I have is a 15-45mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS PZ Which came with the camera. If I am right (50/50 chance here) this is not a wide lens? So maybe have to invest a bit more!

From research I also get the impression that a tripod of some sort is also essential?
The lens you have is perfectly adequate for a starter, and for many landscapes until you get a feel for the camera. A tripod is by no means essential at this stage, especially as this lens is stabilised meaning it will smooth out many vibrations. I have been photographing for more years than I can count, have 3 tripods, and rarely use them.
 
If I am right (50/50 chance here) this is not a wide lens?
It all gets a bit confusing because of different sensor sizes (crop factors) but yes 15mm on an APS-C sensor like you have is wide angle and wide enough for a lot of landscape work.

A tripod is a good idea but not essential. If you are photographing in low light (dawn/dusk) it will be useful and if want milky smooth water then you will need one.


<cross posted with Stephen above, but we agree ....
 
Thank you both for your reply, that’s excellent to hear, I will be getting out today to start taking pictures and experimenting. I imagine I will carry on with what I have and then down the line see what I can do differently, or what lens to improve the shots.

I have been trying to get to grips with what these numbers and abbreviations mean, obviously will take time! Likewise learning to work the camera manually, as before I usually just relied on auto presets!

anyway your comments have been much appreciated!
 
One thing that is worth pointing out is that taking the photo is only half the job, processing the image afterwards is the other half. Pretty much every impressive image you see has been processed to get it to look the way it does so don't be disappointed if what comes out of the camer is not as good as what you see online.
 
Your best bet, is to get out and start taking photographs. Then look at them and make notes on what you can improve. A tripod would be a useful addition but it's useful to understand why first.

It's always key to remember that the most important part of photography is light...most dramatic landscape shots were taken either end of day light.
 
The advice so far about taking lots of shots, deciding which you like and which you don't and how they can be improved is spot on.

Looking at your photos and being able to say, if it did not turn out the way you wanted is necessary to improving. Was it the composition, the lighting, did the subject look the way you wanted?

In all scenes the eye/brain combination is superb at picking out the thing(s) you are interested in and ignoring most of the rest. The camera is the opposite, it happily records everything without favour. An example of this is a landscape with, to the eye, an imposing, dominant mountain which in the image appears as a small blip in a huge landscape.

It takes a lot of practice(well it did and still does for me) but worth the effort .

If you are not happy about your shots, post them up here, say why you arem't happy, add the exposure data and someone will be able to help.


Dave
 
excellent thank you for the advice Dave, I will be sure to seek people’s help as it will be very valuable. If I’m completely honest, I am still trying to figure out the exposure details and adjusting them! All part of the learning curve.


One thing that is worth pointing out is that taking the photo is only half the job, processing the image afterwards is the other half.

this will probably be something I will have to focus on, as I can imagine getting frustrated with end product! When it comes to processing, is there anything you would recommend?
 
excellent thank you for the advice Dave, I will be sure to seek people’s help as it will be very valuable. If I’m completely honest, I am still trying to figure out the exposure details and adjusting them! All part of the learning curve
this will probably be something I will have to focus on, as I can imagine getting frustrated with end product! When it comes to processing, is there anything you would recommend?
It really depends if you want to start off with something relatively simple and then move up, or jump in the deep end. If the second, a lot of people including myself swear by Adobe Lightroom. Others swear at it. At the other end, your Fuji should have come with a disk with some sort of basic processing software, else you could go with whatever is included in your computer software as standard, eg, Photos on the Apple Mac. Also if you choose to shoot in the JPEG format, or Raw.
 
When it comes to processing, is there anything you would recommend?

There's lots. Adobe offer a subscription model for their software these days, which includes lightroom (image development - like a digital darkroom) and Photoshop (for making bigger changes to pictures and a huge amount besides) - but many of us don't want to be tied into their subscription.

On1 offer PhotoRaw 2020, which is a lot like a combination of Lightroom and the photographic bits of photoshop in a single package and works well.

DXO offer Photolab, which is a more automated package for image development only.

Capture1 offer a development package that is powerful and very well thought of but extremely expensive.

Luminar have an image development package that many here like and use (not tried it myself yet).

There's also free development packages like Raw Therapee and Darktable that tend to be less refined than commercial packages but still very useful.

Finally there's usually free software from the camera maker themselves (not sure what Fuji have).

There are excellent resources available in terms of reviews, previews and tutorials on youtube, and all the above will normally let you download and try the software FOC for 30 days before it must be registered.

Also RAW or JPEG - my opinion is that you should always work in RAW, at least at first, because it's like a digital negative that will offer much more room for helping correct mistakes/deal with difficult situations and offer more flexibility when processing. JPG files are more like the prints you used to get from boots, and have much less latitude over things like exposure, highlights and shadows, colour casts etc. An experienced photographer can work with the cameras limitations to get the JPGs they want, but when you're starting out they can be a bit disappointing.
 
Thanks everyone, I will define take it all ok board. I’ve taken the camera out and been shooting on ‘manual’ for a change will take some time for me to learn/remember what every dial does! But it has been interesting and fun. I will continue like his for a while and then maybe invest in Luminar - as the one time fee would suit me better.
 
I’ve taken the camera out and been shooting on ‘manual’ for a change will take some time for me to learn/remember what every dial does!
Why?
you’ll learn just as well by using the semi automatic modes, all you’re doing is making it harder for no good reason.
 
Very interested in landscape photography and can’t wait to go out and start taking pictures, does anyone have any recommendations/tips?
Teach yourself the concept of the exposure triangle (speed, aperture, iso). Learn to see and assess light photographically. Yes, look at others' work to see what the medium's capable of, but you don't have to like everything and what you like could well change over time as your vision matures.

Think about light, focus, and framing. It's about bringing all those together. But play around and see what happens. Learn to self-crit.

And I could say - don't feel that you have to cater for popular taste, whatever that is. Make images for you.
 
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