Guidance, where to go from here....

shabba

shabba

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Hi folks,

Excuse this rather random and confused post! I’m looking for some guidance really, there are a lot of great photographers on here so I’m hoping someone can point me in the direction I need to go.

Basically I’ve been doing photography as a hobby for a few years, got into it more as time has gone on, and now I’m even starting to get a few little jobs here and there from it, just little things like corporate events, local magazine stuff etc. Just tiny bits every so often, not for much money but it helps towards the cost of the kit.

I’m comfortable with ISO, aperture, shutter speed, i.e I know what settings I’ll need for most situations to get reasonable results and I’ve found now I shoot less pics but get a lot more keepers, so I guess this is positive. However I still feel I’m some way off the level I want to be, but I don’t know how to get there. I still need to learn more about more advance things like metering and lighting. Also I only use the sliders in PS when importing the RAW file, so my post processing for an image is about 30seconds at most.

I’m not one for reading, I’m more a hands on learner, yet time is limited for me to practice and sometimes it’s hard to get inspiration, generally I will shoot anything and everything though.

I guess it’s just a case of practice, practice, practice? Sharing photos and getting critique on them and maybe try and get to some local meets too I guess?

Sorry for the rambling post, I probably don't really even know what I mean myself.
 
Well its certainly good to learn new things, snd if reading is not your thing then Youtube has a lot of good stuff, Marc Wallace has some good tuts on there.

http://www.youtube.com/user/snapfactory#p/u/4/pLFuSbeSDmU

But i think there comes a point where you've learned enough technique to just go and discover yourself as a tog i suppose. At this stage you'd probably benifit more from experimenting and trying to think of your own unique take on photography.

But learning more of the technical side is never a bad idea.

So in short, keep at it, and just try and keep your enthusiasm and passion alive by being creative.

Good luck!

Ade
 
You need some kind of challenge to push the boundaries. Why not go through the techniques for the POTY and go and set up a shot for each one? That way you will have to learn new techniques to complete it. If you post the shots then critique from other members will help you develop that technique further.

If you wanted to, then it would be straight forward to attempt the january technique, post you effort and then taking the critique on board try it again to improve.
 
Maybe shooting anything and everything is your problem. How about picking a particular discipline that you have a real personal interest in, and then working really hard to become an expert in that area. That is likely to be really rewarding.

It could be wildlife, birds, sport, architecture etc - the world is your oyster - having a speciality will I think make a real difference for you.
 
Thanks all, I really appreciate the replies. Will check the videos out.

Sorry what do you mean by POTY? Which section is that in? Fairly new to this forum and it seems massive.

I kind of like to shoot everything and anything as it keeps me on my toes, and means I don't get bored as such as I'm always doing different things. But I see your point about focusing on one area. Maybe I should do that in bits, i.e a block of 2 months on 1 thing, then change etc.
 
Hi Shabba
Have you thought about doing a college course?
I completed NCFE Level 1 Photography as an adult learner last year and have just started on year 2.
One evening per week, over 30 weeks, but the best thing is that if you get a good tutor and good classmates (which thankfully I have :) ) just being with them and discussing what they've done gives you inspiration and drive to produce better things and the course will give you the knowledge to do so.
And it's amazing that everyone knows something that you don't and sharing it in the classroom is so much better than looking at a video or reading a book :)

Hope this helps
 
POTY = Photographer Of The Year. The monthly competition run on here.
See themes and challenges.
 
Course is not an option really, they all start too early :(

I get up 6:30am and don't get home until 7:30pm, and most big towns are 30mins away. Plus I need to cook & eat, and I gym it most week nights. I looked into it before and also into local groups but the timing wasn't good for me unfortunatley - I don't have much spare time and the getting in late(ish) doesn't help.
 
Well there's the OCA distance learning course.

I found POTY a good push and it really helped my photography
 
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