Help! *images added*

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phoebepants

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46
Name
Michelle
Edit My Images
Yes
Hello,

Just looking for a virtual pep talk!

I'm feeling a bit disheartened looking at all these fantastic pictures and knowing that i am never going to be anywhere near as good. I know i'm only a beginner and i'm using a compact camera ( we do have an slr but that is my OH's as i'm not technical enough yet) but i feel like there is so much to knowledge to gain and i'm never going to be able to produce even halfway decent shots.

I have posted a few pics but the feedback is either non existant or barely any constructive crit that i can work with and this is slightly depressing in itself as maybe my pics are even good enough for crit :'(

i also worry about pp as i have no clue and trying to work out if having a good pic is the right place to start or having excellent pp skills is where it's at (dont get me wrong there are amazing shots on this forum and i'm not saying that it is all pp) but i'm just trying to understand where to begin.

Maybe i need to look for a compact camera forum - i have asked previously on here about one but there weren't many suggestions other than to ask here, but i think that this is more slr focsed.

Please offer some guidance of some sort as i really am wondering if photography is for me!

Shell
 
Shell don't get disheartened, look at it as a long journey with every step you take as a step forward :)

I've been through the stage of "I'm never going to get a shot like that" and in many ways still am there but by setting myself little challenges so I make sure I'm going out at least once a week I know I'm taking steps forward, albeit small steps!

I've found siejones' shots in the landscape section are really inspirational for me, he's posting sets of photos he has taken with no processing done, that shows what you can aim for without having to worry about photoshop skills (mine are very limited indeed!)

Take a day out without your camera and have a look around you - you'll soon be itching to go back with your camera :)
 
If you are downloading your pics to a pc.
Keep taking pics - hundreds of them.
Get you nose into magazines and try to copy some of the ideas you see in them.

Sometimes people respond to things on forums other times not.
I saw a post on another forum yesterday. 1300 people had viewed it, but only 6 replied.
I wouldn't worry about lack of comment.
 
Only YOU will know if photography is for you or not. Do you enjoy looking for things to shoot ?, do you enjoy shooting that thing when you've found it ?, Do you get excited about getting home to see what it looks like on the PC ?

If you answer yes to these questions, then stick at it. If the answer is not really, then you know the rest....

I'll set you a little challenge, Next time your out and you have your camera with you, look for some things that resemble letters, or even ARE letters, but only single letters on their own, and shoot them. Take one shot of the object in a non artistic manner, then try and take another with a little bit of artistic licence.

See how many you can and enjoy it !!

Dont get disheartened !! We were all beginners at some point !!
 
Don't be so hard on yourself. Everybody has their down days with their photography and not least when you're just starting out. Don't compare yourself to anyone else. It's hard I know but some of the folk on here have been at this game a while and so you couldn't possibly expect to emulate them as a beginner but use them for inspiration. If it's something you really enjoy doing persevere and keep taking those shots. Read up on photography and concentrate on getting your shots right in camera before venturing into the realms of processing. There are lots of books and magazines out there that can help you develop anbd learn the skills and techniques for getting good shots.
Commenting on everyones work is hard with the large number of members now passing through the site so don't get disheartened about that. I'll make more of an effort to look out for you when you post. Keep at it don't give up it will pay off in the end :)
 
Absolutley agree, that picture challenge is actually something we were set on an open uni course on digital photography that I did. You might want to consider something like that Shell, it teaches composition, colour, the technical stuff like apertures and best of all (for me) got me started with photoshop.

When you start out there is just so much to do, so much to learn, it's easy to become overwhelmed by it all but what the others have said is true. It is a journey and we are all at our own point on our journey. And we have all been where you are right now.

Keep taking pics, keep posting and when you get frustated by what you can achieve with your compact you will know it's the right time to make the step to SLR.

My partner keeps a little compact of mine on him at work and he just had pics from it published by a news agency so don't despair. Go and shoot some letters for us :)
 
Hello Shell,

There is an immense amount of faff and twaddle that goes with taking photos and it can be tough to wade through sometimes. Even when you've got through that, there is not one single photographer (of any length of experience or height of talent) that hasn't sat with their head in their hands wondering why their own images lack the impact of the others that they see.

It's exactly what my sig says really. If you shoot just for the result, then it's a very big hole to dig yourself out of when you're not getting the images you want. If you shoot, at least partly anyway, just because you enjoy the process of getting the camera out and making images, then it's far easier to take the failures with the successes. Which I often think makes it easier to learn from them.

As for the critique, if you've seen a style of pic or a shot that you like and have one that you don't feel is as good, post both in your thread. There is no reason not to ask specific questions, you'll probably get more replies that way too. :)
 
Hi Shell

I would suggest getting the user manual out and reading up on the camera you have. Get to know it inside out and upside down and experiment with all the settings. Read as much as you can about this stuff that would be relevant to compact cameras and get to know your editing software inside out too. Experiment with images and see if you can replicate a quality photo with one downloaded either from this site or the web. If you are strapped for cash then there are a fair few image editing programmes out there that are free like the Gimp. Click here for the top 5.

While you are learning you can save up maybe for a SLR of your own and if you decide photography is not for you then spend the money on chocolate!!:D

Seriously though i have seen some superb images from compact cameras so keep at it and post up more images.

If it makes you feel any better i think I'm rubbish compared with others and i do think your own images seem worse than they really are because you have looked at them lots.

Good Luck:thumbs:

Andy
 
What you don't see is all the not so good pictures that were taken before those that were published saw the light of day. I'm not advocating the "machine gun" approach to Photography, in that you take loads of pictures in the hope that one or two will be good. Simply try different things and see how they work out. Important thing is if you don't like a picture you've taken try and reason why you don't like it. Even better is when you take one you do again look at it to see why.

Is there an area of photography you are interested in. It's sometimes easier to specialise than try and be a jack of all trades. Some people are great at portraits others at landscape, other animals and natural history.

Look at images that you find stimulating and try to see why ( That's often the hardest part) . Also bear in mind YOU are often your hardest critic.
 
Thanks for the replies - i think i was just having a downer.

You've given me plenty of food for thought, i went out this aft with the camera (and my 21 month old on a set of reins - not ideal!) and took a few shots of her and things round the park and i did get that buzz of wanting to come home and look at the pc to see how they had turned out. i got a few shots that i am pleased with although they may not be technically perfect but i like them!

i'm going to have a go at the letters challenge when i have some child free time!

I'm hopefully going to do the OU t189 course this spring - i was in two minds about doing it because i thought maybe this wasn't for me but i do feel better about the whole thing now.

I do understand that it is all going to take time to click into place i just need to be more patient!

Thanks for the pep talk - hopefully this time next year i'll be more confident and giving pep talks to the newbies!

IMG_0768.jpg


IMG_0785.jpg


IMG_0821.jpg


IMG_0810.jpg


Shell
 
Love the geese!!:D

The large pic of the goose is actually very good, it just needs to be more in the middle of the frame as it looks a little too low.

Well done!

Cute kid!!
 
There are a couple of comments I would say about the pics that strike me.

1 seems a little soft and out of focus, also you have cut off the rh arm. Try to keep it all in the frame. Nail the focus points on the eyes.

2 is much better imo.

3 is a nice shot of a goose that would benefit from more space, as said before. Also looks a tad bit soft.

On the last one you have again clipped out a top corner.

Have you sharpened these at all before posting? That may explain why they all look a little OOF to me.

Hope that helps. Good start, enjoy your journey!
 
Thanks for the comment re the photo's i've just put them on straight from the camera do you think anything can be done with pp with these images?
 
Your shutter speeds are too slow and your aperture is too wide which is why you are getting OOF shots. You are using speeds of 1/50sec and 1/60sec which when hand held will give you camera shake.

I notice your ISO is set at 200 and this combined with the poor light on the day you were taking these explains the settings. For poor light like this you need to up the ISO by lots to allow you to get much faster shutter speeds.
 
Hi, I did a quick, sub 30 seconds edit of one of your photo's to show an example of what could be done.
3216388982_803c42a438.jpg

Do you have any image editing programs? There are lots of internet tutorials on how to use photoshop, and if you dont have that, GIMP is a good free editing program.
(I will remove the photo soon/if you wish)
 
thanks for the edit it looks great. I am using gimp but have so much to learn. The pics posted have just been put on straight from the camera, and i do have to say they look sharp in the originals at full screen so not sure why they are oof.

I was aiming for the goose to be in the centre but with my little girl not wating to stand still for more than a second it was difficult so it was lucky it came out as it did!

I must admit the camera was just on auto as i didnt have much time to fiddle for the above reason but i will have a play with the settings i'm also going to read the manual again fully to get a better understanding of all the settings.

Many Thanks
Shell
 
that man that never made mistakes never made anything

and

if at first you dont succeed
 
dod said:
Shell, stop. Don't worry about equipment or processing, just concentrate on developing your "eye" for a photo.
Click to expand...

Best advice ever. To anyone!

Change your viewpoint - take photos from up high where you'd normally be down low, and vice-versa, gives a whole different view to the world! Just practice. Then practice some more. Everybody on these forums is still practicing something;)

It's easier with full-size files, but here's my 2 minutes-worth!
IMG_0785.jpg
 
If you are still learning Gimp try Picasa 3.
It's free and has an "I'm feeling lucky button" as well as other adjustments including sharpen
Just those 2 selected gives:
IMG_0768p3.jpg
 
dod said:
Shell, stop. Don't worry about equipment or processing, just concentrate on developing your "eye" for a photo.
Click to expand...

+1

I've just put some comments on a couple of your other pics
 
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