Learning & applying the thoery/techniques as a beginner - overwhealmed

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chilli_vision

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Marcus
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Hi Forum,

I have set myself the next 12 months to improve my photography. I have had a DSLR for about 6 months now and having been, I would describe as, playing with it. I'm happy with some of the images I've taken, but in the most they are pretty crappy, against the standard I wish to be taking.

So, a month ago I decided to take it back to the grass roots and set myself 12 months of learning different topics/areas of photography to help me understand this amazing media more and to then apply it as I go to my images to see and understand the results I am and can get. The objective being that I am taking images and getting the result I expect and building up my knowledge and experience as I go. Ok the images taken may not be a master piece, but I want to say I know how I want to take it, and when analysing the result, feel that I got the result I was aiming for. Then build through experience and time on the shutter button.

But here comes the kicker. After about a month of learning and playing I am more confused as ever as how to improve. I have kept my learning (theory) around a few topics so not to overload myself in one go, I have taking the learning from some excellent books or video clips etc, but now when it comes to apply this, it seems that hit a mental wall.

I have ideas for images, I understand the basic, I've tested my lenses under a controlled condition and now I want to get out there and take some images based on what I am learning, but it just feels like I to need know something else to really get something from my practical work.

I was hoping some forum members would be kind enough to give me there insight on how they started, and maybe over came that first wall I am experiencing of getting out of the theory into practical applications and then learning from them together.

Matt
 
The best way to improve is to post some shots and take the critique on the chin, then take on board what has been said and go and take some more.

Also, look at other peoples posts and shots and see what you like about them and psot your critique. By thinking about other peoples shots you will also develop your own.

Join in the monthly competition, go back to january's theme and work your way through.

Just take some photo's, keep the camera with you so you can just shoot what you see, as it happens.
 
I started on a little Canon P&S camera, my friend taught me how to use it in full manual mode. I was taking pictures of absolutely everything while trying to grasp the relationship between ISO, Aperture, and shutter speed. Once that clicked, I started realising the limitations of my little P&S. I managed to talk myself into buying my dslr and learnt how to use that. The hard part, imo, of photography is actually applying all the theory. I've found that taking more time to think about the shot you want to take helps.

I shoot mainly landscapes so I have the option of taking my sweet time compared to shorts photographers. My workflow so to speak is to set the camera up in the first place that I find interesting. I then look to see, will it make a good photo, can I make it better by zooming in or out, am I roughly following the rule of thirds, do I have leading lines etc... I spend more time stood away from the camera looking at the scene than actually at the camera taking pics.

Now back to your question, how to get it to all click together. I would set mini-challenges for yourself. E.g. a set of pics to demonstrate DoF, a set of pics to show rule of thirds, a set of pics of symmetry, set of pics with light behind you. Once you do those you could try and incorporate a few at the same time, e.g. set of pics showing DoF and rule of thirds. The thing I recommend every photographer know is the relationship between ISO, aperture, and shutter speed, and how they effect each other as you change settings.

You can always post pics here and explain what image you had in your head and then we can try and figure out what you missed. I imagine the issue may be trying to do too many things at once in a pic. Asking questions, after using the search function :), is always a good way to further understand things.

Hope this helps!
 
Hi Agent G,

Thanks for your post, yes it's been of great help. Funnily enough after I wrote this post I put my ipod in and went for a walk. During my work some of the points you made acutally came to mind, then I come back to find you've posted my thoughts. LOL. Funny how the universe works.

AgentG said:
The hard part, imo, of photography is actually applying all the theory. I've found that taking more time to think about the shot you want to take helps.
Click to expand...

Yes, totally agree. I don't have the illusion to think that I can apply all the theory I am learning. I want to be doing it at stages and understanding the impact on the shot etc.

AgentG said:
Now back to your question, how to get it to all click together. I would set mini-challenges for yourself. E.g. a set of pics to demonstrate DoF, a set of pics to show rule of thirds, a set of pics of symmetry, set of pics with light behind you. Once you do those you could try and incorporate a few at the same time, e.g. set of pics showing DoF and rule of thirds. The thing I recommend every photographer know is the relationship between ISO, aperture, and shutter speed, and how they effect each other as you change settings.
Click to expand...

This is almost exactly what I was thinking and seems a very good process. As you said, a set of mini-challenges each to demonstrate the theory, and then bring them together etc.

I think I might add a challenge, i.e the 52 thing to pull a number of theory's together each month and give me creative gray cells a work out too.

Thanks for your post, it's brought some more clarity to my thoughts.

Matt
 
Dont get too wrapped up in the thoeory. Of course its usefull to know and worth learning, but some of the world greatest musicians cant read or write music.

The best way to improve, or at least the way that worked for me, was to just go out and take pictures. Take pictures of everything, take pictures of the same thing with different settings and review them on the computer. Look at the setting you used via the exif info and see what effect it had on the images.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Dont get too wrapped up in the thoeory. Of course its usefull to know and worth learning, but some of the world greatest musicians cant read or write music.

The best way to improve, or at least the way that worked for me, was to just go out and take pictures. Take pictures of everything, take pictures of the same thing with different settings and review them on the computer. Look at the setting you used via the exif info and see what effect it had on the images.
Click to expand...

I also agree with this to an extent but not fully. I do 100% agree that getting bogged down in the theory can stifle the creative nature but confusing the mind with it all. As a result you never take anything.

As I am really just starting out, and have made it beyond understanding the realtionship between Ap, S.Speed, ISO, I've had to look at how to improve my images, so a little light reading has helped and hindered me. So, I guess it's looking for that balance and getting the Result of a image.

Matt
 
There's the technique and there's the art of photography. I suspect a lot of people leap straight into the technique and get lost somewhere betwee aperture, exposure and depth of field having skipped over composition in the rush - except for maybe thirds and lead lines.

Why are you not satisfied with your shots?

Is it the technique (exposure)?

Or is it the art (composition an expression)?

You need to know to decide how to move forward.
 
Alastair said:
There's the technique and there's the art of photography. I suspect a lot of people leap straight into the technique and get lost somewhere betwee aperture, exposure and depth of field having skipped over composition in the rush - except for maybe thirds and lead lines.

Why are you not satisfied with your shots?

Is it the technique (exposure)?

Or is it the art (composition an expression)?

You need to know to decide how to move forward.
Click to expand...

I can very clearly see what it is i want to create (when building a environmental portrait for example). I can see the highlights, shadow, DoF, perspective, position of the subject(s), size of the light, direction of the light etc, and I can feel what I want from the image......I just don't have the ability to create it with the equipment.

So, I feel I need to bring my physical ability with a camera up to my visualization ability. I know that this will take time as the field of photography seems very big with a lot to know, so taking it step by step and understanding how to create DoF with aperture, but then it's understand the impact when I add or change the light source, or size, etc, etc.

Matt
 
I certainly think taking part in the challenges will help because then I am actually taking images based on a theme. I can come up with an idea based on a the theme, then plan it with the knowledge I have at that point. Then I can analyse it and learn from it and trying and make the next shot better.

I know the more I actually take images the faster I will learn. I am very much a person who learns from doing than by studying.

I also do not want to get bogged down and stifle myself and probably, eventually turn myself off from this wonderful medium because I have become too overwhealmed by my own creation. LOL.
 
What you are describing will only come with practice, we all "see" images, but sometimes they are beyond our technnical ability. Like I said, see the shot and try various mixtures of settings. When you find the closest one to the look you wanted, examine the details of the exposure and then fine tune it from the settings you already know will get you close.

You can read and know every aspect of the techinical side, but if you cant put it into practice with a camera, then is it really worth knowing?
 
I started out with a borrowed 350D on a sunny day and shot on Auto. So the only thing that was important back then was composition. Those pics looked OK, and positive crit helped moved me forward.

I've spent a lot of time looking at others work to see what works as a picture from an aesthetic point of view first. Reverse engineering shutter speeds ie fast/slow, aperture big/little .

However I have never once looked at exif to see others camera settings, because one thing there never is in that info is how much ambient light is available.

My rule of thumb, is always keep the ISO as low as possible, then choose the aperture/shutter speed dependant on the effect desired. Shoot on manual, and you'll soon get to learn what does what.

Take lots of pictures, trial and error, and don't be afraid to try something different.

Concentrate on composition first. There are many important historical images out there which are technically way below par, but captured the moment perfectly.
 
Interesting thread... you haven't said much about what interests you and what you like to shoot. For me I was an artist first (studied Fine Art) and photography simply became the medium I used. It's a little like you wanting know how to drive your car really well without knowing where you want to go.... having a purpose will certainly help your progress...
 
It is interesting different peoples ideas on how to learn their photography. This is really about learning my style (learning style) and what works for me.

A quote that has stuck with me for many year - "this is my way, what is your way, The Way doesn't exist"

This thread is about putting my thoughts down and opening up a conversation to spark ideas off and avoid getting bogged down in the frustration one can get when thinking to much about something. As they say, it's good to talk.
 
pick something, say the rule of thirds and work on it for a week

or look at a picture and think about the flaws, think about the Depth of Field - is there enough or would less make it more punchy, is the shutter speed high enough ect
 
It sounds like you've been soaking up information like a sponge, which is no bad thing, but it appears the sponge is a bit overloaded at the moment. ;) Never lose sight of the fact that it's the image which counts and nothing else - regardless of how you achieve it.

Try forgetting all this info for a while and stick the camera on (shock horror :eek:) 'P'. The world wont come to an end and it will free you to stop worrying about technicalities and concentrate on capturing what you see for a while.

As others have said, post some results up here and you'll probably gain more from the feedback youi get from that than from anything else.
 
i've just bought a 30 year old manual focus prime lens to learn the basics with. i've been relying upon af and aperture/shutter speed prioty modes since i got my dslr a couple of months ago. i'm planning to keep the camera in manual mode for as long as it takes to learn how to impliment all the theory i've been learning in mags and books.

the mf might be just another complication but i'm happy to give it a go. i got a real feeling of satisfaction when i nailed my first fully manual shoot, even if it did take a few attempts to get it lol
 
richpips said:
My rule of thumb, is always keep the ISO as low as possible, then choose the aperture/shutter speed dependant on the effect desired. Shoot on manual, and you'll soon get to learn what does what.

Take lots of pictures, trial and error, and don't be afraid to try something different.

Concentrate on composition first. There are many important historical images out there which are technically way below par, but captured the moment perfectly.
Click to expand...

Sound advice.
 
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