 Justin G. |
Some tips please... I think this might be a good question for a lot of beginning people, as well as myself. I've always heard "study other artists work". Well I go into the Contest Winners archives a lot and look at all the finalists and winner and was wondering, when I'm studying these people's work, what are some questions I should be asking myself and looking for? It seems like when I'm looking at the photos, I say "dang that's a nice photograph!" and that's about it. I need to know some questions I should be trying to answer, or some key things to check out. Thanks always for your help as I think I ask too many questions anyways. V/r Justin
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Brendan Knell |
Justin, that's something that I would also like to know. So I'll be watchin this thread.
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anonymous |
When I look at a photo, I check out how they took it as well, the info, the f stop, shutter speed, angle and composition of the photo, and also the lighting and ISO speed. So that way if I am in a similar situation, I can hopefully create something as beautiful. Sometimes what you think will take a good photo isn't always they way. Most people (aka not pros or serious amateurs etc), but most people would think you would need a slower shutter speed to photograph the moon, and so did I until I saw a photo on bp.com that made me realise you don't, as you expose for the "bright" moon not the "dark" sky. So just take it all in and think if you were to take the photo, would you of choosen the same settings? If not why? Hope that helped a little!
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- Bob Cournoyer Contact Bob Cournoyer Bob Cournoyer's Gallery  |
I learn alot from the photo info, like Natalie said...iso/focal length/aperture/shutter speed. Also the composition...power points, rule of thirds...leading lines. Which lens to use..wide angle to exagerate foreground..tele to compress the depth.... So, hopefully, when I am out shooting I can recall some of this that I've stored somewhere in my old brain and come up with a good image... Bob
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- Sherry Stricklin Boles Contact Sherry Stricklin Boles Sherry Stricklin Boles's Gallery |
Justin~ I have asked myself the same questions that you asked. Speaking from a very ameteur point of view, I see very little of value other than the obvious admiration of a great photo. Those f stops. aperature, shutter speeds and all that photo lingo is just beyond me. So, for someone like me, studying the photo jargon doesn't do any good. However, I hope that I am gaining knowledge from looking for what might have caught the judges' eye. Not that I will be a finalist anytime soon, but hopefully, I am learning...
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Kevin Ekstrom |
The perfect print: While I was in school at city college and then again at NYIP this subject was discussed. I'll post a bit on what I learned. It all starts with a good image. The subject has to be of interest or beautiful. (this comes down to ones personal taste)what counts is if the photo speaks to you. Things to look for: In black and white photography you want to see the greatest possible tonal range.(Blacks should be black, and whites should be white.)You also want to see the most possible detail produced in the shadows. (midtones & highlights) In color prints, the colors should be faithfulto the original. COLOR SATURATION: This is the intensity of the colors. You want the colors to pop in most color prints. COLOR BALANCE: This is the overall color of the print. Youi want this to remain faithful. COLOR CONTRAST: Just like with B&W,except here your looking at various shades of color. (deep yellow to light yellows and so forth) This is all technical stuff you can look for. Composition: The cropping, placement of subject, angle at which it was shot, lighting. This is all important too. What I said earlier about the photo speaking to you is really the number one hook for me. The rest is just trying to figure out how it was done. When I look at photos,the first thing that strikes me is the subject.
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Bob Cammarata |
Kevin's assessment was very well put. What is your first impression when seeing a photo for the first time? What GRABS you and holds your attention? Photos which have that WOW factor and will do well in contests such as this one, are those few which succeed in combining an interesting subject with other technical elements,...proper use of depth of field or shutter speed, sharpness and clarity, creative use of light,...just to name a few.
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Debby A. Tabb |
AND THEN THERE ARE THOSE THAT LOOK AT THE SUBJECTS - IF YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING IN PHOTOGRAPHY- MOST LIKELY YOU WILL HAVE TO DO PORTRAITS ( IT IS VERY HARD TO MAKE A LIVING IN LANDSCAPE, COMMERCIAL, PHOTO JURNIALISUM FOR QUITE SOME TIME, UNLESS YOU CATCH A GREAT BRAKE) SO PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY WILL HELP TO KEEP YOU ALIVE. SINCE THEY DO NOT TEACH POSING IN MOST SCOLASTIC VENUES- WATCH OTHERS- THE REALLY GOOD SUBJECT POSES AND WORK WITH THEM- BODY ANGLES, EYE DIRECTION , STORY TELLING, AND THE LIGHTING- ALL THIS PLAYS A PART IN A REALLY GREAT PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY. SO THOUGH WE CAN CRUISE THROUGH MANY BEAUTIFUL WORKS OF ART-DO CONCIDER WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO SUPPORT YOUR "HABIT" AND /OR YOUR LIFE AND LOOK TO BETTER THAT AS WELL. I DO HOPE THIS HELPS AND GIVES ANOTHER TWIST ON THINGS, DEBBY TABB
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Kevin Ekstrom |
Subject? thats exactaly what my post said.
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Laljit S. Sidhu |
Something of use regarding this issue would be to go beyond the technical aspects of the image and look at why the image was composed. I think this could be helped if the contributors were to write in their photo description why they took the picture they did and why they did it the way they did. Certainly, this would not apply in all cases; however, in situations were due consideration was given to the image composition and design, it would be great learning tool if such considerations were made explicit. I think this applies to contributions on this site and to photo books in general. There is a tendenc to discuss techniques or compositional rules and even give examples, but very rarely describe the thought process that went into applying the technique to a particular image.
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Andrew Laverghetta |
Something that I have tried a few times is looking through the previous contest winners like you said, and then trying to recreate it yourself. When I have done this, I have tried to make everything the same. This is fun because I try to go through a similar thought process. I had also heard some other thigns like 1. What is the subject? 2. How do you lead the view to the subject? 3. Simplify. I don't remember what that was from. I remember NYIP but I'm not sure. Oh, and making sure you know, if you MUST post a picture on here that is an emulation of another's, make sure to give them credit somehow at least. Maybe personalize it somehow but say that it was modeled off of something else. Myself, I try to take the time to thing through the specifics like why I want to use a certain aperture and if shutter speed is just a consequence of the aperture I want, or if the shutter speed will add something special. Hope this helps!
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Justin G. |
That sounds great Andrew, appreciate your wise comments. I hope you other beginners like me take all of these people's advice to heart and maybe practice on it. I know I will! V/r Justin
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