phisheep
NeoGAF's Chief Barrister
There’s a lot of photography around on GAF: there’s the Camera Equipment Mega-thread, the quarterly photography threads, the sadly underused Photography Challenge threads (indexed here) and there's a short-but-interesting thread on post-processing here (some of the image links are dead, but still enough left to make it a worthwhile read).
And every page or two there’s somebody pops up to ask how to get into this stuff – how to learn it, and always there’s someone responds. Good old GAF. Trouble is, it is a bit hit and miss, it’s difficult to look back and find what other people suggested and it gets lost in the flood of other stuff going on. So I thought I’d have a try at pulling it all together with useful links and whatnot.
I’m a learner too – by no means any sort of expert. Best I can do is pull together what worked for me and whatever anyone else can come up with. I’ve reserved posts 2 and 3 for any extra links and stuff we might need for reference.
“Just get out there and shoot photos”
This is actually pretty good advice – from our own EviLore and from the arguably more famous Dan Heller - but it isn’t a whole load of use to those of us who don’t know their aperture from their ISO and don’t know where to start. Adn who don't know how to fix whatever-it-is that we don't like.
This thread is for plugging that hole.
“What Camera/Lens/other caboodle should I get?”
Don’t ask here, ask in the Camera Equipment Megathread.
But before you do that, check whether you’ve got a camera somewhere already, whether it is on a phone or whatever. Chances are you have. Use that one. You’ll know when you’ve reached the limits of what your camera can do for you (and you’ll learn soon enough what it is you like to shoot, which kind of influences what kit you get anyway).
The really basic tips for newbies
This is really stupid stuff I learned the hard slow way
1) Get enough light
If everything's all blurry, get more light on the subject. If you are shooting in some sort of auto mode usually the camera will sort its own settings out. The more light the better.
2) Look at what’s in the frame before you shoot
Two things here. First is looking at what it is you are shooting. Especially backgrounds - the stuff you don't normally pay attention to. Stops trees growing out of heads and that sort of thing. The other is to pay attention to whatever little numbers/dots/indicators are in the viewfinder. If you don't look at them you'll never learn anything - if you do it will sink in gradually.
3) Look at your photos after you shoot
Think about what you'd do different to make it better. There's nothing worse than shooting way too many pictures of something from different angles if what's wrong is the lighting, or shooting at different apertures if the focus is off.
And do it straight after you shoot so you have a chance to do it again before the subject runs away/sinks below the horizon/demands money.
BOOKS
All the time you’re reading you’re not taking photos – so go light on the books! There’s two I’d particularly recommend:
Understanding Exposure (3rd edn and onwards) by Bryan Peterson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0817439390/?tag=neogaf0e-20
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0817439390/
this is kind of the essential starter book – covers all the basics of ISO/aperture/shutter speed/depth of field etc etc etc .
Light Science & Magic (4th edn) by Hunter, Biver & Fuqua
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0240812255/?tag=neogaf0e-20
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0240812255/
This one's more technical, more studio-based - but I found it tremendously useful in understanding what light is doing and how to look at it.
I've thrown out all my other books except these two.
ONLINE TUTORIALS
Same as with books there's a lot out there, some of it not very well organised - and a lot of it goes into way too much depth and detail and specialised stuff for raw beginners. Might want to try these though.
Cambridge in Colour
Digital Photography School (I've linked the beginners page here, the whole site is a bit big and messy)
NOTE:
There's a whole bunch of other suggestions in the Camera Equipment thread - I'll try and get the best of them into this OP over the next week or so.
Obviously this is a bit of a personal view at the moment, but do feel free to lob in further suggestions and links - I'd appreciate it if you can give a bit of explanation for why something is good rather than just a raw link though!
I think there's enough demand for this sort of thread - if it works it works.
And every page or two there’s somebody pops up to ask how to get into this stuff – how to learn it, and always there’s someone responds. Good old GAF. Trouble is, it is a bit hit and miss, it’s difficult to look back and find what other people suggested and it gets lost in the flood of other stuff going on. So I thought I’d have a try at pulling it all together with useful links and whatnot.
I’m a learner too – by no means any sort of expert. Best I can do is pull together what worked for me and whatever anyone else can come up with. I’ve reserved posts 2 and 3 for any extra links and stuff we might need for reference.
“Just get out there and shoot photos”
This is actually pretty good advice – from our own EviLore and from the arguably more famous Dan Heller - but it isn’t a whole load of use to those of us who don’t know their aperture from their ISO and don’t know where to start. Adn who don't know how to fix whatever-it-is that we don't like.
This thread is for plugging that hole.
“What Camera/Lens/other caboodle should I get?”
Don’t ask here, ask in the Camera Equipment Megathread.
But before you do that, check whether you’ve got a camera somewhere already, whether it is on a phone or whatever. Chances are you have. Use that one. You’ll know when you’ve reached the limits of what your camera can do for you (and you’ll learn soon enough what it is you like to shoot, which kind of influences what kit you get anyway).
The really basic tips for newbies
This is really stupid stuff I learned the hard slow way
1) Get enough light
If everything's all blurry, get more light on the subject. If you are shooting in some sort of auto mode usually the camera will sort its own settings out. The more light the better.
2) Look at what’s in the frame before you shoot
Two things here. First is looking at what it is you are shooting. Especially backgrounds - the stuff you don't normally pay attention to. Stops trees growing out of heads and that sort of thing. The other is to pay attention to whatever little numbers/dots/indicators are in the viewfinder. If you don't look at them you'll never learn anything - if you do it will sink in gradually.
3) Look at your photos after you shoot
Think about what you'd do different to make it better. There's nothing worse than shooting way too many pictures of something from different angles if what's wrong is the lighting, or shooting at different apertures if the focus is off.
And do it straight after you shoot so you have a chance to do it again before the subject runs away/sinks below the horizon/demands money.
BOOKS
All the time you’re reading you’re not taking photos – so go light on the books! There’s two I’d particularly recommend:
Understanding Exposure (3rd edn and onwards) by Bryan Peterson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0817439390/?tag=neogaf0e-20
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0817439390/
this is kind of the essential starter book – covers all the basics of ISO/aperture/shutter speed/depth of field etc etc etc .
Light Science & Magic (4th edn) by Hunter, Biver & Fuqua
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0240812255/?tag=neogaf0e-20
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0240812255/
This one's more technical, more studio-based - but I found it tremendously useful in understanding what light is doing and how to look at it.
I've thrown out all my other books except these two.
ONLINE TUTORIALS
Same as with books there's a lot out there, some of it not very well organised - and a lot of it goes into way too much depth and detail and specialised stuff for raw beginners. Might want to try these though.
Cambridge in Colour
Digital Photography School (I've linked the beginners page here, the whole site is a bit big and messy)
NOTE:
There's a whole bunch of other suggestions in the Camera Equipment thread - I'll try and get the best of them into this OP over the next week or so.
Obviously this is a bit of a personal view at the moment, but do feel free to lob in further suggestions and links - I'd appreciate it if you can give a bit of explanation for why something is good rather than just a raw link though!
I think there's enough demand for this sort of thread - if it works it works.