Share 3x your own advice to yourself!

[Harv]

f/8

Be there.

Remember to press the shutter button.

 

[beforeEos Camaras]

1: be true to my self

2:take critique on my work

3:a camera is just the tool for creativity

I hope that sums it all. I find as I get older the more these 3 things come to mind

 

[Busted Knuckles]

Having worked in a high end camera store in the late 70's and then returned to the hobby 6 years ago, I had some fun with this idea.

1 Shoot more and more often.
2 Look twice, shoot once (close your eyes and visualize - I liked the earlier post on this)
3 Gear is a tool set, the hammer still drives the nail you bought it for. Make art with your tools.

I love art, I love to make art, if I had any sense of eye/hand coordination I would be painter/sculptor/potter. For crying out loud my checks bounce my signature changes so much, it is a wonder I can feed myself. This is why I went into photo 1/125 or a tripod and poof image (as the tools allow) captured.

Other tips might be,
Everything doesn't have to be in the center of the frame. The story is often the travel within the image (I like the post about tell a story too).

Errors are more instructive than success, be pleased with both.

Professional Photography is a tough business, I can take can bury the love of art. I love art, I don't love business.

 

[surapon]

My first serious 35mm film camera was a Argus C3 back in the 1960's. I was a college student, and it was the best I could afford. I also had a conventional flash and a light meter. I mostly shot Kodachrome II.

I bought a Canon FT QL when I graduated and could afford it. I built a darkroom in my garage (I had done printing in High School). That meant I was using Ektachrome, which I did not like, My slides had a greenish tint. Besides B&W, I even did a few color prints, which was far to difficult. I was working 60 hour weeks, and had little spare time to spend hours and hours in my darkroom.

Later, I bought a Polaroid as a 2nd camera. It was easy to use, and we have many albums documenting our kids as they grew up. The only issue is that they are faded badly, and many can't even be recognizable. I need to find time to scan what's left.


If I could do it again.

1. No Polaroid The prints are faded, and for all practical purposes gone.

2. No polaroid - see above

3. Never use color print film, those Kodachrome II slides are still pristine, while my color negatives are not. Some of my B&W negatives almost 80 years old are perfect.

I love digital. Each copy is a original. I've scanned hundreds of old slides, prints, and negatives and sent out dozens of DVD's to cousins, siblings, and children. That means that there will likely be someone who cares enough to keep copying them to new media long after I'm gone.

Dear Teacher , Mr. Mt Spokane .
Yes, Yes, Yes, My first own Canon Camera was Canon FT-QL with 50 mm FL. lens ( Plus FD. lenses Later date) too, in 1967, After Canon co. Introduce this FT-QL in March 1966. Yes, Sir, After that = Canon T50( 1989), T70( 1984), T90( 1987) and the last film camera = Canon A2E ( or they call EOS 5) in 1992.
Yes, Sir, I still use that beautiful Babies in every months to make sure that all the shutter system still working.
Have a great Thanksgiving day, Sir.
Surapon

 

[gregorywood]

Check the ISO and WB settings EVERY TIME you pick up the camera.
Be mindful of the background, ALWAYS.
Be critical of photos when paring a large shoot to a manageable size.

There are way more than 3, but those are the first that come to mind.

 

[surapon]

Here's good ol' Marsu's latest scheme to help each other out by sharing some knowledge

If you could time-travel 3 short pieces of advice back to yourself when you started of with photography, what would it be?

I'll go ahead!
[list type=decimal]
[*]shoot loose
[*]calibrate your monitor
[*]tell a story
[/list]

Now, don't be shy! What did you miss back then you've learned by now?

Yes, Sir, Dear Friend Mr. Marsu42.
I agree with you 200% :
Shoot Lose, Calibrate your Monitor and Tell a story, Yes, Sir
Plus , Just in my Ideas :
1) In every views that I see( take a shot) from the front, I must look back at my back side and my Left and right sides too, because I might miss some great thing.
2) Go and Walk on Difference Paths, Not the same paths that Million Photographers walk on.
3) Lie down on your tommy and shoot up, You will get the masterpiece of photos-----Ha, Ha, Ha, Sorry, Sir--That my "PRO " teacher teach me, BUT, I never do it, because I will make a mess of my good dress, and my wife will get mad in that night----Ha, Ha, Ha. I would rather to be alive in next morning.
Have a great Thanksgiving day, nSir.
Surapon

 

[DominoDude]

0.5 Don't believe that AI Focus AF is a workable mode!

• [list type=decimal]
• Take care of your negatives / Shoot RAW! Have plenty of backups.
• Get good enough gear, and do not wait for perfect gear.
• Don't be afraid to ignore/bend and go against all rules except #1

(4) For gods sake: Shoot! If you never pull the trigger, no one will know if you're good or have something to tell.

Edit: Had to edit in that notion about AI Focus AF - I can't believe how stupid I was to use that for so long and get so much crap out of it as a result. Do NOT use it![/list]

 

[The Bad Duck]

1. Use the godd@mn tripod! Yes it takes time but the shot gets better!
2. Don't fokus+recompose!
3. Give loads of energy to your model!

Frist rule is mostly for landscapes oviously. Second and third for model shoots.

Of honorable mention
4. Tag the shots in post!

 

[pierlux]

Great thread!

1. '60, '70, never enough money to buy film: shoot instead of always asking myself whether the subject was worth the shot.

2. '80, '90: buy film and shoot instead of buying into photo books and magazines.

3. 2000 - today: shoot instead of idling in front of a browser's window.

I know, I know, I'm still on Canon Rumors... well, you know, there's a proverb, not famous but very true, which states: "the roads towards hell are paved with good intentions".

 

[PhotoCat]

.
I now rarely make the dreadful errors you see in this picture I took 54 years ago...

If it's helpful at all, here are my three primary rules:

1. SEE the image.

2. Get the image into the box.

3. Get the image out of the box.

Never quite as easy as it sounds.

It's a really great photo that tells a story of its period. The gross American car just peeking through on the left, the single-storey house behind a metal fence with a bored canine looking sideways, and the very clever touch of showing the photographer in a military helmet via the shadow. That was 1960 - a real classic of which you should be proud.

ps, the composition is great - the massive, triangular shadow leading in to the scene, culminating in the helmeted head about 1/3rd up and 1/3rd in, then moving centre to the dog and swinging into the tailfins of the car about 1/3rd down.

Agreed 100%. At the same time it was showing the good relationship between the dog and his owner. Without the shadow, the pic would have been very dry.

 

[Marsu42]

So here it is, hobbyist advice to a newbie hobbyist:

Intersting to see what people find is important - 3 years back I'd also have mentioned raw and the like, but now I find the picture content much more important, no matter what. You can probably pixel-peep only for so long before giving up

see what is in the background

Or learn to use the content-aware healing brush ... often cannot be helped with wildlife as you cannot
direct the animals around to stand in front of the most favorable background.

No Polaroid The prints are faded, and for all practical purposes gone.

The venyl record crowd would that as an advantage - you can only evaluate something if you cannot use it indefinitely and/or the time is limited. You probably remember those polaroids from decades ago better than you'll remember your current digital data heap in the future

It's a really great photo that tells a story of its period. The gross American car just peeking through on the left

My thought exactly! The car being cut off, the composition makes it all the more interesting. There's certainly something to be learned here!

 

[dgatwood]

1. I know flash cards are expensive. Shoot RAW anyway.
2. That microdrive will randomly take way too long to record a photo, and your camera will hit its 30 second activity timeout. Don't buy it.
3. Skip the Rebel, and go full-frame from day one. You'll thank me later.
4. If you ignore #3, do not, under any circumstances, buy it with the original 18–55 kit lens. It suuuuuuucks.

I did video for years before I started doing much with still photography. As a result, I can't remember a time when my photography wasn't severely limited by my gear—pretty much from day one, and certainly by the end of week one. However, even though I knew it wasn't doing as well as I wanted it to do, I assumed that digital cameras just weren't good enough yet, and that the problems were inherent, rather than being the result of specific gear choices.

 

[tayassu]

Nice idea!

1. Shoot RAW!
2. Do not put everything in the middle of the frame!
3. Look out for a nice background, the foreground isn't everything!

 

[PhotoCat]

1) Join a photo club.
2) Learn composition as well as the technique.
3) Beware of the lighting every time u shoot.

 

[Stu_bert]

Great idea

[list type=decimal]
[*]Research your location before, long before you get there
[*]Don't take the first shot you see, stop, look, listen, think about your location, then compose, shoot & review, repeat[*]don't use f/22 or greater - they were wrong!
[/list]

 

[20Dave]

The earliest piece of advice that I received from my father doesn't really apply to my current camera but could apply to mirrorless and some other cameras.

He went to Super Bowl V (back in 1970, I believe) and brought his Minolta camera. As he was walking along, he spotted Muhammad Ali walking towards him. He asked if he could take his picture, to which Ali happily obliged. When he later showed the slides to our family, he said that he would never make the mistake that he made on that photo again - from now on, he would make sure that the the lens cap was off the lens before taking photos :'(. He always left that lovely pitch-black slide in the carousel, just to remember the moment.

 

[DominoDude]

The earliest piece of advice that I received from my father doesn't really apply to my current camera but could apply to mirrorless and some other cameras.

He went to Super Bowl V (back in 1970, I believe) and brought his Minolta camera. As he was walking along, he spotted Muhammad Ali walking towards him. He asked if he could take his picture, to which Ali happily obliged. When he later showed the slides to our family, he said that he would never make the mistake that he made on that photo again - from now on, he would make sure that the the lens cap was off the lens before taking photos :'(. He always left that lovely pitch-black slide in the carousel, just to remember the moment.

Somewhere in a box I have a photo of Muhammad Ali that I took in the late 70's. Very Instamatic-y, but he made sure I got the best possible shot I could get, by shoving the photojournalists aside. That man had some serious reach when he stretched out his arms to the sides.

 

[Maximilian]

3. Skip the Rebel, and go full-frame from day one. You'll thank me later.
4. If you ignore #3, do not, under any circumstances, buy it with the original 18–55 kit lens. It suuuuuuucks.

Hi dgatwood!

Funny to read that, because...

I followed your rule #3 because of a really good advice of a really good friend. And I thanked him a lot for that
AND i broke your #4 when buying a 100D/SL1 with kit lens as a light weight vacation camera.
And I must say, the new 18-55 STM is quite okay and a decent lens, but - as many zooms - always a compromise.
A compromise I was willing to take.

 

[ERHP]

Some awesome advice and stories so far, some of which I've experienced myself.

1. Already said but f/8 and be there. Spent too much of my life in front of a screen(TV/Monitor).
2. Practice practice practice. Seagulls are rarely my subject but they do make excellent targets of opportunity for BIF practice.
3. Don't be afraid to try new things. Experiment with settings, lighting and find out what works for your style.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, those of you that celebrate. I'm finally about to get on the road and hopefully do some of all of the above.

 

[ChristopherMarkPerez]

1. The paths Saint Ansel and Edward Weston took will NOT be your path. Their path has already been walked and is inaccessible.

2. Cameras and lenses are only tools. Don't get wrapped up in what they can or can't do. The image is the ONLY thing.

3. Study art and art history. Do this very carefully. Study composition in art. Study the use of light in art. Learn how photography changed the course of "classic" art forever. Apply what you've learned.