At a crossroads

[mattd85]

Hi all,


For weeks and weeks I have been racking my brain going back and forth deciding if the time has come to concentrate on a specific area of photography, people and portraits. At the minute I am trying my hand at everything.

People and portraits is the one area I feel most strongest and passionate about. The trouble is, I also like doing the Nature side of things and now and again landscapes but I feel if I concentrate on one area then maybe I would progress quicker, Also it would save me buying every lens under the sun

How did you all start out? Straight into one genre? Or was you like me and dabbled in everything until you found your niche?

When did you make that decision?


Thanks for any advice

Matt

 

[BruceMo]

I started pff shooting everything that moved, and everything that didn't
Soon figured out I enjoyed it all, but loved shooting people. Still do
there was no choice about it, I just love it. Portraits, babies, kids activities, sports, street, weddings, christenings, parties, charity shoots. All people, all fun
still enjoy wandering round with the camera shooting all sorts too tho

 

[MWHCVT]

I'm still the kind of person that I'll have a shot at vertually anything but as you know I'm certainly moving towards making more of my specialism that is night time photography, but to you yeah I can certainly see you moving toward portraiture as you've really been knocking some of your recent photo's right out of the park mate

 

[mattd85]

I started pff shooting everything that moved, and everything that didn't
Soon figured out I enjoyed it all, but loved shooting people. Still do
there was no choice about it, I just love it. Portraits, babies, kids activities, sports, street, weddings, christenings, parties, charity shoots. All people, all fun
still enjoy wandering round with the camera shooting all sorts too tho

Thanks for replying what did you do with all your kit that you didn't use for the portraits etc? Just sell straight away or did it hang around for a while

 

[mattd85]

I'm still the kind of person that I'll have a shot at vertually anything but as you know I'm certainly moving towards making more of my specialism that is night time photography, but to you yeah I can certainly see you moving toward portraiture as you've really been knocking some of your recent photo's right out of the park mate

Yes Matt you defo have an expertise for the night time photography and thanks for the comments regarding my recent portrait/people work. I can't get it out of my head, I'm constantly looking at people around me and thinking I could this and wouldn't this look good etc etc

 

[MWHCVT]

Yes Matt you defo have an expertise for the night time photography and thanks for the comments regarding my recent portrait/people work. I can't get it out of my head, I'm constantly looking at people around me and thinking I could this and wouldn't this look good etc etc

you know what I feel when I see a ruin or other cool location now my mind goes into over drive thinking about what I can do there

 

[Pookeyhead]

Shoot what you enjoy shooting the most.

 

[Deleted member 34016]

You do seem to have a talent for People Photograph Matt and you have a couple of lenses that would be of use for that genre and I still have that 24-70mm f2.8 for sale

If you still want to dabble in nature etc. then the Sigma 105mm is a capable lens for both subjects

I personally don't restrict myself to any particular genre, but have a leaning toward Macro and Wildlife, (my occupation sort of dictates that), but some days I think I'd like to shoot people

Not with my guns

As David say's above - Shoot what you enjoy mate- good luck in making the decision

Les

 

[a1ex2001]

What exactly are you thinking you can get rid of if you focus on people? It's not like any lens is just restricted to people, landscapes or nature?

For my money unless your getting paid just shoot what you like don't stress about genre or improving just enjoy yourself and the east will follow naturally it's a hobby after all and they are supposed to be fun.

 

[TheTimeChamber]

Shoot what you enjoy shooting the most.

This, I have always thought I would want to get good at one type of photography. Then I realised this was a hopeless endeavour and jus concentrated on teaching myself how to take photos of just about everything, so that when I go on holidays etc, I can come back with a crop of photos I am happy with.

 

[mattd85]

you know what I feel when I see a ruin or other cool location now my mind goes into over drive thinking about what I can do there

Haha I'm the same but with people

Shoot what you enjoy shooting the most.

People photography it is then, that's what I love, that's where all the ideas flow.

You do seem to have a talent for People Photograph Matt and you have a couple of lenses that would be of use for that genre and I still have that 24-70mm f2.8 for sale

If you still want to dabble in nature etc. then the Sigma 105mm is a capable lens for both subjects

I personally don't restrict myself to any particular genre, but have a leaning toward Macro and Wildlife, (my occupation sort of dictates that), but some days I think I'd like to shoot people

Not with my guns

As David say's above - Shoot what you enjoy mate- good luck in making the decision

Les

Thanks les, I appreciate the compliments regarding my work. I can understand why you would want to photograph wildlife, part of me still does lol.

What exactly are you thinking you can get rid of if you focus on people? It's not like any lens is just restricted to people, landscapes or nature?

For my money unless your getting paid just shoot what you like don't stress about genre or improving just enjoy yourself and the east will follow naturally it's a hobby after all and they are supposed to be fun.

The only lens I consider not of great immediate use for portraits is the 120-400, but I have used it , just at distance lol.

This, I have always thought I would want to get good at one type of photography. Then I realised this was a hopeless endeavour and jus concentrated on teaching myself how to take photos of just about everything, so that when I go on holidays etc, I can come back with a crop of photos I am happy with.

Why did you feel it was a hopeless endeavour ?



Thanks for all the replies , defo food for thought!

 

[TheTimeChamber]

I think hopeless endeavour was the wrong phrasing. I like landscape, but living close to London, I rarely have the chance to get out and really practice it and would only become frustrated with myself. So I decided to teach myself enough that I could get the photos I wanted when I was on holiday.

 

[PMN]

Hi Matt,

Why even let it worry you? There's no pressure on you to do or be anything so just shoot whatever makes you happy. Also try not to get bogged down too much with the whole 'I *need* xxx lens to shoot xxx type of image' thing because it's largely a myth. Certain lenses can help (like fast primes for portraits) but I shoot a massive range of things from street to landscapes, gigs to aviation, and I do the vast majority of it with just 2 lenses. I have a couple of film cameras as well which I do use for certain things but a simple choice of 2 lenses covers 98% of what I do, so try not to worry too much about gear and don't feel limited by not having a stack of lenses. In most cases gear is a secondary consideration rather than a primary one, also keeping your kit simple means you can spend more time taking photos rather than deciding which toy to use.

 

[jimmy83]

^^^ Bit like me atm. What's lenses do you use?

 

[Cagey75]

If money enters the equation, as in making it from photography, then portraits will net you cash much easier. Treat that as your main maybe? And do the landscape stuff on the side, for enjoyment.

Just a loose idea. You can use the same lenses for both. Many landscape photographers use a mix of primes and zooms. The 70-200 [just for example] is an excellent portrait lens, but also great for sports/gigs/reportage and landscapes.

 

[PMN]

^^^ Bit like me atm. What's lenses do you use?

Mostly a 24-105L and 70-200L f/4.