How Do You Become A Good Photographer?

To steal a couple of film quotes:

Will: Do you play the piano?
Skylar: A bit.
Will: Okay, when you look at a piano you see Mozart, right?
Skylar: I see "Chopsticks."
Will: Beethoven, okay. He looked at a piano, and it just made sense to him. He could just play.
Skylar: So what are you saying? You play the piano?
Will: No, not a lick. I mean, I look at a piano, I see a bunch of keys, three pedals, and a box of wood. But Beethoven, Mozart, they saw it, they could just play. I couldn't paint you a picture, I probably can't hit the ball out of Fenway, and I can't play the piano.
Skylar: But you can do my o-chem paper in under an hour.
Will: Right. Well, I mean when it came to stuff like that... I could always just play.
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"Genius is the ability to go from A to D without having to go through B and C."
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Which really say the same thing in different ways. It's when you stop thinking about the shot and start feeling it.
 
Pippy_Neville.. the five P's... Perfect Planning Prevents P*** Poor Performance!

dont agree with that there are lot of shots you cant plan, a lot a best shos are not planned.

I think its simple bit of luck, bit of skill, being in right place at right time but most important pressing the shutter :lol:
 
pxl8 said:
To steal a couple of film quotes:





Which really say the same thing in different ways. It's when you stop thinking about the shot and start feeling it.
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I like that. Pretty much sums up and answers the OP, and with cool quotes too. Nice!
 
When asked what made him a world class pianist, Arthur Rubinstein replied on these lines, when I press the keys, I'm as good as most people; when I don't press the keys I'm world class.

I think it's the same with photography, you have to develop a sense of when not to press the button. Rather than think it's only digital I can bin it later, wait for the good moment. If you want the image of the alleyway in a village in France then wait until the people have left it. You can be setting up the speed and the aperture settings and composition while people are in the shot and then take it when they have gone.

I would also suggest be your own worst critic. Imagine what your least favourite reviewer on this board might suggest about improving your image and then try and meet any criticisms that they might offer you before posting. Feedback helps when you can see what to do better next time.
 
Practice and planning, you see something you like but its not the right conditions to shoot it in, so you wait and go back when it is (speaking mainly about landscapes here but that rule applys to much more). And more than anything else I do think that you have to have an eye for what is aesthetically pleasing, also with digital nowadays I think there is much more photoshop work that can be done to improve pictures significantly (though I am an advocate of getting it right in camera).
 
Asside from the odd unhelpful comment, this thread has been interesting and the popular thinking seems to practice, practice, practice.

I agree that to be a great that goes down in history, you certainly need to have a 'gift' of some sort. But to be 'good' I think is something that anyone can achieve IF they want to.
 
There are many people on here that take good shots and make a living from it.They have all got there by different means and methods and a lot of hard work.Then ocassionaly you see something on here that makes you go wow.This is person who is taking it that bit further.This is the person who is looking outside the box as they say a place not all can get too or have the gift or skill to get there. But to me its being happy with the skills you have and also trying to improve to be the best you can :).
 
Join the photographer of the year competition and take a new photo every month. Thats seriously improved my photography this year.
 
EdBray said:
I personally don't think either of those are really pertinent although they will help.

i know many artists that take great photographs with limited photographic technical knowledge or decent equipment. I have seen great images that were shot on compacts and cheap Russian SLRs.

Its more about the photographers 'eye'.

having good technique will help you achieve the image you want, but you have to be able to see the image in your mind in the first place.

Better equipment is not necessarily the answer!
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I disagree. Equipment can be hindering as much as not having a 'tog's eye'. In an extreme case, try getting a nice protrait shot with a nice blurred background with a pointshoot. You could blur in PS, but then your relying again on external resources.

You want to take your blurred landscapes to the next level? A tripod might be the answer. What about some low light shots without flash, maybe some faster glass? Good wildlife shots? You might need that faster glass and a teleconverter.

I guess there are two schools of thought here. You can stick with what you got and try to be creative. Or get new stuff that will allow you to do more and also be creative with that. Maybe that 'more' is what you're perceiving as better and is what you need to bring you to the next level? I guess you could start testing the waters by getting small additions to your kit that might help out with whatever your interested in (gradient filters/tripod/flash/flash accessories [stofens/lightspheres])
 
I think the right equipment can help but is not essential. Having a togs eye and technical know how ( knowing how to get that good shot) are very important. The technical is often where I fall down and how I wish I had more kit. I understand your thinking Lee and my ambition is to produce shots good enough to exhibit too. I keep practising and trying but am never satisfied with what I produce so I'll keep an eye on this thread as it's been useful so far :)
 
Surely good is a point of view. I am good at football compared to my 5 year old daughter. In my back garden, I am Rooney, Ronaldo, Gerrard, Owen, Pele and Best all rolled into one. In the park, then I am a part time conference league sub.

I am new to this forum and new to togging, But what I want to acheive is to get to a level of skill where I am much happier with the photos I take and that the people I show them to enjoy them. Whether that is the wife when she sees photo of the kids, or you guys with a technically good shot. I want to please the audience.

The advantage with togging over other art forms is that I can choose the audience to a greater degree.

If I choose to be the only person to see a pic, and I am pleased with it, great. If I stick the same photo on here and the comments are good, great as well. Yeah sure, I am a bit competitive, and I would love to be able to compete for Tog of the Year, and enter competitions, but realistically I doubt I'll ever be technically or artistically (or financially, lol) good enough.

But I will enjoy taking pics. I guess everyone is different, so everyone has different aims and goals.

I think if you want to improve, then practice practice practice, but as many other people have said, there is little point in snapping everything, a bit of thought before you hit the button, and a bit on processing, and then some C+C on here with hints and tips. Research as well, I have found lots of hints and tips on here, which will help me take better photos (thanks everyone), so keep learning to keep improving....
 
68lbs said:
So I can blame my equipment?

Is there not some saying about a poor craftsman and all that?

:thinking:
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No don't blame your equipment that was an excuse from years ago today there is no such thing as a "Bad" camera or lens,if you want to know what bad was just ask anyone over 50 about the Domiplan 50mm f2.8 now that was a bad lens.
To become a better photographer there is no easy way its just lots of practice and lots of study,ie looking at and learning from the work and writings of others.

Today you are lucky because there is so much information on the net,its just a matter of finding it reading it and learning from it.
 
What is a "Good Photographer"

Some say Damien Hirst is a superb Artist, I, however think it's a sheep, cow, shark, whatever in fermaldahide, Tracey Ermin's bed, is ..........erm..... a bed.

Certainly not worth millions of pounds in either case yet they sell. :shrug::shrug::shrug:

It's all down to taste and some people agree with yours and others don't. Photography is an interpretation, your interpretation of what you see at the moment you see it. Some people will like it and other's wont.

Yes you have to have the basics spot-on such as focus & exposure, but even, when 'out' they can still lead to effects that some will adore.

The question is a good one and one I'm still trying to find the answer to so that I can earn money from it.

Traditionalists like me would say it's practice, practice practice and experience, experience, experience but then people earn money from it who have neither. It's a fickle world and trying to appeal to all tastes is very difficult.
 
Going back to the original question "How do you become a good photogapher" I don't know that I agree with the the "P's" answer.

I think firstly you have to be able to see, it might be instinctive it might be learned, but you look at something and see that the light falling on something in a particular way looks good, you replicate this in your mind and then try and replicate it using your camera.

Imagine you are out for a relaxing walk alongside a puddle and there is a leaf in it.

How many people :
would just walk by and not notice it
glance at it and think "winter's coming"
Walk around the puddle so feet do not get wet
notice the colour of the leaf
notice the colour and texture of the leaf and the way the light falls on it
see the clouds reflected in the puddle around the leaf
stop and look

I feel that before you can even begin to be a good photographer you have to learn to see, not just look but see, and not just a single object but everything that contributes to it. The people that can do this AND capture have a chance to go on to be a good photographer but, for most of us it takes a lot of practice rather than being purely instinctive. It also helps to look at other people's work of a style you like and try and work out what it is you like about it and to listen to others who critique your work. You might not agree but it might still be useful.
 
Kerioak, that turned a light on and made a lot sense. Cheers.
 
Kerioak said:
Going back to the original question "How do you become a good photogapher" I don't know that I agree with the the "P's" answer.

I think firstly you have to be able to see, it might be instinctive it might be learned, but you look at something and see that the light falling on something in a particular way looks good, you replicate this in your mind and then try and replicate it using your camera.

Imagine you are out for a relaxing walk alongside a puddle and there is a leaf in it.

How many people :
would just walk by and not notice it
glance at it and think "winter's coming"
Walk around the puddle so feet do not get wet
notice the colour of the leaf
notice the colour and texture of the leaf and the way the light falls on it
see the clouds reflected in the puddle around the leaf
stop and look

I feel that before you can even begin to be a good photographer you have to learn to see, not just look but see, and not just a single object but everything that contributes to it. The people that can do this AND capture have a chance to go on to be a good photographer but, for most of us it takes a lot of practice rather than being purely instinctive. It also helps to look at other people's work of a style you like and try and work out what it is you like about it and to listen to others who critique your work. You might not agree but it might still be useful.
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Bang on!:clap::clap::clap:
 
I personally think that good photographers are born....sure, you can go on courses, read books, watch others.
But some people have an uncanny knack of being able to "see" a picture before it has even happened.
They take pictures instinctively, they know exactly the effect they are trying to achieve, they see the finished article before they have even started.
But I personally feel that too much emphasis is placed on PP...and it's not sour grapes because I can't get my head around it honestly :lol::lol:
For me, taking a picture of something, anything, is capturing a moment in time, as it happened.
I can understand using PP to salvage what would otherwise be a picture that was destined for the bin, whether it had been over/under exposed or similar.
But when I see some of the images that are posted on here (and other forums) where the processing has become more spectacular than the subject matter and competitions won by people who have totally transformed a mediocre shot into something it shouldn't, and couldn't possibly be?
 
Smiffy said:
But when I see some of the images that are posted on here (and other forums) where the processing has become more spectacular than the subject matter and competitions won by people who have totally transformed a mediocre shot into something it shouldn't, and couldn't possibly be?
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It's nothing new, manipulation in the darkroom has been happening ever since the darkroom came into existence. The only difference now is that it's become more accessible.
 
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