How to Take Stunning Pictures On TV

I'Ve watched the first couple of shows and have to say I was disappointed, I know the programme has to try and appeal to all levels of ability but up to now the words aperture and shutter speed haven't even been mentioned let alone depth of field. I know that last one probably will never be referred to but surely f.stops and speed are basic. Last weeks wedding one made it look as if you didn't need to know anything at all except how to look through the viewfinder and press the shutter release once you have the pose you require. As I said, I realise the show needs broad appeal, so perhaps it will get a little more technical in later shows, but somehow I doubt it.
 
Nice bit of detail in the show. If you over expose the sky, try using a filter, show example. Move on. No information on what filter was used or anything!
FRaming hint was good, I'm off to make me a black frame!
I was really disappointed tonight, landscapes are something i've never had much luck with. :'(

J
 
The free runner guy's shot was tops.
Looks like the other guy has a long way to go.
 
Have sky+ it and am heading down to watch it now, not holding too much hope though judged on the comments above.

Oh well here goes.............
 
I was wondering if it was slightly better tonight, then realised that it's probably an illusion because of low expectations. Landscape photography and no mention of DOF, or using hyperfocal distance, or was it just aimed at the point and shoot brigade where everything is usually in focus. Did I learn anything, well yes actually..... don't waste 30 mins next week! :D
 
Haven't seen tonight's but watched the other two (belatedly each week) and just view it as a programme that teaches me as much about photography as The Apprentice does about business, but without Nick & Margaret. :)
 
hewhoknows said:
Have sky+ it and am heading down to watch it now, not holding too much hope though judged on the comments above.

Oh well here goes.............
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Dissapointed is the only comment i have really. No mention of shutter speeds, apature and DOF. And no mention of that lovely filter he used too.

Shame really, it could have been so much better too
 
I watched...but nothing new to add to my poor quarrel of knowledge! I feel a missed opportunity. Maybe we were expecting too much of this series? Maybe there will be more in the next one, or the one after that? Could photography become the new cookery on telly?
 
Well - this learner actually dozed off in the first half :(

Suspect that says it all
 
I think it was better than the previous two but yeah, poor overall. It's surprising how they manage to stretch the show out for 30 minutes as it contains so little information.
 
I'm no fan of her either. Saw her filming at mercedes world last summer and me and some mates spent a good hour trying to put her off. Think we spoiled a few takes.

desantnik said:
See! Its not just me!

Suzi's rise to stardom was off of World Superbike back on Sky in the 90's - she was the totty introduced for the bikers (because Sky like totty)... but that was a long time ago now but I can remember she knew nothing about motorcycle racing back then...

I've no idea why she does the Gadget Show either... I guess trying to expand her career from a one horse trick and also realising that she was only totty to motorsport and you aint totty when you are 40 (unless you are Nigella of course :love:)
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alexw9 said:
I think it was better than the previous two but yeah, poor overall. It's surprising how they manage to stretch the show out for 30 minutes as it contains so little information.
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The show actually ended at 19:53! :eek::nono:

Minus the 3 minute ad break, the show totals 20 minutes! :suspect:
 
When the filter was mentioned, I was like, and the filter is? :shrug:

If you didn't know anything about filters you would do as the chap in the programme did, use sunglasses, because that was all that was mentioned. ;) :lol:


And the picture looking down from the building. :eek: Despite the 'do not try this at home' speech, I don't think it would put many people off the way he was casually sitting on a ledge, and the being the Pro's favourite picture. :bonk: :lol:
 
Dan573 said:
I'm no fan of her either. Saw her filming at mercedes world last summer and me and some mates spent a good hour trying to put her off. Think we spoiled a few takes.
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How very grown up of you. It must have been hilarious. :shake:
 
a throw away comment on the golden hour!!! thats a simple enough tip int it? i would say its the most important time to take landscape
 
Charlie Waite on the programme - had me thinking things would improve, wrong:bonk: As basic as the series is at the very least you've got to mention DOF when talking about Landscape Photography:shrug: Charlie Waite should be embarrassed to take his fee :lol:

Simon
 
I missed the first two but caught last nights. Channel 5 should be done under the trades description act. "How to take stunning pictures" what a joke. I don't reckon they could be less informative if they tried and what a great tip that was about using a filter. Even a small hint towards which sort of filter he meant would be useful.
 
I think we're all missing the point here. It's not aimed at us or at people who already have enough interest to learn the technical aspects of photography. It's just an entertainment show pitched at the level of casual snappers.

If they got into technicalities it might please the minority of serious toggers but would completely turn off the mass of casual viewers.
 
parkmoy said:
I think we're all missing the point here. It's not aimed at us or at people who already have enough interest to learn the technical aspects of photography. It's just an entertainment show pitched at the level of casual snappers.

If they got into technicalities it might please the minority of serious toggers but would completely turn off the mass of casual viewers.
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I totally agree with this, and think everyone here is just overreacting because everything has been dumbed down.

If just one person that watches is inspired to go out and buy a camera and perhaps find and join TP then something good has come out of it.
 
parkmoy said:
I think we're all missing the point here. It's not aimed at us or at people who already have enough interest to learn the technical aspects of photography. It's just an entertainment show pitched at the level of casual snappers.

If they got into technicalities it might please the minority of serious toggers but would completely turn off the mass of casual viewers.
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PsiFox said:
I totally agree with this, and think everyone here is just overreacting because everything has been dumbed down.

If just one person that watches is inspired to go out and buy a camera and perhaps find and join TP then something good has come out of it.
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:agree: :plusone:
 
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If its so bad, why do you all watch it? Let me guess, so you can come on the forum and moan about it, come out with what they should have done and how crap it is?

Come on, cut them some slack, Its obvious to everyone but a fool who this programme is aimed at, why spend your night ripping it apart when you know the programme isn't aimed at you. It sounds to me like many of you are sat stroking your own ego's.
 
PsiFox said:
I totally agree with this, and think everyone here is just overreacting because everything has been dumbed down.

If just one person that watches is inspired to go out and buy a camera and perhaps find and join TP then something good has come out of it.
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Hit the nail on the head.

For instance take football, there are Premiership players, non league players and Sunday league players, all different standards. Just because you are not premier standard should you just give up? Everyone needs to start somewhere. Photography is a wonderful journey and shouldn't be for the select few.

I agree the programme is basic, but you have a choice watch it or turn off. I watched it last night and probably will not waste my time again though.
 
Rockshifter said:
The free runner guy's shot was tops.
Looks like the other guy has a long way to go.
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I'd agree on that. I met Brian at a couple of parkour events, charming chap. I was idly watching this prog, suddenly thought 'I know him..' Got me more interested in the show. Loved his creativity, not for those (like me) who suffer from vertigo, though. At least I can now lay claim to knowing a TV personality LOL

As for the rest, well CW using a hasselblad, briefly mentioning 'filters' but not elaborating, injecting the idea of 'golden hour' and not explaining what it is.
Even with a P&S you can get some reasonable results with sunsets using the appropriate 'scene' mode...
 
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Well I am off to buy a pair of Ray-bans for my D700 now !!!
 
FFS we moan there are no photography programs on tv then we moan when there is one. I have said it earlier in the thread along with others, We are not the target audience. That's what the power button is for, if you don't like it don't watch it and stop bitching about it on here, I am sure some people are only happy when they are moaning.
 
Davec223 said:
FFS we moan there are no photography programs on tv then we moan when there is one. I have said it earlier in the thread along with others, We are not the target audience. That's what the power button is for, if you don't like it don't watch it and stop bitching about it on here, I am sure some people are only happy when they are moaning.
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What is the point of mentioning "using available light", "exposing for the sky" and "using a filter for the sky" and not b***** explain how or what?

Anyone who would show an initial interest in the program or photography would be dissapointed.
 
I think the problem is that the programme is just too short. It's in a 25 minute slot with an ad break in the middle. By the time you've taken off Suzi's introduction, the lead out to the break, the reminder after the break (for the terminally inattentive), the summary and the competition there's only 12-15 mins at most of actual content.

One of the participants said they had spent a day with Charlie Waites. You just cannot compress that into 15 minutes.

But, I'll keep watching it. As someone who's not very good at this lark, there's always something to learn. At the moment I reckon I get one useful idea from each program (last night's was the cardboard frame to help with composition).
 
As a half hour of TV on a Tuesday evening I quite enjoy it. I haven't learnt a great deal but I can confidently say my eyes have been opened to a few ideas and following last night's episode (I hate landscapes) I'm actually tempted to go and try it.

If you hate the program then stop watching it.
 
morsing said:
What is the point of mentioning "using available light", "exposing for the sky" and "using a filter for the sky" and not b***** explain how or what?

Anyone who would show an initial interest in the program or photography would be dissapointed.
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I still think it is aimed at people using point and shoots so going into detail would just turn them off. I believe that if they are interested and it gets their juices flowing they will then research the things brought up. It is a 25 min show to get people to think about how they take photos and not to teach them all the technical aspects. I have not learnt anything from them but it is still enjoyable plus its better tHan a lot of the other rubbish on tv.
 
Are we only allowed to say positive things now? :eek:

As has been said, there are not that many photography programmes to choose from, so can we not point out what we like and don't like? Some people have been positive, but the majority have been negative. :shrug:

Who the programme is aimed at is neither here nor there, they are mentioning things in the programme in such an uninformative way that would confuse anyone. They also say they will help you take 'stunning' pics. :thinking: Really, stunning? They chose the wrong name and have bigged the programme up when they didn't need to. Their other programme is not called the 'Amazing Gadget Show', and they seem to get a few viewers. :shrug:

Now taking who the programme is aimed at into account, those without a depth of previous photography knowledge would probably be confused, and if this has encouraged people to go and start taking pics may lead to disappointment imho. The filter tip mentioned in the last episode being a prime example, what filter? for what type of camera? Try getting any type of filter for a compact camera and you'll be disappointed. And the vast majority of people have compact camera, and this is the target audience isn't it, the casual/beginner photographer?

Emphasize the simple things that would make the most help. The importance of getting the subject in focus, exposure compensation, using the appropriate scene modes to start off with, basics of composition and that's just off the top of my head.

Well done for getting a photography show on TV, but it could have been a lot better. It is not helped by the shortness of the programme though. :bang:
 
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I've been meaning to contribute to this thread since it started but there's been so much negativity. Thanks to Parkmoy and Psifox for taking a different and dare I say the correct view.

I think I can provide a unique insight to the programme as I :wave:was lucky enough to be picked as one of the amateur snappers. Martin Parr was my expert where we filmed in Brighton back in July for the Travel/Holiday episode. It’s the sixth and final episode due to be broadcast on 19th October. If anyone’s interested I blogged about the filming experience.

I can see why the majority of those are complaining as I too was expecting some technical aspects to be covered in the programme. The researchers who interviewed us promised a whole day with the expert but it didn’t really work out like that. Even Martin Parr himself corrected me :nono:on camera about what he was to teach but I doubt that made the final edit.

The other annoying thing for me for was having to use their Panasonic instead of my Nikon. Again, my expectation was to master my own camera. You’ll see me lugging around Brighton Pier with a huge backpack full of my own equipment in the programme as the crew couldn’t guarantee its safety in their car.

In the programme’s defence, and maybe some of you ignored the same introduction for every episode, it said: that almost everyone has a digital camera in one form or another and that each episode they would explore how to improve your photography. I.e. covering those initial, basic lessons beyond to just point and shoot something.

At the end of the filming I really enjoyed the experience and would say some of Martin’s experience did rub off. Seeing him in action was quite inspiring and with some questioning I managed to get one or two useful tips.

The ‘How to take stunning pictures’ (Five) website offers some more detailed tips which weren’t covered in full in the programme.
 
gingerdj said:
At the end of the filming I really enjoyed the experience and would say some of Martin’s experience did rub off. Seeing him in action was quite inspiring and with some questioning I managed to get one or two useful tips.
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Then I think they should have made that programme. I'm not a fan of Martin Parr's work, but I would think he would have some interesting things to say which may not even have been technical, and so could be accessible to all. Whether he would do it with a Panasonic camera though is another thing. ;) :lol:

Maybe if this programme is a success then it may open the door for different type of Photography programmes. Fingers crossed.
 
redhed17 said:
When the filter was mentioned, I was like, and the filter is? :shrug:

If you didn't know anything about filters you would do as the chap in the programme did, use sunglasses, because that was all that was mentioned. ;) :lol:
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Do the programme sponsors, Panasonic, actually sell filters?
 
Voyager said:
Do the programme sponsors, Panasonic, actually sell filters?
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Probably not, but the type of cameras they are giving the people on the programme to use are able to have filters attached.

They don't have to mention a 'brand' of filter, but maybe the 'type' of filter would have been a good idea. ;) Instead of 'like sunglasses'. What solid colour sunglasses or graduated colour sunglasses? :bonk:
 
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