I can't take photographs. I give up.

Gorbsteruk said:
Ian you seem to be i'm such a hurry to take Amazing photos slow down Practice, practice, practice learn and enjoy it. It takes time
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That's what I was doing this morning. Didn't think they were 'amazing' (quite the opposite. Just wanted to have a go.
 
ianjmatt said:
That's what I was doing this morning. Didn't think they were 'amazing' (quite the opposite. Just wanted to have a go.
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My comment was aimed at your original post, not your photos I did a street photography workshop in chester a months ago with www.goexplorephotography.com it was a real eye opener had a really good day. I,m only just getting to nderstand my camera and I have had it 12 months stick with it, where about in shropshire are you ?:)
 
Hi Ian, I've added you as contact on Flickr, I'm a newbie to photography too and have had my 500D since April just - I was trying out my husband's Nikon D60 before that - but I'm very enthusiastic and am out practicing a couple of times a week.

There's such a lot to learn and remember but I do think it's definitely worth trialling the auto-creative modes to start with and then you can progress from there :)
 
i think pictures are not as bad as you think they are , i remember when i first got my slr ( im not a pro) - through sweat tears and tantrums ( as i thought i know it all ....) finally ive sat down and done my homework ( reading) and putting my ,,knowledge'' to practice p .So don't give up - practice practice practice ;), looking forward for more pictures x
 
Sometimes I go out and delete everything. Everyone still has a lot to learn. So your pictures aren't as brilliant as you hoped. Been there, got the T shirt. We've all got the T shirt.

Don't give up. If I take 100 shots I'll keep maybe 50, and of those there's maybe 1 (one) that I really like.

Don't try and run before you can walk. Take time to learn your camera fully, then get adventurous. It will come, eventually.
 
Ian, you are your own worst critic and I really believe you're expecting too much at such an early stage. Those early shots are not nearly as bad as you perceive them to be. My advice would be to start by doing some reading around the basics of photography, things like...

  • Composition
  • Metering
  • Aperture
  • Shutter speed
  • Depth of field
  • ISO
Once you've got an understanding of these concepts, you'll start to approach your photography in a different way. Being able to visualise a shot is one thing, knowing how to achieve it is quite something else. Having an understanding of all the above-mentioned concepts will help no end, and I guarantee you WILL notice an improvement in only a few months.

Be patient. Develop your knowledge of the basics, learn your way around your camera and put in lots of practice. It takes time, but your confidence will grow and your 'keeper' ratio will improve.
 
mangolicious said:
Ian, you are your own worst critic and I really believe you're expecting too much at such an early stage. Those early shots are not nearly as bad as you perceive them to be. My advice would be to start by doing some reading around the basics of photography, things like...

  • Composition
  • Metering
  • Aperture
  • Shutter speed
  • Depth of field
  • ISO
Once you've got an understanding of these concepts, you'll start to approach your photography in a different way. Being able to visualise a shot is one thing, knowing how to achieve it is quite something else. Having an understanding of all the above-mentioned concepts will help no end, and I guarantee you WILL notice an improvement in only a few months.

Be patient. Develop your knowledge of the basics, learn your way around your camera and put in lots of practice. It takes time, but your confidence will grow and your 'keeper' ratio will improve.
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+1:thumbs:
 
Ian,

Keep at it. I went from being an "Auto" person to manual after a nightmare trying to get some photos of the supermoon. I realised that i could only go so far on auto and that having all the other settings to play with as i wanted, it would be better.

As said above by those with more experience, go and play. I go out and take the same photo a good few times, changing the aperture, messing around with the exposure (sometimes going 2-3 stops above and below) then putting them on my pc and seeing what the difference is, that is how i am learning, currently way down the bottom of the tree, but enjoying just getting out and going mad, as some said, it costs nothing to take photos these days.

Most on here also do PP, makes some difference, i prefer to post up as taken (however need to start in Raw and changing bits).
 
I don't know if it is your thing, but I went to a local college course about digital photography.

It really helped me to understand my camera, and all the bells and whistles on it!

I honestly think I would still be using auto and scene modes if I hadn't gone on the course (and I got my DSLR in September last year!)
 
L.A.B. said:
I don't know if it is your thing, but I went to a local college course about digital photography.

It really helped me to understand my camera, and all the bells and whistles on it!

I honestly think I would still be using auto and scene modes if I hadn't gone on the course (and I got my DSLR in September last year!)
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As everyone has said, a week is absolutely no time at all. As suggested above, I studied it for 4 years and I produced a LOT of rubbish early on and I am still more than capable of ruining a perfect shot. :bonk:

Also what has been said before on here is that owning a camera makes you a photographer in the same way as owning a guitar makes you a guitarist...
It takes a lot of time, a lot of, reading, thinking and experimenting. To feel down because after a week you're not producing pro shots is incredibly unrealistic. If you were going to produce really good shots why would people study it for years? Do you understand aperture, iso, shutter speeds and how they all relate to eachother? Do you understand perspective, composition?
And tell me a complicated skill that you have ever learnt after a week (which you taught yourself) and which made you as good as a pro?

At the end of the day your pictures are no-where near as bad you think they are, but I think you have to give yourself something like a year of really going for it before you can say you've tried it..I have a feeling that if you do read, watch and experiment over that sort of time period you'll be producing fine images.:thumbs:
 
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Nothing worth doing comes easy!

Jack in the morning is a lovely pic. What would make it pop is for the background to be more blurred (so less distracting) BUT that would lose the environmental context of the image in the end the picture should try and reflect your intention.

One thing you might try is to take a shot like that but take it in completely different ways/settings/angles etc and see which you like. This might help you begin to establish a style
 
If you've only had your first Dslr for one week your doing well, When I first started about 6 months ago, I felt the same! I saw pictures in magazines which were amazing and when I couldn't take pictures like them, I became a bit disheartened, but slowly my photos became better, it just takes time and plenty of practice, I now take my camera everywhere, even when I walk to work I try and take a few shots,
 
Doing stuff that you can't do is good for you.

Keep it up.
 
I have been at this for about a year, I learned loads from here, the meet up the other day was great - is there a local camera club??/

I aim for about 5 keepers (out of literally hundreds!!), because I am beginning to see a few good images are better than hundreds of OK ones.
 
Have a look at the Meetings forum and get yourself along to a few meets. I'm sure you'll find plenty of people more than happy to give you some advice and encouragement if you need it. I've been on several meets over the years and they are always friendly affairs.
 
Hi Ian
Looks like you're back on track ... although don't think you were too far away to start with.
You've had more than enough advice so I'll keep my input to a minimum.

It's frustrating missing shots, but hell it happens to us all, just keep at it an your hit rate will start to get better.
Good luck with it.
 
Learning anything is like learning to juggle.

When you're learning to juggle, you keep dropping the balls. That is so obvious that pretty much everyone I have taught accepts it. They get frustrated, yes, but this spurs them on. Then after a while they can juggle and hardly ever drop a ball so they decide they want to learn a trick. As soon as they start to learn the trick they start dropping the f*****g balls again.

Life is like juggling. You no sooner get the hang of it than you have to start learning something new, different, more challenging.

But ultimately that is what being human is, it's what made beautiful flint arrow heads and got us to the moon.

There you go. The whole philosophy of life in photography and juggling.

Now go and drop some balls

or wait 'til the heat death of the universe extinguishes everything, including time.

I think I have to go and lie down now, I'm getting that pounding in my temples again.
 
Have a look at the first few videos from Limephotography on YouTube. The subject matter (posed people) may or may not interest you, but I think there is value in observing the approach each photographer takes to their art. There is very little talk about equipment, none about the camera, but lots about working the scene, the light, the angles, the subject.

First video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVovWXwMJVE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Don't worry if some of the lighting stuff is beyond you at the moment as there is natural/ambient light photography in later episodes.
 
Greywolf said:
Learning anything is like learning to juggle.

When you're learning to juggle, you keep dropping the balls. That is so obvious that pretty much everyone I have taught accepts it. They get frustrated, yes, but this spurs them on. Then after a while they can juggle and hardly ever drop a ball so they decide they want to learn a trick. As soon as they start to learn the trick they start dropping the f*****g balls again.

Life is like juggling. You no sooner get the hang of it than you have to start learning something new, different, more challenging.

But ultimately that is what being human is, it's what made beautiful flint arrow heads and got us to the moon.

There you go. The whole philosophy of life in photography and juggling.

Now go and drop some balls

or wait 'til the heat death of the universe extinguishes everything, including time.

I think I have to go and lie down now, I'm getting that pounding in my temples again.
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I love the smell of philosophy in the morning.:love:

Wise words indeed. I now realise why I'm not so good at photography, I keep dropping my equipment while learning to juggle with the settings.:D
 
I've been doing this stupid photography for a while .... years. Last year I took a wedding with a knackered shutter, done V Festival with no compact flash cards packed, shot Sophie Ellis Bexter with a flash with near dead batteries and no new ones and have always .... always gone to take my first shot with the lens cap still on.

I am always having to cover my tracks in one way or another :) But boy have i learned new ways of doing things, thinking fast and, many will back me up, have become very good a BS :)

God knows what i will do tomorrow ..... but i look forward to it.

Just keep going ..... become a donkey and plod plod plod ..... it will all come good in the end.
 
It comes down to practice and experience.
What works for me is i take pictures of things i enjoy. In my case i love taking pictures of fds and family and sharing it with them. So when i get a really good image that i am proud of it motivates me to take more pictures to improve my technique.

Enjoy the ride as well as the reward of a great pic ! :D
 
tdodd said:
Have a look at the Meetings forum and get yourself along to a few meets. I'm sure you'll find plenty of people more than happy to give you some advice and encouragement if you need it. I've been on several meets over the years and they are always friendly affairs.
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OP - I think this is a really good idea :)
 
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