So...How Did You Learn Photography?

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Graelwyn

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Did you simply learn as you went along, or did you do a course or degree, or did you read a lot of books on technique?

Thus far, I have done an A Level in it and managed to scrape by with barely any technical knowledge.

I am now seeking to rectify that by reading up on all the stuff I should have read up on before...

At this point, I realise having a good eye alone and intuition simply isn't enough.
 
Graelwyn said:
At this point, I realise having a good eye alone and intuition simply isn't enough.
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thats me buggered then :)

everything i know is off the internet messageboards.. posts and asking in private messages.. not read any books or done any courses. apart from using flash i am pretty well up on the rest.. normally a full Manual user (unless feeling lazy)
 
Yeah, I did ok using manual mode and just trying out different things, but I'd love to just have a knowledge base of all the different settings for all the different conditions and to also learn to be able to do layers and all that nifty post processing stuff.

I am only just learning about EV and metering etc.
 
I got a point and shoot... for the crack.

Bought some books on how to take good shots, learned all about ISO, Aperture and Shutter speeds. Got annoyed with my P&S capabilities needed better settings, got a D-SLR. Met with a A Level tutor for a day to teach me a few skills, which helped so much!

Thats about it ...
 
When I was a kid around 10 or so, a neighbour who was a chemist showed me how to do contact prints in the kitchen sink using the family 120 negs from the Box Brownie. That was me stuffed, a lever had clicked over in my head - apparently I just walked around with that glazed look, which I don't think I've ever really lost. Next stop the library, and I just kept taking out every book I could find that was remotely connected with photography.

One of the books was detailed instructions on building a photographic enlarger, which I did, and set up a darkoom partitioned off from the coal cellar. (You wanna talk about dust??) It did have cold running water though.

I bought my first SLR at 15 when I started work as soon as I'd saved up for it, and by the time I was in my teens I'd fallen into wedding photography on a pretty regular basis, a trend which continued all my life, finally going full time with it for about 8 years before I got really sick of it and packed it in about 4 years ago.

I still think I'd recommend the library route as the best source of the basic information you need.
 
question should be: How are you learning photography - cos you never stop learning!
 
awp said:
question should be: How are you learning photography - cos you never stop learning!
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This is very true, but far too tired to be considering semantics.
I am interested in how people have got to their current level of expertise, basically.
 
I learned it all myself really, other than coming on here and reading tips and lots of other things aswell :)

The best way to do it is just get out there with the camera, mock about with the settings. And if it doesn't look right, then just change the settings untill it is right. That is what i always say :) :thumbs:
 
Techno-Geek said:
I learned it all myself really, other than coming on here and reading tips and lots of other things aswell :)

The best way to do it is just get out there with the camera, mock about with the settings. And if it doesn't look right, then just change the settings untill it is right. That is what i always say :) :thumbs:
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See.. I can't agree with this. You'll get there in the end, but it's all a bit cart before the horse. ;)

When I bought my first SLR, they didn't have any metering in them at all, so a hand held meter of some sort was essential. If you saw someone with an SLR in those days, you knew it was an enthusiast. Outside of the press etc. people just didn't buy them unless they were well into photography, so there wasn't the demand there is today, they were very specialised, and even by todays standards they were very expensive. All you had to get your head round was basic metering technique, and the relationship between ISO (ASA as it was then) aperture and shutter speed. The only controls on the camera were the aperture ring on the lens, the shutter speed dial, and the ISO setting. You didn't need anything else - in fact - you still don't. ;)

Nowadays, DSLRs are things of wonderment, with more features than you can shake a stick at and do it all modes, beeping buzzers and flashing lights that seduce you into handing over your money and it's quite understandable. Compared to that film SLR though, the newcomer now has a huge hill to climb to get his/her head around all that the camera has to offer, and those three basic essential functions seem to get lost in the confusion of it all, tending to be one of the last things to be grasped when really they need to be the first.
 
I fancied getting into it, so jumped in at the deep end and went for a DSLR, and then just messed. Everything i've learnt has been either by messing & making mistakes, reading mags (DSLR User etc), such places as this, and then asking people when i've been out with a few others.

I find i learn better when i've got the freedom to just mess.
 
You can't agree with it? What can't you agree with?

I'm lost :D
 
I believe he is saying he cannot agree that the best way to learn is to just get out there with the camera and learn by trial and error, but rather, the best way is to learn the basics such as aperture, shutter speed and iso first and how they work together as a team ?
 
LOL. You got a bottle open there? :D

This bit....

Techno-Geek said:
The best way to do it is just get out there with the camera, mock about with the settings. And if it doesn't look right, then just change the settings untill it is right. That is what i always say :) :thumbs:
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Or put another way...

Thank you Graelwyn! :D
 
Ohhhhhhhhhh right, that bit. I see now :lol:

And no, i have not got any bottles open here :( ;) No no, i promise i have.....not :lol: I've got to be up tomorrow to go Holkem Hall :thumbs:
 
HEHE don't mind me, i'm up late charging batteries :thumbs:
 
:love: just an artist-i draw, tattoo,play guitar and take pics-been taking pics all through my teens just as something to do--now i just can't get enough,lol
 
CT said:
Nowadays, DSLRs are things of wonderment, with more features than you can shake a stick at and do it all modes, beeping buzzers and flashing lights that seduce you into handing over your money and it's quite understandable. Compared to that film SLR though, the newcomer now has a huge hill to climb to get his/her head around all that the camera has to offer, and those three basic essential functions seem to get lost in the confusion of it all, tending to be one of the last things to be grasped when really they need to be the first.
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I couldnt agree with you more. Like you my first SLR was a 35mm manual jobby. In fact I posted a thread on it here a few weeks ago. Though it had its own meter all the controls you had were aperture, shutter speed, asa and focus (obviously on the lens). I spent a long time reading books and listening to what my mum knew about it all. By the time I turned 16 I enrolled at a local college and took a course in Photography. Few more years and a few thousand pounds later I graduated with a BA Degree.

Its an awful shame the manufacturers in todays world wont come out with a classic manual dSLR. Something that brings back the very basics of photography while merging the convenience of digital.
 
Don't make me mad when i am tired, i can chuck this keyboard a long way you know. And it has got rocket lock-on sensors :lol: Well technically it is a laptop, well still GRR at you GRR GRR GRR'ING :lol:

But do you know what batteries i am charging? :lol:
 
Techno-Geek said:
Don't make me mad when i am tired, i can chuck this keyboard a long way you know. And it has got rocket lock-on sensors :lol: Well technically it is a laptop, well still GRR at you GRR GRR GRR'ING :lol:

But do you know what batteries i am charging? :lol:
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One dreads to imagine... :p
 
Graelwyn said:
One dreads to imagine... :p
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Is it me or are you really being sick minded? :lol: No no it is my camera batteries for tomorrow, i'm off to Holkem Hall at some point. Always have the two batteries with me
 
Techno-Geek said:
Is it me or are you really being sick minded? :lol: No no it is my camera batteries for tomorrow, i'm off to Holkem Hall at some point. Always have the two batteries with me
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Hehe, moi? sick mind? never! Well...

envy you there. I used to love going to such places on a regular basis when younger.
 
It is lovely there, the grounds are stunning and can't wait to get some photos
 
I used to haunt a wonderful place called Burghley house, near Stamford in lincs.
Well worth visiting.
 
I really do kinda agree with you CT.

I know i'm pretty young for a photographer (only 21) but I remember when I used to use my dad's Olympus OM20 I had NO idea whatosever on what the numbers ment around the lens (which was a 28mm f/2.8).

Now I know exactly what all of them mean, and it all makes so much more sense!

That being said, I do agree with the fact that you only really need apature, shutterspeed and ISO. All the other features of DSLRs are extra elements that make your life just a bit easier (i.e. you don't need to adjust your photos heavlily after you take them as the camera sorts some of it out for you).

Really the basic entry-grade DSLR (400D, D40/D40x) does all that an early SLR would do. And alot more.
 
Graelwyn
Having read a few of your threads, it does slightly seem as if you might be getting carried away with the technical side as opposed to the creative side of photography..(only 'might be' )
Yes, you do need the right kit, and some basic knowledge, but most of all, you need to be taking pictures and enjoying it all. I am no different to you in that I love the 'hunt' - reading reviews, sleepless nights wondering if I should go for Canon or Nikon etc, but what it is all about is taking pictures..
Again, from what I can get about you, you seem like a person open to feelings, emotional (if that doesn't imply too much) - such important aspects for so much of what photography is about to my mind.
So, don't worry too much about cramming in the learning from books, but take some pictures and then find out why it did or didn't turn out right - you may learn far more by making mistakes than having a head full of facts anf then missing pictures due to working out what settings you should be using.
Most of us have cameras that are way better than we actually need (OK, well I do anyway)

Anyway, I guess what I am trying to say is that as you say, a good eye and intuition is not enough, but it is a very good start, so be sure to do more than just build a database, build up a hard drive full of pictures too and enjoy doing it - its not all about getting it right in a technical way !
 
As someone that is currently trying to learn the basics and so far is falling into a deep fog. I agree and disagree with some of you.

On the learning the basics vs going out and playing with it front.
I tried the going out and just playing around with the camera option and they came out very badly and I do sort of understand why but I think I need to learn the basics abit more throughly before going out and playing with it will start to become beneficial. So in that sense I feel you do need to read up on it quite abit before having a go yourself. But that could just be me and how my mind works as some people have different ways of learning.

On the other hand as mentioned above while reading up on the subject I do feel abit like I am drowning and instead of concentrating on the 3 main subjects of apertue, iso and shutter most books do go on about other complicated stuff that gets mixed up with the basics. So I do end up getting caught up with the technical stuff, sort of learning to run before I can walk.

I am abit loathed to pay for a photography course as in my mind the money I spend on one of those I could use to buy a new lens or other accessory (that and i'm scared in case I know too little and have no idea what they are on about :lol: )
 
CT said:
I still think I'd recommend the library route as the best source of the basic information you need.
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When I first started reading about ISO, aperture, shutter speed, etc that was my instinct too. I read as much as I could online and in books (and this has only been over the past six months or so). And it's totally fascinating.

But... since then I feel like perhaps the whole 'photography thing' has changed in a way that seems to destroy the need for this kind of knowledge. The thing is, I have taken over or underexposed photos (in RAW) and corrected them in two seconds and the shift of a slider in Lightroom. I am still trying to find out about metering, exposure compensation, etc but I do feel there is ultimately a hollowness to the information nowadays. Why do you need to learn how to meter off someone's face if there's a bright background when you can pull a "recovery" or "fill light" slider to correct it? All RAWs need some sort of processing, so even the "it saves time" argument is a bit weak.

It's a shame, I sometimes wish I couldn't see the photos until afterwards and that I couldn't change them so easily digitally... but then, I'd never want to have to shoot non-digital. Maybe I should aim to shoot only JPEG and have a zero-tolerance policy on chimping! :D
 
I know what you mean. I mentioned to someone the other day that I wasn't sure I wanted to use photoshop as I wanted the pictures I take to be my camera work and not 'faked' in photoshop. But then they explained that photoshop is to digital what a darkroom is to film which pursuaded me the other way. So I plan to use photoshop but only sparingly, I don't want to change too much about the pictures, I want to get it right in the camera. For instance if the face is too dark I want to learn why it's dark so next time I can make steps to correct it, rather than correcting every face in every photo in photoshop.

I do find it a shame that most of the books I have come across seem to be one 3rd about taking the photos and two 3rds about how to change them in photoshop. I need to learn how to take the pics before I can learn to change them. In one book it literally had 3 pages on how to take them and the rest was how to change them.
 
I'm trying to learn. When I was a boy, my dad gave me his old Ilford Sportsman and I use to take photos with that, I even won a local competition for under 14's. I've also still got an old OM1, but it doesn't get out much. I've had a vague idea on the Shutter Speed/Aperture settings bit since using these cameras, but never in any great detail. Composition is also something that I just don't seem able to get my eye around yet although I'm trying. I have a DK book, that is full of information, just not sure how much of it is going in. I've been using my bridge camera as a P&S for about 4 1/2 years now, and I've just started learning how to make the most of the limited settings, although without an easy way to manual focus (which I did get used to doing on the old cameras I had), very limited aperture and ISO range, and a very noisy sensor, I'm kinda bumping up against it's limitations already.
 
Great Thread,

I am sill very much at the bottomof the learning curve. I only have my camera about two months. As for getting out and playing versus reading around, I think you really need to do both in parallel. The best way of learning things like camera setting is playing around.

But as I was coming to this as a total photography virgin, I need to know some of the theory, so I bought a book called "The Book of Digital Photography" which is good for an overvview of all the basic concepts, but probably need something more now.

This site has been invaluable.
 
nearly everything i know if from here the rest i have been told by friends and read in magazines...

hope that helps

tp is great ..


md:thumbs:
 
I bought an SLR and read this stuff by Philip Greenspun.
I think he's edited it a bit since, and photo.net has transformed from his own little space to a huge community site, but the original stuff is still there and worth reading.

The most important thing I learned from that site is that photography is all about light.

Albedo said:
Why do you need to learn how to meter off someone's face if there's a bright background when you can pull a "recovery" or "fill light" slider to correct it? All RAWs need some sort of processing, so even the "it saves time" argument is a bit weak.
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Because when you change exposure, brightness or the recovery settings in a RAW converter, basically anything related to how much light the camera saw, you are relying on a computer algorithm to make up what it thinks you were looking at. The RAW file from a modern DSLR may give you a lot of latitude to do that, but it does still degrade image quality. The further you need to move those sliders, the more they degrade the image quality (noise, halos, blocking, colour casts etc)
Getting it right in the camera first means moving the sliders less later.
 
Spend a load of money on film and you soon learn;)with me it was just trial and error with a bit of google thrown in.
 
I'm with CT too (in fact all of us older ones it seems!)

Shooting pics and assessing them afterwards is of (almost) no use if you don't know what you're looking for

Some of our club newbies did exactly that and complained they weren't getting anywhere, happily they came to the club for help/inspiration. I run Newbie Nights where we discuss the 'How to' side of technical bits on exposure, metering, DoF, etc. which gives you enough understanding to assess what went wrong in a shot, and they have all improved dramatically

My aim with the Newbies was to get them entering competitions and not coming in the bottom half, after just 6 months of first picking up a camera in some cases they have been coming in the top 10 (top quartile)

Learn the basics first, read BOOKS I always tell them - the ones that do progress faster and become better, as once the basics are truly ingrained the artistic side can flourish and shine through much better

Carts & horses indeed!

:)

DD
 
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