Stopped taking Snaps

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rabaroo

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Hi All

I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced the same affliction as I have recently, in that since I got my DSLR and started doing "photography" I've stopped taking "snaps" when I am out with the wife/family etc.... I just find myself looking for nice compositions etc, instead of just doing that + mixing a few inpromptu snaps and shots etc....

Does anyone else get into this? and how have you changed your mindset? - I've been half tempted to buy a Point and click for this purpose, but at the end of the day my DSLR will take a better photo than any point and click; so I see it as a mindset thing rather than a tool thing.....

Thanks
 
thats so true, you do find yourself looking for foreground interest, composition, even removing items out of the shot. the thing is you dont even know you are doing it half the time... lol
 
mmmm - thing is, I dont want to be doing all that.... I want to take holiday snaps like i used to, but still be able to do the "photography" stuff too - but it seems ive dropped the snapping part - i.e. i dont lift the camera to my eye unless i see something particularly pleasant looking or interesting
 
This happens to us all because we become high brow... something that people do for memories... photographers do for purpose or art... but rarely for memories! I know as recently for my 30th party my fiancee asked if I had many old photos of myself... she expected as i've been hooked on photography on and off since I was ten there would be thousands, when the truth was there was very few... I always tended to take the pics and rarely of people!

I have been trying to do that a little more recently... and taking a compact def helps!
 
Not at all-----I am still happy to snap away when the opportunity arises and I am glad that I do. Some great memories are captured as a result. However during that process I still keep an eye out for any decent shots. I have managed to get some great natural portraits when subjects have been relaxed,natural and unaware that yours truly had the tele trained on them at a party or gathering.
 
yeah, I've just been away on our 2 week honeymoon and i took over 700 shots, 40% are just random snaps.

One of my fav shots of the holiday was this one, taken randomly from my side as I was walking along. I was trying to get a sneaky one of the other half but she saw the camera light up and pulled a silly face:

3563729886_6bf4e8fa49.jpg
 
I had a semi-pro friend take shots of my daughters 3rd bday party. They were gorgeous! But my friends dodgey point & shoot also gave some great photos because they were just random shots of the activities rather than 'art'.

I have since bought a point & shoot to make sure I get photographs that make memories rather than take up wall space.
 
I will add one thing, while on the honeymoon I did discover one thing. As nice as it is being behind the camera, it's no where near as nice or important than being with the people in front of it :)

I found on several days around Vegas and San Fransisco I just left it in the hotel
 
rabaroo said:
mmmm - thing is, I dont want to be doing all that.... I want to take holiday snaps like i used to, but still be able to do the "photography" stuff too - but it seems ive dropped the snapping part - i.e. i dont lift the camera to my eye unless i see something particularly pleasant looking or interesting
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You need to get yourself a compact. It's very difficult to take snaps with an SLR. So I'd say get something like a G9 or a P600 and get on to taking some great snaps You can still take time to get the composition and foreground and background right. That way you'll get yourself some fantastic snaps.
 
rabaroo said:
i dont lift the camera to my eye unless i see something particularly pleasant looking or interesting
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I have been doing that a lot recently. I use to just take pictures of anything when I first started, but these days im looking for the perfect shot all of the time and im not often finding it. I go for a lot of walks in new places most weekends and I always take the camera and 90% of the time it never comes out of the bag because I think I am too fussy with my shots.

Perhaps look out for architecture as it is easier to shoot. I use to visit a lot of churches and castles because they are such interesting buildings and are realatively easy to shoot if the light is in your favour.

And why use a compact? With a good 18-150mm you can get some great shots with the auto function. Compacts are limited and you never know when you might wish you had your DLSR ;)
 
voodoochild said:
And why use a compact? With a good 18-150mm you can get some great shots with the auto function. Compacts are limited and you never know when you might wish you had your DLSR ;)
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The reason to use a compact it that it puts you in a different state of mind. You take different pictures with compacts and people react differently when confronted with a compact than they do with an SLR. Compacts take snaps and SLR's take photographs.

also...

it's much easier to carry a compact round than an SLR so you are far more likely to catch a moment in a snap than with an SLR.

finally...

the top end compacts can produce fantastic results, and in many case you'd be hard pushed to see the difference between the results of a compact and an SLR.
 
Which is exactly why I bought my little Leica. Manual mode, hotshoe, RAW. It has exactly what I need in a compact and it fits in the palm of my hand. It lives in my handbag now. We went to Blue Planet aqarium with my stepdaughter and her friend on Saturday and it was a blast. Lots of "snaps" of their day out which I put to music (Shark's tale of course) when i got home. So both of them have their own little slideshow as a memory of their day out.
 
I agree with most posts here, since having a DSLR my mindset has changed. I now regiment myself and always have a small point and shoot with me, just in case.
When we have a family occasion, the SLR is put away and the point and shoot used for whats its designed for, and the random unexpected shot I get are often great and real good memories.
Beauty is, they dont seem to notice a point and shoot, show them a DSLR and they are posing so the natural shots go out of the window.
Trev

www.flickr.com/photos/trev4
 
I generally take along the P&S when generally out & about, I won't be needing large prints or need to do heavy processing of these shots so the P&S is more than capable of producing the images I want, I'm happy to snap away although I do still tend to think a little about foreground etc etc.....when I take the DLSR out I switch back to full on "serious" mode and become much more selective again

Simon
 
I have told the family that they will have to do holiday snaps this year - I would find myself making professional shots all the time, which ruins the holiday feel. Plus I go on holiday for a break from work ^^
 
Hi.First post, a good time to join in think.
I'm going away on Saturday.Hong Kong,Sydney,Auckland.Fiji,L.A around the world in 19 day's we are calling it.My point is, how much easier to take a good compact,memory cards,charger, than a 400d, a couple of lenses,batteries and a family who are going to get p'd off with dad faffing around trying to 'get it right' rather than snapping off the hip.
I do hope I get it right!:naughty:
 
tbh, unless you've got a decent P&S your DSLR will get better images even by just leaving it on auto settings.

I've just come back from a 14 day tour of parts of the west coast of the USA. We had my D60 + Kit lens and the the wife's P&S. she did spend less time behind the camera but even she was shocked about the difference between the two.

So, yes, the compact will be a hell of a lot easier, but it really depends on how good it is depending on whether it is worth it.
 
Harvey_nikon said:
I will add one thing, while on the honeymoon I did discover one thing. As nice as it is being behind the camera, it's no where near as nice or important than being with the people in front of it :)
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You've gone soft :p
 
It's when you start dishing out constructive criticism to any old family snapshots being shown to you that you should start to worry! :D
Indeed, I've found myself moving away from just being cheerful and quick with taking photos into spending time taking into account composition, lighting, background, etc, etc.
 
I really don't see why you can do both snaps and "proper photos".

Snaps for me are all about capturing the moment, I still do it lots with my DSLR, just because I get the framing, light, shutter speed, ISO and aperture right doesn't mean I'm not taking snaps of my friends and family.

When you start moving things around and arranging people you influence the moment too much, I love taking candid snaps of friends and family, they're getting more and more use to seeing me with a camera welded to my face :D
 
I know exactly what you mean. I've decided to get myself a good compact to compliment my dSLR.
 
All photographs are snaps and vice versa.
There is no reason to switch your "seeing" off when you are "off Duty"
family deserve just as much consideration as "serious shots".

What gets both family and Clients going, is the time it takes some togs to take a shot....
Last week I was helping at the local church while a photographer was doing his thing out side... It took him for ever... it was embarrassing to see.
He finished just in time to see them into their horse drawn open coach, and the sky opened to thoroughly soak them.

Now what do you think he will be remembered for, the set of dull slowly taken shots ...or getting them soaked through.

If you know your trade it can be done just as well... quickly ... as can family snaps.
If you have to stop to think you don't know what you are doing.
a camera in the hand, should switch on your check list and let it simply run with out interruption. It is not thinking ... it is just human auto mode. ... the same mode we all use when we drive.
 
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