The first time is the best :/

melcal

melcal

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Melinda
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New to this forum, so I hope I'm in the right area!

I think I'm a point-and-shoot girl at heart, much to my utter disgust - and here's why.

I walk around with my not-really-top-of-the-range-but-the-best-I-can-afford camera, and think, "Ooooh! Pretty!" and take a shot. Then I think, no, I can do better than that: I own a tripod, I know about ISO, and white balance, and I understand the manual settings on my camera, and I even read up about hyperfocal distancing. So I pause, set up, consider, frame, review, deep breath, and then shoot ...

But the first one is invariably the best; not only that, but better than the others by some considerable margin. Why is this?! Does anyone else suffer this problem?
 
nothing wrong with point and shoot , the d90 is decent camera ,,and no i dont suffer from that problem because all of mine are lovely rubbish pics ( but they're my rubbish pics and i like them )
 
You sound a bit like my wife. She's a fantastic "instinctive" photographer. Sees something - camera to eye - bang! A fabulous shot.

Much to my annoyance and frustration though, she refuses to recognise this or take her photography seriously.

To answer your OP - sometimes we can "overthink" a shot; sometimes we should just let go and use the Force.
 
same here, wifey say that will make a nice picture, I try and be technical and take the shot, wifey meanwhile has used her 2M fuji fixed focus and takes a much better picture:bang:,
but then again she is an Artist:love:, Im just an engineer:D
 
chromatin64 said:
You sound a bit like my wife. She's a fantastic "instinctive" photographer. Sees something - camera to eye - bang! A fabulous shot.

Much to my annoyance and frustration though, she refuses to recognise this or take her photography seriously.

To answer your OP - sometimes we can "overthink" a shot; sometimes we should just let go and use the Force.
Click to expand...

I agree, sometimes we get hung up on technical details of a shot, by the time all that is done, fiddling with settings ect, the shot is gone, or at least the inspiration has vanished.

:)
 
Yeah, d90 is great, but, d90, d3, hd-40, makes no difference what light sealed box you use to be honest its what's in front of the camera and the thought process behind the camera that matters.
It sounds like your shooting without any preconceived ideas other than going to point A and then hunting down an image, this is perfectly normal and many people work this way, but not being able to better your first image of said subject can be down to many factors. Are these first images fleeting moments such as street images, sports or wildlife? To re create these "decisive moments" can be nigh on impossible and to pursue a better version will sometimes turn into an exercise in wasted resources.
If on the other hand your subject is always there, doesn't move and can be revisited time and time again then striving for the best image possible is within your reach.
Your first shot impresses you, ok why does it impress you? Is it the light, composition, colour, shape? What don't you like about the image, can these elements you like be enhanced? Can the elements you don't like be subdued or removed? Can you return another time when the conditions are more favourable?
I tend to work with a premeditated and pre visualized mental image and method to try and achieve that image. Of course, things change when it comes to tripping the shutter but then that's photography.
 
Seems to be a pattern. My wife has a much better eye that me and takes better shots. She glazes over as soon as I mention any settings. Some of her shots would be better technically with just a base understanding of what she is doing (she tends to go too low on DoF and not get enough of her shot in focus - we just have a 50 1.7 lens so easily done) but horse to water and all that. (yes I did just call my wife a horse)

And even though I understand all the settings I still tend to walk around taking quick point and shoot shots after an initial setting for conditions with a quick setting change only here and there when really required.
 
Its not a problem. ..its a good day. I lean on it for getting results if I can, the open mind sees all kinda angle. If its not a fleeting moment that will be gone in the next instant, one of the tricks I use is to stop, like literally freeze when I see something cool. I'll take time to look at it for a while and decide what it is that makes it look so good. Once I recognise why I got excited in the first instance I'll try for a better composition.
 
Just goes to show that the most important thing in the making of a "Good image" is not the number of megapixels, make or model of camera body, cost of lens or any other piece of hardware.
It is, simply, the person behind the camera, who envisions the shot, composes it in a visually pleasing way and captures what they see.
Sure, all the hardware helps to a point, but it is the person who is pressing the shutter release who makes the image.
 
Simon photo said:
It sounds like your shooting without any preconceived ideas other than going to point A and then hunting down an image, this is perfectly normal and many people work this way, but not being able to better your first image of said subject can be down to many factors.
Click to expand...

I don't tend to hunt an image; I'll take my camera with me anywhere I go and shoot what interests me. But not being able to better the first image is frustrating as anything!

Simon photo said:
Your first shot impresses you, ok why does it impress you? Is it the light, composition, colour, shape? What don't you like about the image, can these elements you like be enhanced? Can the elements you don't like be subdued or removed? Can you return another time when the conditions are more favourable?
Click to expand...

I think I over-analyse possibly. I'll take my first shot and think, wow, that flare right there, I just need more of it; or ... if I just moved around so that tree is there, then it'll be best. Maybe I'm over-exaggerating the points I like about the original. It's not til I download them that I realise the first of the couple-dozen is actually The One.

Maybe I should re-visit sites more, be more methodical.
 
Rob 80386 said:
I agree, sometimes we get hung up on technical details of a shot, by the time all that is done, fiddling with settings ect, the shot is gone, or at least the inspiration has vanished.
Click to expand...

Maybe it is all down to inspiration: the original shot is imbued with whatever I love about the scene, whereas the next ones are calculated.

It's supposed to be like that with food too, right? That you can tell if it's been made lovingly or just churned out.
 
melcal said:
Maybe it is all down to inspiration: the original shot is imbued with whatever I love about the scene, whereas the next ones are calculated.

It's supposed to be like that with food too, right? That you can tell if it's been made lovingly or just churned out.
Click to expand...

Well the food comment is quite broad but if you compare southernfriedtgiMcfunsters to say a small restaurant, owned and run by the same guy behind the pass then yeah, but that's not to say not all food is churned out. It all gets churned out in some way or other. The tournedos rossini you might order one evening won't be the only one that night, or that week that's for sure.
I run the kitchens at country house in south Wales and we predominantly cater for weddings from 20 to 300 guests and celebration events over the festive season of anything up to 400 (everyThursday Friday Saturday for four weeks!). Now, while the difference between the food for a wedding and food for a celebration evening is noticeable, our success rate for both is the same and impeccable.
Im not sure how an amateur photographer can churn out images the same as keen home cook could churn out food on the scale like a fast food joint. I believe there has to be a pre meditative approach to what you are doing to achieve your desired result.
You could give two chefs the same ingredients and equipment and end up with wildly different results
Give two photographers the same camera and scene and the results will be wildly different also.
So if your cooking a dish at home you have done before and you miss something out or don't pay attention to a certain element of the recipe then the end result will be noticeable but you won't be shouting at yourself In the mirror and wanting your money back. You will eat it and enjoy the parts you did get right. Because you put everything into it including love.
If the same happened in a restaurant you would want to know why, can it be changed, cooked again or demand your money back, because you expect it to be right.
Im rambling now lol and missing the point i think! But no matter how much love you put into something if you miss something out or make a decision then that alters your final perception of whatever your doing, food, photography, woodwork whatever
 
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melcal said:
...not being able to better the first image is frustrating as anything!


I think I over-analyse possibly.

It's not til I download them that I realise the first of the couple-dozen is actually The One.
Click to expand...

If the first shot is the best don't worry about it!

What's happening is that when you see something and take a photo of it without thinking you take a photo of what you saw that made you take the photo.

If you then try to improve it you are adding thought and logic into the equation and sucking the life out of the picture. You can keep working at it and it might come good, but you have to work through a lot of failure to come out the other side with a better picture than the first one.

However, if you see something and pause before shooting, then you can work your way to a better image, and the last one will likely be the best because you have done so much thinking for the other shots that you take the final shot without thinking.

It's a sort of Zen thing.
 
chromatin64 said:
You sound a bit like my wife. She's a fantastic "instinctive" photographer. Sees something - camera to eye - bang! A fabulous shot.

Much to my annoyance and frustration though, she refuses to recognise this or take her photography seriously.

To answer your OP - sometimes we can "overthink" a shot; sometimes we should just let go and use the Force.
Click to expand...

Are you me in disguise? My wife is exactly the same. She has no interest whatsoever in the technicalities but has a great eye for photos. I remember one shot that I wanted to take a little while ago whilst on holiday in Mauritius. There was a great little path leading down to the sea. It meandered through a grassy area then volcanic boulders across the sandy beach toward the sea. I wanted to capture the changing textures with the path leading into the frame. I spent ages farting around with different angles, setting etc... My wife was getting frustrated, borrowed the camera, wafted it in the general direction of the sea and hit the shutter. Took her probably 2 or 3 seconds. She didn't even look through the viewfinder. Guess which shot in now on the wall? :)

Some of my favourite shots took a fair bit of planning and probably a lot of time thinking but an equal number were spur of the moment almost fluke type shots.
 
My wife has a very good eye for a picture and a beautiful view. After all she chose me :thinking:

I tend to think that the only way she has developed this is by my expert advice and natural flare that she has successfully copied. One day I might summon up the courage to tell her :shake:
 
Having an "eye" is one thing, an essential thing but its only part of the story. Being able to translate your vision through the tools and medium you choose is another.
As photographers we choose the camera as our tool, it has many forms and now multiple mediums to help us talk to our viewers through our images.
I have always desired the skills to be able to sketch or paint but even through pained attempts i have never been able to fully portray anything with any kind of fluency or in the way i imagined.
The camera has given me freedom of expression, the ability to show the world what i find beautiful and interesting. But without developing a skill set, learning the language so to speak, i was without a voice and nothing more than a tourist getting a few words right now and then.
Thankfully! I have moved on and without blowing my own trumpet i can now make conscious decisions about my whole approach to what i want to achieve from an image and also, what is capable from an image.
We all have an "eye" even if we know it or not, but without laying the foundations for our techniques we are lost.
 
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