What kept you going when you first started togging?

stressqueen

stressqueen

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wendy
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I have just recieved my 1st Nikkon D40 and now know i am way out my depth and my pics are pretty rubbish so what kept you going to get the pics just right?
suppose i felt it would be easy how wrong was i lol......
wendy,x
 
If you believe your pics are rubbish (haven't looked to see if you've posted any to be fair) try post some up and ask whats going wrong, it'sa good way to learn. Don't worry about being told that the photo's are no good (if in fact they are) as you have already told yourself that but see what suggestions come to improve your shots.

The best way to learn (and you never stop learning) is to play with the camera and shoot different things, you may find a niche that you excel at :D

Don't give up and don't forget that the onsly stupid question on here is the one you don't ask :D :D :D

Keep playing and you'ldd see an improvement in no time :D
 
I went off and learned the theory so I could do it right. :)

and I'm still learning :)

Don't get too down, it happened to most of us and there are days where you just hit a wall but then it goes well and you make a big step.
 
Just keep taking lots of photos and do post some up here.

BTW what editing software do you use?

Dave
 
Spending time on here asking stupid questions and gleaning as much info as I could. Posting pics for crit and comment was also very helpfull as it showed me where I was going wrong and what to do to put it right - one day I might learn :lol:

Seriously though just keep on trying, and maybe just concentrate on one type of picture at a time such as buoldings, portraits or birds - that way you don't overwhelm yourself with the different info for the different types.

HTH

Nick
 
It takes a while, at first you wonder why not go back to a P&S as you were getting better images from them.

I bought a D60 and at the same time enrolled onto a 10 week DSLR night course last September and it helped a fair bit to be honest as hands on can be much better tuition than reading manuals and websites to grasp the basics. I even found youtube videos much easier to absorb than reading a book.

If you know someone nearby that have cracked their DSLR, ask them to show you how and learn from them.

Once you have grasped the basics then you can fine tune through experience and reading forums such as this which is great for pointers as to where your going wrong.

When your on your way you'll be back on this forum in a few months and responding like I am to someone else asking the same question, enjoy the learning curve.

Dan
 
1) Read this forum
2) Be inspired by other photos and enjoy learning how they are taken
3) Join a 52 thread, it forces you to take photos each week on a subject you might never have thought of taking pictures on. You are forced to learn and the critique from the other 52'ers is usually very helpful
4) Don't get too frustrated, a SLR is not like a point and shoot camera, it has so much to offer, and you have so much to learn. It won't happen overnight!
 
The thing that kept me going was the drive not to be defeated. It takes time and if anyone ever says they know totally what there doing and know it all then frankly there lying. Have to say the best way I have learnt is by asking others. Most are very kind and help you out and these are the ones its a pleasure chatting to and trying to help if they need it. There will be and are a few that wont help and that's fair enough after all they are there doing a job themselves. So in conclusion just keep trying and don't be afraid to ask for help.
 
I'm pretty new as well - I got my first SLR at Xmas, so I'm still rather near the bottom of the learning curve too!

I read the instruction manual, amongst other things to try and educate myself properly on how to get the best out of it, but TBH I found I only really started to understand and get to grips with what everything did when I actually forced myself to use it. Basically, I decided to stick it in manual mode and to shoot as much as possible. Some things (ok, a lot) came out pretty crap at first, but I found I pretty quickly build up a reasonable understanding of what everything did and I started getting things right a lot more often.

Looking at other peoples work has really helped me as well. I think it's good not only to look at things that you think 'wow' about, but also to look at things that you don't think are that good and try and work out what you would have done better! Same goes with the photos you take - don't just get bogged down in a general feeling of 'oh, they're all *****', actually try and work out why you think that and plan out what you'd do better next time. :)

As far as what keeps me going, naff as it may sound, if I go through my pictures and find I'm getting frustrated by how bad they are, I just try to focus on how much I was enjoying myself when I was out taking them and try to remind myself that practise will eventually make perfect (or at least a bit better!) :)
 
Lets try to summarize my approach in three lines:

1. Read the camera manual and make sure you know and understand EVERYTHING in it (skip the auto modes). Get familiar with all controls
2. Find decent books about photography in general, then lighting, composition (can be older editions). Try to apply as you go along.
3. Experiment with your work and seek feedback here and elsewhere. Your non-techie friends won't tell you if you have used the right aperture and ISO, but will tell you if it looks just 'nice' or 'stunning'. Professional advise will be more valuable still.
 
Also, try and avoid using the pop up flash on the camera, it can be pretty harsh and you'll learn more by forcing yourself to use natural light and positioning your subject to suit.

Obviously this cannot always be acheived but natural light where poss.
 
Tringa said:
Just keep taking lots of photos and do post some up here.

BTW what editing software do you use?

Dave
Click to expand...

I have been given corel photoshop pro full version but have no clue how to use it only installed it today so need to do tutorials on that also.

but thankyou all for your replys...:D
 
Get "The Digitial Photography Book, Vol. 1" by Scott Kelby, read it from cover to cover, and then practice practice practice !
 
Inspiration! For me it was landscape photographers like David Noton and Gary Newman :)
 
What kept me going was that I wanted to get better so just kept trying, not saying im good now though, just better and I know where I got it wrong!

Just think how much harder it was in the days of film where you were limited to 36 pictures a roll of film, then it needed developing! Its so much cheaper to make mistakes and learn now, that makes me happy cos I can basically experiment for free.

Nick.
 
18-270 said:
Well that's a personal question! Samantha Fox

Oh togging, sorry dyslexic I see o as u on occasion.

For me it's having something big and fast on my hands that can capture the moment perfectly! Look at that same answer to both questions!

:exit:
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lol Chris don't we all like something big and fast in our hands........made me laugh so thanks.:lol:
 
Wendy,

I understand EXACTLY how you feel! :|

The very best thing I did was to enrol at my local college to do a photography course - we had to bring in new photos every week for the class to look at and discuss - terrifying to start with, but brilliant as you go on :thumbs: it forces you to make sure you have something new every week - and to look at magazines & websites to learn new techniques.

we all 'fed' off each others inspiration, drew on each others experience, and ALL grumbled about our tutor! :lol:

for me, it has been an unbelievably rewarding experience - I have learned SO much, been pushed out of my 'comfort zone', learned about other photographers techniques and emulated them, and I am now looking forward (ish!) to my first exhibition (along with my fellow students) next month ;)

I have met some fabulous people - both on the course and on here, and I've learned never to pass up an opportunity to get out and take photos with like-minded people.

my advice to you is to get stuck in - find a course at your local college, meet up with the toggers here, look at famous photographers and see if you can emulate their styles.

The world is your oyster!!!! :thumbs:
 
HopefulM said:
Wendy,

I understand EXACTLY how you feel! :|

The very best thing I did was to enrol at my local college to do a photography course - we had to bring in new photos every week for the class to look at and discuss - terrifying to start with, but brilliant as you go on :thumbs: it forces you to make sure you have something new every week - and to look at magazines & websites to learn new techniques.

we all 'fed' off each others inspiration, drew on each others experience, and ALL grumbled about our tutor! :lol:

for me, it has been an unbelievably rewarding experience - I have learned SO much, been pushed out of my 'comfort zone', learned about other photographers techniques and emulated them, and I am now looking forward (ish!) to my first exhibition (along with my fellow students) next month ;)

I have met some fabulous people - both on the course and on here, and I've learned never to pass up an opportunity to get out and take photos with like-minded people.

my advice to you is to get stuck in - find a course at your local college, meet up with the toggers here, look at famous photographers and see if you can emulate their styles.

The world is your oyster!!!! :thumbs:
Click to expand...
Maria that was a lovely reply so thanks....i am looking at courses just trying to figure out which is best for me but think that maybe my next step..
going for a wee walk tomorrow gonna take the camera and see what happens.
thanks for taking the time to reply.
wendy.x:nuts:
 
stressqueen said:
lol Chris don't we all like something big and fast in our hands........made me laugh so thanks.:lol:
Click to expand...

My pleasure.

On a more constructive note a course is a great idea! Gets you out and about with people that do the same thing it's a lonely old game this without someone to say you've done well once inactive while!
 
thanks for the comments on the photos whoever did good advice and not jargon so thankyou.x
 
dan_yorkshire said:
Also, try and avoid using the pop up flash on the camera, it can be pretty harsh and you'll learn more by forcing yourself to use natural light and positioning your subject to suit.

Obviously this cannot always be acheived but natural light where poss.
Click to expand...

With a kit lens - most of which go up to f/5.6 at 55mm - this is nearly impossible to do. Also, fill in flashes are okay with the popup flash so long as the rest of the conditions are bright enough to not show up its harshness.

Only when one gets a fast normal prime lens is it feasible to take flashless pictures indoors or under poor light, consistently.
 
I am in my late 40s and I got my first camera when I was 11, I only got a D SLR in Sept 2008 and I still think of it as my new camera. I have taken some great shots with my P & S(in my opinion) before I got the Canon and only recently have I felt that I may just be getting there with my D SLR. I always have the kit with me, ( in the car boot) I try to take some pictures every week and I talk to friends who know stuff and get ideas about processing etc.

I think the people who worked with film SLR cameras have a chunk of knowledge that I don't have, not managed to find a course yet but I have invested in some books which help me.

My OH is a more experienced togger than me and he can answer my daft questions like, "How do you know what settings to use? " "Why that lens? " etc etc.

I am rubbish at printing my work and even getting it on Flickr is a dauntng task but I will keep going and maybe one day I will be really happy with my results.
 
Most of mine at the start were rubbish, but now and again i would get something less so and that gives me encouragement. More so that there is this inner flame that is like an itch or urge, like I would constantly see shots or things that i think "that would look good as a photograph", it serves as a constant reminder to me that i like this hobby.

This is one hobby where i can practice without the camera, my eyes are my camera a lot of the time. I find myself looking at photographs without looking through a lens everyday.
 
trencheel303 said:
With a kit lens - most of which go up to f/5.6 at 55mm - this is nearly impossible to do. Also, fill in flashes are okay with the popup flash so long as the rest of the conditions are bright enough to not show up its harshness.

Only when one gets a fast normal prime lens is it feasible to take flashless pictures indoors or under poor light, consistently.
Click to expand...

It was more the creativity you can get with natural light I was suggesting.

Taking their subject to a large window and playing with apertures and shutter speeds will help learn more than the subject in a poorly lit room with the flash popping with every shot where it sets the the shutter speed to a default setting.
 
I'm finding the important thing to make sure I'm enjoying going out and taking the pictures in the first place. When I was kiddy I had a 126 compact, but film and processing was expensive when you got £1 a week pocket money. So I often pleased my self taking snaps with no film in the camera.

You go out and discover something beautiful, you might succeed in capturing it, you might not. You were still there and you still enjoyed it.
 
Hello!

When I got my DSLR I also bought this book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Understandi...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271925069&sr=8-1
(Hope that works - Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson)

I also joined Flickr (before I found this forum) and started looking at LOTS of photos and asking lots of questions about how to get certain effects. Buying my nifty fifty lens was a revelation as I could get much better shots in low light without flash.

I started my own little group on Flickr - small, friendly and with an emphasis on positive comments with full blown C&C only given when asked for (as most of us are reasonably new to photography and sometimes you just want people to say nice things!) - I have just been peeking at your Flickr, I will put some comments on your photos and will send you an invite to the group in case you fancy joining us, you'd be most welcome x
 
Looking at other photographer's work...seeing what they'd done on what amounted to Stone-Age technology meant I had no excuses when it came to producing 'quality' work with what I had available to me at the time.

I just dug out some books I bought back in the early 1980's - those old square, black reference books produced by Time-Life... Even now some of those images stand out, and always will...
 
Gordon Scott said:
Joining a local club is a good source of inspiration, information and peer review...
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Why is it, they all seem to end about now when the sun comes out and I start to get inspiration again? I feel now is the time I want to get involved with a club only to find they are holding end of year exhibitions and dinners :( Do any clubs go 52 weeks a year?
 
ka$h said:
Why is it, they all seem to end about now when the sun comes out and I start to get inspiration again? I feel now is the time I want to get involved with a club only to find they are holding end of year exhibitions and dinners :( Do any clubs go 52 weeks a year?
Click to expand...

Indeed... most of them do close for summer. Luckily, there is an informal club local to me that do very little through autumn/winter, but organise fortnightly outings to take photos locally in spring/summer.
 
thankyou for all your replys am adding my photos daily lets see if i improve!!
 
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