Getting into photography - how to start, what to get?
- Thread starter sterling_archer
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sterling_archer
Hummingbird
Very cool. You can easily see the difference between various lenses. Is that camera on the site a APS-C? Because when I put 35 mm as a test, really looks like a human eye view.
Huxley Badkin
Sparrow
sterling_archer said:
Yes.
sterling_archer said:
Definitely check out this series by Jessica Kobeissi - Photographers shoot the same model:
You can learn a lot by seeing how they used the same location, wardrobe and model and got completely different results. Example of one the shoots:
Tyler Stalman - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6OICk-ceplUJf4sCN3DMnQ
Matt Day - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCopwCE5bVtffQif8IFkbUuw
Peter McKinnon - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3DkFux8Iv-aYnTRWzwaiBA
Joe Allam - https://www.youtube.com/user/AllamJoe/featured (he kind of gets on my nerves but I do enjoy his street photography)
sterling_archer
Hummingbird
Tnx Ringo and all others who contributed, now this thread has a very large repository of good information that will serve even for future photographers who lurk around here or will come.
P.S.
20k$ for a camera? :-/
P.S.
20k$ for a camera? :-/
rogerflash
Chicken
Volk said:
what about Canon 600D ? is it ok for a beginner?
sterling_archer
Hummingbird
Ok, so I now have options regarding buying new, unused camera, but additional option to consider is buying an used one. What would be suitable ones, following the up to 600$ budget and coming with kit lens? I heard some suggestions up to 600$ before but they were basically only regarding body.
Ivanis
Kingfisher
sterling_archer said:
I originally ran with a Nikon D3000 that I bought new several years ago. I just started to get outgrow it last year after I had started shooting manual and picking my subjects a lot better.
I just recently picked up a used Nikon D7100 with a 35mm F1.8 lens and battery grip for $600 off eBay. It was a great purchase and I would recommend the camera for the shots I've taken so far. If you want photo samples shoot me a PM and I'll drop you a couple landscapes and portraits.
sterling_archer
Hummingbird
Wow, all that for just 600$? You really got a good bargain. PM sent.
SO I'm sending back the tz90. I ordered a tz100 which has a shorter zoom range, but 1" sensor (4 times the size of the tz90) and brighter lens. Should get better indoor pictures, and less blowouts in bright light. I will miss the selfie flip up screen though. That was fun, but all of my other camera don't have a selfie screen. I will just ask someone to take a picture or use a remote shoot.
[Just to pre-clarify, myself and OP have similar usernames - sorry OP, registered with first name that came to mind!]
Man, I read this thread, and I won't lie, I don't even know what mirrorless/EVF really refer to)) So, I'd say don't get too hung up on the gear. You can always change/upgrade.
I was introduced to photography by a true player who OWNED a photo studio just for gaming chicks)) him and most of the pro-photographers I met through hanging out there used Canon 5D's or 7D's, so I just bought the same, second hand (from someone I knew).
Helmut Newton used to do a lot of his work with a tourist camera (with a simple flash), and it worked out fine for him) You can do so much on photoshop too, so long as your set up is decent, you'll do fine.
Photography is a great, great hobby. I started photography pretty much just for game, but to be honest the game aspect is almost the side benefit for me now. It's a straight up flow activity, you get to spend hours with models in a non-date frame, you give them a whole load of value up front...win-win-win.
Gaming models, sure. I'd say they'll have your number from the get-go though, which is fine, but means;
(a) if she's into you, the whole photography angle is kinda a charade. But then, so is a date to some degree, and it's a WAY better path to the same end,
(b) It's gonna be harder to get the good ones to agree to a shoot, maybe.
Personally, I'd rather get decent and play off the DHV/social circle benefits.
Invest in some tutorials on creativelive too. Definitely worth it. I paid a pro fashion photographer for a few personal tutorials so I could have a photo session without looking like too much of a jerk, and took it from there.
Man, I read this thread, and I won't lie, I don't even know what mirrorless/EVF really refer to)) So, I'd say don't get too hung up on the gear. You can always change/upgrade.
I was introduced to photography by a true player who OWNED a photo studio just for gaming chicks)) him and most of the pro-photographers I met through hanging out there used Canon 5D's or 7D's, so I just bought the same, second hand (from someone I knew).
Helmut Newton used to do a lot of his work with a tourist camera (with a simple flash), and it worked out fine for him) You can do so much on photoshop too, so long as your set up is decent, you'll do fine.
Photography is a great, great hobby. I started photography pretty much just for game, but to be honest the game aspect is almost the side benefit for me now. It's a straight up flow activity, you get to spend hours with models in a non-date frame, you give them a whole load of value up front...win-win-win.
Gaming models, sure. I'd say they'll have your number from the get-go though, which is fine, but means;
(a) if she's into you, the whole photography angle is kinda a charade. But then, so is a date to some degree, and it's a WAY better path to the same end,
(b) It's gonna be harder to get the good ones to agree to a shoot, maybe.
Personally, I'd rather get decent and play off the DHV/social circle benefits.
Invest in some tutorials on creativelive too. Definitely worth it. I paid a pro fashion photographer for a few personal tutorials so I could have a photo session without looking like too much of a jerk, and took it from there.
sterling_archer
Hummingbird
First name that came to mind? Same here haha! I liked the show (note past tense used) and decided to go for it. Although I am not sure why I choose underscore between names!?
Apart from that, to comment your post. How long are you into photography? In my case I would never invest into expensive camera as a first one like you did. I simply don't have money for it and it would be pointless if I (God forbid) decide to abandon this hobby. How much did you pay for your camera and do you still use it?
So you started just for game but now you feel it is probably the side benefit? I liked to shoot film camera from my dad's so now I want to continue that with digital camera and using Game also as a side benefit.
Please, do tell how your friend gamed with a studio?
Apart from that, to comment your post. How long are you into photography? In my case I would never invest into expensive camera as a first one like you did. I simply don't have money for it and it would be pointless if I (God forbid) decide to abandon this hobby. How much did you pay for your camera and do you still use it?
So you started just for game but now you feel it is probably the side benefit? I liked to shoot film camera from my dad's so now I want to continue that with digital camera and using Game also as a side benefit.
Please, do tell how your friend gamed with a studio?
Psygnosis89
Robin
As someone who shoots agency models as part of my work I'd advise heavily against gaming them in this current climate. Sometimes things happen, but it's definitely more of a slow burn thing. I'd suggest always having a MUA present, too. It really depends on the type of model you're trying to game, though. If it's some wannabe 6/10 from modelmayhem, then things are a bit different.
sterling_archer said:
That guy was obsessed, and lived for game)) Daygamed for at least a few hours every day, showcasing portfolio on phone, invitation for shoot, invitation for wine...
Any excuse to get chicks through the door actually. He even got one of his female assistants to organise a hen party, then just showed up))
sterling_archer
Hummingbird
Interesting. I just noticed that you answered my question but you put them in my quote so they are not immediately noticeable.
Super_Fire
Kingfisher
sterling_archer said:
A good camera, but more for snapping pics of friends and food on vacation.
If you're going to go X series, get the Fuji X-T2 and never look back at any of the substandard, plastic stuff Canon or Nikon is making these days.
ksbms
Pelican
You're not a photographer if you don't recognise this one in an instant. Why is it so unique? Yes, it's the first photograph ever taken and by the inventor of the photographic process - Daguerre. It is a scene in Paris, early in the morning, perhaps 8am but what makes it stand out it tells a story (worth reading upon it). Truly interesting photographs aren't pictures of things out there, but provide the viewer with compelling narrative and story, often full of ambivalence.
Everything else comes the second.
The first step is actually to take pictures with your eyes. True, you won't freeze your snaps for posterity but you can make amazing ones for yourself at any time with no time lag. What matters, is that you can imagine at any time when you're out and about how'd you frame and freeze the things you look at. But then, of course, one day you'll need a tool anyway. However, that's way less important than you think. You get lots of people coming to photography courses armoured to teeth with the best and latest gear and what they produce is... mediocre. What matters is the person behind the camera, the tool not really - most modern cameras are so advanced the differences are small and matter only for professionals (and for big-sized print outs).
If you learn to conceptualize the problems you want to shoot, learn a bit about philosophy of photography, then you'll produce intellectually stimulating, provocative for the viewer and/or aesthetically appealing photographs.
Have a look at Barthes' Lucida Camera, Sontag's On Photography, Waldnen's Photography and Philosophy and, of course, study masters' photographs, from Adams to Cartier-Bresson to Winograd (I'm partial to Street Photo). Very quickly you'll notice that mastering tools is much easier than mastering truly interesting photographs.
Thanks to proliferation of cheap digital cameras and phone cameras, it is so much more difficult to stand out because there are some 2 billion pictures snapped and uploaded every single day. Probably the best site to read upon technical stuff is www.dpreview.com but it's like going down the rabbit hole - you can spend hundreds of hours reading upon reviews, comparisons, lenses, technology. In the end, you will be none the wiser and a photography student with some philosophical-theoretical background and a pin-hole camera will yield superior photographs. I wouldn't recommend to post your pictures to the myriad of online galleries - unless you just want to stroke your ego a bit - you'll get opinions from black to white, amateurs playing pros. All in all, this may stifle your creativity and make you follow certain trends. I'd rather abstain, and focus on the masters and philosophy of the subject. Probably the best thing is just to build your on website - otherwise your pics will quickly vanish in the enormous ocean of pictures upon pictures.
There are some pro-photographers that do projects just with phone cameras. Heck, Soderbergh just made a full feature film with a phone camera only. Becoming either an artist or commercial photographer very difficult because the entry level is so low unlike in the past when the only option was analogue and the skill to develop the film.
However, few people do think philosophically and conceptually about photographs - if one does some serious reading in the history, development and contemporary photography, one can quickly raise a level above people with the best and most advanced gear.
To become successful is a mixture of technical skill, conceptual artfulness, luck, what is en vogue in the art scene and knowing the right people and owners of the right galleries. For shooting for your own pleasure, almost any camera will do.
testos111
Robin
kbell said:
It doesn't depend on the mode. Even manual will do that. It depends on the metering system you are using. The default metering system in most cameras is set to evaluative metering which works by exposing each part of the picture by assigning an average exposure to each element. So if something is too bright, the average exposure will go down and hence the subject which is not in highlights will go down. To correct this, you can change the metering system to spot or central metering. Then the camera will give weightage of the overall exposure to where the focus point of the camera is pointing at (your subject). This will then create a new problem where your subject will be well exposed but the already bright background will become even brighter. So the best way out of this situation is to stick to evaluative metering but using a flash to light up your subject. Then you get the subject and negative space properly exposed. If you're resorting to a flash, you'll have to learn using an external flash and firing it through a modifier or bouncing it to avoid getting that harsh looking flash effect.
Super_Fire
Kingfisher
ksbms said:
I'll agree to a point, but the right camera can make someone feel addicted to taking photos. An iPhone X will not. The tool won't make you any good, true, it's in your creativity, but a good tool will give your more power to your creativity. It doesn't have to be top of the line, but very good.