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Ok,Is it just me or do I suck at photography?(Dont answer that)!So Last night while fuled with lots of carlsberg I thought about how much quality there was in some of the new to photography members there is on here and I said to myself "nomatter what,rain,hail,sleet or snow Ill go out with my camera tomorrow so I did and the powers that be said...HA HA HA!Then it rained all day long...but I said screw you powers that be I have the camera of destiny in my hand!Ok ok Im ranting,the point is I took a lot of shots at the top of a mountain inspite of the rain.Hoping to get some atmospheric misty kind of shots but when I got home there wasent one shot wourth or werth (I duno)keeping and I realised That not only do I suck at getting the settings right but also my composition sucks aswell!Can this be fixed or does it come in time,Or should I just go back to taking pics on my phone?
Evolution104
We've all been there Chris - and we still struggle with it even now.
Some of it will come in time. Some of it may never come (otherwise we'd all be professional photographers shooting for Geographic).
Is there a camera club near you? Or a school offering night classes? Or a friend who takes pictures?
Having someone at your side to lead you through things and offer advice can be priceless. Even someone who is learning as you are to share ideas and learnings with?
I'm not new to photography. My dad worked for Kodak and had a darkroom in the basement. A camera was put in my hands when I was maybe 8 years old. But digital is somewhat new to me, as is getting serious about taking photos. So I know some things, but I still can't take a great photo whenever I want to. I take lots of pictures, read lots of magazines, and I still find that I'm happy with only about 1 out of 100 pictures I take. What I am learning these days is how much I don't know.
I've spent the last 3 weekends, driven over 100 miles, and even took time off work last Friday, to get a shot for the March competition. I still don't have a photo I want to submit. It's frustrating. And this is what I do for fun!
Taking pictures, at least for me, is something to be enjoyed, and it can't be forced. The harder I try to make something happen, the less likely it will and the more frustrated I get.
Keep it fun. Walk away from it for a while if you have to.
Hang in there. Try to find a club or class nearby you can join. It can help a lot.
Good luck!
creators
Different story, same story, to Johns, it only differs in particulars. Your greatest asset is that you want to take pictures, no matter what your internal committee is saying. Taking pictures is not a genetic ability, it's a learned one. Framing, settings, all of it. Merely having the desire says there is an photographer/artist in you wanting to come out, it is down to you, with as much advice and help as you can muster, to find ways unlock the photographer you want to be.
Evolution104
creators wrote:
Different story, same story, to Johns, it only differs in particulars. Your greatest asset is that you want to take pictures, no matter what your internal committee is saying. Taking pictures is not a genetic ability, it's a learned one. Framing, settings, all of it. Merely having the desire says there is an photographer/artist in you wanting to come out, it is down to you, with as much advice and help as you can muster, to find ways unlock the photographer you want to be.
Well said.
Jan
Don't give up Chris. I am learning too and you should look at my webshots page which will give you a few laughs..lol I started to take pictures last June with my digital camera and I am in no way near as experienced as these forum members are. I like to learn as much as I can about photography and I love going out to take pictures. I have had so many bad days I can't even begin to count..My family and friends are very supportive and encourage me many times when I wanted to throw my camera out the window. Keep shooting and I know you will have pictures to post that you will be proud of.
hil26
Chris, don't give up,
I filled a 4gb CF card yesterday (shooting RAW), trying the on board flash, no matter what I did, could not get it right, and my 3 year old model was brilliant, even posing like a professional model.
Its all about learning, now know (I think ) where I was going wrong - forgot all about the fact that I can compensate up or down for the flash - it was too strong. Not too sure my model will accommodate having a flash fired at him again.
jonH
There's nothing wrong with going out, shooting and coming back with nothing worth keeping.
What you do need to do though is try to analyse where you went wrong so you're better prepared next time.
Venom
jonH wrote:
There's nothing wrong with going out, shooting and coming back with nothing worth keeping.
What you do need to do though is try to analyse where you went wrong so you're better prepared next time.
Good advice John, all I will add to what as been said is never lose heart. Chris its definitely not as easy as it looks and anyone who says it is is talking rubbish IMO. As John as said learn from what you have done and why it didn't work and if your not sure ask.
NEVER be afraid to ask even the most basic and what may seem like a daft question.
We've all been there, and I'm certain we all still shot pictures that well how can I put it, haven't worked, I know I for one do on a far to regular basis.
creators
Got back from Cardiff yesterday where I took some night shots across the bay to Cardiff. Rubbish, all of them. Wrong angle, wrong position, uninspiring. But all this has made me think about what got me into photography, I remember the moment, a picture I saw, so thought I'd share that in the lounge.
Simonzphotoz
how about you post one of your shots up and let some of us on here help in any way we can. Even if your not happy with them, I'm sure someone will be able to give some advice on what to do.
You mentioned that you having trouble with getting to grips with the settings, what kit you using? Some one on here is bound to have it or similar?
Don't disppare practice practice practice, and lots of
chris82
Its ,I supose most of the frustration was down to the fact that I couldnt practice for months because the weather sucked,but I went out today an spent hours in near perfect weather hiking over this mountain trying different settings.I loved it.I just couldnt bring myself to go home.Ill be posting some of the shots as soon as there up on photobucket.I must have sat for at least an hour and a half taking pictures of this post and I felt real passionate about it aswell.I was getting some funky looks from people but I took pride in the fact that I was doing something creative and they were just filling there faces.Then I decided to stry into parts of the mountain that the tourasts wouldant,practacley got myself lost on purpose just so I could have the mountain to my self.and I found some interesting rock formations and such,I have to do a reshoot on some of the stuff though,I cant wait.
adam
great to see you have the passion back Chris...cant wait to see your pics...
Adam
creators
Good man! Like any half decent addiction, it just needs feeding.
pasvorto
Keep the spirits up. If I get one shot, out of a roll of 24, I feel pretty good. My father-in-law has been shooting (slides only) for 50 years. He will shoot a whole roll at one time, on one bird, in hopes of getting one or two 'acceptable' shots. It seems that the better you get, the less tolerant you are of your shots.
creators
pasvorto wrote:
It seems that the better you get, the less tolerant you are of your shots.
That is so exactly true.
Norwall
When you look at images in magazines and see how good they are you never see all the shots that were rejected. I have thought that it would be a good article for a magazine to show all the images that were rejected because things were not correct.
A number of years ago I attended a weekend course on photoigraphy given by a professional photographer. One of the memorable presentations that he did was to show us some of his images that didn't make it. We discussed what was wrong with each image and how it could be improved. I learnt more about photography from that presentation than I would learn from looking at perfect images.
Everyone makes mistakes. The best learn from these mistakes. You cannot learn how to do it right without knowing what can go wrong IMHO.
Venom
Norwall wrote:
When you look at images in magazines and see how good they are you never see all the shots that were rejected. I have thought that it would be a good article for a magazine to show all the images that were rejected because things were not correct.
A number of years ago I attended a weekend course on photography given by a professional photographer. One of the memorable presentations that he did was to show us some of his images that didn't make it. We discussed what was wrong with each image and how it could be improved. I learnt more about photography from that presentation than I would learn from looking at perfect images.
Everyone makes mistakes. The best learn from these mistakes. You cannot learn how to do it right without knowing what can go wrong IMHO.
How true, we've even discussed putting a section in the forum for the shots that didn't quite work / went wrong.
Might be a good idea to make the idea a reality!!! Would make for some interesting discussion.
pasvorto
I watched a show on Mr. Brandenburg(?). I think it was called "Chasing the Light". He is a photographer for National Geographic. His goal was to take only one shot per day for 90 days. Interesting show. Anyway, he said he would normally shoot hundreds of rolls on an assignment in order to get the "perfect" NG shot.
When (almost) everyone is digital, that's a lot of film not being bought and processed.
Norwall
Quote:
How true, we've even discussed putting a section in the forum for the shots that didn't quite work / went wrong. Might be a good idea to make the idea a reality!!!
It would be interesting and I am sure that there would be no lack of subject matter.
pasvorto
It would certainly be an interesting area for those novies among us (self included).
Don't give up Chris. I am learning too and you should look at my webshots page which will give you a few laughs..lol I started to take pictures last June with my digital camera and I am in no way near as experienced as these forum members are. I like to learn as much as I can about photography and I love going out to take pictures. I have had so many bad days I can't even begin to count..My family and friends are very supportive and encourage me many times when I wanted to throw my camera out the window. Keep shooting and I know you will have pictures to post that you will be proud of. 
,I supose most of the frustration was down to the fact that I couldnt practice for months because the weather sucked,but I went out today an spent hours in near perfect weather hiking over this mountain trying different settings.I loved it.I just couldnt bring myself to go home.Ill be posting some of the shots as soon as there up on photobucket.I must have sat for at least an hour and a half taking pictures of this post and I felt real passionate about it aswell.I was getting some funky looks from people but I took pride in the fact that I was doing something creative and they were just filling there faces.Then I decided to stry into parts of the mountain that the tourasts wouldant,practacley got myself lost on purpose just so I could have the mountain to my self.and I found some interesting rock formations and such,I have to do a reshoot on some of the stuff though,I cant wait.