this + that = ( )

[indiegirl]

What's your best tip, trick, trade secret or/and golden nugget you can share with us about photography?

[peterst6906]

If only I had tips, tricks, trade secrets or golden nuggets.....maybe that's what's wrong with my photography...:huh

Actually, the only one I can think of relates to taking self-portraits (you know, because I'm in the middle of one of those cliched 365 projects):

When trying to focus, position yourself where you will be posed and then focus back at the mount on the tripod. Afterwards, leave the focus setting as is and place the camera in on the tripod. After you go back to your position, you'll know with certainty that the focus is spot-on.

Regards,

Peter

[Andy]

Post moved back to Challenges - carry on, Indie :thumb

[mr peas]

Take as many photographs as you can. Read books magazine articles forums online tutorials to gain as much knowledge you can without having to hold a camera. Play with Photoshop as much as you can as if its a video game and learn it like the back of your hand. Grab as much experience as you possibly can, there's no real get good quick tip. Learn to love doing it and I guarantee you'll get better.

[Greensquared]

1. Don't be afraid to try something new.
2. Learn to "see light".
3. Allow yourself to love your own work.
4. Appreciate other photgraphers for their unique visions.
5. Never give up.

Emily

[Gary Glass]

Slow down. Seeing is what it's all about. Stop. Look. Wait. Attend.

[kp-pix]

Love what you do.

Take images of what you love. If other people hate it, it will just drive you to take better images of it so someone will love it eventually :rofl

Be true to yourself and what inspires you

Watch light - as said above

Take opinion on board but only to perfect what you love as art is personal taste and if you love it, someone somewhere does too

Get a low aperture lens - you need it in digital land <--- tech people can insert more of what I mean here, as I often don't explain things properly - 2.8 and below lol

Party like it is 1999 :barb

[imax]

Have FUN
Shoot what YOU like
See What You Want To Shoot With Your Minds Eye and Then Shoot It
Have FUN
Carry your camera with you whenever you can
Oh and did I mention
Have FUN


Joe

[Swartzy]

Get it right in camera....exposure, focus, composition. If you're out shooting 1000 images (wedding, event, etc.) the less you have to deal with underexposure issues and the like, the better. Don't ask me how I know....read about a guy who made lots of mistakes :wink

[Prezwoodz]

When photographing climbing make sure to think beyond the regular tilt angles of pictures.

In the picture below notice how its in 3 sections. Rock , wall, personal. All have a relative same amount of space on the photo and dosent really give to much to focus on. If she wasn't doing something even remotely interesting it wouldn't be very good I think! Plus going directly down the wall as such makes it look like a slanted wall where it drops down from me to the ground at an angle instead of sheer vertical.
http://prezwoodz.smugmug.com/photos/177012937-L.jpg

Now in the photo below if you look off into the mountains behind and the lake as well you can tell that the angle of the photo is very skewed. The mountains seem to rise instead of fall and the lake should be spilling into the valley below! But what it does is change the angle of the rock that is in the immediate frame and make it look intimidating. It looks as steep as the rock in the first photo but I assure you it is not. ;) These type of things are very common in photographing climbing. Once you take a picture at such odd angles you can completely change the picture just by making a simple rotation. How many other pictures can you think of where you can rotate it 90 degrees and you can't tell if it looks better vertical or horizontal?

http://prezwoodz.smugmug.com/photos/197195168-L.jpg

[Llywellyn]

When trying to focus, position yourself where you will be posed and then focus back at the mount on the tripod. Afterwards, leave the focus setting as is and place the camera in on the tripod. After you go back to your position, you'll know with certainty that the focus is spot-on.

Holy crap! So much easier than the methods I've been trying. I'll have to give this whirl. Thank you! :bow

My rule of thumb is pretty much, "don't be afraid to crawl on the ground." I often get high, get low, get sideways, walk around something completely until I find the angle/perspective that highlights what it was about the object that caught my eye in the first place. I often look like an idiot doing this. :wink When shooting with a group of other photographers, several stop to photograph me in one of my weird vantage points because it amuses them. I've learned to get over the embarassment and just go for the picture. :D

I have also learned to love the gigantic picture windows in my new home and stick everything I want to photograph in front of them, whenever possible. :thumb

[HoofClix]

The "trick" that comes to mind isn't one that I use so much in LPS, but I fugure it comes in handy all the time. It has to do with how I shoot at an event. I just basically make sure that every shot I take is properly lit by the sun so that a simple auto-correct will get it as ready as it needs to be for delivery. I spent so much time fixing brightness and contrast in backlit and poorly exposed shots that I was going crazy. I decided that I needed to choose better positions and angles, and if that meant that I took a few less shots per competitor, but that the ones I took were really good, then that's the way it was to be.. Hope that makes sense...