Sort of a photo thread - the basics and getting better tips

[GregMay]

Yep, just how I shoot Dan, but I'm shooting rangefinders so slightly different to a DSLR. I've my a7 set to shoot the same as the M6 and Q these days!

That diagram was one I was thinking off but couldn't remember where it was - good find.

As for the sharpness of a lens....not something I worry about too much, objective sharpness in an image is secondary to content. Sort of like a polished turd.

/opinions

Hell if know what I'm talking about though, I just know how I like to shoot, and what I like. Everyone is going to be different. For me, shot A (someone I follow) is of far more interest than shot B (Flickr trending under Sunset).

Untitled192_2017 by Jonny Bell, on Flickr

Sunset colours by Oliver Kay, on Flickr

[Gari]

Like the top picture, shall go look him up. If you like that sort of thing go search Colin Flannery Graham, his early stuff on 5x12 of the Oregon/Washington coast is amazing.
I pretty much shoot as Daniel with my digital gear. Full on spot meter etc on the(now exceedingly rare occasion) large format.

[jameso]

I can't add much: I've got the MkI, which is slightly different, but I think the +3/-3 scale is the "Metered Manual" (Is it marked with an [M.M.] icon?)

If so, it shows you the difference between the exposure that your manual settings would give, compared to the exposure that the camera would set. I guess that it will only be active in fully manual mode, and is the nearest thing that you'll have to a traditional light meter (adjust your settings to get the marker to the '0' reading if you want to match the metered exposure).

Thanks, this all makes sense. Had a play around with the settings, the MM scale / guide etc .. it's clicked, or at least the basics of the balancing act has.

The diagram's good Daniel - kind of what I'd figured from the tips above and experimenting. Getting somewhere..

Greg, totally agree - element of abstract or creative is really interesting in the top pic, the lower is a bit too super-real. Technically good though, I'm sure.

[danielgroves]

Hell if know what I'm talking about though, I just know how I like to shoot, and what I like. Everyone is going to be different. For me, shot A (someone I follow) is of far more interest than shot B (Flickr trending under Sunset).

Untitled192_2017 by Jonny Bell, on Flickr

Sunset colours by Oliver Kay, on Flickr

Gotta be shot A for me there as well. I have a loathing of over-processed HDR-type images, but that's subjective. Some people probably think what I do is over processed, but compared to many I shoot with I'm very refrained.

Sharpness is a funny one, I only worry about it shooting landscape, anything else I don't give a toss. I tend to work landscape in a very slow and methodical way though, unlike other shots which tend to be very spur of the moment, point click, hope. Trust the camera.

[thenorthwind]

I think you have to be carefully when comparing those two shots, both thinking about what the photographer was trying to achieve and what you want to achieve with your own photos.

Both of those shots were presumably taken as "art." The top one definitely so.

When I take photos its usually (particularly when bikepacking) to document an experience or a journey, preferably in an attractive way, so my photos are more likely to look like the bottom one (in content, not in PP approach, I hasten to add), not to create a piece of art that stands on its own, like the top photo (though if that happens it's nice, and sometimes it does).

I should point out I prefer the top shot, and it is more unique (I've seen a million beach sunset photos). But even someone with as little PP experience as myself could probably take the RAW file from the bottom image and make a nice, natural looking image that serves as a memory of (let's say) the sunset over the beach, just before bivvying on said beach, probably as part of a set of images from that trip. That's the sort of thing I'm aiming for when I take the camera out on the bike.

Think about what you're trying to capture with your photos as well as how you're capturing it.

[benp1]

John, when you're doing the 365 photo thing, are you uploading the photo everyday? i.e. plugging in the camera to the laptop everyday?

[JohnClimber]

John, when you're doing the 365 photo thing, are you uploading the photo everyday? i.e. plugging in the camera to the laptop everyday?

I post up in one main 365 Flickr group which does allow (I'm an admin) up to 7 photos at a time to be uploaded and no more, so a 2 week holiday would take 2 days to upload to it.
Others are very strict and only allow 1 a day, so you miss one and you fall behind, but I don't stress about these.
I'm also on a closed 365 FB group which helps.

So yes I try and upload each and every day, but a lot of shot on time photos are simple un edited camera phone shots which are easy to upload without the laptop.

The hardest part of photo a day is getting into the 4th and 5th month, then November is tough with little light and work, work, work. Then it's hard to get the motivation to do a 2nd year. After that it's almost impossible to give up.

Here's last year I even managed to capture the legend Mike Hall in one of them https://www.flickr.com/photos/25655510@ ... 3059582865