I recently tuned into the CreativeLIVE weekend with Jasmine Star and tried to watch as many hours as I could stand. I’m not a wedding photographer, nor do I aspire to be at this point in my career ( i just said “career” and “photography” in the same sentences and I’m so laughing at myself.) – but there was a huge message in j*’s class and one of the key points was – K.I.R. Keep It Real.
So, I’m keepin’ it real. In case you missed the big announcements here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here (criminy, that’s a lot of heres. did you click them all???) – I’ve committed to 31 posts in 31 days in October… a series entitled 31 Days to a Better Photo.
And I remember what confused me when I was just starting out. What’s an f stop? How do I know which ISO to choose? What makes good composition? What about editing? Where do I focus? What should my settings be on?
But this series is for you guys. To make this series successful, to make sure you get what you want to learn out of it, I’d love if you would answer these questions for me in comments. It will help me gauge the need, topics and wish list from what you need to make you a better photographer.
I’ve outlined the posts, but if you want something specifically covered, now’s the time to get it on the ballot.
1. What is something you feel confident about with your camera?
2. What is something you don’t feel confident about with your camera?
3. Fill in the blank. I want to learn how to ______________.
4. I wish you would write a post about _______________.
5. I would be a much better photographer if only _______________.
6. The photographer I admire the most is _______________. (Links, please? help me out with this one and please don’t make me Google all these amazing photographers. Give ‘em some link love!)
Thanks! I appreciate you – if you think others want to weigh in on the series, too, please tweet or post this on your wall. The series is only as meaningful as the creativity, learning, and education you gain from it! So challenge me. I wanna hear it!
What do you hope to gain from spending 31 days here at m3b?
Finally – my last bit of K.I.R. – I’m kinda nervous. I got some screencast software (eek!) and I’m feelin’ like a pretend blog playin’ with the cool kids.
I have a great Nikon camera but I’m still not doing any settings manually. I would like to learn more about not using my flash. I wish you’d write a blog post about using slanted angles for photos and a bit about composition of a photo.
Iris Nelson is a wonderful photographer at http://www.eph2810.com/photography.
I’d love to hear more about white balance and how to color correct images. That’s one of my biggest struggles. I get this great shot composition-wise, but it’s usually way dark or the color is way off. Also, shooting indoors and getting proper lighting. I don’t like using my flash (the built-in one) because it’s so harsh. I need light, but a soft one.
Thanks! I’m looking forward to it!
I know absolutely nothing about taking pictures. I have Photoshop, but it’s not loaded onto my computer yet and I’ve never opened it. I would LOVE to be better at it, specifically zooming in really tight, yet keeping things in focus. Also, where do you stand on watermarking your photos and how do you do it?
I would be a better photographer if I . . . didn’t have such a crappy camera
I am confident about . . . aiming? I don’t suck at aiming it in the right direction
Specifically I would like to see a post about . . . the very first time user of Photoshop, or at least some book recommendations to point me in the right direction. And choosing a good camera that is not a bazillion dollars. Like around $300. If that exists. Or a flat out recommendation.
I know I am not giving you a lot to work with, and probably your target audience knows a good deal more than I. Nevertheless, I look forward to your series very much!
That’s a tough order to fill. You can find $300 cameras, but you usually sacrifice control to get it down in price. I’ll do some homework and see what folks here say, too.
But, it’s a great idea – this is real life. Not everyone has eleventy billion dollars for photo equipment.
Girl… load that software!
I am soooo looking forward to this. Seriously your questions in your post about when you were starting out are mine. I have recently been learning about these things…f stop, shutter speed and such, but it is still a bit tricky…not second nature and I really would love it to be. I am also really curious about editing….lightroom vs. photoshop…the whys and hows.
I personally love to take pictures of people, mainly my family. I have seen many stunning photos with both point and shoot cameras as well as SLRs…this leads me to believe that an amazing photo is more than the camera alone, it is a relationship between the camera and the one using it. I am not an auto mode girl so I would love to learn how to make my camera rock in manual mode….lol!
“this leads me to believe that an amazing photo is more than the camera alone”
You nailed it, Michelle. More to come on that, for sure.
1. I am confident about composition and using the automatic features on my DLSR (Canon Rebel xsi) and the flash, when to front fill, etc. And about macro photography.
2. I do not understand what to do when the sky is whiting out on me. Examples: sky in real life is blue but it comes out more like white on the photo. This may be a darker shot in of a forest with some sky peeping out.
I also don’t like it when I’m photographing a sunset with a deep orange sun and darker deep sky colors and the image comes out with a pale yellow sun and very pale pastel skies nothing like what I see with my eye.
3. I want to learn how to make the sky look like it does in real life (deeper or darker colors).
4. I wish you would write a post about light and the blue sky and sunsets.
5. I would be a much better photographer if I finally learned more about the manual setting and used it instead of mostly relying on the automatic setting.
6. The photographer I admire the most is Eliot Porter.
Thanks!
This is a vote for exposure. Exposure effects color, so I’ll do my best to cover it. And if you’re shooting auto, your camera won’t ever guess that really tough lighting situation correctly. That’s a job for manual exposure settings.
I love kelly’s work :: http://www.kellylangnersauer.com/blog/
And Stacey Haines :: she’s not a blogger, but her website is nice – she’s local to me
http://www.staceyhaines.com/#a=0&at=0&mi=1&pt=0&pi=1&s=0&p=-1
And also Alexa :: http://alexasphoto.blogspot.com/ She’s a friend in real life and a great photographer.
And of course you and your man, but I guess you don’t count.
love.
bummers … did ti internet eat my post? Will repost it … delete if it ends up being a duplicate ::
I am confident with aperture and exposure.
I am NOT confident with shutter speed.
I want to learn how to correctly capture movement … instead of getting BLUR.
I wish you would write a post about how you efficiently and in an organized manner HANDLE your photos … do you place them in folders by months, do you backup, do you rename them so they are all in numerical order, do you make sub folders according to experience, location, etc?
I would be a better photographer if I wasn’t so dang shy. I am NOT bold and need to change that.
I admire Stephanie Roberts (http://www.littlepurplecowphotography.com/) and Picky Cook (http://www.etsy.com/shop/pickyphoto) .
Hey Darcy, This is going to be so great. I really really REALLY need this. I am in such a rut with pictures right now. I shoot in manual and am pretty confident with all the settings on my camera (or at least I think I am until someone shows me something else that is new to me). I get really frustrated lately though, probably because I have found myself trying too hard to take *the perfect* picture instead of just getting the picture. Some issues that bug me that I’d love to know how to get rid of in my photos:
-i’ve been getting a lot of images that aren’t fuzzy but also aren’t really sharp
- everything looks pretty good in the photo but eyes are dark
I also really really hope you’ll be doing some photoshop tutorials. I just got it and have no idea what I am doing. I have a feeling a whole world awaits me when I start actually editing the pics I take.
xoxo
Em
I just bought a screen casting program that I hope will allow me to offer more tutorials in Photoshop. Now I have a month to figure it out!
Hi Darcy,
I’m a relative newbie to your site (and your twitterfeed) and have been enjoying both so far.
Luckily I’ve had time to get acquainted with my new camera and am fairly comfortable with the main settings (in theory anyway!). I did want to ask, though:
- do you use the histogram? I always hear that this is invaluable and some photographers say they barely even look at the playback image, all the need to know is in the histogram. I just don’t really get how these things work!
- how do you keep inspired with photography? i love taking photos but go through phases of finding it really hard to see things with fresh eyes any more, especially in my local area. And then I see some lovely photos of simple things like a weed growing out of a pavement and think ah! I could have done that! What are your inspirations?
Thanks so much! Can’t wait for October!
Kat (SaysKat on Twitter)
x
I do use my histogram – and my color histograms, too. I’ll talk about why/how I use it. It’s not nearly as hard as it seems at first glance.
Great questions!
I want to learn to remember to do all the things I’ve learned. (That might just be the hardest part!)
I want to shoot in manual more (I’m taking a class in September from Faith at Simplicity. Hopefully I can learn to shoot in manual. Period. But then my October goal will be to do it more.)
haha … well you will laugh, but I just don’t understand all the lingo! I have a Canon Power Shot SX10 IS … it’s not an SLR but still a decent camera.
I am confident taking outdoor pics. {esp beach ones}
I am not confident taking indoor pics.
I want to learn about figuring out my settings on my camera and how to get the best lighting.
I wish you would write a post about …. how us newbies can get the most out of our cameras without too much fuss/time. What editing program we could use that isn’t expensive/difficult/time consuming. I use Picasa, it’s free and nice but it’s not as nice as many things some of you pros use.
I wish I had more time to just learn, practice, etc … I just feel like life is so busy it’s hard to get the time to do it all.
The photographers I admire most are:
a personal friend, Jen — http://www.jenniferbach.com
and a blog friend, Heidi — http://www.mthopeacademy.blogspot.com
Thanks!! ~~Kathy K.
I love Heidi’s work, too! She’s one of my favorite eye candy blogs.
There seem to be lots of requests for lingo. I’m on it!
Okay heres mine. The most irritating thing in the world. Sometimes my camera won’t focus unless I hold it up to a far off place and let it focus, THEN and only then can I focus on the macro at hand. WHY??!?!??!?!!?
Seriously not expecting an answer to that but I figured there might be some trick I don’t know about.
Sheri – What camera are you shooting with?
That’s not a usual behavior. Does this happen a lot or only when you’re ready for new batteries?
Night shots! Night shots! Night shots!
That is what I always look for in online courses, workshops and of course this! I don’t feel confident taking shots at night. Sometimes I can figure it out, but honestly its all by accident. And most times I might as well be taking a picture of sandpaper.
A great night shot is here, 2nd shot from the bottom: OMG: http://voltronofawesomeness.com/imported-data/2010/8/23/marty-jodee-paso-robles.html
And besides the photog above Clayton Austin takes my breathe away: www.http://claytonaustinlovestories.com/blog/
Toni – You need to take Kent Weakley’s class! Check out his link in my sidebar. I’m taking it, too!
Yeah, that is oh-em-gee good.
here’s the corrected link for Austin’s site: http://claytonaustinlovestories.com/blog/
1. What is something you feel confident about with your camera? I can set the right light in Aperature and Programable Auto-
2. What is something you don’t feel confident about with your camera? The right settings for Aperature and Shutter Speeds
3. Fill in the blank. I want to learn how to: Take soft-lovely portraits of my children.
4. I wish you would write a post about : Posing your subjects for portraits or do you use a flash when taking photos at night-inside?
5. I would be a much better photographer if only : I was more creative–it only takes inspiration.
6. The photographer I admire the most is : A young local Photographer, Stacy, I admire from afar–www.capturedintime.com Her shots are so soft and beautiful–she really brings the insides out in her portraits. Lovely!
I think I do really well with composition and cropping. Color adjusting, I don’t get at all. Any general principles I can plant in my head would be awesome.
Is it really the camera, or how I use the camera that makes photos look good? Or is it all photoshop? My $200 Kodak camera takes awesome outdoor photos, but indoors they all look like crappy snapshots. Yellow, blurry, or overexposed if I use the flash.
I still don’t get what is f-stop and ISO settings, and what they have to do with each other. and how the heck do I modify it with my camera. I probably need to look more into the manual for that answer. I’ve never taken a photography class so everything I know is accidental.
A new technique I just learned about is taking 3 identical shots with a tripod: one normal, one overexposed, one underexposed; then laying them all together for a single photo that covers the whole color spectrum. I forget what it’s called. But you might want to talk about that if you know anything about it.
HDR. Multiple exposure is a fairly advanced Photoshop skill though since it involves masking. CS5 will fake it for you. Crazy, right?
Lots of interest in indoor shots. I’m adding a day just for it.
I’m so looking forward to this….I have mucho to learn!
I’m confident clicking the button to take a picture.
I’m not great at taking pictures in the right modes….auto is my best friend or enemy. I’d like to learn about Actions also, I’m clueless. I love Emily from Wink fotos http://www.winkfotosblog.com/. She just did my brothers weddings, she taught my son and I a bit.
1. What is something you feel confident about with your camera? Using the Auto Focus! Seriosly, I just got a new G-11 and the book is hard to understand!
2. What is something you don’t feel confident about with your camera? ISO, f-stop, manual focus…I’m hoping you will hold my hand with some baby steps.
3. Fill in the blank. I want to learn how to take really pretty and cool pictures.
4. I wish you would write a post about Camera Terminology 101.
5. I would be a much better photographer if only I could better understand lighting.
6. The photographer I admire the most is _______________. (Links, please? help me out with this one and please don’t make me Google all these amazing photographers. Give ‘em some link love!) I like Ree’s pictures on http://thepioneerwoman.com/
1. What is something you feel confident about with your camera? Picking it up and using it on automatic setting. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.
2. What is something you don’t feel confident about with your camera? Everything.
3. Fill in the blank. I want to learn how to I want to know about f/stops, ISOs, composition, lighting, etc.
4. I wish you would write a post about lenses. What the numbers mean, which ones a casual photographer needs.
5. I would be a much better photographer if only I learned about everything I don’t know.
6. The photographer I admire the most is _I’m really looking forward to this. I don’t have favorite photographers as I’m just getting my brain wrapped around photography. I watched some of the Jasmine Star’s live stream last week and was facinated.
Oh – and I don’t understand how to crop for print. That confuses me.
Here is a photographer that you will absolutely love, trust me, she is amazing!
http://cravemyphotography.blogspot.com/
1. What I feel confident about with my camera – not much. My camera is just a really good point and shoot, and I do get some great pics, but most of the time I feel like it’s more luck than skill.
2. What I don’t feel confident about – low light situations…mine always look grainy. Boo.
3. I want to learn how to use my manual settings on my point and shoot.
5. I would be a much better photographer if only…I had a dang fine camera like yours! Or maybe just a little more knowledge. : )
Thanks so much for preparing this awesome series. I found you via the Nester and I’m so excited for the 31 days series to begin!
I got a Nikon D70 last year and I love it, but unfortunately I still take 99% of my pictures in auto mode. The pics turn out well, but I wish I knew how to take my pictures to the next level when I’m just starting out! I also wish I knew what to tweak when I want to try something in Manual mode. That scares me just typing it!
The photographer I most admire is Erin McFarland Phototgraphy. http://www.emlifephoto.com She is simply amazing and I had her natural talent. She is a dear friend and I wish I could learn all her secrets by being around her, but it’s just not happening.
Something I am confidant in- that I can take a “good enough” photo for people to like it!
I dont feel confidant in using manual settings… I want to learn how to actually use my DSLR. and understand what all the stuff means. ISO, F stop, etc. and how it affects my photos and WHY its important.
I think I would be much better if I understood my camera more and could adjust my settings to match what I am visualizing in my head.
I would also love a post about editing. post processing. whatever you want to call it. I love to see before and afters- it reassures me that those gorgeous colors and light arent always au natural.
oh- photographers I love?
Kelle Hampton at http://www.kellehampton.com
and a real life friend of mine-
Mike Leland at http://www.mikeleland.com
why am I not supposed to use a flash, and composition.
awww your one of the coolest kids i know out here in this big crazy place called blogland
1. What is something you feel confident about with your camera? turning it on? lol shooting in priority mode. i hardly ever take it off this setting.
3. Fill in the blank. I want to learn how to shoot in manual mode, so far, um, not so good.
4. I wish you would write a post about white balance.
5. I would be a much better photographer if only i would read my manual (don’t think you can help with my laziness though
* I feel confident about trying new things with my camera…well, new for me. How can I learn if I’m not willing to try something outside of my photo comfort zone?
* I don’t feel confident about the technical side of photography. Or the jargon, for that matter. I also struggle with low-light photography.
* I wish you would write about different lenses. What kind is the best for what situation. Which ones are great basics and which are for specific needs.
*I would be a much better photographer if I knew some photography basics.
*Post-editing, actions, layers, etc. all elude me. Help!
Great idea, Darcy! Looking forward to learning!
i”M SO GLAD you asked this question. i was just telling ruthanne the other day, the day we went to the splash park and then later my kids were on the news and appeared to be alone at the splash park while in the background the announcer talked about the escaped convict that had been spotted in the area that very moment. but, i digress. i was telling her i’d really like a tutorial on how to make an action for designing cards. i’m creating some christmas cards for my clients and wouldn’t it be neat if i could record an action that would ask me to open a folder and pull in a photo and it would pop it right in there the right size and everything.
welll, that’s my question. aren’t you glad you asked?
I am sooo looking forward to this experience. Thanks for taking this on!
I am pretty confident with the manual setting and how to use f-stop and shutter speed to get the image you want (I still make mistakes, but can figure out how to fix it).
I would like to better understand metering modes and how to use them with real situations and examples.
I would love to learn more about night photography.
I wish you would include a post about flare. Specifically exercises/instructions of how to acheive proper exposure and focus on subjects while getting that wonderful haze and flare.
I think I would be a better photographer if I could improve the focus/sharpness of my images. I really want to strive for those “tack sharp” images. I use my tripod when sharpness is a real concern (longer exposures) but it would be so great to hand hold and get sharper images.
Some of the photographers I look to for inspiration are:
Fabiana Beatriz – http://www.FabianaBeatrizPhotography.com
Marta Locklear – http://www.MartaLocklear.com/blog
Why isn’t it letting me insert a link here, grrrr. So sorry.
My finger is tired now from all that scrolling to get to the bottom. ; )
Kudos, to you for taking on this big task! As a fellow friend and amorous learner, I would love to know what’s on your list of “I want to learn…”?
For me right now it’s learning how to bring out the best in the people I am shooting…and that goes so much more beyond the techy side of things. I would love to know how you mentally prepare for a shoot.
Good Luck tackling this bear. Your amazing Darcy and everything you put your hand to comes out exceptional. Thanks for sharing your time and talent.
1. I feel confident about turning off the flash. I hardly ever turn it on and, when I do, I’m fortunate enough to have a Speedlight that I can angle to bounce off the ceiling for a more natural looking light and it makes a huge difference!
2. I DON’T feel confident with M. Manual Mode! EEEKKKK!!!
3. I want to learn how to “find the good light”.
4. I wish you would write a post about white balance. What is that? Geez. Layman’s terms, folks. Talk of “white balance” , to me, is like listening to a group of old, muttering men arguing about politics in a foreign language underwater. “Uh,…squeeze me? Come again?”
5. I would be a much better photographer if only I could take a class/had more time to practice/had a tripod/had a 50mm lens.
6. The photographer I admire the most is Donna Boucher.
I’m SOOOO excited about this Darcy!!!
here’s my responses:
1. What is something you feel confident about with your camera? shoot manually
2. What is something you don’t feel confident about with your camera? metering
3. Fill in the blank. I want to learn how to : when portrait shooting, I’d love to know how to get my subject to look natural, loosen up and smile – do you tell jokes, act silly….this is something I’m REALLY struggling with. Posing would be another topic….I know the rule if it bends, bend it…..but I go out to shoot and I’m stumped!
One last one – Metering….I understand what it means, but I don’t understand exactly HOW to do it- I know how to use the little bars inside my viewfinder…but I don’t always get it right.
4. I wish you would write a post about – everything I just listed in the last question lol
5. I would be a much better photographer if only – I knew how to edit better…..I’m SOO slow at editing.
6. The photographer I admire the most is – I have MANY – but here’s a few http://www.bobbiandmike.com/blog/ http://beckyearlphotography.com/blog/ http://freshartphotography.com/ http://kristendukephotography.com/
I’m looking forward to this. I wold like to learn how to work in difficult lighting situations. Inside and outside. I just figured out how to turn the flash down to the lowest brightness. I had no idea I could do that. Now i can use my flash indoors along with my manual settings and not have the subject blown out. Its those kind of little tricks I would love to find in you tutorials.
Dana
Oh I absolutely CAN’T WAIT for this.
I’d love to learn how to use online photo editing software, like Picnik, at a higher and more efficient level. I don’t have the money for Photoshop, so I need to use what’s available to me in my price range.
I’d also love to learn some real photography basics. F-Stop, Depth of Field, composition, lighting & flashes.
Also? How to use different lenses the best way. I have a few, but I feel like I’m using them all wrong!
I want to learn a lot, can you tell?
My favorite photographer is Jeremy Cowart.
http://www.jeremycowart.com/
http://jeremycowart.tumblr.com/
Totally do not get shutter speed & do not venture into the manual mode.
I do not have $$$ for Photoshop so love to know all the other programs that are not so much money.
I watched some of the Jasmine Star (do you think that is her real name?) thing to and enjoyed it. When she was calling out what she was shooting in (ISO and all that jazz) I was so confused! How in the world to you get to the point where you shoot like that. Get me there girl!!!
My favorite photographer in Greensboro is Andrea Halsey http://www.andreahalsey.com. You would really like her work Darcy. She has advertised with SEEK. I love how she gets the eyes! Howe do you do eyes like that????
I would also really like to know about lenses. That seems really confusing to me. Knowing which lens to buy and use. I only have the 18 – 105 that came with my D90 and I don’t know which lens to get next. I really like Macro photography. That would be a good topic to talk about…macros.
Love ya gurl!
Okay – everything they’ve all said……along with an explanation of white balance using words that contain no more than 4 letters; some ideas on how I can get that darn focus to be sharper and direction on using a flash effectively.
Thanks Darcy – looking forward to it
1. What is something you feel confident about with your camera? Composition. Does that count?!
2. What is something you don’t feel confident about with your camera? Metering
3. Fill in the blank. I want to learn how to…shoot awesome pictures in direct, harsh sunlight.
4. I wish you would write a post about…how to get crisp focus with inexpensive lenses. I can’t afford to buy the “good” stuff!
5. I would be a much better photographer if only I knew…all the above!
1. What is something you feel confident about with your camera? Using AV mode.
2. What is something you don’t feel confident about with your camera? Using Manual mode.
3. Fill in the blank. I want to learn how to use flash in low lighting situations, but don’t want the pictures to look too harsh.
4. I wish you would write a post about exposure compensation.
5. I would be a much better photographer if only I knew how to pose people and get better at unique compositions.
6. The photographer I admire the most is… there are too many so I will just link a few here:
http://olivejuicephoto.com/
http://www.adriennegunde.com/
http://sarahkchen.com/
http://www.christiancruzphotography.com/blog/
http://www.simplybloomphotography.com/
thanks so much~!! looking forward to october!
I have the 50mm 1.4 lens. A great one I know. But I am not using it very well. I keep going back to my 55-250mm zoom. I understand how the aperture works, but get confused when shooting something at a longer distance. Take my current sweet shot (the second photo)—it is not sharp. It is in focus because it is on a tripod. I did not set my aperture correctly I am sure. Also, when I was first learning to use my camera I read, turn your flash off. Since then I have not been using a flash. But I know that in some cases a flash is a great tool. So Darcy, how do I use a flash?
Thanks!
Cannot wait for this series.