Topic Wiki

Quick tips on random subjects that come up in between classes (will add as we go along):

Food photography tips
Newborn photography tips

Table of Contents (I'll change each line to a link as we go along.)

Introduction

1) Choosing a camera: Point and Shoot vs. Mirrorless vs. DSLR
2) Camera specs: What do they mean, and which ones matter to me?
3) Exposure Basics Part 1 - the shutter speed/aperture/ISO triangle
4) Exposure Basics Part 2 - getting to know your mode dial, and other exposure controls
5) All about memory cards
6) Using ultra-wide lenses





Lenses 101 - technology, terminology, and specs, zooms vs. primes, basic/advanced/unique lenses

Lighting 101 - focusing specifically on easy to afford and easy to use setups
Small flash - on camera, off camera, modifiers and accessories
Studio strobes
Continuous lighting - fluorescent, LED, and halogen
Basic light modifiers - umbrellas, softboxes, gels, reflectors
Basic supports - lightstands, umbrella brackets, backgrounds, etc.

All about accessories - memory cards, tripods, bags, filters, remotes, adapters, grips, geotaggers, and more)


So I bought all my stuff - now what?

What makes a compelling photograph?
Depth of field
Composition basics - rule of thirds, perspective, framing
Advanced composition - negative space, inclusion and exclusion, compression
Light - natural, golden hour, basic flash usage.

Let's start shooting...

Kids:
In the park
Playing sports
At home

Landscapes and wildlife:
"Grand" landscapes
"Intimate" landscapes
Seascapes
Waterfalls
Cityscapes
Wildlife
Birds in flight
Shooting in bad weather

Portraits:
Babies and newborns
Single person - indoors
Single person - outdoors
Families/siblings/groups
Natural light
Artificial light - simple
Artificial light - complex
Mixed light

Others:
Close up and macro
Product photography

How do I...? (Some specific scenarios/techniques - Basic)
Shoot out of a plane window?
Shoot underwater?
Shoot compelling black-and-white?

How do I...? (Some specific scenarios/techniques - Advanced)
HDR
Long exposures
Light painting
Twilight landscapes
Milky Way
Star trails

Basic editing concepts:
Exposure
Contrast
Clarity/sharpening
Color
Layers and masking

Poll

What type of camera do shoot with?

Point & Shoot - basic (Canon Elph style) or Smartphone
122 (36.9%)
Point & Shoot - advanced (Canon S100 or G Style)
52 (15.7%)
Mirrorless
26 (7.9%)
DSLR - consumer (Up to a Nikon D5200 or Canon Rebel)
74 (22.4%)
DSLR - prosumer or pro (Nikon D7000 or Canon 60D and up)
29 (8.8%)
P&S, but I plan on getting an SLR or Mirrorless in the near future
28 (8.5%)

Total Members Voted: 275

Author Topic: Learn Photography Master Thread  (Read 357904 times)

Offline Work-for-ur-muny

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1020 on: September 17, 2015, 09:24:33 PM »
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-muse-see-visual-guide-to-photography-settings/
Nice. All covered in great depth in SF's lessons but has the added visuals, which are a plus.

Online etech0

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1021 on: September 17, 2015, 09:30:11 PM »
Nice. All covered in great depth in SF's lessons but has the added visuals, which are a plus.
Yup. It's a pretty good "cheat sheet"
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

Offline csl1

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1022 on: September 26, 2015, 11:57:05 PM »
I'm looking for suggestions on purchasing/renting a lens for photographing the Swiss mountains. I already own the canon 18-135, 50 1.8 and Tamron 28-75.  I appreciate your responses.

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1023 on: September 30, 2015, 01:12:21 AM »
I'm looking for suggestions on purchasing/renting a lens for photographing the Swiss mountains. I already own the canon 18-135, 50 1.8 and Tamron 28-75.  I appreciate your responses.
I was there 2 month ago used a 12-24mm got some nice shots.

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1024 on: September 30, 2015, 01:23:58 AM »
I will be up early tomorrow and will try to shoot a nice sunrise shot. (I have a beautiful view here) so to confirm,  in order to get a nice shot so the entire sky should be nice and colorful I should lower all three?

Offline Chdayshc

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Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1025 on: September 30, 2015, 02:39:48 AM »
Sorry everyone if I'm posting in the wrong thread. I'm wondering if any professional photographer(s) can chime in on which websites are the best to print from. I'm looking for professional quality Not shutterfly, snapfish ect... Thank you all

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1026 on: September 30, 2015, 08:16:30 AM »
Sorry everyone if I'm posting in the wrong thread. I'm wondering if any professional photographer(s) can chime in on which websites are the best to print from. I'm looking for professional quality Not shutterfly, snapfish ect... Thank you all
I'm not a pro but IMO adarama pics

Offline Yikes2179

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1027 on: September 30, 2015, 09:04:18 AM »
I'm not a pro but IMO adarama pics
I am & I highly recommend adoramapix as well - I have done side by side comparison with snapfish & shutterfly and almost anyone can see the difference

Offline Chdayshc

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1028 on: September 30, 2015, 10:32:56 AM »
It looks like this place is Jewish ;) are you he owner?

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1029 on: September 30, 2015, 10:05:24 PM »
It looks like this place is Jewish ;) are you he owner?
It is Jewish owned and it is top quality. BTW if you tried snapfish and shutterfly, york etc. You may as well try artscow.com they are good for regular prints (it is a Chinese company)

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1030 on: September 30, 2015, 11:03:04 PM »
Nope not the owner 😀- i don't even really use them much anymore - i have one of the canon pixma pro 100 printers which I use

Offline otr114

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1031 on: October 02, 2015, 02:42:48 PM »
I recently bought the sony nex 5tl. I basically use it to take pics of my kids. The kit lens doesn't seem to get a great bokeh effect. Any recommendations of a reasonably priced lens that would be good for portraits?

Offline Iz

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1032 on: October 12, 2015, 07:31:57 PM »
I have a Rebel T1i. Lately the colors in the pictures are a little washed out. How can I correct this?  I have this problem outdoors. Thanks.

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1033 on: October 12, 2015, 11:11:30 PM »
I have a Rebel T1i. Lately the colors in the pictures are a little washed out. How can I correct this?  I have this problem outdoors. Thanks.
Tried changing lenses? A clean up on the lens and on the camera by the lens mount might do the job.

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1034 on: October 12, 2015, 11:20:07 PM »
Also see if your exposure compensation is set to a positive value. Very low positive settings will result in washed out colors, but not necessarily overexposure.
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Offline Iz

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1035 on: October 12, 2015, 11:37:30 PM »
Tried changing lenses? A clean up on the lens and on the camera by the lens mount might do the job.
Thank you for answering my question. I never took off my lens. Would it still make sense that this could be the cause?  What is the camera mount and how do I clean it? And how do I clean the lens?

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1036 on: October 12, 2015, 11:43:28 PM »
Also see if your exposure compensation is set to a positive value. Very low positive settings will result in washed out colors, but not necessarily overexposure.
Thank you for answering my question. The exposure is set to the middle option. I tried making it darker. The colors looked warmer, more yellowy.  Any other suggestions?

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1037 on: October 13, 2015, 01:27:23 PM »
Thank you for answering my question. I never took off my lens. Would it still make sense that this could be the cause?  What is the camera mount and how do I clean it? And how do I clean the lens?
I am not a pro, Something Fishy knows much more than me, but here is my 2 cents

It does make sense that you have to clean it. You would do so with a clean cloth and a drop of alcohol (when using alcohol the lens or the camera should be facing down so the liquid should not drip into the lens or camera). You can search up-head about cleaning the lens it was mentioned several times i think.

https://www.google.com/search?q=camera+mount&oq=camera+mount&aqs=chrome..69i57.3375j0j1&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8#safe=strict&q=lens+mount

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1038 on: October 13, 2015, 03:22:22 PM »
I am not a pro, Something Fishy knows much more than me, but here is my 2 cents

It does make sense that you have to clean it. You would do so with a clean cloth and a drop of alcohol (when using alcohol the lens or the camera should be facing down so the liquid should not drip into the lens or camera). You can search up-head about cleaning the lens it was mentioned several times i think.

https://www.google.com/search?q=camera+mount&oq=camera+mount&aqs=chrome..69i57.3375j0j1&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8#safe=strict&q=lens+mount
Thanks. I'll try it later.

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Re: Learn Photography Master Thread
« Reply #1039 on: October 19, 2015, 02:30:02 PM »
Has the issue of photo paper been discussed anywhere?

High gloss, glossy, semi-gloss, luster, matte; pro vs. regular

Which do I buy? Pros and Cons