Flugelbinder
Senior Member
Isn´t this the goal? Isn´t this the point of becoming better? Isn´t this why we learn about ISO, aperture, shutter speed, WB, etc?
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What do you think . . . u
- Thread starter ohkphoto
- Start date
Isn´t this the goal? Isn´t this the point of becoming better? Isn´t this why we learn about ISO, aperture, shutter speed, WB, etc?
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
I think it's one of the goals, but I couldn't possibly speak for everyone and say it's the goal. The goal is becoming better at your craft, learning and gaining mastery of something new as often as possible/practical. But every photographer's "craft" is a means to a slightly different end.
I love the digital darkroom. I love playing with light after the fact. I love redefining what is seen through the lens. And I realize that in order to do that I have to have an understanding of everything you mention in your list, but I by no means have to have mastery over it before I can make a great photo. I can fix light, but not always composition. I am a more rounded photographer by gaining mastery of these things, but not necessarily "better" by the way I might measure it (we can all judge others and point to flaws, even among lifelong pros - some people love to cut others off at the knees with criticism, but for me that's venom, not critique).
Photography is an art form with a multitude of facets, not all of which require the same skill set. Not every photographer needs a perfect, presentable exposure straight out of the camera. But every photographer needs a photograph that is as close as possible to a perfectly usable component of their vision. A macro photographer who relies on focus stacking cannot possibly share a photo SOOC. Someone specializing in HDR photography cannot express their art SOOC. Fashion and portrait photographers would never dream of giving magazines shots SOOC. But they all require good base photographs to start from.
So I get your point, and will agree wholeheartedly that understanding the components listed is absolutely critical to mastering your craft no matter what you shoot. But in no way could I ever express my photography without the digital darkroom, just as Ansel Adams couldn't without the film darkroom. Perfection with the press of the shutter button is something to aspire to, but good enough is the goal for more great photographers than you could imagine.
Helene, I think this is a great thread. Thanks for starting it.
I joined the forum last December. After being on it and checking it out, I decided I liked the idea of Project 365. I found it forced a level of discipline that was good. Although I have been involved in photography since my teens, I really do believe that participating in this every day this year really helped me grow as a photographer.
I switched from film to digital in 2010 when I bought a D3000. I just diddled around with it until I joined this forum. Participating in the Project 365 really forced me to push both myself, and my poor D3000. After a few months, I bought a D7000, and couldn't be happier. Ah, the danger of such forums: acquisition of "necessary" equipment.
This daily endeavour put a new perspective on the world around me. Some days I really had to stretch to get a photo, while other days, I could get a series of photos that told a story. It also helped me grow and learn my equipment, what it could and could not do, and how to get the image I wanted. I also learned a lot more about the software that I used to produce those final images. Most of the time is was just cropping and exposure adjustment. Sometimes, I really had to tweak things. It added a level of good discipline to my life. I never missed a day taking a photo, unlike exercise, which I missed a lot of days, HaHa!
Overall, I think participating in the Project 365 was a lot of fun and I plan on participating in it again in 2014. There are still a lot of different ideas I have running around in my head, including playing with camera-computer tethered software to see what it does, and whether it is worth the bother, kind of like the ancient way of taking macro photos with a bellows, lens, and old Leica M3. I loved moving from rangefinder to SLR, especially for macro stuff.
One thing I have done this year with my photos - besides posting them - is that I have them as my wallpaper and screensaver at home and at work. My students are fascinated with some of the photos and will ask questions about them. They think some of the photos are just plain weird, but that's okay because I am a science teacher, which means I can be weird as far as they are concerned.
I would recommend Project 365 to anyone who wants to give it a try. If you cannot take a photo a day, and can only do one a week, or whatever works for you, I say go for it. You will grow as a photographer, and see things in ways you never would have before. Even if you have been involved in photography for years and decades, you will still learn something, see something in a different manner, or just plain have fun with it.
Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking with it. Everyone, have a happy new year, and I hope the year is better than this year.
I joined the forum last December. After being on it and checking it out, I decided I liked the idea of Project 365. I found it forced a level of discipline that was good. Although I have been involved in photography since my teens, I really do believe that participating in this every day this year really helped me grow as a photographer.
I switched from film to digital in 2010 when I bought a D3000. I just diddled around with it until I joined this forum. Participating in the Project 365 really forced me to push both myself, and my poor D3000. After a few months, I bought a D7000, and couldn't be happier. Ah, the danger of such forums: acquisition of "necessary" equipment.
This daily endeavour put a new perspective on the world around me. Some days I really had to stretch to get a photo, while other days, I could get a series of photos that told a story. It also helped me grow and learn my equipment, what it could and could not do, and how to get the image I wanted. I also learned a lot more about the software that I used to produce those final images. Most of the time is was just cropping and exposure adjustment. Sometimes, I really had to tweak things. It added a level of good discipline to my life. I never missed a day taking a photo, unlike exercise, which I missed a lot of days, HaHa!
Overall, I think participating in the Project 365 was a lot of fun and I plan on participating in it again in 2014. There are still a lot of different ideas I have running around in my head, including playing with camera-computer tethered software to see what it does, and whether it is worth the bother, kind of like the ancient way of taking macro photos with a bellows, lens, and old Leica M3. I loved moving from rangefinder to SLR, especially for macro stuff.
One thing I have done this year with my photos - besides posting them - is that I have them as my wallpaper and screensaver at home and at work. My students are fascinated with some of the photos and will ask questions about them. They think some of the photos are just plain weird, but that's okay because I am a science teacher, which means I can be weird as far as they are concerned.
I would recommend Project 365 to anyone who wants to give it a try. If you cannot take a photo a day, and can only do one a week, or whatever works for you, I say go for it. You will grow as a photographer, and see things in ways you never would have before. Even if you have been involved in photography for years and decades, you will still learn something, see something in a different manner, or just plain have fun with it.
Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking with it.
Everyone, have a happy new year, and I hope the year is better than this year.I think the 365 is a great idea and I didn't do one this year because I wasn't here a full year but plan to attempt it this year. I can look back and see improvements in my pictures as well as post processing, which both still needs work.
I did create a photo journey so to speak after purchasing my D600 and found it very challenging to take pictures everyday and eventually failed at the everyday post. I am sitting here thinking, hum, you have to start this tomorrow are you sure you want to do this.
I know how Jake feels above as I got a compliment on our family pictures from my Father in Law, which was huge to me and I did a 3 other families pictures and they just went on an on. I would have never taken those pictures had I not challenged myself to take pictures of different subjects in my photo journey. I pretty much take only youth sports pictures, you have heard me say that over and over again, so I really want to do the 365 in 2014 and throw in some flash photography.
And Jake, you will be surprised when you take RAW+jpeg, I did that for several baseball tournaments and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Just make sure your processing profiles match between the camera and LR or PS, which ever you use. I had one set on vivd and one on another profile, took me a while to figure out what was going on.
Good luck to everyone
I did create a photo journey so to speak after purchasing my D600 and found it very challenging to take pictures everyday and eventually failed at the everyday post. I am sitting here thinking, hum, you have to start this tomorrow are you sure you want to do this.
I know how Jake feels above as I got a compliment on our family pictures from my Father in Law, which was huge to me and I did a 3 other families pictures and they just went on an on. I would have never taken those pictures had I not challenged myself to take pictures of different subjects in my photo journey. I pretty much take only youth sports pictures, you have heard me say that over and over again, so I really want to do the 365 in 2014 and throw in some flash photography.
And Jake, you will be surprised when you take RAW+jpeg, I did that for several baseball tournaments and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Just make sure your processing profiles match between the camera and LR or PS, which ever you use. I had one set on vivd and one on another profile, took me a while to figure out what was going on.
Good luck to everyone
Flugelbinder
Senior Member
I liked your answers, but I have to disagree, and I feel that many others also... I believe that most aspiring photographer will want to have their images "perfect" straight out of camera at some point. I do understand that is a very high expectation and most of us won´t even get close to that, but that´s where post production comes in use, when you can´t get the image you wanted... Just my very honest opinion, please, PLEASE, do not take this as a criticism!!! BTW, I´m sorry about the off-topic (again!!!)... I wish everyone a happy new year, full of wonderful photos
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ohkphoto
Snow White
You may want to check some of the other threads about "straight out of the camera" shooting. As far as your "disagreeing", it is really inappropriate here . . . every artist/photographer has a right to pursue his craft as he or she chooses. Again, the topic here is "how the 365 project helped your photography", not to debate "out of the camera vs post-processing." Please try to respect the theme of the thread and not provoke . . . intentionally or unintentionally . . . heated discussions.
Jake expressed how he wants to grow in his photography . . . his journey, his choice. You may choose otherwise, and we all would respect that.
No one ever states that a good author should be able to write a book from start to finish without the slightest proofing. Nor would would anyone expect a symphony to be completed in one sitting without a single revision. So why would anyone expect an electronic sensor to completely capture the very essence of what a photographer had in mind when he/she made the image? Unless the camera can read your mind, I don't see how it will ever produce the photographer's vision without any input from the artist.
ohkphoto
Snow White
I have really enjoyed reading everyone's comments and since tomorrow is January 1, and also a "new moon" . . . here's how I plan to approach 2014 Project365:
1. Since I started rescuing dogs, my camera fund is zilch. Also, I'm a little tired of lusting after lenses with a min price of $2000. I love my D2X, probably need to upgrade, BUT I've always said that equipment does not the photographer or artist make. I'm doing a lot of pet photography and don't always want to drag a big camera, especially with my tribe of terriers. I tried the iphone and ipad, and they're worthless in terms of capturing the "decisive moment." The little point and shoot is not much better. So, my Christmas present to myself was a Nikon 1 J3 to replace my point and shoot. It will give me a chance to explore mirrorless technology without breaking my budget. -- a one lens kit with SD card for $296. So this will be the camera I carry in my pocket.
2. I want to tie my photos into more themes and storytelling, so that will require a lot more planning, which I'm not very good with. My best photos are the ones that are planned, and places revisited. So, today, I'm going to think about and jot down all the "themes in life" that are interesting to me and that I want to explore in depth through writing and photography.
3. I really enjoy compositing photos . . . I want to get more creative there and create the kind of landscapes that show up in my dreams . . . luckily I don't have nightmares Ha! But that's my "artsy-fartsy" goal. . . for me this is really a kind of "playing."
4. I also want to focus on photographing the "ordinary" and seeing it from different angles. We all see the same kind of photos of the same scene . . . I want to learn how to see it differently.
So, there it is in a nutshell. Hopefully I won't have to post photos of a pepto-bismol bottle (was sick one day and it was the only thing I had strength to photograph). As all of you have said, whichever way you go, the important thing is to shoot as often as possible, whether it's every day or not, and as Jake pointed out, looking back over your work and deciding what worked and what didn't.
So here's to an adventurous 2014 . . . Cheers and Happy Shooting!
1. Since I started rescuing dogs, my camera fund is zilch. Also, I'm a little tired of lusting after lenses with a min price of $2000. I love my D2X, probably need to upgrade, BUT I've always said that equipment does not the photographer or artist make. I'm doing a lot of pet photography and don't always want to drag a big camera, especially with my tribe of terriers. I tried the iphone and ipad, and they're worthless in terms of capturing the "decisive moment." The little point and shoot is not much better. So, my Christmas present to myself was a Nikon 1 J3 to replace my point and shoot. It will give me a chance to explore mirrorless technology without breaking my budget. -- a one lens kit with SD card for $296. So this will be the camera I carry in my pocket.
2. I want to tie my photos into more themes and storytelling, so that will require a lot more planning, which I'm not very good with. My best photos are the ones that are planned, and places revisited. So, today, I'm going to think about and jot down all the "themes in life" that are interesting to me and that I want to explore in depth through writing and photography.
3. I really enjoy compositing photos . . . I want to get more creative there and create the kind of landscapes that show up in my dreams . . . luckily I don't have nightmares Ha! But that's my "artsy-fartsy" goal. . . for me this is really a kind of "playing."
4. I also want to focus on photographing the "ordinary" and seeing it from different angles. We all see the same kind of photos of the same scene . . . I want to learn how to see it differently.
So, there it is in a nutshell. Hopefully I won't have to post photos of a pepto-bismol bottle (was sick one day and it was the only thing I had strength to photograph). As all of you have said, whichever way you go, the important thing is to shoot as often as possible, whether it's every day or not, and as Jake pointed out, looking back over your work and deciding what worked and what didn't.
So here's to an adventurous 2014 . . . Cheers and Happy Shooting!
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RockyNH_RIP
Senior Member
Amen to that one Dave! I agree 100%... In addition, there are so many times even just the composition cannot be totally controlled...
The birds are in a pond, I can get no closer... I take the best I can get and crop
The image I envision has a power line in it, not wanting to cut it down, I get the best image and cut out the line in PP
Panning a flying bird... it will likely NOT be perfect composition... but we crop in and to rule of 3rds..
That is all on top of the artists vision that Dave & Helene were talking ....
And to keep it on Track... I will be doing a 365 almost.. I learned so much and am so grateful... Reason being
1. I need a break from the intensity (but I will take shots most days....)
2. I want to continue my growth as a photographer (and yes, have a ways to go) but I also want to develop a little better skills with my PP... Using LR5, Elements 11 and the NIK package. I find now that after working 10 hours a day, processing what I did shoot, eating supper, playing with the dogs... very little study time. I want to learn layers, NIK the rest of Elements and improve with LR (though that is an everyday tool..)
3. I feel a need to create some more time blocks that can be spent learning more in PP and speedlights etc...
I am not abandoning a 365 because I recognize the value... I just need to create some more study time out of what I have... I may take shots 10 straight days then miss 2 as I have a "project", whether a shoot or PP educating myself.
To those that have not done one... Well worth you to give it a try...
Pat in NH
(who knows, may come back next year like Helene and do it ALL again!)