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Just Getting into Photography - Page 3

post #31 of 38
3/7/11 at 6:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rickytorson View Post
It is really amazing.I don't really understand the advice to just shoot. There's a tradition in all art disciplines (from painting to writing) to study the works of the masters - whether that's sketching a Caravaggio at a museum or pulling a Hunter S. Thompson and re-typing The Great Gatsby.

Yes, but you wouldn't suggest to a 7-year old to read Thompson when she just learnt how to read and write. Same thing applies here; learning from others is key, but when you don't have a clue what they're saying there's no use in trying to learn from them. Basics first.
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post #32 of 38
3/8/11 at 1:04pm
Check out the forums over at dpreview.com

Great feedback/advice most of the time.
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post #33 of 38
3/8/11 at 6:31pm
photography-on-the.net/forum
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post #34 of 38
3/8/11 at 7:03pm
Quote:
Yes, but you wouldn't suggest to a 7-year old to read Thompson when she just learnt how to read and write. Same thing applies here; learning from others is key, but when you don't have a clue what they're saying there's no use in trying to learn from them. Basics first.
Yes, basics. Like learning to 'read' photographs and learning about controlled experimentation in technique. It is, to me, complete insanity to tell someone interested in becoming a better photographer not to study the history of photography and how to make images.
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post #35 of 38
3/9/11 at 9:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by milosz View Post
Get a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 to go with your 50mm.

Learning only with a short telephoto (as the 50mm becomes on a DX body) would be a challenge.

Yes - it's a handy focal length but something wider than 50 is very useful - it will allow more experimentation with perspective for a start.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TRINI View Post
The Nikon 35mm f1.8 is also a great DX lens.
+1
Quote:
Originally Posted by JLay87 View Post
What do you mean "to go with" my 50mm lens?

And what is a DX?

It's useful to have a wide range of focal lengths - for interiors you'll certainly need something wider.

DX is the sensor size, the D300, D200 and all of the non-professional bodies use the small DX sensor. The D700 and D3 use an FX sensor which is close in size to a 35mm film frame. In the old days of film 50mm was considered a standard lens, with 35mm the start of wide-angle. If you put a 50mm lens on a DX body it becomes the equivalent of a short telephoto (around 75mm) - basically just multiply by 1.5.

If you want an inexpensive route into trying the effect of different focal lengths look at used manual Nikkors - the 24mm/2.8 AI, 28mm/2.8 AI and 35mm/2 AI are all available secondhand relatively cheaply and work well on DX bodies and FX (dearer but giving you a little more width is the 20mm 2.8AI which works well on DX bodies, but isn't great on FX).

To see how telephotos work, both the 135mm/2.8AI and 200mm/f4 AI are very cheap and give useful focal lengths on DX sensors.

I've got modern AF lenses as well as manual nikkors, but tend to reach for the manual nikkors much more often.
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post #36 of 38
3/10/11 at 3:33pm
get a gf that looks hot and then all your pics will gain more admirers and you'll be addicted to making more of them (serious).

nobody appreciates photography unless the person has HDR'd the crap out of it, or there's a hot chick in it.
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post #37 of 38
3/10/11 at 4:35pm
start a 365 project where you post a photo every day on some blog/facebook/whatever

it forces you to take a lot of photos, think about future ideas, put those ideas into action, and want to improve your skills

DX means crop sensor right? then the 50mm would become more of a portrait length lens which i don't find very useful for anything outside of portraits. a 35 would complement it well. i love 35 on both crop and full frame

50 1.8 is great for indoors though. you'll have to pay much more for 1.4 or 1.2
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post #38 of 38
3/15/11 at 5:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JLay87 View Post
BTW here's some photos I took last night and today.





For the day photos I was messing around with a manual white balance a bit in these, too, but the colors seem to have turned out great.

Opinions? Criticism? How crap are these?

From the ones I have quot3ed these two are my faves. Top one has an anoying distraction on the left hand size and could do with more dop (higher fstop).

The second one could have been improved if you had got down and shot from a lower pov, more dop, and boost the contrast a touch in post in order to make all the branches stand out from one another a bit more.

Just $0.2
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