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  1. #1
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    Post your best photography tips.

    This isn't a question so I figured it fit here best.

    This thread is for you to post the best photography tips you have picked up while shooting, no matter how minor (I assume we can avoid the most basic composition rules though) or obscure.

    I have picked up two since posting in the critique forum.

    1) When shooting a full moon use the sunny f/16 rule. (Don't remember who posted that one.)

    2) "...they say cloudy weather really brings out the colors." (polarbeardiggers referring to the colors of the trees in an Autumn picture of his.)


    We can either quote the person before and just keep adding to the list to make the full list of tips easily accessible (maybe bold/italisize the one(s) you added), or just post them individually - I'll let the next poster decide :thumbsup:.
    Feel free to edit and post any of my photos as part of your critique.

    Nikon D60
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    My Photos

  2. #2
    Senior Member Dylan8i's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    getting a bad picture is better than getting no picture.
    check out my photography website
    http://dylanschneider.zenfolio.com/



    Please feel free to edit or change any of my pictures to show me how to improve them.



    Nikon D200
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    Nikkor AF-S 18-135
    Nikkor AF-S 60mm macro 2.8
    Nikon 70-200 2.8 vr
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    Kenoko extension tube set
    SB-600

  3. #3
    Drive by shooter susaan's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    "Go back to auto mode,concentrate on composition,learn the rules,then try manual again,when you understand the basics"

    "Slow down"

    "Find a mentor"

    All good advice given to me,at various times,this year.

    " Got Soul, but I'm Not a Soldier "
    The Killers

    “ Make no judgments where you have no compassion ”
    Anne McCaffrey

    " If you wish to know what a man is, place him in authority.'
    Yugoslav Proverb

  4. #4
    Spamminator Grandpaw's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    I think one very important thing to do before going out each time to shoot is to check ALL the settings on your camera. After taking the pictures I want I tend to experiment in changing the ISO level, white balance, light compensation plus or minus and other settings. I have done this before and forgot to reset then back before shooting the next time and have caused myself some problems.

    Another thing to do is to get familiar with what your camera is capable of doing and learn how to set the camera to get the results you are looking for. Knowing what your camera is capable of but not knowing how to get it done or not being able to remember due to lack of practice will always hold anyone back, Jeff
    Check out my website Here
    My Nikon D7000 Tips thread is HERE

    All images posted by me anywhere are Copyrighted by Federal Law and may not be copied or used in ANY FORM without my personal written permission. Jeff Impey
    "I decided years ago I was only going to have two types of days... Very Good Days or just Plain Good Days I just refuse to have Bad Ones!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

  5. #5
    Sports photo junkie jorgemonkey's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    1. When wondering whether to stop & take a picture of something, go for it.

    2. After a shoot, reset camera settings to your "normal" settings

    3. So you charged your batteries last week. Day before the big shoot, stick em all on the charger just to be sure.
    Nikon Samurai #21



    Cameras:
    D700
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    Nikon 35mm F1.8, 35 F2, 50mm F1.8, 70-200 F2.8 VR
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  6. #6
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    My two tips are questions.

    How many 1/250th of a second exposures ... can you do within a 1/60th of a second?

    ,,, and if you added the exposure times together, of all of the exposures that you have taken, how many seconds of your life have you actually captured?

    Shoot heaps.

    Warren.

  7. #7
    Spamminator Grandpaw's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    Quote Originally Posted by Wild Wassa
    My two tips are questions.

    How many 1/250th of a second exposures ... can you do within a 1/60th of a second?

    ,,, and if you added the exposure times together, of all of the exposures that you have taken, how many seconds of your life have you actually captured?

    Shoot heaps.

    Warren.
    My D80 will shot 3 a sec so in 1/60 i would say one shot, It depends on the FPS of the camera, Jeff
    Check out my website Here
    My Nikon D7000 Tips thread is HERE

    All images posted by me anywhere are Copyrighted by Federal Law and may not be copied or used in ANY FORM without my personal written permission. Jeff Impey
    "I decided years ago I was only going to have two types of days... Very Good Days or just Plain Good Days I just refuse to have Bad Ones!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

  8. #8
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    Awesome advice, especially returning your settings - I can't tell you how many times I have shot an iso 100-200 picture at iso 800 because I never set it back/checked.

    When shooting a sunset, drop the exposure a couple ticks to exsentuate (?) the colors and further sillhouette the foreground.
    Feel free to edit and post any of my photos as part of your critique.

    Nikon D60
    Nikkor 18-55mm
    Nikkor 55-200mm

    My Photos

  9. #9
    Co-Moderator, Photography as Art forum megan's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    --buy a Holga.
    --if you say to yourself, "Wouldn't it be cool if..." Do it. Try it. Because it might be cooler than you think. Or it might be cheesy. And then you'll know.
    --Don't be afraid of mistakes, learn from them.
    Megan

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    Twitter: @ponycargirl

  10. #10
    has-been... another view's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    Don't squat with your spurs on.
    Always drink upstream from the herd.

    Yeah, OK - shoot a lot, but analyze your results and decide why it worked or didn't work. Go back a few days or a week later and look again. Was the shutter speed too slow? Not enough depth of field? Try it again. Shooting a lot is important, but have a reason why you're doing it.

    Look at the light. Quality, quantity, direction. Learn how different light looks when photographed (i.e. overcast vs. sunny vs. somewhere inbetween, etc) and where different subjects might benefit from different types of light. Good photographic opportunities don't come around that often, be ready for them when they happen.

  11. #11
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    Know your light, what time of day and year. Understand what you are doing and why, do anything you feel without apology...
    "I don't like lizards", Frank Reynolds.

    "At one time there existed a race of people whose knowledge consisted entirely of gossip", George Carlin.

  12. #12
    Senior Member Jimmy B's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    These 2 stand out
    All ways check your strap
    All ways check your settings
    One that I would like to pass along
    Be able to set up your tripod and camera in the dark if you can't you may miss the shot.
    Jimmy B

  13. #13
    Senior Member jetrim's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    One I stumbled on recently...

    When you resize your photo for display on the web, sharpen or resharpen the reduced image before saving.

    Number one complaint I see in the critique section is that images are "soft" (and not just mine either LOL). Hitting sharpen once or even twice before saving seems to do wonders for getting an 800 pixel wide image to more accurately represent the 4500+ pixel original.

  14. #14
    mod squad gahspidy's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    Alot of good ideas and tips here.

    Always remember to bring with you in your bag, some spray paint, hack saw, chain saw, dynamite, ladder, wirec cutters and swiss army knife, so that you can manipulate the landscape to look picture perfect!
    Well, maybe not. . . .

    I notice from being on these forums a few years now and reading through many comments that quite alot of photographers, especially those just starting out usually just shoot one or two shots of a scene or subject that they found worthy enough to shoot.
    I feel it is important, in addition to your checklist of technical settings and so on, to attack a scene or subject with many shots varying your settings and compositional approach.
    When I come upon a scene, I will hit it at least 3-12 times varying my perspective and framing of it. Many times I may change lenses as well and hit the scene with different focal lengths. Looking back on the images later also becomes a great learning tool in comparing the different compositions and effects of varying focal lengths.
    If you see something you like , and you stop and take only one shot, then I think your cheating yourself of the potential within that scene.
    there are many times when you only have that one shot chance, but by learning from looking back at what works and what does not in your past shoots will help you nail that one shot deal with better results.
    please do not edit and repost my photos


    gary


  15. #15
    Senior Member danic's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    Frame the shot with your view finder, lower the camera away, then frame the shot again and see if there is anything different.
    danic



    George Zimbel: Digital diahhrea is a disease for which there is a simple cure. Take one frame of a scene. It is exquisite training for your eye and your brain. Try it for a month. Then try it for another month…then try it for another month…..


    RedBubble

  16. #16
    Powder River Imaging EOSThree's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    Photograph the light.
    Last edited by EOSThree; 10-15-2008 at 05:36 PM.
    Rule books are paper they will not cushion a sudden meeting of stone and metal. --Ernie Gann--
    What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. --Oscar Wilde--

  17. #17
    Senior Member Dylan8i's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    oh heres another good tip!


    don't try to take pictures with a blender, it just won't work, and you may end up losing an eye: always use a camera.
    check out my photography website
    http://dylanschneider.zenfolio.com/



    Please feel free to edit or change any of my pictures to show me how to improve them.



    Nikon D200
    Nikon D7000 w/grip
    Nikkor AF-S 18-135
    Nikkor AF-S 60mm macro 2.8
    Nikon 70-200 2.8 vr
    Nikon tc-17eII
    Kenoko extension tube set
    SB-600

  18. #18
    Viewfinder and Off-Topic Co-Mod walterick's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    Shoot the weather
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Post your best photography tips.-flw-1.jpg  
    Walter Rick Long
    Nikon Samurai, Mamiya Master, Velvia Bandit


    Check out the Welcome Thread

    My photography on Myspace

  19. #19
    has-been... another view's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy B
    All ways check your settings
    Reminds me of another - have a standard "zeroed out position" for your camera. For me that usually means Matrix meter, aperture priority, f5.6, single point auto focus. Whenever I change any of these modes (spot meter, manual exposure and focus, etc) I try to remember to "zero out" the camera before I move on.

  20. #20
    Senior Member freygr's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    Make sure you have a camera with you most of the time.
    GRF

    Panorama Madness:

    Nikon D800, 50mm F1.4D AF, 16-35mm, 28-200mm & 70-300mm

  21. #21
    Moderator Didache's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    Just two tips from me:

    a) MOVE YOUR BUTT! We have all seen people with their mobile phone cameras just holding them up where they are and taking a snap of something that caught their eye. This is fine, as far as it goes. But watch a GOOD photographer, and he/she will move around to get the best angles, to get closer/further from the subject, to attain the best composition. The best picture you will take of something is almost never from the first angle you see it from.

    b) TURN OFF THE AUTOMATIC MODES! Good creative photography involves a knowledge of the effects of aperture, shutter speed and iso. A photographer will never REALLY learn how these work unless they bite the bullet and turn off the auto modes. It will be painful at first, but within a couple of weeks these things will become second nature - and then he/she will be able to handle different light, control depth of field, and all the other factors that go into making a really good image.

    Cheers
    Mike
    Last edited by Didache; 10-16-2008 at 10:34 PM.
    Mike Dales ARPS
    My website: www.mikedalesphotography.co.uk

  22. #22
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    When it comes to motorsports and aviation photography, I'll repeat what many have said, "If it moves, shoot it". Remember though, slow those shutter speeds down, if you can see any of the cars wheels, they must show some movement. When you shoot planes with props, do not shoot any faster than 1/250, or 1/320 if your at the pylons at Reno.
    A photo so sharp you can see if the pilot shaved in the morning, is a bad photo if the prop is frozen.

  23. #23
    Analog Photographer, Digital World Axle's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    Don't be afraid to walk up to people, and stick a lens in their face at events. Capture the moment, the expression, the emotion. Sometimes posed shots just don't cut it for that.

    Always shoot in Colour on your camera, you can always make it b/w in software later.

    Always keep your original files separate...never save over them.
    Alex Luyckx | Photography
    Capturing Beauty in Everything

  24. #24
    Fluorite Toothpaste poker's Avatar
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    Re: Post your best photography tips.

    Take your time looking at photography done by the best of the best. Literally sit there and analyze it for a very long time.

    Never stop shooting.

    Print and frame your best....appreciate your hard work.
    Canon 5D MKII & Canon 7D

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