On 1/27/2011 7:31 PM, Larry Colen wrote:
I won't claim to be better than you, but I do think that am better than I was two years ago when I joined this list.
Well, I will claim to be worse than you, but I do think I am better than I was 9 years ago when I joined this list /wink/.
The concepts that I'm working on are the differences between being better at taking photos, taking better photos, and looking to other people like you're a better photographer. It seems that on one hand you don't want to miss any good shots, but on the other hand, you don't want to keep any bad shots, or less than great shots.
If you're talking of me, it is probably related to me being rather perfectionist and also lazy. So I'd rather strive to take few great shots so as to save time (lazy) having to pick out the best ones (perfectionist) from many of them.
As to becoming a better photographer, it would be interesting to read what other people do to improve their skills. Here are some things that I do.
I am all ears... Err... Eyes, that is.
One exercise that I like is to go out photographing with a lens that is "too long". When taking photos my natural inclination is to compose it so that I don't miss anything that might be important. On the other hand, I try to photograph detail shots, where I don't care if I miss something that might be important as much as that I cut out everything that isn't important, or anything that isn't pretty. I live in an area with a lot of natural beauty, but which is difficult to photograph, because there is also a lot that isn't pretty. Interestingly, one thing that taught me to do this was spending a couple of weeks shooting primarily with my 20/1.8.
I don't quite like the "long" lenses. I find that personally I often miss out something important of the context or otherwise worthy material "outside" of my frame. In fact, I find that 35-75 mm of E.F.L. is just about right for me.
Another thing that I do when photographing a scene is to think about how various people on this list would photograph it. There are several people on this list that are experts at one type of photography, and while I can't call them up and ask for advice, I can think about how they have photographed similar scenes.
Indeed. I cannot say that I am not being affected or influenced by certain PDMLers whose names I will omit although it won't be too difficult to guess their identities.
I've got my own stylistic themes that I also try to keep in mind. I like to juxtapose different objects, preferably incongruous objects. I also try to keep in mind my theory that photographs are like sentences, the best ones have both subjects and verbs.
Here you beat me fair and square. I am only starting to consciously look for specific classes of motifs.
To look like a better photographer, I'm working on my skills at throwing out a higher percentage of my photos. One thing that helps is to have someone else look through and rate my photos, that way it's harder for a photo to get multiple thumbs up. You can't do this with too many people, because the best pictures seem to be the ones that some people love and others hate.
You're not lazy enough, Larry...
I'd love to hear what other people do to either take better photos, or to become better photographers. I need to learn what other people do to look like better photographers.
Presently I just take pictures. What I also try doing is to review my own pictures from distant past (not like those shot a month or two ago), say at least a year. I also have come to realize that my first encounter with new "field" is often far worse than any ones that follow. So, I am trying to be patient and whenever possible re-visit the location or the motif.
I've also found that shooting with prime lenses, thereby fixing the possibilities of angle of view, makes me shoot somewhat better, not by much but still, than with zoom lenses. Although recently I've noticed that I seem to have passed that specific obstacle and presently I am not having any issues with shooting zooms, which I am doing very often now.
That said, I don't have any particular goal (such as going semi of fully commercial, etc) in my photography. So I just take pictures for fun and pleasure.
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