Photography How did you learn photography?

[Greg Shchepanek]

I think you did get into it fast as its interesting field to explore. You also made some friends here as well

Yes, I've made a lot of new friends here and in an FB group I frequent I was referring to my education and mentoring back in the 90s. Those guys, the professors and the photojournalists were harsh critics, both in terms of technique and content. I'm not a proponent of negative reinforcement, but one thing it did leave behind was being demanding on my own work. I always see things that could be improved. I remember in the film days it would take hours in the darkroom to come up with a set of exhibition quality prints. I don't miss film one bit. The people (the hipsters) you see with Nikon Fs round their necks who tell you that analogue looks different and "nicer" or "retro" are talking out their backsides and more often than not know nothing about images with a full range of tones (using the zone system).

I miss the art of processing film, I use to have the darkroom in one of my washrooms and I would develop all my Black & White and especially Infrared film ... I miss the art and work we use to do

 

[CA Madhu Ramaswamy]

I too am self taught. From my childhood, I was always attracted to the nature and it's beauty and would spend a lot of time admiring it but had no clue of photography then. My interest towards photography was mainly after watching some movies in which the lighting, colors, DoF, PoV, picturization, etc., (ofcourse, didn't k now all these terms then) just inspired me to try my skills. I once took some photos using a simple point and shoot camera and the otuput was very encouraging. Post that I tried my hand with Canon EOS Rebel, Film SLR camera with a standard lens and a telephoto lens gifted by my brother. It proved to be quite expensive considering it was a film camera and the results of my experimentation would only get revealed after getting the positives. The other disadvantage to this was not knowing the specs/info of each of the photos that I had shot using that camera. The positive of that was I started getting better in managing the camera by improving on my hand stability, ideas on how close you can get to the subjects, my main learning with this approach was the understanding of 'Lighting' which is the key for photography. My first upgrade to a digital SLR was Canon 20D. With this I did a lot of experimenting using the auto mode with various subject shots like landscapes, portraits, closeup shots, sports mode, night shot, etc., the biggest advantage I saw with this was the info section and the output immediately available for you to see. I later started using that information of how the camera decides on it's own in setting up few specs, like ISO, aperture, shutter, exposure values and then started experimenting on my own using the manual mode of Av, Tv, M, C, etc., Even today, I experiment a lot using this technique with only one additional thing which is lens. Today I own a Canon 70D along with the 20D and the EOS model, 10-22mm lens for landscape/wide angle photography, 100mm mcaro lens for all my close up shots, 50mm f/1.4 for portraits, 70-300mm lens for wildlife and far distance shots, 18-55mm and 35-80mm standard lens. All my knowledge on photography today is basis trial and errors. Surely not a professional in this art but have been recognized with some global recognitions for some of my shots in couple of photography forums.

 

[Jack]

I too am self taught. From my childhood, I was always attracted to the nature and it's beauty and would spend a lot of time admiring it but had no clue of photography then. My interest towards photography was mainly after watching some movies in which the lighting, colors, DoF, PoV, picturization, etc., (ofcourse, didn't k now all these terms then) just inspired me to try my skills. I once took some photos using a simple point and shoot camera and the otuput was very encouraging. Post that I tried my hand with Canon EOS Rebel, Film SLR camera with a standard lens and a telephoto lens gifted by my brother. It proved to be quite expensive considering it was a film camera and the results of my experimentation would only get revealed after getting the positives. The other disadvantage to this was not knowing the specs/info of each of the photos that I had shot using that camera. The positive of that was I started getting better in managing the camera by improving on my hand stability, ideas on how close you can get to the subjects, my main learning with this approach was the understanding of 'Lighting' which is the key for photography. My first upgrade to a digital SLR was Canon 20D. With this I did a lot of experimenting using the auto mode with various subject shots like landscapes, portraits, closeup shots, sports mode, night shot, etc., the biggest advantage I saw with this was the info section and the output immediately available for you to see. I later started using that information of how the camera decides on it's own in setting up few specs, like ISO, aperture, shutter, exposure values and then started experimenting on my own using the manual mode of Av, Tv, M, C, etc., Even today, I experiment a lot using this technique with only one additional thing which is lens. Today I own a Canon 70D along with the 20D and the EOS model, 10-22mm lens for landscape/wide angle photography, 100mm mcaro lens for all my close up shots, 50mm f/1.4 for portraits, 70-300mm lens for wildlife and far distance shots, 18-55mm and 35-80mm standard lens. All my knowledge on photography today is basis trial and errors. Surely not a professional in this art but have been recognized with some global recognitions for some of my shots in couple of photography forums.

That's long story, but thanks for sharing it with us. I would say that we all learn from mistakes and still trying the best to achieve the imposibile. Photography has no limit, you always ca do something new.

 

[Bihari]

I bought the first camera 3 years ago only for holiday purposes photography didn't bothered me until I bought my first macro lens in January 2020 since than I learned with experimenting (clicking a lot xD) also always asking or looking forward for building criticism or suggestions (I get most of it on this site and Instagram) .

Jack of course I love it I sold my Nikon D5300 to buy this 13 years old Nikon D700 this is the best camera what I ever had. ( Some thing is magical about this old brick the pictures are just pleasing my eyes ) if you have some extra time you can check it on YouTube somebody said this is the first Classic DSLR xD

 

[Bihari]

I bought the first camera 3 years ago only for holiday purposes photography didn't bothered me until I bought my first macro lens in January 2020 since than I learned with experimenting (clicking a lot xD) also always asking or looking forward for building criticism or suggestions (I get most of it on this site and Instagram) .

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[MinitecaPhotographie]

I've learned macrophotography by myself. Just look at some YouTube videos to learn basics of photography and after I've made some test and training by myself.

 

[Jack]

I bought the first camera 3 years ago only for holiday purposes photography didn't bothered me until I bought my first macro lens in January 2020 since than I learned with experimenting (clicking a lot xD) also always asking or looking forward for building criticism or suggestions (I get most of it on this site and Instagram) .

I will definitely need to check. What's the most important, is what you can achieve with the camera. By tye way, gorgeous photo

 

[Jack]

I've learned macrophotography by myself. Just look at some YouTube videos to learn basics of photography and after I've made some test and training by myself.

I think the most basic is to understand what are iso, shutter speed, and aperture, and from there you can try different ways of taking pictures. Also understanding the limit of the lens and how to trick it too.

 

[MinitecaPhotographie]

I've learned macrophotography by myself. Just look at some YouTube videos to learn basics of photography and after I've made some test and training by myself.

Exactely

 

[Jack]

I've learned macrophotography by myself. Just look at some YouTube videos to learn basics of photography and after I've made some test and training by myself.

Experience comes with practicing and learning.