How do I start picking up Photography as a hobby?

[VinnyQ]

Since we have a lot of photography hobbyists around, got any advises? Such as what cameras to buy, what to look for, what makes good photographs, what do you care about when snapping those pictures, what do you get out of it, etc.

[Quailman]

I think a lot will depend on what you want to photograph. Landscapes? People? Wildlife? Distant galaxies? Naked women with donkeys?

I can hook you into some good advice on cameras for bird photography if that's your goal. As for what makes good photographs, try

http://www.silverlight.co.uk/tutorials/toc.html
http://www.rosengren.net/photo/basic.htm
http://www.best-family-photography-tips.com/basic-photography-tips.html

I found all these by googling "basic photography".

[Lepton*]

Use a digital camera, so you don't have to worry about processing film, and take pictures.

[VinnyQ]

Thanks. That rosenggren site looks nice.

Why would you need different type of cameras for taking different kind of pictures such as Landscapes vs People vs Wildlife?

[VinnyQ]

[Chuck]

Everything has already been photographed. Just download them from The Internet.

[VinnyQ]

Then what would I do when I travel to other countries? I don't want to be just a tourist!

[Dented Ford]

I'm not *any* kind of expert so feel free to flame me for even commenting here...
But, the advice from Lepton strikes me as excellent.
If you are interested in "picking up" photography as "a hobby" then I believe the most important thing must be to get an idea of how to distinguish *what* makes a good composition. Lenses and F-stops and apertures and ASA ratings and all that malarky can wait until you have a feel for what will make a good picture from the content and composition.
The balance of light/dark, colour/contrast, detail/background, etc/etc framed in a photograph is the important thing - in the end you might improve the overall quality by using a performance film in an SLR, but that's irrelevant in the process of trying to develop an eye for framing a good shot. Even perhaps *forget* the camera for a bit, and just look around, get a feel for what you think you would like to see in your mind's eye from the surroundings. Switch on your artisitic filters on your retina before you even think of picking up the camera, and think about what sort of picture you are trying to create or capture. Try and look for different perspectives, thought provoking scenes, patterns in everyday objects to which you normally don't give a second glance or thought.
Then frame a picture in your mind's eye, then frame a picture in a digital camera's viewfinder. Take *lots* of pictures with a digital camera. Sure you will maybe feel that a "proper" camera would have improved that "otherwise perfect" shot with a digital camera - once out of 100 or even 1000 shots. Never mind... the process of thinking about what you are pointing the camera at and reviewing the 1000s you are able to take with a digital camera will help develop your critical insights into objectively analysing your own pictures. Then you will probably have decided the sort of pictures you like to compose and have a better idea of which specialist SLR to go for.
Oh, and have a look at Bambi Phoenix's photography (see Dragon Phoenix's thread in this forum and check out the way she generally tries to find a "different" view to an everyday scene)

[Lepton*]

Exactly, Mr. Ford. The most important thing is what's in the picture, and a talent for good composition is something that you cannot obtain in any way other than practice, being creative, and trying new things.

There are some theories for what makes good composition (balancing sharp colours, the rule of thirds, and giving the eye something to follow) but if you follow those too strictly you'll end up with the same picture over and over again, so it's probably best not to concentrate on them.

I'm feeling sort of bad for the snarky reply earlier, so I'll explain one of these ideas. I beg your indulgences if this isn't new to you...


Here is what the typical eye will do when looking at this picture. It's pretty much an unconscious thing, but fairly common, I think.
1. Start from the bottom. That's the piece "nearest" to us, and the most immediate.
2. Follow any obvious lines. In this case, the garden path draws the eye up and to the right, then the left, and then back to the right again.
3. This exposes the eye to the flowers on both sides of the trail and keeps the eye interested in the image.
4. Where the trail ends there are some trees. Interestingly, a leafy tree and a clump of evergreens.
5. The leafy tree is a bit brighter, so my eye comes back to it. Then I move upward again and look at the cloud in the sky.

By keeping my eye moving around the image (Van Gogh's 'Starry Nights' is fantastic at this) the painting is maintaining my attention and I am exposed to all the details.

[extro...*]

Hold the camera upside down. Seeing everything upside down in the viewfinder throws off your analytical right brain, and the left brain - your artistic side - takes over. Don't listen to your right brain while doing this. The right brain is a control freak and will try to trick you, saying things like: "that doesn't look upside down". Don't listen to it.

[Jack_Ian]

[extro...*]

[Quailman]

[VinnyQ]

Thanks Ford and Lept.

[Dented Ford]

Not just point and click, of course. But get a digital camera and use it to practise composing the shots. If you have creative ideas and then take lots of pictures incorporating those ideas, 1) reviewing in the viewfinder and 2) reviewing the digital image that was captured, you will begin to develop your own thoughts about what makes a good picture. The point is that you should do all you can to develop these creative insights.
"Your dad" could have the fanciest camera equipment in the world and "a photographer" (or even just "a person with a creative eye") could have a cheap digital camera. Who will take the better picture?

[jesus_saves]

[Dented Ford]

Well thank you J_S.
Anyway, from a practical point of view too, getting used to trying things out on a digital camera is going to be *enormously* cheaper than hobbying with a "proper" SLR. That means that it will be easier to dare trying things out and just seeing what you can come up with.

[Jack_Ian]

[Lepton*]

I would like to pick up some of the girls at Jack_Ian's link as a hobby. Does anyone have any advice?

[VinnyQ]

the h****?

It is now an OLYMPIC SPORT!?

How is it even a sport? and how does the competition even work?

[Jack_Ian]

[Jack_Ian]

[VinnyQ]

I ended up doing "Photoshoppy" instead

Stuff I thrown together over the year. These are all from my personal photos stock, gimped.

[Dented Ford]

I *really* like the high contrast partial silhouette in profile, third one down. Very good effect.

[austinap*]

The most important thing is taking pictures -- but don't just keep snapping pictures of everything! You need to train your eyes to see where there's potential for great photos, and then you need to learn how to capture the image you see in your mind's eye. Look at art (not necessarily photographic art) and try to figure out what makes a certain image appealing to you.

If you want reading material, www.kenrockwell.com and www.photo.net have some pretty good reading material and the latter has a helpful forum.

I'd suggest starting with digital of some sort as you don't have to go through the work of developing everything you shoot, and you have the reward of instant gratification. You'll also save a ton of money by not buying film.

Eventually you'll need to figure out the technicalities such as getting the right exposure, bokeh, fast/slow lenses, depth of field, lighting techniques, etc. For that you'll probably want some sort of decent SLR. You can find tons of reviews on the net, so I won't bother to post any here.

In any case, the thing to remember is that it's about the photo, not the camera. Better cameras just make it a little easier to adjust critical settings, have better resolution, faster response time, etc. It might be slightly more work, but you can make great images from crappy cameras. For testimonial to this, check out http://photo.net/photodb/presentation?presentation_id=317651

I'm starting to put some from my summer travels online at www.photo.net/photos/aapitcher/ if you're interested. Good luck!
-Austin

[luminous]

If you're just starting out and want to do nice things with a nice SLR camera that isn't horribly expensive, I'd recommend the Canon Digital Rebel XTi (super easy to use, you can buy a very decent kit [although kit lenses are less than optimal] for a reasonable price). The Nikon D40 is about the same and runs around the same rate. I'd go to a camera store, demand to see both, and then just pick which feels best in your hands. An important part of photography, I think, is trusting your camera and thinking of it as an extension of yourself (that's where good photos are bred)... and you can't do that if whatever you end up buying is clumsy or awkward feeling.

I love Canon. I've shot Canon ever since I became a "professional" (har har) photographer and have never once thought about switching to Nikon (although I have heard great things about the D3). I just find their design and cameras to be horribly awkward — outside of point-and-shoot — and I know quite a few people who agree with me. Go to a football game and check out the sidelines: all you see are long white lenses. Yep. Canon.

What kinds of things do you want to photograph? People? Animals? Food?

[mps1453]

Is Cannon the best type of camara that you like? I know I have one, though I use it just for family gatherings. Also, is there anyway to speed up the waiting time once you take a picture? Everytime I try to take a picture, it seems like it would take 5 minutes before I could take another one because it was trying to load.
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