I'm sure I'm not the only amateur photographer on the HAMB who'd like to pick up some jalopy shooting tips from the big dogs who frequent this joint. For starters... - Do you use digital, film, or both? - What types of lenses do you use and why? - What do you wish you had known when you first got started? ...and anything else that might help a novice get on the next train to PhotosThatDon'tSuckVille.
I'll be watchin' this thread - my skills are "shakey" at best...But so far, so good - I just dove in with a digital (stock - no aftermarket parts yet), and started practicing. Whenever I have time, I just pick it up and shoot anything to play with different light, angles, effects, etc...So I'm started, but have a LOoooong way to go. Was talking to one of my editors about how I can only get one good action shot out of ten (at the drags), and he said not to feel too bad - National Geographic gets one out a hundred! My only advice: Don't do what I did - I just got enough info to be dangerous, then started shootin' at anything that moved. I shoud've gone to some classes to learn the basics first, THEN gone apeshit with the shutter...
well...I'll start it off with the simplest.... DO NOT skimp on film. You'd be amazed at what good film can do for you. I really like 100 for shooting black and white. 25 for portrait. Get a good tripod.
Get a good tripod.[/QUOTE] I was so afraid of old shutterbugs laughing at my "training wheels" that I put it off for a while. But once I got the tripod, I was finally on my way. And nobody has laughed yet. Good point. Any comments on getting action shots?
- Do you use digital, film, or both? I use both. Basically because I have other clients outside of the automotive world and digital is a necessary evil if you wish to compete and stay in business. I use Canon digital bodies, Canon film bodies, and a Medium Format system (6x7). - What types of lenses do you use and why? I only use the lenses that are made by the manufacturer (i.e. Canon body, Canon lenses.) My arsenal ranges from a 16mm-35mm F2.8 zoom to a 600mm F4. I use three lenses for the medium format camera. I use the high end glass for my other clients as well as automotive. When you have a long focal length lens with a very large F-stop (this means it lets in a lot of light and think reversed: F4 is large, F22 is small) this allows for compression of your subject. It allows you to knock out distracting backgrounds by using the larger F-stop. - What do you wish you had known when you first got started? How much people take advantage of younger photographer, creatives in general, when they are starting out. I would have also liked a complete lesson in Copyright registration and Copyright infringement. I will try to answer any other questions you might have...
Zonkola may have stepped out for a moment, but I'll be brave and ask: How did you get your start, Snarpeezel? Would you recommend college level classes, or private instruction, or what? How long have you been at it? And good point about copyright protection...
So much goes into it. I have done all my work with 100 - 400 black & white. I'll go 400 - 800 slide if I do color magazine work. I really like Kodak and Fuji C-41 black & whites. Really nice tones. I find Ilford too black and too grainy. I only use a digi for test shots when I'm out shooting if I have any concerns. Tripods, I never really use 'em. Slick Stix are pretty good. Try a mono pod. One legged thing. Works great for off the beaten path/rough ground. Big flashy cameras are a waste of money. I shoot on $300 Pentax manual with a 200mm and 80 mm lenses and a 20 year old Bronic med. format. Most importantly, learn compositon!!! Look at what you like and reproduce it with your camera. And pay attention to the sun. Can make you or break you. And believe it or not, a good bag to haul your junk around. Before I had decent camara bag, it would take forever to find what I needed. I've lost light/ subjects many times over that one. A good light meter and folding bounce board very helpful. Finally, practice, practice practice.
To answer the first question: My digital cameras are 1D MarkIIs, and I still use the EOS-1VHS as my film body. They are useful for everything that I do. If they weren't, I wouldn't be using them. The Mark IIs give a file size of 23.4MB. Biggest problem that I have is some of my clients haven't kept up with technology and my file sizes are too big. But, that is their problem, not mine... To answer the second question: I have been shooting for 18 years. I made the choice not to continue onto college and began shooting and assisting right out of high school. I worked for the major newspaper in the area (freelance) while assisting for corporate and commercial photographers. Good choice or bad choice not to go to college? I can't really say. It was basically "on the job training" so the experience was something that I would have never had in school. My mentor was a former Life and Sports Illustrated staffer. He was very important in my development. If I were you I would assist whomever you could (you can find out who are the good ones in your area), shoot as much as your finances allow, and don't be afraid to keep pushing. The creative field, like the people who build cars and are members of this site, is all about drive and desire. If you don't have that passion...
Thanks for the tips, lots of good stuff here. I'm making the jump from casual digital pocket camera user to somewhat more serious digital SLR guy. I'm a professional designer and veteran Photoshop Jockey, so I'm reasonably confident on the creative and post-production fronts. Learning how to make the picture in the camera match the one in my head, on the other hand, is fated to be my long, uphill struggle. Lighting, F-stops, Depth of Field, ISO, lens selection...These things I know next to nothing about. Say you're shooting a roadster outdoors on a sunny day in July. What time of day would you pick for the shoot? Would you use artificial lighting in addition to the natural sunlight? What lens would you use? Filters? Camera settings? Secret Jedi camera tricks? I'm not naive enough to believe it will all boil down to a simple formula and magically transform me into David Perry over the weekend, but a peek into your thought process would be helpful...
for motion pictures... If your standing I prefer to pan with what's moving. I like higher speed film and shutter speeds to get really crisp shots. When I want some grain I go with 800. But 400 is good. But personally. I prefer taking photos of moving objects while moving. Just a preference for me. I'm no pro...but I'm told I do pretty well for a fool with no training. Thanks for opening this topic up. I look forward from hearing from real pros. Oh...film...for color I really like Fuji or Kodak HD. For black and white, I'm a big fan of Ilford. fine grain 100 is awesome. Gets a really nice aged look to it that I like. Heavy contrast. Agfa is nice as well.
I studied photography in college mainly photojournalism. I supported myself through college shooting anything I could; I worked for a newspaper and freelanced a lot. Currently I don't shoot for money anymore just for fun. I shoot exclusively with Nikon products: digital and film slr's, and the same make lenses. I prefer Kodak T-max 100 film for black and white, and Fuji for color. I personally don't like doing black and white digitally, or through Photoshop. But love it for color. The best advice I can give is learning the basics, (iso, f-stop, composition) you can get this through a class or a book. There are some really good basic books for the beginners. After you tool around getting the basics down practice, a lot. Film/digital is relatively cheap so don't be afraid to use it. Another thing that helped me the most was getting feed back from people who know what they are doing. It helps if they are brutally honest. There are some web sites that you can post pics and get a critique. Someone said they only get one or so good pic per roll; don't be discouraged that is normal. It's easy to shoot several rolls and not get anything you like. One thing that was harped one me early was composition. You want the pics to say something. There is a difference between a snap shot and a picture, and that comes with practice. @Zonkola Say you're shooting a roadster outdoors on a sunny day in July. What time of day would you pick for the shoot? Would you use artificial lighting in addition to the natural sunlight? The best time to shoot out doors is late in evening or early in the day. It is called the golden hour bc the light is not as harsh. Mid-day sun is brutal, but some times you can't help shoot at that time. I'm a big fan of using flash outside during the day. A lot of times the mid day sun is pretty much over head and makes horrible shadows. Using a flash (fill flash) brightens up a pic and shows more detail. The flash is not used at full power during the day, some more auto matic cameras and flash can set a fill automatically. It takes some getting used to so you would need to practice. What lens would you use? I like to use a wide angle lens 20-35mm or a 50mm for something like this. A longer telephoto has a compressing effect of the image and probably would not be good for this situation. Filters? The only filter I use is a polarizer, it makes the colors richer Camera settings? These will vary because of amount of light, speed film (iso) and F-stop, if you're using manual settings about F5.6 is mid range. If you don't know much about F-stops PM me and I can break it down. Hope this helps you guys. If y'all have any questions let me know. Saulgoode
I've been told that alot of the magazines don't use digital film, maybe just because the printing is cheaper with the older 35mm film. with digital, they might have to use state of the art printing? sorry, this does not really help you, but it was an interesting point.
Some magazines do still use film. But the images will then be scanned in and manipulated for press. The old school traditional way is shoot a pic develop it get a size the designer wants for the pic then make your pic fit that size, print it out, then they would mount it on these boards, or paper. Then take the text lay it in, and put in the adds. Then it would go to press and he would handle it. Very few people do this now. Now you take a pic (film or dig) scan it (if film) manipulate it sent it to designer and they crop it or what ever digitally and then it's sent to printer digitally Saulgoode
i just know this because Hammer from The Horse asked me to send regular prints from 35 mm photos for my bike. I was astonished that he did not want digital photos on memory cards, since to me that would give you more ability to resize or touch up the picture. so i assumed that they, and then probably other magazines use old technology to print because it's cheaper or something. just my assumption.
SaulGoode - Thanks, that's exactly the sort of information I was hoping to get. I've been checking out a bunch of photography sites and just ordered the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson, which is supposed to be a good primer on the basic concepts. snortonnorton - Funny, I've heard that a lot of magazines and newspapers don't want to deal with film anymore. (And if they're using Quark or something comparable to publish, having native digital photos would be the cheapest option.) Perhaps it depends on the publisher and the subject matter. A friend of mine is an accomplished professional sports photographer, and he says that pretty much everyone in that corner has gone digital. It might be different for something like a fashion magazine, I don't know. Anyway, I'm hoping Shortbus and Hamilton will throw a few pearls of wisdom in our direction...
i know it's weird, here is an email quote i got from Hammer I have actually all the words I need, unless you want to add more. All I'll need is a tech sheet and photos. If you want to keep it simple, grab a 35mm camera, with an adjustable focus, and shoot the left, right, back and front sides of the bike, then again from a different perspective, some close ups and goof shots; shots of you riding having fun or if you have a girl, let her pose and have fun. You should be able to so it within 2 roles of flim. Let me know if you need help! Hammer" so The Horse does not use digital....... unless maybe the only want their own photographers using the digital? i don't know.. mystery to me. "
For basic composition google what is called the "rule of thirds" example site This is a photo forum with some cool stuff on it too, they do good critiques on stuff so those are good to read some times
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