rocco Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I was talking to a very creative photographer last night that was willing to give me some advice. He was all over the "you don't need to have the best gear or be the best technician to achieve a top photo" (I likey him already )..... just get out there and do it and find your style. He uses fixed lenses 99% of the time. His advice was to learn a lens inside out first and all its capabilities and boundaries. When you know everything you can about that lens move on to your next. :rolleyes: I went through my photo's and realised I like character portraiture as you can see in my work (Rocco's work). This is my interest, be it dogs or humans. I dont want cute and fluffy, I want unusual and this is where my interest lay and I guess my style. But he got me thinking. So my questions are: What is "your style" of photography? What do you like to achieve, interest you and why? What is the lens that most suits your style or you like to use the most? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruthless Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I really like portraits too, and my 50mm is my fave lens at the moment. But I'm only starting out, so that could all change :rolleyes: I don't really have a style yet I don't think. Unless saturated colours and vignettes are a style! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke GSP Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I really like portraits too, and my 50mm is my fave lens at the moment. But I'm only starting out, so that could all change :rolleyes: I don't really have a style yet I don't think. Unless saturated colours and vignettes are a style! I love candid portraits. preferably with little eye contact but plenty of personality. I find a good zoom helps as the subject tends to be oblivious to the fact that you are taking a picture and hence doesn't pose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 dunno yet, still trying to learn how to use my camera. I love the 50mm with that shallow depth of field that captures personality in their eyes but I also love and have yet to capture the intensity and emotion of the chase. I couldn't say it's my style because I haven't achieved it yet but it is the reason I bought my camera. Although I find as I am learning more, I am wanting more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruthless Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I love candid portraits. preferably with little eye contact but plenty of personality. I find a good zoom helps as the subject tends to be oblivious to the fact that you are taking a picture and hence doesn't pose. Or a Canon 135 f2 L :rolleyes: Someday ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chloes Dad Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Thanks for posting this. I think i get sucked in to all the techy stuff and I over think a lot of things and therefore miss a lot of natural creativity trying to stage the perfect shot. I set up the camera the other day for my neice and she just wondered into my back yard and took shots i would never dream of. things like creative crops of the weeds growing ove the back garden tap??? and they were great! (and no she is never touching it again!) I have made a bit of a commitment to understanding the gear I do have rather than dreaming about the stuff i want :rolleyes: I have probably spent more time looking at lenses than looking through them! I wrote off my kit lens as a cheap plastic piece of rubbish (because i read it was...) but when i look back through my pics some of my faves are with that lens. I love it at the wide end and it is fantastic on the tripod for landscapes and slow exposure night stuff. As for style well..... I dont think i have one and im cool with that at the moment. I love trying new things and seeing what works. I have done landscapes long exposures action stuff portraiture flash stuff low light soft stuff. Im still playing I guess. I love doing all the action dog stuff but this is one area where i do think my gear falls a tad short. As for finding my style I have been a graphic designer for ten years and only in the last couple could i see a style emerging. And it ebbs and flows with what i think is cool at the time and what I see my peers and people i respect doing. The thing I actually find hard now is not gong for my default style and trying something new..... Luckily i have a-hole clients with horrible briefs that challenge me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubiton Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Action photography - a few years the final horse event for the main part of the royal was a race between the clerks / red coats and the holden car doing a relay up and down the arena. Absolutely fantastic best event of hte whole show! Was fun to watch and photograph after a week of being very precise to get the right pose, right stride etc and this was just reel off the pics at a flat out gallop. OR the victory gallop at the Adelaide International Horse Trials - best bit of the whole competition those 3 or so laps just spinning and taking pics as they gallop by. And of course racing - parading up to the start and then the finish. Posed shots can come out so well but its all very technical and things have to be placed right or the ones where you have to get the right stride but again very techinical. Even jumping is techincal you have to get the right moment and this you have to know you cant just press the button and hope you get the right shot even with 6 or so frames per second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 What a good question. I am not sure I have one yet, but I am working on it. I think my goal is to capture the natural energy of life. I'm not sure I need a specific lense for this, each of my 3 lenses offer something different, but all should be able to achieve the style I am aiming for I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocco Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 Wow lots of great responses and doesn't it make you think what style you want or maybe you are already doing you just haven't realized it yet. I know I will never be a technically perfect operator, but that's OK as I dont want to be. Choles Dad I heard last night that some of the most talented photograhers on the market at the moment are Graphic Designers.... :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 For portraits, I like posed shots better than candid.....usually. And I like the subject to know they're having their photo taken because I like eye contact with the camera. These are my two favourite portraits, both posed, both won awards. http://www.shot2shot.com/family/angle4.jpg http://www.pbase.com/gayleknowles/image/61416471 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I think i get sucked in to all the techy stuff and I over think a lot of things and therefore miss a lot of natural creativity trying to stage the perfect shot This is what I used to be like. I hung out on photography forums and got very caught up in the quest for perfection. I learned a lot, but the most valuable lesson I learned is that a good shot doesn't have to be perfect and quite often, a perfect shot is very boring. I stopped visiting the forums and started to enjoy my photography more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocco Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 Gaylek I like the second shot. Very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I am useless in the tech dep't....... mix up buttons on the camera, fly in the face of the wind.... but capture what has a 'feel' to it :rolleyes: Macro is my love- being in the world of mini beasts, of plants and dewdrops....nature in general- macro in particular caterpillar feather I have absolutely no desire for portraits/studio work, or 'the perfect shot' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clicking Mad Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I think i get sucked in to all the techy stuff and I over think a lot of things and therefore miss a lot of natural creativity trying to stage the perfect shot This is what I used to be like. I hung out on photography forums and got very caught up in the quest for perfection. I learned a lot, but the most valuable lesson I learned is that a good shot doesn't have to be perfect and quite often, a perfect shot is very boring. I stopped visiting the forums and started to enjoy my photography more. Okay, I'm only just starting out too - I have to keep reminding myself I have only had an SLR camera for less than 12mnths and although I've always enjoyed taking pics I've never had the knowledge to get technical. Basically, I wish to learn all the rules for a well constructed technical shot, specifically so that I can break them effectively and affectively! That's my aim I just desire to be original and unusual - that's me all over :rolleyes: I have been thinking about this a bit just recently. I spent a morning visiting the "commons" on flickr - all the old photos - and realised that the ones I liked the most where the ones that told a story, so that is my new aim - to tell an interesting story - I'm finding it extremely difficult especially since I only really enjoy taking pics of my dogs and their stories aren't that "globally" interesting :p Oh and the reason I quoted you gaylek was because I spend a fair amount of time on flickr (well split between here and there) and I feel totally confused about what others see as great! and fantastic and where my pictures are on the scale? I think some of my pics are pretty good especially when I first do them (maybe a month or so down the track they get usurped) but I have no idea really in the scheme of things how good they are, not really, I just don't know. My brother is the only person who I feel has actually been able to give me some knowledgable and useful feedback but he's hard to ask for every pic, and of course, again his is an opinion (knowledgable or otherwise) just as anyone elses is Oh well, I'll just keep plugging away. And in answer, no style yet, can't even figure out what I'm doing and whether it is appealing or not I was in the city earlier this week with my camera, but without a dog I just found it all too boring, I kept looking at potential shots and imagining a dog in it and how much better it would be. Oh and my imagination is much better than my skill - my pics never come out how I think they should and then I just make up the stuff in the middle and expect everyone else to see what is in my imagination instead of the plain looking pic I actually captured Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I have absolutely no desire for portraits/studio work, or 'the perfect shot' I actually prefer landscapes, they don't crack the shits and walk off when you ask them to look nice instead of looking sulky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I actually prefer landscapes, :rolleyes: give me a blade of grass, or a bee on a flower anyday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Oh and my imagination is much better than my skill - my pics never come out how I think they should Haha....that's one of the reasons to learn the tech stuff and why hanging out on forums is a good thing.....til your brain goes into total overload. I can think about how I want my photo to turn out, then make it happen. Both of the portraits I posted links to were designed....I knew exactly what I wanted and I made the picture happen. They were both taken for a reason (I needed them to enter in photo competitions) and the reason forced my hand and my brain into thinking about what I wanted and how to make it happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 give me a blade of grass Don't mind the odd blade of grass but I'm a bit over flowers and bees. But for macro photography I would love, love, love to try my hand at tiny mechanics one day.....old watch interiors, tiny wind-up mechanisms etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chloes Dad Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Choles Dad I heard last night that some of the most talented photograhers on the market at the moment are Graphic Designers.... :rolleyes: that is interesting. I have been sent photography for years to use in my job and have even been on some pretty cool shoots. But I don't think I ever took much notice of the gear or set up... I bought my camera about 12 months ago for happy snaps on our honeymoon and to catch the dogs in full flight. now I see everything differently I now love receiving photography and being on a shoot is now so exciting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tess32 Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I love doing animals the most and I like making them look dramatic and focus on personality or some special kind of moment. My favourite shot 'portrait' kinda shot is this one I think: http://images-3.redbubble.net/img/art/size...-12-gorilla.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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