No, I'm not fishing for affirmation or compliments. I'm simply expressing an honest desire to learn. I'm not trying to downplay whatever skill I have. I have some nice pics. I just like some of them enough that I wish they were that much better quality, so I'd want them on my wall. And I realize my photos simply aren't going to be National Geographic quality without years of experience and practice and investment in equipment, so I'd like to get that experience with some direction. I'm just not sure where to find the direction or correction I want and/or need. There are inexpensive community courses or courses taught by local universities which I should probably consider jumping into if I want to make the most of my hobby. I hear Flickr groups can be good for feedback and suggestions, but I'm not sure which groups are best or most appropriate for my skill level. I joined a beginning photography group there but felt like a small minnow, like nobody would care about helping a novice like me because when I looked at their "beginning" photos, most were so much clearer, sharper, and more stylized than mine that I slinked away so as to not be noticed.
Let's be honest: it's a lot easier to post pretty pictures on my blog for friends and family to adore and compliment (*wink*), and I'm hesitant to have those same pictures picked apart in a forum of strangers. But such is the cost of progress and the risk of sharing my efforts with a broader audience. I'm realizing I'm going to have to go out of my comfort zone (often a very small area) if I'm going to find the training and feedback I need from people who really know this stuff inside and out and can help bring my skills and knowledge to a higher level. That's how life is, I suppose.
In other news, I just received my very own 5-in-1 reflector in preparation for the fast-approaching wedding of a good friend and for future portrait use (I took some pics of a friend in late afternoon light that would've been great had I been able to use a reflector for some fill lighting to reduce the harsh shadows).
That, in combination with my recently-acquired Canon 50 mm f/1.8 lens and a currently en route Canon Speedlite 430EX II flash, should have me minimally equipped for my first foray into wedding photography. And I'm...the photographer. No pressure or anything... *gulp*
9 comments:
You need to calibrate your monitor. I did it to mine. But lost it when the computer crashed. It works very well. Then you calibrate your printer too and you are set.
You need to take courses and get really good so you can teach me.
Jenny . . . how do you calibrate a monitor and printer?
Hey it's me again. FYI I use a dinky point and shoot digital nikon camera, so its not about more fancy items.
I also just did a wedding and learned to get subject in full shadow and use the warm glow side of the circle thingy (forgot the name) to cast a warm glow on the face.
I tried full sun and partial shade and the full shade ones turned out the best!
Hope it goes well!
Jenny, I think the problem is the age of the monitor rather than calibration. I think it's pretty well calibrated for color, but it's two years old now, and I've used it a lot, so it's a bit dim and was never great on contrast.
Quinn, I know a lot of it is in the technique and composition, but I have some friends who have equipment which far exceeds the capability of mine, and it does make for crisper, more saturated images. I mean, look at National Geographic: there's no way you're getting pics like theirs from my camera. :-)
Still, I just want to make the most of what I have. Oh, and as for peripherals I've purchased, I've done quite a bit of reading on wedding photography, and the stuff I've bought is, like, barely scraping by on what most pros say are the "essentials". I'm so excited to use the new flash, too. I'm such a nerd.
There are special tools to calibrate the monitor. You place it on the screen and it reads your color etc. Look on google, they should have lots of info. Its actual hardware you use to calibrate it. The printer calibration tool is separate, again hardware I think. I think the stuff is pretty pricey. But trust me it helps out a lot.
http://www.wikihow.com/Calibrate-Your-Monitor
Here's one link. There are lots of ways to do it. Boeing's computer club had something I used and it worked really well.
I bought a ViewSonic monitor that came with calibration software and a color strip to be held up to the monitor while calibrating. That sort of thing should either come with the monitor or be fairly inexpensive, I'd think. I think Photo printers usually come with similar utility software.
I'm a bit behind on my reading it seems... well, I'm looking forward to seeing how the photos turn out. I think between your awesome photography skills and my marginal Photoshop skills, we should come up with a few keepers, no? :P
PS- Have you looked into microstock photography yet?
Looking into it. And are you insinuating my Photoshop skills are in need of your Photoshop skills coming to the rescue? :-)
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