Post your Top Three - Most valuble photography lessons

[Brownbear]

Because I have learned so much from this forum and its' members I thought it might be helpful to others to have a thread summarizing the most valuable things they have learned about photography...

And yes, also because I want to know what I still don't know

My top three...

1. Not to be timid about using a higher iso so I could capture sharper images in challenging light conditions.

2. To look at my histogram to check tone and exposure and adjust my exposures accordingly.

3. That post-processing is not a bad thing and to set my camera to take raw photos so I can adjust WB and achieve more detail... (I started shooting raw and jpeg when I first read about it on this forum, not understanding the reason why, but I'm sure glad and just being able to fix the WB is a tremendous tool)

[dje]

1 Understand the Exposure triangle

2 Get the focus right

3 Good PP

[Donald]

1. Get the exposure right. Post -processing doesn't exist to make up for your deficiencies in learning how to expose properly.
2. Slow down.
3. Make the image that you want to make. Put your soul into it. Some folks won't like it. Some will. But you'll know you've made 'your' image.

[chauncey]

Beyond the left side of your brain, the part that controls the thought process, exposure/focus/whatnot, lies your right brain, that's the key to artistic photography. It plays a role in what you decide to capture in that viewfinder.
I recently read that your right brain is functioning when you look through that viewfinder...when you chimp, the left brain takes over.
You cannot create a visualized image without shooting in RAW and doing your own PP...otherwise it's a Nikon/Canon/Sony image.

[Mike Buckley]

If I think of three things, I'll think of 100. So, I'll list the most important one:

Envision the image before releasing the shutter.

[Polar01]

Look for the light, never leave home without the camera, do not be worry about substituing reality with your reality.

Cheers:

Allan

[Wayland]

Back up. Everything..

Don't trust your camera display with a dark adapted eye.

1/60th f/8 and be there.

[kaneohebud]

Never carry two tripods mounted with two cameras w/ long lenses at the same time over rough ground.

Always have extra batteries and memory cards on your person.

Invest in and use a quality tripod and ball head.

[FootLoose]

1. Study the colour before you shoot. It is probably not as homogenous as you think -- particularly if you are shooting around the sea.

2. Exposure lock.

3. Calibrate your monitor

(3.a If the colour isn't helping the shot, convert to b&w)

[nimitzbenedicto]

Top 3?

1. Enjoy photography. Relax. Stay loose.

2. Keep an open mind. Don't be judgemental/discriminatory.
"Oh, posted by Ken Rockwell = then it must be bad!!"
First, whatever is posted, read, digest, analyze. Learn.

3. Always be courteous, polite/respectful, honest .

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Oh, what about technique/rules/lens/DOF/software/NiCanon/etc ?

I guess this forum is all about that.

Meanwhile, have fun..............

[Digital]

1) Check your viewfinder for any distracting elements.

2) Have a good sturdy tripod handy at all times.

3) Never forget rules #1, and #2.

[CP140]

1) Leave the camera in auto for that first shot, then change to whatever mode is appropriate for subsequent shots. That way if you're unprepared for a shot, at least you might get something useable.

2) RTFM so you know how to access the various functions on your camera.

3) It's just a photograph... if there's a sign saying "No photography", put the lens cap on and put the camera away. Enjoy the sights with the best camera in the world... the Mk I eyeball.

[Brownbear]

Wow... Thank you to all for your replies... Lots of wonderful information and viewpoints here.

Looking forward to reading more...

[allenlennon]

1. Take your time with everything, from the idea, the settings you use to PP
2. Accept that some will and some will not like your photo, just take photos you like, not what others like.
3. Get out there and do it.

There is many more that are most likely more important, but these three is basically what i like

[William W]

1. Take a camera everywhere.
2. Know how to use your camera as an extension of your hand, without your brain thinking.
3. Be aware: there is a great need to be in the spot, before the shot happens.

WW

[Stagecoach]

1. There are two clearly separate aspects to a picture, its composition/interest and its technical quality. Rarely does one work without the other.
2. Learn to prioritise the variables of aperture, shutter speed and ISO to achieve 'your' goal.
3. Whilst learning set yourself targets, advice is everywhere but you have to put the effort in to learn.

Grahame

[Manfred M]

1. Get it right in the camera. No matter what you do, you will be limited by the image that is created in your camera. This means both exposure and composition. Your camera, sensor and len(es) could be limiting what you can achieve.

Understand the limitations of your equipment, because there are some shots, you simply can’t get due to equipment or skill limitations. Pros spend many thousands on their gear; it’s not because they want to, the high end tools do produce superior results in expert hands.

The flip side (seen all too commonly) is that a better camera can result in a poor result when someone who does not understand how to get the best out of a piece of equipment can often get the worst out if it.


2. SOOC (Straight Out Of the Camera) is virtually never going to give you a great image. Even in the film days, photographers would go to a custom printer (versus a consumer lab) to get a great print.

SOOC will never let the photographer do local adjustments to the image, and you will only get the global settings that the manufacturer has built in. Yes, there are cameras that let you shoot HDRI, but again, the way the image is assembled is by brute force averaging; which is not necessarily going to give you what you can get out of the images.

None of the pros that I know use anything other than the Adobe suite of products for their work. Yes, they do use plug-ins. None use Elements, and while some use Lightroom and Photoshop, Lightroom is purely reserved for small, run of the mill images, but they all use full blown Photoshop for their large or special images. That should tell you something

3. Practice, practice and more practice. That means both shooting and in post work. Photography is a lot like playing a musical instrument, you have to keep tuning your skills to keep you at the top of your game.

Don’t just practice on the things that you are comfortable with, but you need to push your envelope (a landscape photographer doing portraits, a macro photographer shooting street shots, etc.). Working outside of your comfort zone is going to help you develop skills and techniques that you can then apply to the area of photography you are comfortable working in,

[rpcrowe]

1. Don't be "edge blind" and concentrate only on your subject. Ensure that the edges don't have intruding objects or people. Along those lines, also review what is contained in the background. Busy backgrounds can ruin a good image. This is especially true when posts or poles are "growing" out of the subject's heads...

2. Learn to use fill flash when shooting people and animals outdoors. Often, even when you are too far from your subject for the flash to have much impact on the exposure; the flash will provide catch-lights in the subject's eyes...

3. "Know your camera and lens", "know your camera and lens" and finally "know your camera and lens!" When shooting people or animals, you need to shoot fast and not spend time adjusting the equipment. Note shooting "fast" is not necessarily needed for some other types of shooting such as landscape and or macro photography; however knowing your camera and lens is equally as important in any type of photography...

I am cheating but, here are some more...

Never shoot in Full Automatic Exposure mode and always shoot in RAW and process in a decent editing program...

[Shadowman]

1. Know the limitations of your equipment.
2. Never stop learning.
3. Use a tripod.

[CP140]

I'd like to amend my previous post.

Number one...check your camera settings before you start shooting.

Today I went out and did some airplane spotting. Sure the images looked OK on the camera's LCD screen, but when I got home and pulled them down into LR they were, for the most part, crap.

Why? Set in aperture priority the camera had gone to shutter speeds of around 1/100. Silly me didn't look too hard at the display in the view finder. Mix that shutter speed with a fast moving subject and a long lens (150-300mm) and I wound up with a bunch of not so sharp images.

Lesson learned... I need to pay attention to the display and to think about/check the settings before (and during) shooting.