# Does it get easier?



## blackrose89 (Dec 11, 2011)

I've been at this for about a month. I love photography, but at times when I go out, I can feel so overwhelmed and underwhelmed there is so much to photograph, and nothing all at the same time.

I'm also having a hard time finding that fine line. When I go to take a street photo, I'm finding it hard to find that line between making a composed photo in the street, but not having any distract from the main subject. Taking a photo of a horizon of a beach when all you have is the sand and ocean to work with. It can be pulled off. Or what makes a photo of a flower special compared to just a snapshot of a flower. Does it get easier and more like second over time?


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## c.cloudwalker (Dec 11, 2011)

I've been at it over 30 years and some days it doesn't seem any easier than the very first day.


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## Overread (Dec 11, 2011)

The problem is the goalposts shift and early on they shift a lot! 

You'll start out aiming so high with what you want; but once you reach that you'll find other ways to improve upon what you've already taken. Thus a new benchmark is set and a new target to be met. Over time (if you learn and work at it) that bar will rise and rise till such a point that its at a generally acceptable level by your standards and the problems are small nitpicks. 

I won't happen overnight though and 1 month is not very long at all (it might feel that way, but you've only just scratched the surface). 

One tip I do have is that you should never delete in camera nor in the computer as a first stage. Keep the shots to start with and if you find that nothing, or very little from a shoot comes out the way you want it then:

1) Understand the mistakes and learn from them (remembering that some will have been unavoidable).

2) Come back in a few days and look at them again - sometimes you'll overlook a shot when you're thinking "Oh I should have done this and that etc.." but after a few days you can be more honest with the quality and yourself. 

Also remember that most photographers (yes even in the film days) came back with more waste shots than keepers; the difference is that the good photographers have waste shots that are mostly little problems and nitpicks, not big basic ones.


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## blackrose89 (Dec 11, 2011)

I think something I am having such immense difficulty with is being a beginner. I have a strong artistic background in singing and drawing. Being a beginner is NOT something I'm used to. I"ve been drawing for 10 years. I'm used to wowing people in all stages in the art world with my work. I am far from the best, but I do pretty well.


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## Overread (Dec 11, 2011)

You've just got to recall those early days of when you weren't a good sketcher/drawer/artist. 
Asides which if you've got a good grounding in the theories of composition then you've learnt one of the harder parts of photographer - the rest is just technical stuff which gets, generally, easier as time goes on (as things like choosing the aperture for a creative reason become more intuitive)


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## KmH (Dec 11, 2011)

After a month, you don't yet know, what you don't know.

After you begin to know what you don't know, then you have to understand what you know, which leads you to more information you didn't know, you don't know. 

You know?


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## TamiAz (Dec 11, 2011)

blackrose89 said:


> I think something I am having such immense difficulty with is being a beginner. I have a strong artistic background in singing and drawing. Being a beginner is NOT something I'm used to. I"ve been drawing for 10 years. I'm used to wowing people in all stages in the art world with my work. I am far from the best, but I do pretty well.



Damn, your good!! :thumbup:


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## mishele (Dec 11, 2011)

Sounds like you have some composition questions. Here is a site that will help you out. Learn the "rules" and then learn to break them!
10 Top Photography Composition Rules | Photography Mad

When you are shooting a flower you have to ask yourself.......do I want to document this flower or have an artistic interpretation of it. After that it comes down to lighting.  

About not finding things to shoot......shoot everything!! You are prolly still learning the settings. Just have fun and don't worry about every shot being a wall hanger.


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## tirediron (Dec 11, 2011)

If it's easy, what's the point?


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## tirediron (Dec 11, 2011)

blackrose89 said:


> I think something I am having such immense difficulty with is being a beginner. I have a strong artistic background in singing and drawing. Being a beginner is NOT something I'm used to. I"ve been drawing for 10 years. I'm used to wowing people in all stages in the art world with my work. I am far from the best, but I do pretty well.


Very nice work!


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## SCraig (Dec 11, 2011)

Write down a couple of dozen places on strips of paper.  Doesn't matter what they are; Back Yard, Front Yard The Park, Living Room, Bathroom, anything.  Put all of them in a coffee can or something and keep it handy.  When you can't think of anything you want to shoot pull one of the pieces of paper out of the can.  Throw it away so you won't go there again, but go this time.  Force yourself to sit there until you find "The Thing That Needs To Be Photographed".  EVERY place has one.  Let me say that again: EVERY PLACE HAS ONE.  The trick is to find it, so just sit there until you do.  It may be well-hidden, it may be small and inconsequential, it may be important only to you, but it IS there.


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## tirediron (Dec 11, 2011)

SCraig said:


> Write down a couple of dozen places on strips of paper. Doesn't matter what they are; Back Yard, Front Yard The Park, Living Room, Bathroom, anything. Put all of them in a coffee can or something and keep it handy. When you can't think of anything you want to shoot pull one of the pieces of paper out of the can. Throw it away so you won't go there again, but go this time. Force yourself to sit there until you find "The Thing That Needs To Be Photographed". EVERY place has one. Let me say that again: EVERY PLACE HAS ONE. The trick is to find it, so just sit there until you do. It may be well-hidden, it may be small and inconsequential, it may be important only to you, but it IS there.


Excellent exercise idea!!  :thumbup:


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## SCraig (Dec 11, 2011)

tirediron said:


> Excellent exercise idea!!  :thumbup:


I agree.  Wish I had thought of it first   That's the way I was taught, and it does work if one is patient enough.


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## bentcountershaft (Dec 11, 2011)

How easy was your first month of drawing?


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## Demers18 (Dec 11, 2011)

SCraig said:
			
		

> Write down a couple of dozen places on strips of paper.  Doesn't matter what they are; Back Yard, Front Yard The Park, Living Room, Bathroom, anything.  Put all of them in a coffee can or something and keep it handy.  When you can't think of anything you want to shoot pull one of the pieces of paper out of the can.  Throw it away so you won't go there again, but go this time.  Force yourself to sit there until you find "The Thing That Needs To Be Photographed".  EVERY place has one.  Let me say that again: EVERY PLACE HAS ONE.  The trick is to find it, so just sit there until you do.  It may be well-hidden, it may be small and inconsequential, it may be important only to you, but it IS there.



Thank you for this. It will definitely come I handy.


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## blackrose89 (Dec 11, 2011)

Dont get me wrong, I am willing to do the work, I'm not whining, I'm jut wondering if your eye developed a natural eye for this as your hand does for other art forms.


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## bentcountershaft (Dec 11, 2011)

Yep, your eye develops.  Your brain too.  Eventually you'll have a pretty good idea of what settings you need to use on a particular shot, within a stop or two, before you even pull your camera out of the bag.  Just takes time/experience.  I'd say you have the right attitude just keep your nose to the grindstone and with a little patience you'll get to where you want to be.


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## cyngus (Dec 11, 2011)

it gets easier and harder.. depends if you make a biz out of it or just a hobby =)


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## mishele (Dec 11, 2011)

I was an artist first. I used to draw and paint. You will find your creative groove once you understand how to use your camera.


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## c.cloudwalker (Dec 11, 2011)

Overread said:


> You'll start out aiming so high with what you want; but once you reach that you'll find other ways to improve upon what you've already taken. Thus a new benchmark is set and a new target to be met. Over time (if you learn and work at it) that bar will rise and rise till such a point that its at a generally acceptable level by your standards and the problems are small nitpicks.



I'll respectfully have to disagree with you here 

As your aim gets higher, the nitpicks tend to get much more important. You forget one thing in your equation and that is the client. As you work your way up the ladder of quality (and rates  ), you take your client along for the ride. Meaning you teach your client (s) as you go and your client becomes as much of a pain in the arse as you are to yourself.

It was as a response to KmH recently, I believe, that I mentioned having used a huge, huge soft box. Well, this was build specifically for one job although there were other jobs in the gunsight. I was going to shoot firefighting rolling equipment and those had to be perfect so that I could get the other contracts that were going to pay for the rig. Several thousands of dollars worth of rig built especially for me and that I couldn't pass on to just one customer.

Enormous pressure. That I could do without I might add.

But that is the problem with this business. As you grow in it, the pressure gets more intense. It doesn't go smaller or smoother or easier.

I quit the business once because of it...


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## gsgary (Dec 11, 2011)

blackrose89 said:


> I think something I am having such immense difficulty with is being a beginner. I have a strong artistic background in singing and drawing. Being a beginner is NOT something I'm used to. I"ve been drawing for 10 years. I'm used to wowing people in all stages in the art world with my work. I am far from the best, but I do pretty well.





Is that second sketch Jean shrimpton 60's model The Shrimp ?


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## rexbobcat (Dec 11, 2011)

I can't just go out to take pictures, usually. Whenever I am about to take a photo, I have to think of my intent. For example; throughout the month of November I documented the fall colors and the various aspects of the changing scenery. That made it so much easier to just go out and start taking pictures. Before I'd go out I'd think to myself "this is what I'm trying to convey, this is how I want to do it." I've found that just taking random photos when I go out never really worked for me. I didn't feel anything for the subject, so I couldn't make a connection. 

That disconnection led to apathy, because deep down I KNEW that this wasn't something that was worth taking pictures of. It's hard to explain it. I don't even know if any of this makes sense.


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## bentcountershaft (Dec 11, 2011)

rexbobcat said:


> I can't just go out to take pictures, usually. Whenever I am about to take a photo, I have to think of my intent. For example; throughout the month of November I documented the fall colors and the various aspects of the changing scenery. That made it so much easier to just go out and start taking pictures. Before I'd go out I'd think to myself "this is what I'm trying to convey, this is how I want to do it." I've found that just taking random photos when I go out never really worked for me. I didn't feel anything for the subject, so I couldn't make a connection.
> 
> That disconnection led to apathy, because deep down I KNEW that this wasn't something that was worth taking pictures of. It's hard to explain it. I don't even know if any of this makes sense.



So basically you need foreplay before you get down with it.


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## unpopular (Dec 11, 2011)

the technique will get easier, especially if you can manage to get out of the "proper exposure" trap. Technique will become more intuitive.

Turning off auto everything is a good start. Not so much because AE doesn't work, but it may not work quite the way you think it does. The "exposure meter" is one of the most misleading and least understood tools we have available, this especially true of reflective meters: the kind found in cameras. Learning manual exposure should be, imo, something beginners are encouraged to do - rather than something lefter for more intermediate studies.

If you are feeling underwhelmed, then there is something you aren't understanding. You're likely looking at camera control from a perspective of "how do I get this to look like how it is", and not "how do I get this to how it should be" - what aspect of the subject are you most interested in, and how does that affect the technical end of things?

I think there is only a single difference between a photograph and a snapshot - what does the image say about the subject and/or the photographer. Journalists are much more interested in the subject, while the Fine Artist is much more interested expressing some aspect of themselves. Both are 'artists' but their intentions are different.

Snapshots have use and intent, to create a memory of the subject which can be recalled by those who have actually experienced it and says little more than this because the experience of the subject is so much richer than the photograph ever could potray. For artists, we must portray elements of the subject (be it absolute or abstract) to the audience with limited context - a photograph, as opposed to a snapshot, will be appreciated by those who have not seen it themselves - perhaps moreso than those who have.

I this regard, photographs are objects in and of themselves independent of the subject - we experience artwork, we become an active participant, whereas snapshot we don't.


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## blackrose89 (Dec 11, 2011)

Thank you everyone for the feedback. To answer your question, did I find drawing easy at first, yes actually. I guess this it what I mean about not being used to being a beginner. Whenever I have tried something, be it acting in high school, drawing, a new job etc I was always better then average when I started. I've always had a natural feel for things I tried. Obviously, I improve gradually and get better with time, but in the past I have always been able to produce better then beginner results. If someone told me how to do something to improve I was able to just do it. I'm more then willing to put in the work, I'm just not used to having to.

This is the first time I feel like I feel like I don't have a talent for it. I feel medicore. And I just never felt that before, even in my beginning stages throughout my life. And I don't want to be a joke either. I don't want to be one of these teen girls on Flickr (I'm 22) that just shoot random stuff with blur in the background and call it art and feel like I'm some accomplished photographer. I don't want to believe that I m better then I in fact am. I want be a photographer that can be respected. This is the first time I don't feel better then average at something. 

I do agree that the aim gets hire and you get more critical with time. I used to love all of my photos, now the flaws jump out at me ten times louder then before.


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## unpopular (Dec 11, 2011)

Unfortunately, photographers are a fickle bunch - it is very hard to do something innovative or risky and get a lot of respect.

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Oh. And be careful. You're coming across as extremely arrogant.


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