# How was your photographer journey from beginner to pro?



## textures4photoshop (Dec 20, 2017)

I've recently published an article after consulting with multiple pro photographers and would love to get your feedback about the tips in this article:


A Photographer’s Journey Is Never Over
Knowing the Rules and When to Break Them
In Sports Photography Shoot at 1/500th sec or Faster
The Inverse Focal Length Rule
Sunny f/16 Rule
Rule of Thirds
Astrophotography Rule of 500
Expose to the Right (ETTR)

Technically Correct Is Not Necessarily Beautiful
The Infamous Aperture/Shutter Speed/ISO Triangle
ISO Invariance – Increasing the ISO Does NOT Increase the Noise
Shot noise
Electronic Noise
Where does ISO come in?

Focus Stacking
Photo Selection and Post Processing
Shoot RAW If You Can
Advantages of shooting RAW
Disadvantages of shooting RAW


<link removed>


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## Michel88 (Jan 8, 2018)

Okay this post is 20 days old but I have to say it. You state that the Aperture / Shutter Speed / ISO triangle does not take into account the exposure, but what is exposure if its not your aperture and shutter speed etc?

Edit:

Okay I've actually read a bit further and found more stuff which is entirely inaccurate. All professional photographers will shoot in RAW. No professional will deliver RAW, unprocessed, footage to their client and present it as a job done.


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## textures4photoshop (Jan 9, 2018)

Hi Michael,

I think I saw your message on my blog too. I answered your other questions there.

About exposure. When I say to take into account exposure, I mean also the amount of light in the scene - also known as exposure value. 
For ex. shooting in a dark alley, shooting a landscape with snow or shooting against the sun will require exposure compensation, and that’s a manual setting that the photographer will make taking into account exposure.

More in depth:

Light sand or snow in full or slightly hazy sunlight (distinct shadows) we have EV = 16, which corresponds to ISO 100, f/16 and 1/250th shutter speed (or equivalent)

Home interiors are around EV = 5, which corresponds to ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/4 (or equivalent)

I learned this relatively recently, but I found it very interesting (see more info here Exposure value - Wikipedia)

hope this makes it a bit clearer,
thanks!


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## textures4photoshop (Jan 9, 2018)

Michel88 said:


> Okay this post is 20 days old but I have to say it. You state that the Aperture / Shutter Speed / ISO triangle does not take into account the exposure, but what is exposure if its not your aperture and shutter speed etc?
> 
> Edit:
> 
> Okay I've actually read a bit further and found more stuff which is entirely inaccurate. All professional photographers will shoot in RAW. No professional will deliver RAW, unprocessed, footage to their client and present it as a job done.



Trust me, clients like magazines will want the RAW files too.

Also, check out the debate between Jared Polin and Tony Northrup regarding shooting RAW vs JPEG.


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## zombiesniper (Jan 9, 2018)

textures4photoshop said:


> shooting a landscape with snow or shooting against the sun will require exposure compensation, and that’s a manual setting that the photographer will make taking into account exposure.



Nope. You can expose the scene properly and never touch your exposure compensation. You either need to learn more about it or learn how to express it better because this statement is incorrect.


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## textures4photoshop (Jan 9, 2018)

zombiesniper said:


> textures4photoshop said:
> 
> 
> > shooting a landscape with snow or shooting against the sun will require exposure compensation, and that’s a manual setting that the photographer will make taking into account exposure.
> ...



Yes, you can set the camera for a correct exposure if you are in manual mode. But you can only do that by judging the light in the scene. You can do that by using the metering on your camera PLUS compensating for various condition. 

As I mentioned, if you are shooting a landscape with snow, your camera meter will think that there is too much light in the scene and will try to reduce the amount captured. If you are in a semi-manual or auto mode you will end up with an under-exposed shot.

By the way, love your owl photos on Flickr! You have a lot of photos taken in snowy surroundings, what does the metering indicate when taking those shots? How about if you take the photo in auto, aperture priority or shutter priority modes, will it not be under-exposed?

Perhaps I am missing something


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## DanOstergren (Jan 21, 2018)

Michel88 said:


> No professional will deliver RAW, unprocessed, footage to their client and present it as a job done.


The most I have ever been paid in a single job was one that consisted of me delivering the raw files to the client whom I photographed, with me doing absolutely zero post editing. All post editing was the sole responsibility of my client, and my job was finished the second the raw files were delivered, which were delivered the same day.

 So am I to understand that by your definition, I couldn't possibly be a professional?


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## zombiesniper (Jan 21, 2018)

textures4photoshop said:


> what does the metering indicate when taking those shots? How about if you take the photo in auto, aperture priority or shutter priority modes, will it not be under-exposed?


Absolutely it will underexpose which is exactly why I never use them in those situations. I understand some may find it intimidating to come out of the auto modes but I found it quite the opposite. Once I had more control I was less at the mercy of the little black box in my hands.
It's just different methods to the same end. The results are what matters. Not how you did it.


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