Seriously. Ever since I upgraded my camera I think there are more expectations. I'm just a hobbyist, mom and gardener. I upgraded my camera with the intention of learning more and getting better but I'm not all of a sudden better because of my camera (I'm sure the professionals on this site would give a hardy "Here! Here!" to this sentiment!)
Haha sorry this is a bit of a rant. It's just because I went to a family picnic last weekend and everyone just wanted me to take a photo of this and that and then they'd take a look on the screen and I could see some disappointment in their faces. Lighting was wrong, angles were wrong, I'm not really sure but they didn't turn out well. I have no knack for portraits that's for sure.
Maybe there is some simple book or website I can look up to help me out with just family candids. How to be a better 'mom photographer' type thing... anyone else experience this or am I just being dramatic?
You have some common sense about it... wonder if your relatives have any hobbies or anything they do that they could remember back to when they started. Maybe you could work into the conversation something to help them realize when you're new at something, you're still learning...
I'm not sure why there seems to be this perception that because it's a digital camera it's going to take stupendous photos right out of the box. If you buy gourmet cookware is it going to hop out of the box and cook you a feast?? if it worked that way I'd have my pots and pans cooking me a gourmet dinner every night!
I guess that's one drawback to digital, I'm a long time film shooter so nobody could see my pictures right away! LOL Now at least I have an external viewfinder on my camera so I can flip that on and there's nothing to see on the back of my camera - that takes care of sneek peaks! No matter what you're using not every picture is going to turn out great but people that aren't photographers may not realize that - and if they got to try out your camera they may realize it's not as easy as they think.
Walk around and look for things about it that you like (flowers?) and don't like (weeds?). Take pictures of both types of views of your garden, the good and the bad. Now go sit down with them and give them a critique. First, sort the ones that give you a favorable first impression from the duds. Ask yourself what you liked about the good ones, and disliked about the bad ones.
If there's no correlation with your original intention then you need to work on technique (composition, focus, controlling exposure, etc.) first. If they all come down to the subject being something you already liked about your garden then you're half way to having an eye for photography and you can focus on shooting more of the things you like while you practice.
Eventually when you have full control of your technique, and you can readily see the opportunities for a great image in what you see, you can go back and shoot the weeds in a way that will leave people asking how you made them look so beautiful.
Read a few of the articles here and try to pick up a few tips. It takes practice no matter what king of camera you have.
Years ago when I had a Pentax film camera with a cheap 500mm lens mounted on a tripod, I heard someone at an autocross comment, "Wow, he must be a professional". I still get a chuckle out of that and it was over ten years ago.
The other have offered great advice. Be gentle with yourself and practice. You will improve almost every time out. If you have a friend who shoots, ask to go along, observe and learn.
photograph what you love best first . Do a lot of reading on topics u need help on...do research as well.. Practice all the time.. It becomes easier as u progress...and enjoy every moment of it!
I am glad you have your new camera. Keep enjoying taking photo's. Some advice I was given 'keep the eye open that you are looking through the camera with'. Apparently it helps. lol
I'm sure you'll get better and better the more you practice and learn.
But I know what you mean about having a DSLR make people think you're good. When we first got ours forever ago, our neighbor asked my husband to shoot her wedding as soon as she saw we had it! I have no doubt he could do it now and do an excellent job, but no way then!
GiraffeSpots wrote: Thanks for the great tips everyone!
I certainly will be practicing a lot in my garden. Tomatoes are pleased with anything I do.
I really enjoyed the cookware analogy. I could use some magical cookware of my own!
There are some fun back lit photography exercises you can do with tomatoes and other veggies, you might want to look into You Tube for those. Congrats on the new camera!
Well the P&S camera you have did not prepare you for a Dslr, they never do. You might try picking up a couple of the Bryan Petersen books, Understanding Exposure would be the first, second Understanding Composition. As others have said though there are some good thread right here on the forum. But the two books I mentioned have put many a new hobbyist on their way.
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