For this type of photography, my guess is that the elements of success are:

Camera choice: 10%

Lens choice: 15%

Food prep skills: 25%

Mastery of lighting techniques for glass containers and liquids: 50%

A good book is Light, Science, and Magic

and the Strobist website mentioned in another comment is also very good to study.

For the camera, it might be important to pick one hat you can shoot tethered (connected to a computer) so you can use a big computer monitor or TV screen to preview the shot in the studio.

I'd recommend a book named Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004FEFS5E

It's an amazing book. That Rockwell guy advocates using auto mode- this book will have you hating it in about 30 minutes.

Also, shoot RAW + Jpeg. Ken Rockwell's Jpeg-only advise is horrible, imo.

Read The Photographer's Eye. On the impact/price scale, it was probably the best thing I did for my photography.

Edit: Then go out and shoot of course :)

Light-Science and Magic by Fil Hunter is fantastic if you are interested in studio lighting, especially if you're photographing reflective surfaces.

Light: Science and Magic

Fundamentals of lighting different shapes and materials. It's good for everyone learning lighting, but especially good for people learning to shoot trickier stuff like metal and glass.

Also check out strobist for cheap lighting logistics and general lighting info.

>The Best Camera Is The One That's With You: iPhone Photography by Chase Jarvis

> - Chase Jarvis of the Internet

I use that iPhone app. And for fuck's sake I got a lot of much better photos out of that than I got with my 7D. ... Maybe if I buy that $2000 lens and put it on that $2400 camera.... hmmm...

If I were to give you an honest ranking I'd say you're "Below Average" quality.

My biggest critique for you is that all of your photos feel like snap shots. They're all taken from the same angle, they're all kind of flat lighting and editing wise, they're all posed or of nothing of any real importance. The compositions are also very weak - Specifically your backgrounds.

Almost all of the photos look like you just pointed a camera and said "Hell yea" and clicked the button. It doesn't appear like there's a whole lot of thought that went into any thing and the same thought process carried over into your post work.

Your photos are competent (In a technical manner) they just lack any real artistry or intention. One thing I would suggest you do is check out this book which is fucking rock solid for learning some compositional tricks and helping teach yourself to see them on the fly, and work on your post processing technique so that your images stand out a little more.

If you were to ask me what to charge for your wedding photos now, I would say if the middle ground of local photographers is charging ~$2k-2.5k you should be around $1250 for a full day. Maybe after you get a few under your belt around $1500. If you're asking what you should get as a second shooter that depends on who you work for, they usually have set rates for their seconds. I pay $200-300 depending on how much experience they have.

There are a ton of resources out there, but here are what I consider to be the most important things to remember:

1. Shift the weight to the back leg. This is probably the single most important thing to remember, and any picture of a woman should have this, even if the lower body is cropped out. This instantly makes an s-curve through the body for women, and for men makes them look more relaxed (although guys can sometimes break this rule if you want them to look confrontational).
   
2. Have women lean forward with their chest. This accentuates the bust, slims the waist, and generally stretches the neck which can help with a double chin (although sometimes you'll need other techniques to get rid of it completely).
   
3. Have guys hang the body forward. This makes the chest and shoulders look bigger while slimming the hips, and also makes the subjects look more engaged and adds a hint of motion (kind of like they are about to start walking).
   
4. If it bends, bend it. Once the first 3 are taken care of, the main reason poses can look stiff is that joints are too straight. Elbows, wrists, knees, neck, and everything else should all be at least somewhat bent.
   
5. Head Tilt. Tilting the head towards the higher shoulder looks feminine and tilting towards the lower shoulder looks masculine. Women should usually tilt towards the higher shoulder, but they can get away with the lower one to emphasize strength. Men should never tilt toward the high shoulder (unless you're trying to make them look girly).
   
   Although it takes longer to master, Sue Bryce has an amazing set of rules she uses for photographing women: Chin, Shoulder, Hands, Hourglass, Body Language, Asymmetry, Connection.
   
   Roberto Valenzuela's book (mostly Chapters 16-17) is the best resource I've found for breaking down elusive subtleties of posing down to the elements, especially for couples. He even breaks down things like posing eyes and using awkwardness as a fool-proof way of injecting expression into a photo. Once you know the basics, it's easy to come up with new poses on the fly that will look natural and flattering.
   
   I'm a wedding photographer, and years ago I absolutely hated posing people. I tried to memorize pose after pose, but rigidly trying to get people into a "pose" was a struggle and didn't do anything to bring out the personalities of my couples. But once I figured out how posing works, it became much easier to come up with different poses that looked natural, flattering, and that my couples felt natural doing.
   
   EDIT - sigint_bn makes a very important point, and that is usually the best way to start out a pose. I typically start by having couples just "come together" and then I make minor adjustments following the rules from there (e.g. shift your weight, bend your elbow, tilt your head).

My triumvirate of intro photography texts:

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson

The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman

Langford's Basic Photography by Michael Langford et al

The most important thing that 99% percent of the photographers don't seem to know: if you want to make good photos consistently, learn the fundamentals.

Because a photo can be made in an instant, a lot of photographers work intuitively, without making any informed decisions about their pictures whatsoever. This is why a lot of photos taken without any training aren't appealing.

If you learn about composition, color, light, etc. like an illustrator or a painter does, you will be able to make repeatable successful photos. In the beginning, you shouldn't be overly concerned with sharpness, depth of field or your equipment. No, you should be concerned with how your photo looks at the most basic, fundamental level.

Since I started taking drawing lessons and reading books on color and composition this year, I feel way more confident about my photography. I make informed decisions that I know will work. I am able to analyze pictures that work for me, and I know why they work now. Thanks to drawing lessons, I can see a lot better, which is also a great help for retouching. I can think in terms of lines, shapes, forms, spaces, light, shadow. But the most important thing of all: I feel like I can reach the level of photography that I only could dream about last year, the high-end commercial automotive photography.

Some books that helped me a lot:

• Betty Edwards - The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
  
• Betty Edwards - Color
  
• Michael Freeman - The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos
  
  Believe me, you want fundamental knowledge to rely on, not a list of incoherent 'protips'. :-)

A thread I can help with! Nighttime urban shots are my thing. First and foremost watch this video if you want to shoot low light handheld. By far it has helped me up my game more than any other advice I have receeived. Also, this has some great advice as well.

On your submitted photo

Good news:

1. Your composition is great! I love the people at the end of the street, the location of the street lights and the leading lines.
   
   
   
2. The colors are very natural for your first go, working with those lights is a PITA until you get used to it.
   
   
3. You did not go overboard with most of the typical newbie mistakes and end up with a very artificial-looking image.
   
   
4. This is a great first attempt, especially with a 3/4 sensor. Gear does not make the photograph and you're making the most out of what you have. I started with a 3/4 sensor RX100M3 and got some really great results, work with its limitations and you can still capture great images.
   
   
   Areas for improvement:
   
   
5. Lower your total exposure let more of the background fall into shadow
   
   
6. Increase your contrast just a little to help create pools of light it will really add a lot of depth to your image
   
   
7. When you are shooting large buildings or a vanishing point down the stret, try to keep the camera level if at all possible if not, you may need to adjust your keystones to help straighten the image back out
   
   
8. Straighten your horizontal lines. the rest will fall into place after that
   
   
9. Watch for lens flare it tagged you in this image, cheater notes, you can pull the blue out of that flare and it will look a lot less obvious, also a local decrease in contrast for it and lowering its exposure will also help cut it down. But the key is to get rid of them at the point of capture.
   
   You have a good eye keep shooting! It gets easier every time you do it. I love this kind of work and I am happy to help with whatever advice I can. Feel free to message me with any questions.
   
   Advice for the total newbie to lowlight shooting:
   
   Time for some hard truths.
   
   
10. If you want low noise, ultrasharp shots at night you will need a tripod. This is the reality. Long exposure is the name for god on the lips of low light photographers and that means tripods. This is the one I use and it fits in a backpack.
    
    
11. Anything other than long exposure, usually even multiple exposures setup with a very low level hdr with a light touch will be a compromise between noise, detail level, or clarity usually all three.
    
    If you still want to shoot handheld.
    
    
12. Shoot in RAW you will need all the dynamic range you can get
    
    
13. Expose for the brightest object you want in focus, rely on your dynamic range you can get away with
    
    
14. Set your camera to about 1/30th shutter speed faster if you can't keep it steady at that, motion blur is worse than noise. Set your ISO to auto and your aperture wide open. This captures the most light your camera is capable of with the shortest shutter speed.
    
    
15. Be ok with shadow, not everything needs to have full detail visible.
    
    
16. Remember you are shooting digital you can recover shadow but you can't recover anything blown out. I will often adjust my exposure dial to -1 or even -2 at night wich is counter-intuitive but allows you to preserve the highlights.
    
    
17. Out of the camera, most low light shots are going to come out oversaturated and if you are shooting under tungsten lights may have wonky colors. Use a cheap white balance card to help resolve this. Also, drop your saturation in your editor by a point or two until the lights shrink just a smidge. It's hard to explain but you will see the effect easily enough.
    
    
18. For a shot like this, I like to put in just a little bit of split one, a little bit of blue into the shadows, and a little orange into the high lights. It will really make it pop. The key here is a little dab will do you.
    
    
19. The "waxy" look you're talking about it is noise, open your aperture all the way, or get a faster lens, or better sensor are your only ways to minimize it short of long shutter speeds. You can correct a fair amount of it with a specialized software, I use either DxO or Topaz Denoise. Keep in mind not everyting needs to be made for large printing, don't fear some noise if it makes the difference between getting the shot or not.
    
    
20. Shooting at night is very rewarding, it's hard, you make do with a lot of compromises but always remember to be safe. I wrote up a list based on my experiences shooting in Chicago, Milwaukee, Cinncinati, and Indy at night. Please read this..
    
    
    Obligatory link to my work so you can get a sense of the style that I go for.
    
    Full disclosure:
    
    None of the links are affiliate links, they are simply products that I use every night I am out. I have bought all my own gear, this is strictly my own experience so your mileage may vary.

I recommend the same book to every single beginner. "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0817439390

Thanks to all the great photographers that recommended it to me when I was a beginner.

I would suggest picking up a copy of Bryan Peterson's excellent "Understanding Exposure" and reading it. Once you understand this, you're pretty much set.

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera-ebook/dp/B0104EOJSK/ref=sr_1_1

If people want to learn the same kind of basics regarding photography, but with picture illustrations and diagrams of the concepts discussed, I can highly recommend the book Understanding Exposure. It's very well written, and easy to understand.

It really depends on what kind of shots you're looking for.

For street photography, you don't need permission or a model release form as long as you don't use the image for any kind of commercial or financial gain. As mentioned before, as long as those you're photographing are in a public place and have no "reasonable right to privacy", you're fine. Personally, my street photography is done using a telephoto lenses at events like parades, carnivals and things like that. There's a pamphlet written by a lawyer here in the US called "The Photographer's Rights". Here is the link:

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

If you're interested in shooting model photography, look around online for some good beginner tutorials on posing and lighting, then get some friends to come model for you.

Here's a good site with some information on portrait photography (just search around, read related articles, etc...):

http://digital-photography-school.com/tips

This site has some good tips and stuff, too:

http://photo.tutsplus.com/

Sooner or later you'll get into lighting. Here are a few blogs that have a lot of good information:

Strobist: http://strobist.blogspot.com/

Zack Arias: http://www.zarias.com/

David Ziser's Digital Pro Talk: http://digitalprotalk.blogspot.com/

Dustin Diaz did a lighting 365. His Flickr Photostream is full of BTS information: http://www.flickr.com/photos/polvero/sets/72157611811908959/

I also read Joe McNally's Hot Shoe Diaries when it came out. It has a lot of information:

http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Shoe-Diaries-Light-Flashes/dp/0321580141

He also has a blog:

http://www.joemcnally.com/blog/

I actually read two books, that I found pretty interesting:

"Picture Perfect Posing: Practicing the Art of Posing for Photographers and Models" - Which takes on the rather technical side, almost drawing charts about where to put which body parts and what it signals. (Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Picture-Perfect-Posing-Practicing-Photographers/dp/0321966465)

"Psychologie der Fotografie: Kopf oder Bauch?", which is a German book about the psychological aspects. Here the focus is not about the perfect focus point, but telling stories with the pictures. I'm not sure whether there is an English version of the book, but I bet there are similar titles or articles if you google.

What I've learned: just start doing something. Just shoot some models. While during that, try out some weird and creative stuff. If you like the not-so-posed pictures, do stuff with them and document them in the meantime. Personally, I find that more fun than just posing, too. But it's all down to just getting started, learning to see, learning to communicate and direct, and then start exploring while using the experience.

This book is about composition. I'm a beginner and I've learned more (about composition) from this book than any other resource.

I like Light, Science and Magic.

Honestly if you don't know what they need from asking them, a gift card to Amazon. I'd much rather have that and spend it on what I need or whatever G.A.S. tells me I need than to receive a piece of kit that I didn't choose. I don't mean to sound rude, it's just that I rather prefer researching and choosing my own gear.

If you absolutely must, though, I recommend a book.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1907708952/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0817439390/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0961454733/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159711247X/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312420099/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Or a notebook for taking notes while out shooting, scouting, etc.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/8883701127/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Agreed but didn't they also write the #1 selling book on digital photography? To me that gives them a little more cred than most of the other youtubers that just grab a camera and start spouting stuff:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0988263408

I'm a portrait photographer primarily. I wouldn't quite say I'm exactly where I want to be, but my photography has improved tenfold in the last 12 months, which I attribute entirely to deliberate effort.

For me, there are two major components- education and practice.

For education, I've proactively worked to educate myself with reading, watching, and asking lots of questions.

Here's a book I found invaluable to understanding light. The main focus is the behavior and characteristics of light, and would be useful for all photographers: https://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/

Also, following photographers on YouTube/IG/etc. who make work I admire has been greatly helpful. Often, they're available for questions and providing feedback on your own work.

Reading and interacting with the community here has been incredibly useful as well, of course.

For practice, I've worked to establish a feedback loop which enables me to receive critique and evaluation from others I respect. Joe Edelman's TOG Chat group on Facebook provides the most insightful critique I've found and has been invaluable in helping me refine my work.

I also work to be critically honest with myself. This starts with reverse engineering work I admire so I can pick apart the elements which I appreciate.

What does this look like? I focus on the pose, clothing, background, lighting, retouching, sharpness, composition and any other elements of a given image which can be defined and manipulated by the photographer. Once I can understand these variables and how their manipulation changes an image, I can take intentional control of them during the photo-taking process, rather than allowing them to happen incidentally.

I think that these two components- education and practice, are the basis for becoming an "expert" in any field, especially photography.

Chapters 6 and 7 of Light, Science & Magic 4e deal with metal and glass surfaces. If you can deal with lighting a polished metal sphere, most other problems seem trivial by comparison.

http://amzn.com/0240812255

If you follow the articles back to the start of the lawsuit it was stated that he did submit a DMCA request for his images, Imgur responded stating that they were aware of the problem and had set a time window to correct it. However, nearly 6 months later Imgur had taken no action. The suit was to have an injuction made on Imgur and to collect damages.

The important thing here most people don't understand (with good reason) is how damages are awarded for copyright infringement. If you check out any of the professional photography literature (The Professional Photographer's Legal handbook Nancy E. Wolff, ASMP's Professional Business Practices in Photography, and Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington) they all describe that to claim full damages on any of your works they must first be registered with the Copyright Office to show when they were created and how they were used (published and unpublished works are handled differently.) Published works as you are probably aware tend to come with licensing agreements for a specific amount of time based on various factors. These can be size of the image in a spread, number of images total, exclusivity, etc.

The articles mention that he could theoretically collect millions in damages because if his work is properly registered and has been used in a commercial application then Imgur is at fault for collecting ad revenue on work that it acknowledged was copywritten and was not legally licensed or given express permission to host on its servers. If his works were not registered and were not used commercially he could only collect what is essentially pennies per image while paying out of pocket for legal fees until a settlement or ruling is reached.

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. Can't recommend it enough. http://amzn.com/0817439390

You should check out Light: Science and Magic and its discussion of the family of angles, if you haven't already. If the subject is reflective, you can utilize the difference between intensity of light falling on a subject and reflecting from a subject. Light that falls on a subject adheres to the inverse square law and quickly loses intensity the further the subject is from the light. However a surface that reflects light sill display the incident light at essentially the same intensity of its source (depending on just how reflective it is).

So here is a more concrete example. You want to photograph a mirror on a wall but you want the wall to be as black as possible. First put the light far enough away from the wall to get the exposure you want. Then angle the camera so you can see the light in the mirror's reflection (note, you'll need the light source to be big enough to fill the mirror's entire field of view). The light source viewed in the mirror will appear as bright as the light source itself while the light that falls on the wall will still be minimal because it isn't reflective.

Anyhow, it's kind of a hard thing to describe without visual help so sorry if that didn't make any sense. But check out the book. It's actually a pretty interesting trick.

Most compositional arrangements are well-described in The photographer's eye. Hihgly recommended read.

Bridging the Gap: Classical Art Designed for Photographers

This is a good video that I found through another comment on this sub.

But since you asked for a book, this one is pretty good: The Photographer's Eye

Have fun!

Get Scott Kelby's guide to digital photography. It's an amazing book. It works with the D90 mostly. I also have a D90 and I find that the Nikkor 18-200 mm lens that I have is so versatile that I can get basically any shot I want. What type of accessories were you thinking about?

Edit: the book name is "The Digital Photography Book" It's only $15. Here's the link to it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/032147404X

I posted a response to someone else recently who had the same exact question (although he was trying to shoot bongs, not shoes ha).

First: Buy a copy of Light Science and Magic

What you're trying to accomplish falls into the category of "Some of the most technically difficult lighting challenges a photographer can have" so the solution is equally technical. That book contains the foundations you need - and frankly there are no quick solutions.

Second: Definitely DO NOT use a green background. It's murder for stills and fixing the color kickback you get if you don't light things perfectly is awful.

Last: Understand that glass is clear so more light doesn't help. For reflective objects, treat it light a mirror that the camera is looking into. Show the mirror the things you want the camera to see.

Want it to see a reflection? You've got to place the lights so the mirror bounces the reflection into the lens. Most likely you are not appreciating the fact that the rounded reflective surface sees entire world, so your light source needs to be much larger than you think in order for the reflections to show up the way you are hoping for. (product photography always seems to require about 5x more working space than people expect).

Good luck!

Light Science and Magic by Hunter, Biver, Fuqua

> Light Science and Magic provides you with a comprehensive theory of the nature and principles of light, with examples and instructions for practical application. Featuring photographs, diagrams, and step-by-step instructions, this book speaks to photographers of varying levels. It provides invaluable information on how to light the most difficult subjects, such as surfaces, metal, glass, liquids, extremes (black-on-black and white-on-white), and portraits.

This is written like a college textbook. It is well organized, well written, dense and informative.

https://www.amazon.ca/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/

It's not all that difficult, but you have to "get" how transparent objects behave.

The basic idea is that when you shoot something transparent, you're not so much shooting the thing itself as what you see through the thing. So you have to worry about lighting the background you'll see through the object—shining a light on the glass object won't accomplish much. (You also likely light the object itself to create nice highlights, but that's more of a "detail" job than the main lighting.)

There's different techniques if you're shooting against a black background...

Anyway, the book Light Science & Magic that was recommended elsewhere is a solid introduction

You did catch a genuinely nice moment between these two kids, but being a professional photographer is 90% business. There are countless awesome photographers that have zero business skills and never make it professionally. Please read books like Best Business Practices for Photographers before making the decision.


I don't mean to be harsh, but definitely polish up on your photo skills too. It seems like this was an under exposed image that the blacks/shadows were lifted (quite a bit). This makes the photo very flat tonally and saturation wise.

I'd suggest creating a mood board of photos from your favorite photographers. Figure out how to achieve the looks on your mood board and especially understand why they appeal to you. If you have any questions on how to get a certain look, feel free to ask /r/postprocessing. With time, you'll reference less and less, but reference photos are absolutely critical when starting on your own path. Best of luck!

I can heartily recommend Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. For the technics of your camera your manual is likely very useful.

Whilst I haven't read it myself, I've also heard very good things about The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman. There's another The Photographer's Eye by John Szarkowski that I gather is somewhat different, although this is the version I own myself and is a great book detailing style in photographs, but is probably not what you're looking for.

As for settings, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ1-lTg6AoQ

For shooting action shots (like a sporting event), you'll want 1) Focus area: wide 2) Drive mode: continuous shooting fast 3) Focus mode: Continuous AF 4) Lock-on AF: On (that setting is in the menu under the camera icon in section 5

For general photography, it's extremely useful to have the a6000 set up to do back-button focus. To set that up set 1) Pre-AF: Off 2) AF w/ shutter: Off 3) Under custom key settings set the AEL Button to: AF on 4) Focus mode: AF-C, I also like to 5) make the focus area: Center -- this allows you to use the focus and recompose method of taking photos

With back button focus set up, you hold down the AEL button when you want to focus (perhaps using the focus and recompose method to focus), release the AEL button once you've set up your focusing, compose your shot, and you can then take as many photos as you want without your focus changing. THEN, if something starts moving, hold down the AEL button again and keep taking continuous photos and track the subject in the center of your camera (or use Lock-On AF to keep track of the moving subject) -- it'll make more sense once you start taking photos, but back button focus allows you to essentially use AF-S and AF-C at the same time and it saves you valuable time when taking photos

Intelligent auto (the green icon) is a good setting if you're just starting out and need to shoot an event but don't know what you're doing. It chooses everything for you and can get some good shots. But it limits your creative control and the camera's choices aren't always the best choices. I use aperture priority most often, it's a good way to start learning about exposure -- I recommend this book if you're a beginner and don't yet understand the interaction between ISO, aperture, and shutter speed: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483816559&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=composure+photography+book

You have no clue how many people wished a Hasselblad 500C/M fell in their laps. You're lucky.


No, about learning on film. I see no problem with that. If you understand exposure and can get your hands on a cheap light meter, you will have no problem shooting film. The Hassy is very simple. You have aperture and shutter speed. You tell it those values on the lens, you compose, then focus, and then press the shutter. Not much different than a DSLR, really.


Two books come to mind: Understanding Exposure and Creative Camera Control. The 2nd book is very short and very simple. I'd recommend that because it easily explains how to get shallow Depth of Field, how to use slow shutter to blur movement, etc.


Here are some films ordered by cheapest first. If you shoot B&W, you can process it at home for much cheaper than having others process it for you.


Check out some of these shots taken by other Hasselblad owners on Flickr.


Or, if you change your mind, I have $200 in my paypal account that I can send you for the Hassy.

For a collection based book I'd recommend either Magnum or The Great Life Photographers. Either one will introduce her to important names and photographs in the craft. Instruction books are a bit more difficult since I can't imagine anything beyond what she'll already learn in the course of her studies... perhaps Light Science and Magic will give her a competitive edge.

There is a phenomenal book called "Light: Science and Magic" and I cannot stress the importance of reading it. There is so much information contained in this one volume, that it would take years to find it all on the internet. This will not only help you with your strobe photography, but it will also vastly improve the way you analyze natural lighting situations, the use of reflectors, how you control light spill, and even the angles you choose for your photographs.

Read Strobist. While it focuses on getting the speedlight off of your camera, it will still show you some invaluable lighting tricks that you can use all the time. There is some phenomenal work to be seen, and some great knowledge to be had here.

Finally, practice. Put yourself into some tricky lighting situations, put the speedlight on, and learn how to bounce the light off of objects around you to achieve the effect you desire. Remember that the zoom setting on the speedlight will control the spread, and the higher the millimeters of zoom on the strobe, the narrower the beam of light will be.

Go outside on a nice sunny day with your speedlight, practice using it at low power to provide fill for a backlit photo. Use the sun to light the back of your subject, and the flash to fill in the rest.

If you overpower your flash, you will lose all the subtle texture of your subject. It is irrelevant how small your aperture is at this point, the light just becomes too overpowering. It is about balance.

If you mess around with these basics, you can't lose. Just keep practicing.

Here's his vimeo!

This guy is seriously awesome. Amazing photography. And he's a redditor!

Cheers, Terje!

My friend wrote this, for real, check it out. It's awesome, trust me.

It sounds like you're unfamiliar with all of the functions of the camera. I have that camera and I recommend these books:
David Busch's Guide
Scott Kelby's The Digital Photography Book

Picture Perfect Posing

Yes, I've been reading The Photographer's Eye for the last couple of weeks, and it has definitely helped me to look for certain things when composing an image.

I'm with you. I learned a lot from The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman. There was a bit in there that I did intuitively, but it really opened my eyes.

Light: Science and Magic, a highly instructive book on lighting.

this is an awesome book that takes lighting ANY subject to the next level.

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0240812255/ref=dp_ob_title_bk/192-4912251-9317753

Stobist 101 and if you want to dive deeper, look for "Light, Science and Magic".

The single best way to get better at anything: practice! In your case, take your camera and walk out the door. Go to a park, the mall, walk through your neighborhood.... and just shoot. Take pictures of anything and everything. And don't wait for something to shoot... go out and find something to shoot. You'll take a lot of crappy pictures at first but eventually you'll start finding diamonds in the rough.
As far as educating yourself, make sure you read your manual at least once from front to back. Knowing how to use your gear properly is essential. Secondly, pick up a copy of Bryan Peterson's book Understanding Exposure It's a great read for the beginner and helps you understand the basic mechanics of photography. Here are a few other links for you to check out: Kelby Training | Digital Photography School | photo.net

I use the Light Meter app on my phone in lieu of a dedicated light meter. It works really well for anything that is moderately well lit, but can struggle in the dark. For that I use the Ultimate Exposure Computer which works well on the caveat that you can guess the EV level accurately. One of these days I'm going to get a Zone IV Pentax spotmeter so I can become a true zoner (or is it zoneist?) Luckily there is about a stop of latitude with B&W film and it is possible to print stuff that is pretty far gone--it is just significantly more difficult.

If you are shooting in the daylight, go with Sunny 16 all the way. It makes things easy and I've gotten really good results working only off of that.

As far as exposure goes, I've been concentrating on creatively working with the depth of field more than anything. Exposure is just a way for the subject to be properly captured. If you want a book, I found "Understanding Exposure' by Bryan Peterson to be very helpful even though I already had a good handle on the basics.

One of the biggest elements to learning exposure from my personal experience is figuring how to see light. Next time you go outside look at where direct sunlight and the shadows fall and imagine how that will be translated to film. It takes a while to get used to, but eventually you will be able to make small adjustments to aperture or shutter speed based on the lighting conditions being faced. Hopefully this helped a bit--it's a bit late and there is a chance this didn't make a lick of sense.

Understanding Exposure is usually the book that gets tossed around. And it's a good book. Heck, I should go re-read my copy.

I am a rank amateur photographer, but the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson gave me a good enough grounding on the ins and outs of exposure to allow me to shoot in manual when I want to. It is certainly too basic for any of the professionals here, but for anyone who is making the leap to shooting in manual mode, I recommend it.

Well first is there enough light, you would need it to be quite bright to get a good exposure with those manual settings. Even though there is plenty of light in the hotel room I am in to see without a light my camera takes a black shot with those settings.
 


At ISO 100 and 1/250 I had to widen my aperture to f1.2 to get an ok shot

or

At ISO 100 and F8 I had to go to 1/15

or

at F8 and 1/250 I had to boost ISO to 2500

 

But ... I would also guess that you have skipped some of the book and gone straight to the practical exercises, you are not understanding what effect the settings have

Also - understanding shutter speeds is too specific in my view, this was my favourite book to get started
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Edition-Photographs/dp/0817439390

 


Aperture mode (Aperture priority) means that you can change the aperture and the camera decides the shutter speed. Very simplistically this is so you can have control over the depth of field
 

Shutter mode (Shutter priority) means you control the shutter speed and the camera decides the aperture. Very simplistically this is so you can have control over how quick the shot is taken. Fast (1/250 and faster) for fast moving subjects like animals, sports or children, slower (1/80) if you can get away with it for static objects or very slow for long exposures for effect (1/4, etc)

 


In both of these your camera might be able to have 'Auto ISO' to be sure to get a good exposure - but you are letting the camera make decisions (Which is good for you at this point!)

I would suggest you set the camera to each of the above modes, setting the aperture and priority to the settings from the book respectively in each mode and take note of what it sets the rest to for a good exposure - so you can start to understand the relationship

 


But... if you are only just starting photography, just go out and shoot in Auto or in Shutter mode at 1/100 with Auto ISO (1/100 is a good shutter speed to use for hand held photography, it's difficult to hand hold slower than 1/80 - 1/100 without good stabilisation)

 


Why? Photography is about composition, just go and take some photos of things, in your back garden or around your town - go and photograph, the technical bits can come later

Understanding Exposure Probably the most helpful resource I had understanding photography.

> 150 shots

Don't you love digital? So much easier than learning by 36 exposures at a time.

I'd work on your composition some. I'm not a huge fan of your final composition, but it is definitely better than the original one. Maybe de-clutter it some, as someone else suggested. If you're trying to get the kid's clothes in the shot to go with the monkey, maybe remove the laundry basket, fold and stack the clothes, and put the monkey on top of that stack.

I'd also consider bumping your ISO setting down, and opening up the aperture for this shot.

If you're looking for book suggestions, try Bryan Peterson's series, particularly Understanding Exposure. It's clear, concise, has a lot of examples, and is less than $20.

Anyways, have fun. Don't take any of our criticism too seriously, it's mostly subjective. Shoot the way you want, and have fun!

Look up the book “the photographers eye” by Michael Freeman. Its a book focused completely on composition. It has chapters dedicated to each element of composition such as balance, framing, contrast, figure and ground, etc. If photography was a language, then composition would be the grammar. It’s the rules of photography and you can look through portfolios and photo books as much as you want but it won’t matter if you can’t identify the rules being used.

https://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343

The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos

Composition is arguably the single most important aspect to photography. If you can't compose a shot then no amount of expensive gear or lighting can make it look good. The above book is great... Not only does it have lots of photo examples, but there is swathes of text to read that really dives into the subject (sometimes a rarity in photography books). Amazon should let you preview some of it. It also goes into the basics of how to take a photo to capture a story or emotion, which is a skill you will develop for your entire photography career.

"Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting" is a definite read, it breaks down really tricky lighting situations (glass, metal, people, etc) and explains WHY you light things a certain way. It really teaches you to see the differences in how things are lit.

To really figure this out (and or realize the limitations of what can be done), you may need a bit more education than a reply to a reddit post will get you.

In a nutshell:

Objects have different properties of how they react with light, reflection being the most important to us. Two main types of reflection are diffuse and direct. Something with mostly diffuse reflection will not show glare (think of a white piece of paper). The thing that most exemplifies direct reflection, is a mirror.

Another property is absorption, which is how we get/see colors & black etc.

So if you have something that is highly reflective, it has lots of direct reflection, and if it's black like a Darth Vader helmet, then it probably has plenty of absorption (and thus less diffuse reflection).

So when it comes to lighting something like this, we need to consider what type of reflection we want to (or have to) use. If the item is mostly black, then it probably doesn't have enough diffuse reflection or the direct reflection properties are going to be dominant.

So when lighting something that is dominated by direct reflection, we need to understand the family of angles. Basically, you will see a reflection of the light source (usually glare) when the angle between the lens, object and light all line up.

When the object is flat (or has flat sides etc) it can be easy to 'hide' the lights by placing them (or the object) where the reflections won't be visible to the camera. Of course, if the object is rounded, your family of angle will essentially be anywhere in front of the object, which can make it impossible to 'hide' the light..

However, if the object is mostly direct reflection, you may need to use that reflection glare, because there is nothing else.

So the task for the photographer then becomes getting the best looking reflection, to achieve what they want for the photo. So we would find/create the right size and shape of light, and place it carefully. A good example is wine bottles. Using a square or round light would leave a square or round glare on the bottle, which doesn't look good. So a photographer may use a strip light and align it with the bottle, so that the reflection shows up as a vertical line on the bottle.

Sometimes, the solution is to make your light source as big as possible (relative to the object). So getting something big and/or getting it really close. This is why we might use a light tent, it basically puts the light source all around the object.

So what you will likely have to do, is experiment by moving the lights around (while viewing the object from the camera position). You may find a position that makes for better looking reflections. Changing the size & shape of your lights may also help.

Read this book... Light: Science & Magic.

I like the hotshoe diaries and the moment it clicks, both by Joe McNally. Hot Shoe diaries is more lighting specific, and really focuses on using small flashes to get good results.

First step is to stop trying to bang all your female friends. It'll make them feel creeped out, especially during a photo shoot.

If you're willing to go into this enough to buy a book, Picture Perfect Posing: Practicing the Art of Posing for Photographers and Models (Voices That Matter) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321966465/ is good.

http://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323655305&sr=8-1

I was looking for the same type of book and came across this. There is nothing about hardware specs in the book. I am 1/4 of the way through and have learned a lot about creating art.

Learn composition. You have a compact camera so you already have the tool to take interesting photographs. I would start with a book like The Photographer's Eye to start learning about what makes certain photographs compelling and interesting. You can hit the photography section of the local library and just start looking at great photographs. As someone posted here couple weeks ago, "Buy books, not gear."

Later on, you may decide to buy a DSLR, but think carefully about what you need. A camera is a tool, nothing more. A great camera will open up new possibilities, but you still need knowledge and experience to convert those possibilities into good pictures. Since you brought up the classical music analogy, think of the camera like a piano. A grand Steinway can make beautiful music, but it cannot turn a novice into a concert pianist. Only hard work, training, experience, and knowledge can do that.

For inspiration, here is a great war photographer who uses only point-and-shoots.

Good luck and happy shooting!

The Photographer's Eye is a great book to teach you how you should be looking at your subjects for taking photos. You can get the technical details about your camera or lightroom or whatever elsewhere, but this book teaches you what you should be looking for in your frame to begin with.

Adding links...

• Michael Freeman - The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos
  
  
• Michael Freeman - The Photographer's Mind: Creative Thinking for Better Digital Photos

Good job. Keep working on composition though.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Photographers-Eye-Composition-Digital/dp/0240809343

You're not photographing the object itself, you're photographing the reflections/refractions. Check this out. And this. If you want a book, Light Science and Magic is the one.

I photographed a gem a while back. You can see how I did it, here.

I'm going to link to a few of my recent posts that might be relevant because they describe a specific facet of my photography. Perhaps you'll find something interesting there. Please feel free to ask any questions if you'd like further elaboration on them, or just something in a different direction.

• Fun with fisheye lenses when shooting events
  
• Use a $40 reversing ring to turn a 50mm lens into an incredible 1:1 macro lens
  
• How to shoot weddings, for beginners
  
• How to use studio strobes (or off-camera flashes) effectively
  
• What gear to buy for events and portraiture when money is no object
  
• How to avoid/deal with fatigue from heavy gear
  
  For books, consider most of the books that Joe McNally has released, especially the Hot Shoe Diaries.
  
  TL;DR: Hopefully the tumor is just a bad case of constipation.

Portrait photography is about photographing people.

Ok. Let's start from here.

What is often overlook by all the gear heads on the internet is the people part. A great resource on this is Roberto Valenzuela's book Picture Perfect Practice. It's a long book but it provides simple rules of thumb in order to get better at directing people.

Now let's talk about light.

Here is a little secret. You don't need external light to make good portraits. Let me repeat, I'm making a point here. You. Don't. Need. EXTERNAL LIGHTS. To make. GOOD. Portraits.

What you need is a good eye for reading the light in given situations. I assume you are already good at nature photography. Normally you are looking at the same thing in portraits: great tonal range, even light, nice fall-off...
This is something you can achieve in basically any room with a big window on a cloudy day.

A great inspiration regarding that matter are paintings. At least to me. Delacroix, Gericault, Rembrandt... Look at the light. LOOK AT THE LIGHT. I strongly believe that contemporary portrait photography is very strongly influence by some of the painting Masters.

Finally, let's talk about external light. If you are able to make GOOD portraits in natural light. With a fair amount of practice you'll be able to take GREAT portraits using industrial light. But you need to have strong basics. Because a badly lit portraits suck badly while not-so-good portraits in natural light are just bad luck.

External lights helps having consistency and provides control that mother nature doesn't give.

All right, since you said you do photograph events and weddings:

The Luminous Portrait: Capture the Beauty of Natural Light for Glowing, Flattering Photographs
by Elizabeth Messina et al.
Link: http://amzn.com/0817400125

Picture Perfect Posing: Practicing the Art of Posing for Photographers and Models (Voices That Matter)
by Roberto Valenzuela
Link: http://amzn.com/0321966465

Picture Perfect Practice: A Self-Training Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Taking World-Class Photographs (Voices That Matter)
by Roberto Valenzuela
Link: http://amzn.com/0321803531

These three are from my wishlist. The Valenzuela one on posing comes highly recommended from some of my wedding photographer friends.

If Jose Villa is your thing, he also put out a book:

Fine Art Wedding Photography: How to Capture Images with Style for the Modern Bride
by Jose Villa et al.
Link: http://amzn.com/0817400028

If you might want to expand into boudoir:

The Art of Boudoir Photography: How to Create Stunning Photographs of Women
by Christa Meola
Link: http://amzn.com/0321862708

Giving direction comes with time and practice and is on the basis you know the foundation of a good pose and what things to avoid.

Read the book Picture Perfect Posing. It teaches you how to make a good pose, and what things to look out for.

As a photographer, there are really only 3 settings you care about to metering properly (ISO, shutter, aperture), which is why Understanding Exposure is such a highly recommended book for beginners. The rest of the features such as white balance, color, etc can all be adjusted if you shoot in RAW. Granted, that's not possible in most cameraphones today, but to me those are secondary features anyway, and in general most P&S cameras are pretty close in terms of getting those other features down. And most of the time it's not white balance that people are complaining about for cameraphone pics.

With that said, when the exposure is set properly, your photograph is going to turn out properly. That isn't to say that auto mode should be completely inferior. It should give you decent photos. When shooting in auto mode, my photos won't be artistic the way I like them, but they won't be horrid either. They will be just cookie cutter standard. So on a cameraphone, you expect that in auto mode you should get good photos. You shouldn't get noisy photos in a standard indoor photo unless you're at a dim restaurant. Autofocus should be reliable and accurate. Your camera shouldn't go below 1/15 shutter speed unless in very dim situations or you force it to use slow shutter. Those are general rules that software makers should be aware of and place restrictions on the software for light metering. You shouldn't need to mess with all these settings to get a decent shot. It should be setup so you can achieve that as long as you point, click, and hold your hand steady.

Part of what I see with cameraphones is that they frequently:

• Meter horribly (OnePlus One, Nexus 5)
  
  
• Heavily compress images
  
  
• Slow to autofocus (the AOSP Camera did this)
  
  
• Have shutter lag
  
  
• Process images poorly

Understanding Exposure is a great book that is often recommended here.

yes, this is definitely required reading.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Business-Practices-Photographers-Second/dp/1435454294/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318446545&sr=8-1

This book is amazing at teaching you the basics of photography!

Understanding Exposure, Fourth Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607748509/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_wFb1xbFH42KRQ

I would highly recommend you get a copy of the book Understanding Exposure: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509

I have a Nikon D3400 and got a copy of this book to help push me out of auto mode. The book is very well written and explains how to capture the best images. It'd probably be better to have a foundational understanding of how a picture is taken and processed than to try making up for the lack of experience with different lenses and filters.

Is there anywhere you post your images so some of us can check them out?

Good luck and have fun!

I picked up a m43 camera earlier this year after using point and shoots and crappy cell phone cameras for years. It's been a learning process, but it's also been a lot of fun. Here are the things that helped me most:

• Learn a little about composition (frankly, this is a lifelong pursuit). I love this book and you can probably find it at your local library.
  
  
• Learn your camera's settings. Look through the manual, watch YouTube videos. Modern cameras are very complex and some menu systems are complicated, so get familiar with at least the basic operational points of your new camera.
  
  
• Get out and use the camera! Take tons of pictures, review each and every one and decide what you do and don't like about each picture. I toss roughly 85% of the photos I take, but I try to learn something from each one.
  
  
• Don't go gear-crazy until you've taken some time to use the base kit. Assuming the G7 comes with a kit lens, use it a lot and decide what types of photos you like to take before considering a new lens. I used my OM-D E-M10 with the kit lens for months before picking up another lens because I wanted a larger field of view for street and landscape photos, and the kit lens wasn't up to it. Glass is the real expense in photography.
  
  Really, just use it and enjoy it. I hope Santa is good to you this year!
  
  
  

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is a great place to start. Very easy read.

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Photographs-Camera/dp/0817439390

Pick up a copy of Understanding Exposure. The book is generally light reading. It will help you understand what each of the 3 key settings are that control exposure, and why you may want to change each of them from different situations. Any time someone expresses interest in "moving beyond the A setting" I hand them this book.

I think that his/her point was that you need to wait for the light. Shooting during the golden hour--sunrise & sunset, you get better lighting. However, I don't think that this is the core of the problem, here. To reduce contrast or make other similar edits, I would recommend trying out some good image editing software, like Photoshop Elements. I'm not familiar with iPhoto, and can't comment on that.

Bu yes, absolutely you can make great images with a cheap camera--even a pinhole camera. Your photos aren't terrible, they just aren't very refined.
Issues I see with your images are:

• Balance & Composition. Learn about the Rule of Thirds. (Then break it, creatively!) Put your horizon line (or other significant object) at the 1/3 or 2/3 point in the frame. It's natural to try for symmetry, but makes for a boring photograph. When making images (photos, drawings, paintings,) you want to draw the eye through the image. If something is symmetrical, the eye tends to simply fall to the center and stay there.
  
  In the first photo, which I'll call "LAKE," the treeline is quite dark, and the sky is very bright. Also, you have two wide-open expanses, the sky and the water, with objects in the middle. Typically, you'd want to put your objects (trees, far hills,) in one third (or so,) and leave either the top or bottom relatively empty. I tried an edit on this, and it was tough to crop--I wasn't able to really balance the image, but I tried.
  
  
• Exposure. In your second shot ("SHORE,") the sky is quite blown out. The eye is drawn down the cliff, across the treeline to the empty shore in the foreground.
  
  Check out Understanding Exposure, by Bryan Peterson.
  
  While I don't suggest trying to fix everything in post, here are some quick edits I played with. The SHORE image, I cropped more extremely. I don't feel like I nailed it with either edit, but I gave it a go. I used Photoshop, and did a number of things. (Too many, now that I look at my edits again...)
  
  
• Lake
  
  
• Shore

I bought this book back and lend it to all of my friends who want to learn photography. Understanding Exposure

If you can, find a way to meet up with other "professional" photographers and see how they work. Studying poses is one thing, but actually posing a person is another.

Does it have to be an actual class? There are plenty of resources out there for self-learning. Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is a classic for beginners to get you familiar with principles of exposure. Lynda.com also has a bunch of classes and it's free if you have a Houston library card.

Some of these are underexposed. Notice the lack of detail in the shaded part of the rocks. Here's a book worth its weight in gold

Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure

I always recommend the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson for anyone looking to take better photos. It's basically the best book possible for learning to take great photos.

The other issue that I noticed to the blown out highlights in the cloud and the overall look of the sky as you've processed it. Sunny landscapes are tough.

Understanding Exposure

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Photographs-Camera/dp/0817439390/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417372569&sr=1-1&keywords=understanding+exposure

Just keep in mind that the principles of photography ie exposure and all that are universal. You'll be tempted to seek out info specific to/learn about the camera, and I'm not saying that you shouldn't - but it's kind of like if you got a new Ferrari with a six speed gated shifter (yeah I know they don't make 'em any more), you wouldn't be looking for a book on how to drive a Ferrari, you'd want to learn how to, I guess, "drive" at a new level. Same here.

Yeah there are all kinds of obscure settings buried deep in the menus but understanding how aperture, ISO etc all work together is what you want to learn about. Don't worry too much about the camera's specific quirks while you're busy mastering that stuff. One of the fun things with the Fujis is that they have physical controls so you can just look at them and see what you're at, vs checking a screen.

If you're into books, check out "Understanding Exposure". Best thing out there.

My first real camera was a Pentax K1000. That brings back a lot of fond memories. I suggest you pick up a copy of Brian Peterson's Understanding Exposure to brush up on the technical bits, and Michael Freeman's The Photographer's Eye to learn a bit about composition.

I can give you a few of the most important pieces of advice, and answer the most common questions right away.

1. Yes, at the moment you'll do fine with the kit lens. You have no idea about what you're doing anyway at the moment. So you don't need anything else. By all means, if you get a deal that involves an extra lens at a reduced price, then go for it. But that's just about it for now.
   
   
2. Understanding Exposure. Buy it. Read it. It is without a doubt one of the best books you can purchase when you're starting out with photography.
   
   
3. Now that you have a basic understanding of what the knobs and dials and buttons do, you will discover that your equipment has limitations. So yes, you do need another lens. I recommend the Canon 50mm f/1.8 , also known as the "nifty fifty" or the "plastic fantastic". That should cover all your needs in low light. You could do well with a telezoom as well. Any cheap-ass lens will do as a start, until you learn to hold your camera steady and you know what you're doing wrong. Then, and only then is it time to upgrade.
   
   
4. After getting what I mentioned above, you need to think a bit more about what you're gonna do, and what you really need. Gear Acquisition Syndrome is a serious problem, which can end up costing you thousands. There's a good chance you will need a monopod or tripod. You will probably find yourself wanting a flash. A polarizing filter is almost a necessity if you want to take pictures of nature.
   
   
5. DO NOT THROW AWAY THE KIT LENS. People will be lining up around the block to tell you how terrible your canon EF-S 18-55mm is, should you end up buying a rebel. DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM.
   The time to throw out the kit-lens and replace it with a better standard lens, is when you understand for yourself why you need to throw out your kit lens and replace it with something better. You will eventually get to a point where it's your equipment and not your skill that's holding back the quality of your pictures. That time wont come around this year. Quite probably not next year either.
   
   
6. Good luck. Welcome to a hobby that will cost you a lot of money, time and frustration. Remember, the only way to become a better photographer, is to take loads of pictures. Every mistake is a learning opportunity.

Understanding Exposure was probably the most useful book I read when I started shooting:

Understanding Exposure, Fourth Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607748509/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_0iuBybSA1GPNA

I have an older edition so I'm sure it's even more relevant now.

You should check out this book called understanding exposure, it's a really great intro to photography. I took 4 years of photo in high school and still found it to be worthwhile to read.

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541943482&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=understanding+exposure&dpPl=1&dpID=517WrWTQypL&ref=plSrch

Don't be afraid to buy used gear if youre on a budget, and like others have said don't focus too much on having the newest gear either. People were taking incredible pictures with new cameras 10 years ago. Those cameras take the same pictures today that they did then

Although not a website, I would recommend the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. It gives great in-depth information that can be applied to any camera with manual controls. It really helped me to understand how to get great exposure when I was a total newbie to photography.

> Start with manual and don't touch other modes for a while until you learn how to expose the way you want to.

I could not disagree any more strongly.

If he starts in manual, it'll be harder to understand how aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc, each individually affect exposure (among other things) because it won't be obvious which change to which function caused which effect on the outcome of the shot.

On the other hand, if he's willing to take classes, then I might - note that I only said might - agree.

I definitely DO agree that he needs a good foundation. Perhaps a book like Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson, among others. And I definitely recommend downloading the manual to the camera.

Sorry you're not getting a very warm response here. I haven't done studio photography myself, but I can suggest some photography education.

Here is a portrait lighting tutorial from Tony and Chelsea Northrup, while it's not exactly fashion photography, many of the same principles apply.

I also wholeheartedly recommend Tony Northrup's book, Stunning Digital Photography. Starting at $10 for the ebook, available on his website or Amazon. Some of the videos from the book are available for free on their YouTube channel, such as the one I posted above.

The book eases into the technical knowledge while teaching about composition and lighting, which apply to all types of photography. They have specific chapters for landscapes, wildlife, portraits, and others. The portrait chapter would be most applicable to fashion photography.

They also do a live show where they critique viewer submissions, and they did one on fashion photography with Roxy Rodriguez (she was in a photography competition sponsored by Adorama) so perhaps you can get some inspiration and ideas from that.

Information that would be helpful to know: What gear do you have (camera, lenses, flashes, lighting modifiers, etc.)? How do you post process your photos, do you have Lightroom? How comfortable are you with the technical aspects of photography already (fstops, shutter speed, depth of field, etc.)?

I personally enjoy this one when this question comes up. :)

This is a really hard one to answer - like why some works of art are worth millions and others are essentially worthless.

I would recommend picking up a book like:
Learning to See Creatively (Peterson) or The Photographer's Eye (Freeman) for a crash course on the design elements that make photos interesting: leading lines, color, depth of field etc.

You should pick up a book if you want to learn more about composition. I highly recommend The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman. http://www.amazon.com/The-Photographers-Eye-Composition-Digital/dp/0240809343

The Photographer's Eye
http://www.amazon.com/The-Photographers-Eye-Composition-Digital/dp/0240809343/

Buy a copy of Light Science and Magic. It'll walk you through exactly how to do it.

The technical term is polarized reflections. ...vs. direct reflections (which will not be reduced by a polarizer). This is a fantastic book if you want to know some science behind what you're seeing.

If you understand the science, it bolsters your artistic control, because you'll know how to effectively capture the vision in your head or manipulate what you're already seeing with your eyes.

Learn to improvise. How cute does a home have to be for you to clean up one little corner to shoot? Only the part that's in-frame needs to be cute. You should read Joe McNally's book The Moment it Clicks for dozens of inspiring anecdotes about how he improvised under difficult or even impossible conditions.

Problem-solving is what it's all about.

I really enjoyed Scott Kelby's The Digital Photography Book - Vol 1 -3

It's got a lot of practical information for beginners, and covers stuff like explaining aperture, focus, etc to finishing photos in Photoshop and everything in between. And if you want to save some money, he has Kindle versions of his books. Of course, being a book on photography, it won't look great on the actual Kindle, but it looks great on the computer.

You absolutely need to get yourself a copy of this book (Speedliter's Handbook, by Syl Arena). In addition to the already mentioned strobist website, you should be ready to tackle most anything coming your way.

Roberto's book, Picture Perfect Practice: A Self-Training Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Taking World-Class Photographs, really opened new horizons for me, totally recommend it!

This book has been incredibly educational for me. Instead of just showing poses for you to copy and never understand why they work, he goes through all the mechanical parts of what makes poses work or not work, so you understand the "why".

I highly recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/


It covers a lot of information on lighting and reflections, including how to light a scene without reflecting yourself or your lights on shiny surfaces. What you're looking to accomplish is sufficiently diffuse the light, blocking the the family of angles/reflections.

Your equipment is fine this side of support (a tripod really opens up a lot of flexibility), maybe read a book on lighting like Light Science and Magic. An older edition is dirt cheap.

Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting https://www.amazon.com/dp/0240808193/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_6Xv4xb3DHHAPS

Best advice is to read Light: Science and Magic. Literally "the book" on doing lighting.

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Introduction-Photographic-Lighting/dp/0240808193

Have a look at this book, it was pretty useful for me:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Photographers-Eye-Composition-Digital/dp/0240809343

This Photographer's Eye or this?

the photographer's eye

Probably the two books that helped me out the most:

Understanding Exposure
and
The Photographer's Eye

Dude thanks for the proverb but I asked for book titles. I understand that I need to take more pictures, that wasn't even remotely in question. As an athlete I don't think reading a book on rugby tackling is going to make me the perfect tackler but it'll sure as hell help with the basics and knowing what to look for.

Similarly, if I know little to nothing about exposure, composition, and the basics of photography, continuing to take bad pictures will not help me as much as if I had actually read into these concepts and covered the fundamentals as to what I should be doing/prioritizing when taking a picture.

You don't go and just solve mathematical problems. You learn HOW to solve them (or at least build up a toolbox) then you go and practice solving them and using your tools until you've mastered that process.

And yes, your photography will improve through taking pictures, but to say that it will ONLY get better through photography? That's just incorrect. Reading a manual? I'll learn how to use my gear better. Better knowledge of gear? Better pictures. Knowing how exposure works? I'll know to crank up my shutter speed and change my aperture before I just resort to setting my ISO at 6400 and taking bright enough yet terribly grainy pictures. Knowing how to frame a picture or where to place the subject? That will make my photography more pleasing to the eye.

Going and taking a bunch of pictures will not inevitably make my picture quality as great as if I actually studied photography.

You don't tell someone who makes finger paintings to just keep painting. You show them what great art looks like, and maybe even teach them the basics. You don't say "eh, maybe if you do a couple thousand paintings you'll learn how to paint a beautiful landscape."

Just leave the cookie cutter answers that everyone gives when they don't want to be helpful in your head, and actually answer a question. If you have no answer, keep it to yourself.

The pretentious, non-helpful answers in this sub need to stop. Everybody knows that they need to take more pictures to get better. Help people when they ask questions.

OP- if you're looking for books I decided to look some up:

Understanding Exposure

The Photographer's Eye

These are both seen as great introduction books for beginners. From what I've read, the first will basically help you figure out what type of lighting and exposure settings you would want to get your desired look for a given scenario, whereas the second book will help you develop your creative abilities and understanding what makes a good picture.

Those might help out your photography a teeny bit, and you won't have to take a picture!

This is hands down the best book I've read that's helped my photography skills. Its not a "camera" book, it's more of a "theory" book. It shows you the different parts of pictures that make photographs interesting.

Michael Freeman - "The Photographer's Eye"

http://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268435456&sr=8-3

Quasi-newbie myself with a similar rig (d5100):

• One of the problems you will have the stock (kit) lens is the amount of light that you are going to be able to get indoors. I think the 35 mm 1.8 is a very fun lens for some inside experimentation.
  
  
• My favorite books are Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure; Michael Freeman's The Photographer's Eye; and his The Photographer's Mind. I think the latter two are great introductions to the ideas around composition.

You practice the artistic stuff the same way you practice the technical stuff. First of all, get a good book on the basics of photography (I recommend The Photographer's Eye). This will help you grasp the basics of composition, patterns, framing, contrast etc.

Then you practice. Have weekly assignments - first week you're working on compositions; second week you're working on patterns; third week you're working on perspective and angles... etc.

After a few months, you'll start doing these things subconsciously and you'll start experimenting with new stuff and expanding your artistic toolset.

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0240812255

Aye carumba, you've got quite a task ahead of you! To improve your studio photo skills, you'll need a solid understanding of lighting. When I was first starting out, I found this book extremely helpful: http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Fourth-Introduction/dp/0240812255

In particular, it explains the family of angles--something you'll need to get a good grasp on--as well as giving you a solid foundation of understanding for things like managing reflections and lighting ratios.

1. Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition
   
   
   
2. Magnum Contact Sheets
   
   
3. Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

What you want is this book.

Basically: you're going to want to identify the exact paths of light which are causing problems, and block them. if it's glare from the lights going directly into your camera, you need a black flag between the lights and the camera. If it's a specular highlight on the object you're photographing, you're going to need to change how you light the object; dpeending on the problem, this might be as simple as putting black tape on the background, or it might mean something more complex, like controlling the highlights with multiple layers of diffusion material.

It's mostly about lighting. When you have complete control, the camera and lens become nearly irrelevant. You'll get the greatest return from learning how light interacts with objects, regardless of whether or not it's in a studio setting. Personally, I highly recommend Strobist's Lighting 101 and Lighting 102, and Light Science and Magic by Fuqua et al. They helped me greatly.

For photographic lighting, check out Light: Science and Magic. I am still in the process of reading it, but I already learned plenty half-way through.

1. Get yourself an entry level consumer dSLR and use the lens that comes with it. A Nikon D60 or if you have a large budget, a D90. Or the equivalent Canon.
   
   
2. Buy some books to learn the technical aspects. When I got started I found John Hedgcoe's Photography to be very helpful. Scott Kelby's book is a good one as well. My best advice is to peruse the books at Barnes and Noble or Border and pick one you like best.
   
   
3. Take lots of pictures. Experiment. Don't be afraid to do things "wrong".
   
   
4. Join Flickr. Share your photos. Find photos you like. In your head, try to deconstruct how those photos were taken. Also search for critique groups, photo tips groups, feedback groups, and groups dedicated to your equipment and techniques that you like.
   
   
5. Did I mention take lots of pictures? I mean lots of pictures. Every day. Every time of day. Every lighting condition. And mess with settings. The great advantage of learning photography today is that you're not paying for film - so shoot, shoot, shoot. Underexpose, overexpose, get close, get far, get wide, get narrow, try lots of different settings just to see the different results.This is by far the best way to learn.

Joe McNally's The Hot Shoe Diaries is excellent, as is Sketching Light.

Why is there never any love for Hedgecoe in these threads?

For a beginner, go with John Hedgecoe's New Manual of Photography. It breaks everything down into easy to read lessons that are no more than two spreads long (most actually cover one spread with lots of pictures). It's great.

Then I'd suggest McNally's Hot Shoe Diaries but it's a bit advanced though a great read if you want to get into flashes.

In all honesty there are many entry level DSLRs out there that are great and very afordable. Canon 60D, nikon 3200, sony 320; it really doesn't mater, just get a good body with a stock lense from a reputable dealer.

Now as a photojournalist you will do lots of staged shots, usually for interviews and such; you'll have time to sit down with the person in their field of work, setup an area to take a picture, and take it. More important then the camera itself would be the lighting. I would make sure to put some money aside to get a shoe flash and a remote wire for it. The remote will allow you to hold the flash off to the side or above your subject, pointing it in whatever direction you want, allowing you easy, afordable lighting solution.

Hot Shoe Diaries by Joe McNally has many great examples how to use a single, or several flashes to achieve professional results. Learn how to bouce light with a shoe flash, it will do wonders for your photography.

Good luck to you!

First off, let me paste this... I keep this in a text file on my desktop for this question, when it pops up:

• Order Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Box Set. His books are incredible resources.
  
  
• If you're going to use Photoshop and/or Lightroom for your post-processing, also pick up Scott Kelby's Adobe Photoshop CS5 Book for Digital Photographers and Scott Kelby's Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers.
  
  
• Order Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. This, along with the Scott Kelby boxset, should be required reading for any aspiring photographer.
  
  You're on the right track, starting with the /r/photoclass subreddit. Now for your other questions...
  
  As far as what is and isn't relevant, given most of your work would be shown on the web, don't get all hard over megapixels. Get what you can afford, but don't let yourself be swayed into getting a camera with a huge MP count. The higher numbers of megapixels come into play when you're doing close cropping, or printing large prints.
  
  For example, take a look at this picture. I shot this several weeks ago with my Canon 40D, which has 10 megapixels. Are there cameras with higher megapixel counts? Sure. For the type of photography I do, though, this camera suits me perfectly.
  
  As far as why you should get a DSLR versus a point-and-shoot, the biggest reason is lens interchangeability. A DSLR will let you change your lens based on the kind of shots you're taking, which gives you much MUCH more freedom in the kind of pictures you take. Also, DSLR's generally can offer you more freedom as you grow in your photography due to more advanced features (full manual mode, the ability to shoot Raw, etc), which ultimately give you far greater control over the finished product.
  
  So to blanket answer your question, it's not the camera that produces great photos, but the photographer. Hand Ansel Adams a point-and-shoot camera and I guarantee he'll outshoot me with my 40D. You want to get a camera that you feel comfortable with, you can afford and gives you the greatest freedom to grow as your interest grows.
  
  Does that help? :)
  
  
  
  
  

Anything by Bryan Peterson, and
Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Boxed Set, Volumes 1, 2, and 3 by Scott Kelby
[http://amzn.com/0321678737]

Also, if you have one of the more popular cameras, see if David Busch has written a book on it. You'll get a LOT of detailed in-depth info on it,and beyond-the-basics photography in general.

A more concise series of e-books can be found here: [http://www.digital-photography-school.com/learn]

it's Chase Jarvis, the book is here

You're making this too easy for me. See, with that statement, I just have to list one single pro that contradicts you. And that's quite easy.

Meet Chase Jarvis, who published a book in 2009 shot entirely with his iPhone. Who uses gear from Nikon, Hasselblad, Olympus, Fujifilm, Canon, Sony and, obviously Apple. He calls his cameras "boxes with holes in the front that record pictures" and is the youngest person to be named Hasselblad Master, Nikon Master and ASMP Master.

People who care too much what kind of gear they use are the photographer equivalent of the "your camera takes nice pictures"-people. I don't care if a Hasselblad or a shoebox was involved in taking a picture. It's the picture that counts.

Off-camera flash. http://imgur.com/IZ9cYnX

Picture is from this book http://www.amazon.com/Speedliters-Handbook-Learning-Craft-Speedlites/dp/032171105X

Theft is a problem, yes...but fear gets in the way of good photography.

First, get some black gaff tape, and cover all the brand-names on your camera. Next, get a body cover and rough it all the hell up. Delkin makes a body protector for your camera called a Snug-It. Scuff it. Maybe spray paint it a little bit. Make it look horrible. This may serve as a deterrent to someone who is looking to steal cameras for resale. It may not. But (in my humble opinion) it's better than walking around with a shiny, sexy camera body.

Another way to lower your profile is, as you said, to carry your camera in a small, unobtrusive bag. I don't have a Nikon, so I can't comment on how durable they are. My Canon 5d Mark iii had to have its LCD screen replaced because it broke at some point. I don't know where or when. But 5d's are supposed to be relatively robust. So do be aware, putting your camera in a bag not designed for a camera could be rough on your camera.

Low profile camera bags are a thing. And while they're not cheap, they're not very expensive, in terms of what camera stuff usually costs. Do the same thing. Get one, make it look crappy.

Big lenses are also attractive to thieves. And at the beginning, big zooms and such are a distraction (at least they were for me). If you're going to get a lot out of your camera, you need to learn to shoot in a more precise way than the camera's auto setting (though they do pretty well, usually). You'll see the terminology "zoom with your feet" a lot. That means changing your position instead of relying on a zoom. Two good beginner lenses are a 50mm, or an 85mm. I would go with the 50 for all-purpose use. The 85 is great for portraits and such. They both are. But I like the 85 better for that.

Beyond that...there's not a lot you can do if someone decides to nab your camera. Keep an eye on your surroundings...be aware. But that's true whenever you're taking photographs.

As for learning the basics, I would pick up the Digital Photography Book. Easy to follow, teaches how to push the right buttons on your camera.

Youtube videos are also helpful. Usually, you can put the make and model of your camera in, and lots of folks will have made free tutorials for you.

In the beginning, you just have to learn how to get your camera to work for you, so you can tell it what to do. It's about proper exposure. I'm three years in, and I haven't figured it all about. The main thing is this, take lots of pictures before you go on vacation. Every day. On your lunch hour, at night, whenever. You don't want to go on vacation and be distracted by trying to learn your camera. You could miss the fun times. Try to get the basics down pat before you go. There's always an element of learning something new in every new situation. But you'll enjoy yourself more if you're not grumbling at yourself for missing a moment because you got the settings wrong.

Most of all...don't take it all too too seriously. You'll learn by doing.

Good luck!

>I definitely struggle with posing subjects

Have you already read Picture Perfect Posing by Roberto Valenzuela?

I saw it recommended a bunch here on /r/photography awhile back, and I'm on my 2nd read-through now. It's a fantastic book that goes into the theory behind why you'd angle a person this way or that, or why you'd move the hands this way or that way, rather than just giving you a bunch of poses to try and memorize.

As a portrait photographer I would go back in time and give these to past-me sooner than I actually found them:

• Studio Anywhere
  
  
• Picture Perfect Posing
  
  
• Mastering the Model Shoot

I havent personally had a chance yet to purchase this book but Light Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting came highly recommend to me. It covers fundamentals rather than being a guide/tutorial on how to do stuff without making you understand why.

Reddit suggested this book to me, and it's amazing.

It also is structured to be used for students, self learners, pros, or a teacher. It would be a great text book. or a resource you can just use and teach from.
https://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/ref=pd_cp_14_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=SE0J882QNS0W5BE7XZW1

Buy this and read it: https://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1549479459&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=light+science+and+magic&psc=1

Did you look at the photos? This is a very obvious low light environment. Its not even really debatable. Refer to this if examples, vernacular, and/or further explanation is required.

Since you don't say whether you want to learn how to operate a camera or the field of photography in general and what interests you in photography in particular this is quite a stab in the dark but here are a few suggestions of books I keep coming back to or hold important.

This assumes that you have a basic understanding on how to operate a camera. If you don't, read your camera manual or something like Adam's The Camera and .


Technical advice

• Light, Science and Magic - the best theoretical book there is about understanding how light behaves and how to work with it. Its exercises are quite focused on artificial light and if you are just getting into photography it won't be easy but at the end of it you will know how to work with light artificial or natural and get to your vision or have a better understanding of other people's work.
  
• Studio Anywhere - this is not the most technical book per se (far from it) and the images are not to my taste but what it lacks in pure knowledge it makes up for with motivating you to take images no matter how little you own. This was a fun (if a bit too quick) read and is a good book to jump into when Light, Science and Magic feels like you are a profoto pack and 3 Chimera modifiers short of what you are trying to do.
  
  Theory/Motivational advice
  
  
• The Ongoing Moment by Geoff Dyer - Great book about the history of American photography, its origin and how it flourished. This book is really easy to read and a very good way to start gaining some theoretical knowledge about the wide field of photography.
  
• Understanding a photograph by John Berger - Great collection of essays from one of the greatest art theorist and a fervent believer in photography as a medium pieced together by Geoff Dyer. Super engaging reads on a variety of topics and styles.
  
• Ways of Seeing by John Berger - An absolute must read in my opinion, not focused solely on photography but in the arts in general. The BBC series is also a great watch and its content is still as relevant today as it was when it came out.
  
• On Photography by Susan Sontag - A very important book, if not the most important when it comes to identifying the role of photography in our world. Personally found it quite hard to read but when it finally hit home it was with great impact.

I recommend also getting the book Light Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting. This will save you so much time shooting metal and glass.

No because essentially the duration of the flash becomes your shutter. The flash overpowers ambient light (unless you're dragging the shutter which you can experiment with).

If you're interested in going deep into flash and artificial lighting, I highly recommend the book Light: Science and Magic. https://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402

My only critique is to shoot as often as possible.

I also recommend buying this book.

Learn the basics first. It'll give you a good grounding to build on and then you can try different techniques.

Take a class if you can find one near you. Buy this book. Take lots of photos. Most importantly, enjoy yourself.

(For those in NA, Canon D1100 = Canon T3)

1. Read your manual.
   
2. Read Understanding Exposure by Brian Peterson.
   
3. If you're still lost, read the Magic Lantern Guide for your camera.
   
4. Google/ask here again about anything you don't understand at this point.
   

Honestly I don't think that the post processing is the thing to worry about. Get out in front of people, get pictures of them not of them in a group from way in the back. There are a few where you're up in folks grills, but (and I may be projecting here) don't be afraid to just go up and make a portrait of the people. Taking pictures of people is terrifying for me, so up until the last year or so my shots looked a lot like yours, groups of people from the back, obvious that the camera wasn't in their field of view or consciousness. Then I sacked up a bit and got up in their faces and started asking if I could take their picture.

You'll be amazed how easy it is to just do once you decide to do it. The camera is a great ice breaker and for a shy guy like me, having it between me and gulp humans helps a lot.

Also go and buy the book Exposure, read it, then read it some more. Then take pictures, and read it again.

And regarding free software LR and PS both have 30 day free trials to check out.

Clearly you don't understand how exposure works. If that was an actual out of camera pic, either the aperture would have had to go up (gotten smaller to compensate for the higher sensor sensitivity) or the shutter speed would have had to go up, also to compensate for higher sensitivity.

EDIT: Theoretically, to keep the exposure the same from the first shot (properly exposed at ISO 100, I have to reverse it because nobody makes an aperture bigger than f/0.95) either the aperture would have to go to f/16 or the shutter would have had to go to 1/480 sec.

EDIT 2: Look into Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson

EDIT 3: Go ahead and downvote me, doesn't make me less right.

If you've got your camera in full auto mode, then it'll automatically pick an aperture size, shutter speed, and ISO setting for you in order to properly expose a scene. If you're already at the widest possible aperture for your lens and the highest allowed ISO setting for your camera, then the only way to compensate is to use a slow shutter speed.

Generally speaking, anything slower than 1/60 or 1/30 of a second is going to require either really steady hands or external stabilization (e.g., a tripod). So the camera tries to help you out by popping up the flash to throw some additional light on the scene; that extra light will allow you to use a faster, more hand-holdable shutter speed and avoid camera shake.

Unfortunately, the camera only uses the detected light level to make this determination, and has no idea that those buildings are so far away that the flash isn't going to help at all. So now you've got a flash going off that does nothing, and a shutter speed that's too fast to properly expose the scene. Lose-lose situation.

So what should you do instead? Now you know you don't want the flash in this scenario, and you're probably already at the widest aperture and highest ISO. Your only option, then, is to find some way to stabilize the camera so it's not moving around while capturing the scene. If you don't have a tripod with you, then you can look for a bench or something to rest the camera on. In a pinch, you can try to rest the camera on the ground (and hopefully find something to prop it up towards the buildings) so it can stay open long enough to collect enough light to show off the buildings properly.

If you're just starting out, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Understanding Exposure. As for application of the popup flash and alternatives to it, there are literally entire books written about photographic lighting, but suffice it to say that you should almost never be using the popup. Picking up a basic hotshoe flash (and learning how to use it) can make for some astonishing pictures. I definitely surprised myself with what a simple flash bounced off the ceiling could do. :)

From all you have written I am pretty sure that your camera is alright and you personally as a photographers have to learn to see light and how your camera thinks. This is absolutely normal for any beginner mind you!

Go to /r/photoclass2013 and go through all the lessons and assignments. This will give you a solid starting point and a lot of experimentation for you to see what everything is about. Additionally invest a little bit of money in this book here - Understanding Exposure.

This is more for people starting out, but it's an outstanding technical resource -
[Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson] (http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Photographs-Camera/dp/0817439390/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344476953&sr=1-1&keywords=understanding+exposure)

LY5, eh? Well I will try. Here is what I do:

• Choose your ISO first. Try to choose the lowest ISO possible given how much light there is. For example, on a sunny day use ISO 100. Inside the house, use ISO 1600 or more. Higher ISO = more noise in the photo.
  
• Choose your aperture. Taking a portrait? Use a low number to make a blurry background. Taking a landscape? Use a higher number to get everything in focus at once. When in doubt, "f/8 and be there."
  
• Now that you have chosen ISO and aperture, your shutter speed will be chosen for you. Look through your camera and adjust your shutter speed until the light meter points to the middle of the line. If your shutter speed is too slow (i.e. less than the focal length of your lens), then adjust ISO up or aperture down to let in more light.
  
  If for some reason you want to go full hardcore and don't want to use your camera's built in light meter, you can learn the Sunny 16 Rule and estimate the correct exposure settings based on the available light.
  
  I highly recommend that you actually learn this stuff inside and out. You will soon find that you don't need a reference chart. Also, why are you shooting full manual anyway if you don't know what you are doing? Just shoot in aperture priority mode and you should be fine. 98% of my photos are taken in aperture priority mode, so I don't have to manually mess around with shutter speeds.
  
  EDIT: I recommend Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.

1. There are lots. I'd start with Understanding Exposure and How to Photograph Absolutely Everything
   
   
2. Anything that is vey still yet allows the camera to move how you want automatically will work.
   
   
3. If you are using a small camera, a suction cup mount should work. Personally I'd want to rig something with three points of contact to the car so it was super steady.
   
   
4. People tend to mount cameras to their helmets, here is a video of from 2006 featuring 18 year old me as 'unrecognizable bike messenger' unfortunately, the sound has been replaced and its crapy quality. I've seen some fairly stable footage from gopros mounted to the handlebars or forks, personally I'd try out one of their chest straps.

I'd say get the Canon t2i kit with the 18-135mm and a nifty fifty.

That's $970 so far, but he'll probably want a bag that can hold the camera and extra lens. Tamrac makes great bags.

So you've got a great kit with a lot of range and a sharp prime that rocks at low light.

Additional recommended purchases would be the book Understanding Exposure and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.

Edit: To be fair, maybe have him check out a Nikon DSLR (D5100 would be a comparable choice) along with a Canon to determine which one feels better. Both companies make great cameras of similar quality and performance—it really does come down to personal preference. And as a side note, I personally shoot a Nikon.

Also tossing Tony Northrup and Matt Granger in the mix of Youtubers to check out. Very knowledgeable folks.

Tony has a book (used to write books for Microsoft) that has helped me out a bit here and there, covers tons of stuff! It comes with access to videos you can watch while going through, which is neat.

Just read the manual and start taking lots of photos. You will figure it all out. This is a pretty good book: http://www.amazon.com/Tony-Northrups-DSLR-Book-Photography/dp/0988263408/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418237796&sr=1-1&keywords=photography

Ben Long's Complete Digital Photography, now in its 7th edition, is pretty good for beginners, and only costs $30. I used it to design an online course in digital photography for a graduate school project (e-learning design).

Edit: for aspiring professionals, I'd recommend Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington (2nd edition), around $22 on Amazon. It's chock full of recommendations for starting your own business, shooting professional paid assignments, handling releases and contracts, copyright protection for your work, etc. Great resource.

Read John Harrington's book as soon as you can: Best Business Practices For Photogaphers

In the meantime, as everyone has said, charge for everything. Materials should get a small (18%) markup; figure out a cost per shot and a base creative fee -- the creative fee is paid to you for your time, vision and mastery of technique; the licensing is paid to you per shot for a given target (web, print ad, promotional material, etc.)

If it makes life easier, do the above math and then create a rate based on a set number of images, so if your creative fee is $750/day, and each image license is $350/year, then pick x number of images as a minimum, add it to the creative fee and you've got a ballpark you can use to guide your rates. You may benefit by offering the client to choose from both a per-image rate, or a package flat rate that is based on days worked (assume ten hour work days).

To add to /u/johninbigd, I'd recommend picking up the book Understanding Exposure. I got it a few months ago and can attest that it's a phenomenal aid in understanding exactly how the different manual settings interact and how to utilize them to their fullest.

Understanding Exposure, Fourth Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607748509?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Honestly, since you're just starting out, I can't recommend this book enough. I think I bought the 2nd edition when I started, and have since given it to friends (and even bought a copy for a good friend when she was starting out). It's fantastic, and will get you shooting in manual mode before you know it.

Understanding Exposure. Priceless book.

Edit: or research "Exposure Triangle"--it's the science for ISO, shutter speed, and aperture...the 3 key ingredients for exposure.

I bought this book about five years ago when I was just starting out and it was such a great resource. I always recommend it to friends and family when I know they've just bought their first DSLR. I hope it helps!

Understanding Exposure

A book that really helped my learn about that is Understanding Exposure. It goes into how aperture settings (the f1.4 part of a lens), ISO and shutter speed let light into a photo -- and the basics of how to tweak those 3 settings to get the kinds of photos you're looking for. Great intro read that could help answer the question. The lower the number of the lens f-stop, the more light that lens can let in, and the better it'll be at taking photos in low light -- but the other two settings (ISO and shutter speed) might be enough as well.

Excellent instructional / concepts : Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson

Understanding Exposure is a fantastic book for a beginner.

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Photographs-Camera/dp/0817439390/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322109400&sr=8-1

Yes.

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Photographs-Camera/dp/0817439390/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310443030&sr=8-1

That is an amazing book to start learning with.

And there is no real reason to buy a big expensive camera as your first camera. If you can't operate it, you are wasting it. I bought a Nikon D80 with an 18~135mm lens (both refurbs) for around $800... You can get a D90 for alittle bit more.

But, before you buy a camera... I'd google around a lot, or go to
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/index.php
They are good people there, and since it is a dedicated photography forum, you will be able to find a lot more answers more quickly than here (simply because the mass quantities of posts here tend to swallow up 90% of them).

> I find as a techie person I just love to understand my gadgets entirely.

There's a lot involved (physics and image sensor technology, for one), but the set of Wikipedia articles on this stuff is pretty spectacular. From a sheer scientific perspective, they're a must-read.

As for actually taking the picture? You'll want to start with a copy of "Understanding Exposure".

Understand exposure is often mentioned here as a must read.

Nice photo and cute dog!

One thing to bear in mind is that it's very easy to overexpose photos when using fast primes, sometimes I even set my exposure as far down as -1 especially in broad daylight. When your photo looks burned out as the one you've taken does, try stopping it down to -1 and you'll see all the wonderful colour flooding back into the photo.

Obligatory. :)

Renting a good camera doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to get good pictures; how good you are with a camera and how much you are willing to learn are the most important factors. If you're looking into a DSLR then you need to take time to learn the camera and what settings to use when before you depart. Additionally, you'll probably need to get a better lens for it as well (whether renting or buying).

I guess what im trying to say is if you want a DSLR you need atleast a few weeks learning it + $1000 entry cost if purchasing, if you go for the low end model (Rebel XS body and, lets say, Tamron 18-270mm 3.5-6.2 VC Lens with rebate) and Understanding Exposure (http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Photographs-Camera/dp/0817439390/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310284264&sr=8-1 ) is a highly recommended book for learning how to get started.

I don't know renting costs near you.

If you're looking for something less sophisticated but still want some power behind your punch look into something like the SX30IS (http://www.amazon.com/Canon-SX30IS-Digital-Optical-Stabilized/dp/B0041RSPR8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310284110&sr=8-1) or http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-SX130IS-Stabilized-3-0-Inch/dp/B003ZSHNG8/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1310284168&sr=8-10

Either this book to improve on my picture taking skills, or a gift card to go towards the purchase of a gopro camera (for corgi point of view shots, wedding, and honeymoon stuff)

I want an early present!

Happy early birthday and thanks for the contest! :D

Read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_(photography)

That's a bit of a complicated explanation, but it's probably the most comprehensive online.

There's an excellent book called Understanding Exposure that would teach you everything you need to know about photographic exposure.

The best way to choose which DSLR you want to buy is to find out what brand of camera your friend who is the most in to photography uses. Then buy a camera of the same brand in your price range. Now you can borrow all their lenses.....

The second thing you need to do is realize that the best camera in the world can't fix crap composition or use of lighting. This book right here is an excellent tutor for understanding what all the settings on your camera do and why you might use them.

I personally have a Canon Rebel T2i (because my friend who has thousands of dollars invested in equipment, also shoots with a Canon). I shoot primarily with a 50mm lens (they refer to it as the Nifty-Fifty because it's $100 and offers huge bang for the buck).

Try "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. Simple to follow and a lot of great information.

[edit: link for the book on Amazon]

You can learn how to use the camera by just spending time with your manual.
On the other hand, if you want to learn photo basics here are some great resources -
Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson -
http://www.amazon.in/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Edition-Photographs/dp/0817439390/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381293576&sr=8-1&keywords=understanding+exposure

Cambridge in color - one of the best online photography learning resources -
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/

The Olympus 25mm (if that's what you have) is really, really great. I spent a year shooting almost exclusively with that for a 365 project, and came to love it (just wish they made a 17mm of the same quality).

There are two books I always recommend to anyone just starting out, as they really helped me: Understanding Exposure and The Photographer's Eye. Might be worth a look!

You've got the basic idea of what the controls do, keep shooting and try to picture the shot before you take the exposure and see if you can produce the image you want. Get a copy of Understanding Exposure and read it. Then read it again. The best thing you can do is shoot as much as possible and don't be afraid of shitty pictures. For a given shoot I might take 200 pictures and only keep 3-4. You will rarely, if ever, get the shot you want in one go.

The "Light", "Lens", "Film", "Exposure" and "Camera Film/Digital" articles linked here:
http://photo.net/making-photographs/ ....are an excellent primer - a good understanding of these concepts is critical, though mastering them is certainly not easy. The digital article is a bit dated, modern dSLRS are a lot better than they were even only 5 years ago - but still worth reading. And yes, the film article is also worth it even if you never use film in your life, if nothing else to recognize and understand its role in selecting exposure.

You can then start looking here:
http://photo.net/learn/photography-technique/ -which has plenty of more specific artlcles that get in to the different types of photography.

The more you read, the more you're going to want to rush out and start trying out the stuff you just learned. Do that! A lot! Because, well, you're going to make a lot of mistakes starting off, but you will learn and the more you shoot the more you'll learn.

Finally, if you're going to get only one photography book, make it this one:
http://www.amazon.ca/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Edition-Photographs/dp/0817439390

I strongly suggest you look at a book called understanding exposure by Bryan Peterson

this book is great


as for RAW, I follow the rule that if you have to ask, you're not ready for it.

RAW is the raw image data. When you shoot jpeg a certain amount of post-editing goes into it, such as saturation levels, white balance, etc etc etc. With raw, none of that happens.

In the end, you can get higher quality pictures that look better after playing with different functions and white balances. RAW files are much larger since none of the image data is compressed, and you will want a powerful computer to process them.

as for the A37, it's a good camera, but Sony isn't the best for photography. Nikon, Pentax, and Canon out-perform Sony in actual photography. For video in DSLRs, Sony is unmatched.

Look at the Nikon D3100, D3200, Canon Rebel T3, T2i, and Pentax K-30

Camera type is irrelevant. Those pics can be done with most any SLR (film) or DSLR. If you really want to know, then I recommend reading a book such as Bryan Peterson's, Understanding Exposure.

wrt cars specifically: flat metal surface & glass = polarized light so play with a circular polarizer (see reflection, see no reflection). Which, other than bokeh, I suspect you're picking up on but not articulating.

I doubt you'll see benefit from buying lenses before you understand the principles (aperture, focal length and iso) and Understanding Exposure is a very good resource. Also, old school still wins. ie., take a notepad, experiment and write plenty of notes.

I agree with reading the manual, but I would recommend reading it in conjunction with something like Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. Maybe manuals have gotten better (I have an older DSLR), but my manual explained the technical side of my camera's features without delving too much into the "why" aspect. This book (and there are others like it) will explain why you should be changing settings to get the most out of your camera.

I received one gift, but it is still, like the highlight of my year. Just knowing someone would want to do something nice for me was so amazing. I feel like I would give that person a kidney, now, if they needed one.

It was the photography book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. I just finished it last night, and it was so incredibly helpful. I can't wait to read all of his books.

Another reason it was awesome, besides being a great and helpful read, is that I got it right before all electronic devices (cellphone, kindle, tablet, even iPods) got banned at my work. I work in a machine shop, where I have like 5-20 minute cycle times. I used to read my Kindle or browse Reddit. Now I can't even listen to my iPod! This book helped save my sanity.

There are a few things you can get without much info; but it'd help if you know what sort of things he likes to shoot (and where - indoor, outdoor), as well as how long he's been shooting for! (If he has an online portfolio (especially flickr) that may say what camera/lens he uses etc in the metadata, or just show what subjects he likes if you don't want to ask!)

Your best option however might be a book; understanding exposure and the photographers eye are ones often mentioned here that are pretty universal to any model camera or photography subject. (I don't own exposure, but I believe it's pretty useful for most beginner to intermediate shooters, Eye is probably a little more intermediate+ (it's understandable to all levels, but you have to want to put the effort in to use it if you see what I mean!))

YES. Photography is fun and really easy to get the hang of once you do a bit of studying. I'm a wedding photographer, and use Canon gear. Canon and Nikon both make top-notch cameras and lenses.

Honestly, the lens is the more important part. Nothing wrong with getting good used equipment to save some cash. You can get a 4-5 year old camera body (like a Canon 50D or 5D) for $500 or less. A couple of beginner lenses with good optical quality will set you back another $400-500 depending on what you want.

I always recommend "Understanding Exposure" for photog newbies:
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Edition-Photographs/dp/0817439390

It's a great book that puts things in simple terms and makes photography very accessible.

I would also highly recommend checking out POTN forums:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/

I've been on POTN for about 8 years and it has proved to be a great resource. I've bought and sold thousands of bucks worth of gear and gotten great advice from other users. Lots of pros and amateurs alike. It is Canon-centric but the photo sharing section obviously is open to anything.

Feel free to PM me with any questions as well!

This book is awesome for beginners. It's a fairly quick read, so you might be ok just reading parts in a bookstore, but it's really worth getting.

Understanding Exposure

You really don't have to master a point and shoot to graduate to an SLR. I wasn't massively into photography before I got an SLR.

Make sure you research your camera, look at Nikon as well. You might also want to go for the T3 as someone else suggested, save the $200 and put it to a new lens when you get a hang of the camera.

Be sure you don't overburden yourself with extra equipment until you get the hang of your camera itself. I'd get a tripod, bag, and the Understanding Exposure to learn how to shoot manually.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0817439390/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0817463003&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1ZE81AM9ZZSD31P2YNFK

I really learned a lot from Bryan Peterson's books. I think Understanding Exposure is an excellent introduction to photography. He spends a lot of time explaining the relationships between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO in different situations. As well as going into the creative aspects of exposure. The second edition has been around a while. The third edition is coming out in a few weeks.

This is hands down the best book on how to expose images properly that I've ever seen.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0817439390/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

If you're going to get tits deep into photoshop, check out this book.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0321356780/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1368307335&sr=8-1&pi=SL75

Go get Lightroom 5. It is in beta and it is free.

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom5/

1. Get a halfway decent used DSLR. I upgraded from a 10 year old Nikon, but it shot 85% of what I needed. If you get something 5 years old or so, you'll have a lot more features than I did.
   
   
2. Buy good prime lens. You can't zoom with these, so it forces you to move to set up shots the way you want. That makes you think about it a lot more. They also usually create sharper images than the "kit" lenses you often get with a lower-end DSLR.
   
   
3. Buy a basic book on photography. Tony Northup's intro book was my first pick but I'm sure there are other choices.
   
   
4. Shoot, shoot, shoot. Look at other photos and see what inspires you.
   
   
5. Shoot more.

My first DSLR was a Nikon D3100 and I remember finding it so intimidating I was almost afraid to hold it or pick it up. I've definitely been there! You have a fun adventure ahead of you, so enjoy it! Get a good book or do some youtubing to understand your camera. I recommend both of these:

1. https://www.amazon.com/Tony-Northrups-DSLR-Book-Photography/dp/0988263408
   
   
2. https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492692662&sr=1-1&keywords=understanding+exposure
   
   Before even diving into them though, I'd check out some web articles or youtube videos on your specific camera, but also on the exposure triangle so you have an idea of the basics of photography in general, and you can build from there. Your camera has a lot of bells and whistles, but the most important thing is learning aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Everything else is icing. Have fun!
   

I have a few recommendations for you:


Master the Business of Photography with Sal Cincotta: This class will give you a good primer on the business side.


Build Your Lighting Knowledge with Peter Hurley: Peter will teach you simple lighting setup and whatnot.


Because I like books, I'll recomend some as well.

• Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington
  
  
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
  
  
• The Trusted Advisor by David H. Maister
  
  
• Ziglar on Selling: The Ultimate Handbook for the Complete Sales Professional by Zig Ziglar
  
  
  Beyond that: practice, practice, practice.

In addition actually getting to know how to use your camera and finding your niche, read these:

Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington

The Personal MBA by Josh Kauffman

One thing I'll grant you, kid: You're not a good photographer yet, but at least you seem to recognize that taking sellable photos and running a photo business require two sets of skills, and that you should be developing those skills in parallel if you are serious about creative work as a career. Those two books should get you on the right path for the latter.

Also, don't print a portfolio. You're not good enough yet and you'd be wasting money by doing so. Get a few photos you're proud of (and that have been critiqued well) before dropping real money on marketing materials. The money is better invested in the two books I linked above.

Not an easy question to answer, depends on many things, but here are a couple references:

http://www.cradocfotosoftware.com/fotoQuote-Pro/

http://www.amazon.com/Business-Practices-Photographers-Second-Edition/dp/1435454294

Buy this book: Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition and read it.

It will help you understand why you need to be paid for work you do.

It is possible to make great photos with a T6, or any camera really, but like with any craft, that depends more on the experience of the person using the tool than the tool itself.

You should read up about the business of photography, something like John Harrington's book would be a good start. Another good resource is aphotoeditor.com. These are both geared toward more commercial photography than fine art selling, but have great information.

You're young, you should focus on making good work, and start reading about the business side of it now, so once your work and confidence is in the right place, you will be prepared to do a proper job. You can't expect professional results tomorrow, but if you start working hard now and have the willingness to hustle, you will see results over time.

On a side note, being a server would pay much better than being a dishwasher, so as long as you're working in the restaurant industry, you should try to do that instead.

Congrats on having your photographs well received.

Whenever you send photos to anyone, or give permission for use of the photos, you should be explicit, in writing, with what can and cannot be done with the images, and whether or not they need to be credited, etc. It's important to be very specific and include limitations (you can do use for social media, but not advertising; you can use the photos in a local market but not national; etc).

You're looking for info on what to charge for next summer, and also what to charge for photos that are already shot?

Here's a useful book about licensing your photos:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041IXRQQ?btkr=1

And photo business in general:
http://www.amazon.com/Business-Practices-Photographers-Second-Edition/dp/1435454294/ref=sr_1_1

I am: not a lawyer, only knowledgeable about the US, an amateur photographer, and have a copy of www.amazon.com/dp/1435454294

What you are doing is very common on Flickr, I've had this happen numerous times. I don't think it's a violation of their terms or that you're doing anything wrong, but that's just my impression.

What I think you are trying to accomplish here is to negotiate a license with the photographer to use their photos. They maintain copyright and it remains "all rights reserved" for them - but you have an agreement with them to use the photo according to some specific terms. I think that it's in your best interest to formalize this with a contract so that there aren't any questions further down the line (i.e. they agree to let you use it now and then realize you are making money using their art and get upset). Searching online will find lots of resources for this sort of licensing. Obviously an expert in intellectual property rights could draft something specifically for your situation.

As /u/lord_humble says, there may be concerns about releases as well. My understanding is that this can range from a model release for the person/people pictured in the image to releases for other copyrighted works shown in the picture depending on usage. There's some interesting "common sense" reading here that talks about releases: http://www.danheller.com/model-release-copyrights.html

The expanding stock photo market addresses many of these issues by letting you buy a license with a one time fee for specific use of imagery. You may want to pursue that approach if you believe your usage will become popular enough that this could be an issue.

>Isn't there some kinda verbiage you need to have ready to go for how long they can use it for

Yes. This is called a licensing contract for usage rights (or something like that).

A book like this can help you understand how to handle writing such a contract:

https://smile.amazon.com/Best-Business-Practices-Photographers-Second/dp/1435454294/ref=pd_sbs_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1435454294&pd_rd_r=BYMEZ05X7ADQNZ28MG3X&pd_rd_w=qoJ3o&pd_rd_wg=eTKTp&psc=1&refRID=BYMEZ05X7ADQNZ28MG3X

You could also use those calculators on Getty and Corbis to understand each factor you need to address in the license you create. There is more than just "how long they can use it for."


-----

>proof that its your picture

This is on them to ask for.

You should be able to do this in a number of different ways.

The easiest and most important one is to have a copyright registration document to show them.

Without that, there are many other ways. Use common sense with this.

http://www.amazon.com/Business-Practices-Photographers-Second-Edition/dp/1435454294/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347321764&sr=8-1&keywords=best+business+practices+for+photographers

This book has some sections on contracts, etc. I just picked it up and haven't had time to fully read it but no complaints yet!

Ideas for you:

• Camera lens coffee mug
  
  
• A technical photography book like Understanding Exposure
  
• An art photography book like The Americans
  
• A photo display system

First, (and I'm probably old and crusty enough that my advice will sound like it - I learned to shoot on film back when...) don't worry about the editing. Learn to use your camera. Learn what the controls are and how they affect the image you take. Learn to compose an image well, and how to get what you want in the image to come out that way. THEN you can learn / worry about editing. Way too many people think that the magic of "good" photography is in Photoshop or Lightroom, when really it's in knowing how to use your tools (i.e. the camera). I've shot for automotive and motorsports stuff for a good while now, and while I'm ok, there are guys out there who can out-shoot me with a potato phone camera because they really know what they're doing.

​

Get yourself a copy of Understanding Exposure, by Bryan Peterson and learn what he has to teach. Once you learn how to use the camera and how to compose a good photograph you'll be taking awesome shots of your bike.

The best book I found is https://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=understanding+exposure&qid=1567533931&s=gateway&sr=8-1

You may want to check abebooks for a previous edition dealing exclusively with film cameras, like

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30178983725&searchurl=bi%3D0%26ds%3D30%26bx%3Doff%26sortby%3D20%26tn%3Dunderstanding%2Bexposure%26recentlyadded%3Dall&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title1

which is the edition I learnt on.

I still like Bryan Peterson's, Understanding Exposure.

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509

I have the third edition.

DarkTable, Huggin, and GIMP are free. Learning curve can be steep but they do more than just getting the job done.

https://www.darktable.org/

http://hugin.sourceforge.net/

https://www.gimp.org/

On the other hand, millions of unenhanced humans somehow managed to learn how to use film cameras with, at most, a light meter. I suspect you'll do fine. A good photography book wouldn't hurt.

I'm currently working my way through Bryan's book titled: Understanding Exposure. So far its a really great book.

​

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=pd_bxgy_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1607748509&pd_rd_r=4dc19b4f-e2b2-11e8-9e32-8f3b683e8f67&pd_rd_w=mAljb&pd_rd_wg=Sk5t6&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=6725dbd6-9917-451d-beba-16af7874e407&pf_rd_r=HNH9KT78EV252CWP3HH5&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=HNH9KT78EV252CWP3HH5

I found this comment over in the main photography subreddit.

In particular, the first 2 youtube videos were extremely helpful for me. They were long, but worth it to watch the entire thing. The Sam Abell one in particular is great since he will show a sequence of his photograph attempts leading up to some of his more famous work. For me this helped me understand what are the minutiae that can make a photo great.

These videos are on the compositional/artistic side. For the more technical side of things, I have been learning a lot from the book Understanding Exposure.

This book is absolute money: Understanding Exposure

If your wife loves books I recommend this bookhttps://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509 it really gets down the basics, has lots of examples and it's all in a complete package. The thing about trying to learn stuff online is sometimes people online may not explain it as well

Also there is a Sony Alpha subreddit /r/sonyalpha

Close. I locked the auto exposure when aiming at the floor. (I said shadows before because I did not aim it at the light but looking at the floor there is a large reflection that helped to average out the exposure.) Then yes I recomposed the image and clicked the shutter.

A very accessible book that has a lot of these very useful hacks is.... https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=understanding+exposure&qid=1570121194&s=gateway&sr=8-2

Understanding Exposure

I think what you're really missing here is proper lighting. The valley is shaded except for that lip of sunlight in the back-right of the photo. You can play around with some color settings to try to get what you're looking for, but I don't think it'll come off looking quite as natural as what you'd want.

I always suggest taking a look at Understanding Exposure.. It's a great help in learning 1) the relationships between ISO/Aperature/Shutter Speed to achieve proper exposure, and 2) how lighting affects your image.

The exposure seems correct for the lighting situation, but the timing/composition is where you missed the boat on this particular shot. Good work, though, composition just comes down to lots of practice and exposing yourself to other photographers' works!

https://www.amazon.fr/Tony-Northrups-DSLR-Book-Photography-ebook/dp/B006KY2VZ2

5 euro

you will learn everything you need to know

I bought http://www.amazon.com/Tony-Northrups-DSLR-Book-Photography-ebook/dp/B006KY2VZ2 best ten bucks I ever spent

100 percent this. The best investment you can make is $10 on a good photography book. For a no-nonsense and easy to use book, I recommend How to Create Stunning Digital Photography https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006KY2VZ2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_1znKzbFKX4TZJ

It's not perfect, but if you spend 1 hour reading and watching his videos, you can easily make your images 10x better than they are today with your existing equipment.

The keys for photographing kids are simple - great light (easily accessible outdoors in the shade), focused composition (a significant fraction of the photo should be occupied by the kid, hopefully with nice light in his or her eyes), and a good situation (kid joy at going down the slide, wonder at the big t Rex sculpture in the park, happiness at sitting on Grandpa's shoulders).

After that, shoot a lot of pictures and try out different techniques! Eventually you'll want to do some post processing, too - I recommend the free Snapseed app - but that's for after you're comfortable with the basics!

Edit: join us over at /r/photography if you like beautiful photos and/or photography gear addiction

Hi and congrats. I just purchased my new cam about 2 weeks ago. It was recommended that I read this book and I have to say that it's a life saver for anyone with anew dslr. I highly recommend it:

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera-ebook/dp/B0104EOJSK/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&dpID=51TQak7WXxL&preST=_SX342_QL70_&dpSrc=detail

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera-ebook/dp/B0104EOJSK/

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Shutter-Speed-Bryan-Peterson-ebook/dp/B004JHYK88/


I think those books should have the main info. But the basics of how the picture is made should be readily available in google also. Don't worry, we all have been beginners. Remember that the lens are more important than camera and photographer is most important. Composition and light make the picture. Just take a lot of pictures and don't worry if they don't look good, most photographers take a lot of pictures and only show the best. It's important to take pictures ;)

+1 for [Art and Science of Digital Compositing]
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004HHOC8I)


Heres a few more I can recommend:

Digital Compositing for Film and Video

[Production Pipeline Fundamentals for Film and Games]
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IOPYVIU)

[Maya Python for Games and Film]
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005OI23OO)

[Introducing ZBrush 3rd Edition]
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/1118244826)

[Digital Modeling]
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006QRYPC0)

[The HDRI Handbook 2.0: High Dynamic Range Imaging for Photographers and CG Artists]
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VB46ACG)

[Professional Photoshop: The Classic Guide to Color Correction, Fifth Edition]
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004USQQOC)

[Understanding Exposure, Fourth Edition]
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0104EOJSK)

Light: Science and Magic

A bit dry, but it is THE definitive guide to lighting. What's not in there about lighting theory isn't worth knowing.

Light: Science and Magic is a great book on lighting. It doesn't talk about gear but in stead explains the basic principles of how light works so you can apply these principles yourself in any context you may encounter.

Light: Science & magic
http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Introduction-Photographic-Lighting/dp/0240808193

The only book on lighting I've read that treats lighting as a theory, rather than a recipe. More of the why, less of the how.

Don't limit yourself to photography, there are many amazing painters. Thinking about it, maybe you should x-post to /r/art and similar subreddits.

In terms of books I've done a lot of research but found very little. A common recommendation for photographers is The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman which goes through all kind of lines, contrast, balance, etc. Other books I'm eyeing are Mastering Composition by Ian Roberts and Framed Ink by Marcos Mateu-Mestre. Unfortunately I haven't read any of them yet so I can't comment on the quality.

If you are really serious about it, consider getting a list of most recommended art / photography universities. Then use their websites to find courses and contact teachers personally, asking for (book) recommendations. Begin with one person at each university if they happen to forward your message since you don't want to come across as spam. Some universities even publish course literature on their website. I'd love to hear the responses if you go through with it.

The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos by Michael Freeman
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0240809343/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_8KNAxbY1X968F

In terms of constructive criticism, I must say that these photos are rather lacking..both composition and evocatively. I'd suggest you do some reading of The Photographer's Eye to improve your skills given that you have wonderful cameras that you are using.

https://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343

1. For storage of everything and ease of access I use google photo but for good work, linking and community I think flickr is better, it displays the metadata of your photos too.
   
   
2. Lightroom classic CC, it is a monthly payment with photoshop but it is really cheap.
   
3. No idea
   
4. No idea
   
5. https://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343

'Photographer's Eye' by Michael Freeman.

Even though it's mainly focused on photography, the composition rules stay the same.

> What exactly makes a good picture?

Composition. You can have perfect focus and exposure, as you do in these shots, but if you don't have composition the shots will be forgettable. I recommend reading The Photographer's Eye.

>Where can I go from here on an extremely constricted time schedule?

It's not going to be doable when time is of the essence.

I think you need to more carefully compose your shots. Most of those are shot at or near the minimum depth-of-field your lens will afford you but in all of them, there is way too much going on in the background none of which contributes in a good way. Ideally, an image has an element that leads your eye into the frame until it finds the main subject.

The eye then begins wandering around and the eye's path may follow very different routes. It might be zig-zagging through it or swirling around the center in an elliptic fashion but ultimately the eye should be led out of the image again. In traditional paintings, particularly in portraiture, you often find somewhere in the background something as obvious as a door or a window that serves as that exit.

Mind you, achieving the above is hard even for a very good painter but it's harder in photography because you have to make do with what you have in the scene and you can't freely rearrange or add items as you see fit. Somewhere I read about the five-seconds rule: Look through your viewfinder and when you think you are ready to take the shot, look for another five seconds to see if there are any obvious flaws in your composition or things that could be improved. Pay particular attention to the background where the most obvious blunders tend to occur.

If you are interested and have the patience, there is quite a bit of literature out there that strives to make you a better photographer. I often hear The Photographer's Eye getting recommended. I have no first-hand experience with it myself but I have no reason to believe that it isn't excellent. And looking at the preview, it seems to be dealing with all the right topics.

Something that I am currently reading (and I am sure the members of this subreddit are already getting tired of hearing me mention it again) is Pictorial Composition which only talks about composition in paintings. From what I have read so far I can tell it's going to be very tough to apply this to photography but at the very least it will make you aware of the many aspects that make a great a image.

I'm in the process of reading Micheal Freeman's "The Photographer's Eye". It is completely fascinating, especially if you don't already know a ton about composition.

You're welcome. I'm glad I was a bit of help.

Honestly, I'd probably go with a photography composition book if I were to pick one, however, I learned from many places. The one thing that every book on composition will tell you is that you can't really learn it by reading the book. What you can learn is the rules. Then you have to practice a lot! I would recommend finding subs that deal with photo critiques. I learned video composition through photography. I basically read everything I could get my hands on about composition (magizines, web articles and a few books) and then I spent an enormous amount of time looking at popular work and practicing with my own pictures. Eventually something clicked and I had my own idea (although not perfect) of what looked good.

The problem is that no one can just say, "These are the composition rules," and then you're set. It's a feeling you develop over time. You have to work at it.

You can learn the rules anywhere. Google is full of resources. The problem is when you learn one of these rules for the first time, it's hard to keep your own head, your own opinion and for a while it can be difficult to really know for yourself what you find beautiful. Is the rule working? Is this really beautiful? After you practice a rule to death, you'll start to get your eye back for what's good. You'll start to feel moments when you can break the rule outright, cheat just a bit or hot damn that rule was spot on.

If you're really into getting a book, I enjoyed this one, however, to each his own. I read every damn thing I could get my hands on and we all learn in different ways. Most of what I have learned has come from shooting shitty video and then trying to edit it. During every edit I've ever done, I've taken notes on what shots I've missed. I've also googled "Sexy BRoll" a lot.

I think the number one key isn't just blind practice but practice and critique. It helps a huge amount to look at pictures you took a month ago. You're more removed, you can see the comp better. Practice, practice practice. Never turn off your viewfinder, meaning look at everything in life as if you've got a viewfinder stuck to your eye. When watching TV, look at all the shots. Look at what they use for different reactions, different cuts. Practice ;)

PS edit: I started worse than you dude. I taught myself. I'm no master at this but I have worked my way up to some amazing jobs using video. Don't give up, fight for it and practice.

Nice, I love that ur supportive of her interests :) If she's new to photography then you might want to consider buying her a book about the real heart of photography - composition

I like this book - https://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343/

Through all the high priced lenses, cameras and other gear - if you've trained your eye to see pleasing images that skill transfers into every photo u ever take :)

You mentioned you just started, so you're going to take so many crappy photos. But, that's part of the fun.

I bought this book years ago. I don't think of it as particularly good or insightful, but it just describes how to think about composing photos. You should seek a similar book out at your local library. Post more to photocritique as well!

Books on composition. Start with this, move on to this and this, and when you feel you're ready for more advanced stuff get this.

The world is full of people who spend thousands of dollars and years of their lives taking technically perfect photos of their cat. Don't end up like them.

Well, yeah, but everywhere else is more expensive. If you think about it, an 8.5x11 full color book 100 pages long for 25 dollars isn't that bad. Personally I would stick with the soft cover because bringing the price up to 35 dollars is a pretty big jump in price. I think they might give discounts to places like Amazon so it would cost a little bit less than that.

Some comparisons:

30 dollars being sold for 20, 200 pages, same size

25 dollars being sold for 17, 225 pages, about the same size, B+W

Expose series(You can look through the entire book on that page)

The expose series is probably the closest to the sort of book we would be looking for, but it is done by professional artists so it would be moderately more expensive, but 70 dollars instead of 25 is a huge jump. I think it wouldn't be too bad, but I would also get at least a second and third opinion.

The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman

I havn't read many photography books but this one made a lot of sense to me, especially about the dynamics in the frame.

The building on the left balances the picture. For one it frames the scene. Especially because it's relatively bland and uninteresting it guides the eyes back into the picture. Besides that, it is a similar facade as the beautifully lit building on the right. This gives the picture both symmetry and contrast as visual elements.

The image does adhere to the rule of thirds since all the lines are filled with interesting elements. Perhaps you've had trouble applying the rule of thirds because you've focused too much on the crossing points of the lines. The reason these four points are the most interesting ones for the rule of thirds, is because items on those points adhere to the rule twice.

If you want more background information on composition, I can recommend this book.

For myself, whenever I'm learning a new photography skill I do the following: As soon as I have taken the shot I'm after, I take at least five more where I play around with whatever element I'm practicing with. So for composition, I would take the shot I want. Then go look for alternative angles, other elements to in- or exclude, maybe a different foreground or background, whatever options are available at the time. After a while I start seeing the options beforehand and will be ready to incorporate it and move on to the next element to work on.

I can't comment on /u/tokyohoon's book, but I quite liked this one. Maybe /u/zerototeacher will show up and properly edumacate us.

Photography!

Anything in particular you want to know? I think people fall into two categories with photography:

1. People who have "the eye", but lack the technical knowledge of their equipment to take full advantage of their natural ability.
   
2. People who have learned technical knowledge and artistic concepts, but who lack artistic intuition.
   
   Of the two the first kind of people are the best raw material, but anyone can make a career out of photography with enough work, and the most important component is perhaps not how good your photography is, or how much of a natural you are, but how well you market your work.
   
   I, too, considered going into professional photography when I was younger. When I got my work printed for the first time I was told that it looked much better than the professionals who frequently came to get their stuff printed. I say that not to brag on myself, but to demonstrate how essential marketing is. No one knew about my work and I wasn't bothering to market it. So, does it matter if mine's better if no one knows about it? I ended up pursuing a different career path because at that time in life I knew I lacked the experience and discipline to wake up each morning and essentially run my own company.
   
   Have you identified your weak points/areas for growth? What are you doing to attack them? Personally, I'd say steer clear of school. You do not need to drop money on school for photography. You just need equipment, knowledge and experience/practice. Do you know how to shoot glass? Metal? In mixed lighting situations? Do you know how to work with artificial lighting to create a scene from scratch? Do you have an established post-processing workflow? Are you tagging your photos in Lightroom/Aperture so you can find them again?
   
   What kind of photography do you want to do? If it's wedding/portrait, there's money in that, but some of us (me) hate those types of photography. If you want to do nature/macro, then it'll be tougher to make a living off of that. You might need to build an extremely large portfolio of very high-quality stock photography, most of which is shot at daybreak or sunset.
   
   Going back to education for a moment, knowing how to recreate very specific lighting scenarios is nice (Rembrandt lighting, "high key" lighting, "butterfly" lighting, soft vs. hard lighting), but the most important thing is understanding how to identify and control light itself. So, when looking for books, it's arguably more important to find books that explain the nature of light (polarized vs. unpolarized, angles, reflections, shadows, etc.) than it is to find books that show you a photo and tell you exactly how to recreate that specific scene. If you know the concepts and techniques, you don't need to know how to recreate a scene step-by-step; you can figure it out yourself. This book does a better job of explaining light than most formal education will and for a very reasonable price.
   
   Try to build your portfolio however you can. This might involve shooting for free. I worked at a summer camp for pennies on the dollar to build mine, but ended up with a robust array of kid shots to fill out that area of my portfolio. You could shoot music shows to learn how to deal with low-light and unpredictable lighting... You might be surprised how thankful some starving artists would be to have someone shoot 'em with nice equipment. Just try not to let people take advantage of you. If you're doing it for you, great. If someone needs some headshots and it's not going to help your portfolio, consider setting the precedent of getting paid.
   
   Oh yeah, and get insurance for your gear. Some lowlife can literally steal your business by taking your stuff. My 40D and 24-70mm f/2.8L got stolen out of my house a few years ago. Took me about a year and a half to save up and get new equipment.
   
   Please let me know if you have any additional questions. I can't speak much about photography as an industry as I've never done it "professionally", but I have done a lot as a hobbyist, and as someone who, at one point, considered going pro. Finally got a 6D recently to replace my stolen gear. Might get into a little astro or night photography down the road now that I've finally joined the full frame club.
   
   Wish you the best

The book "Light: Scrience and Magic" may help you to understand how to control light.

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0240812255/

It will teach you the "how" of lighting and a little bit of the "what". Once you have those tools in your mental toolbox, so to speak, it will be much easier to understand what lighting helps with and why.

Among other things, that book talks about how the light from a softbox and a bare bulb differ and why. It also talks about the various techniques and issues with lighting glossy surfaces (like car bodies) and glass. Even the sections on lighting portraits may provide you with some techniques applicable to cars.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0240812255

This book was a game changer for me. It was all about putting aside the camera for a bit and remember that it's all about light.

Also, being obsessed with seeing as many photos as I could find and adoring them enough to see similar situations. I think photography is like writing, imitation is part of the process of finding your own style.

If you're the book reading type, I can highly recommend 'Light Science & Magic'. It'll help you grasp the fundamentals of light and how it works and can be manipulated.

Non affiliate Amazon Link

Light Science and Magic, Fourth Edition: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting is also very good.

I highly recommend Light Science and Magic. It will help you understand lighting from the ground up.

This was a great help for me back when I first started. It goes over the basics and necessities and briefly covers different types of photography. And it's cheap. There are other volumes too, but I haven't been able to look at those yet.

• Digital Photography School
  
• Ken Rockwell's website to learn about lenses/cameras
  
• This Scott Kelby Book (this is what I read, his other's might be good too)
  
• Also you're camera's own field guide is pretty useful to figure out how to do all the things mentioned in the above sources. Should look something like this

The best thing you can do is
1: read your manual
2: get a book to help you understand the basics of photography. One book that did wonders for me: http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photography-Book-Scott-Kelby/dp/032147404X.
3: Go out and shoot as often as you can and shoot on manual mode as often as you can if you camera has a manual mode.

When my husband got his first SLR, I got him this.

The writing is a bit cheesy, but it does a good job prescribing what settings you'll need for what type of picture. This allowed him to start snapping immediately rather than trying to study the camera for ages before getting started.

As for collections of great photographs, try National Geographic's collections if she likes landscapes.

What color did you get?

I know the feeling. When I bought my K200D it seemed like a ton of money and forever before it arrived.

As soon as you can start using the AF-200 and see what it does and doesnt do to images. Then get on the Strobist and learn what you can do with off camera flash. If you really want to get into that kind of photography it is extremely rewarding. You create light that doesnt exist. Read "The moment it clicks" and "Hot Shoe Diaries" and be prepared to be addicted. When you are ready to take the plunge, go to Gadget Infinity and check out the Cactus RF60 can do.

On the contrary, I think he knows exactly what he is doing. His book "The Hot Shoe Diaries" is one of the best books on lighting I've read:

http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Shoe-Diaries-Light-Flashes/dp/0321580141

I would recommend Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Boxed Set. 3 books that show a bit of everything and tips on Lighting, Exposure, Basics, and more advanced techniques. http://www.amazon.com/Scott-Kelbys-Digital-Photography-Volumes/dp/0321678737

Go buy this.

And, like everyone else...shoot shoot shoot!

By definition, if you take a photo, you are a photographer - there are "photographers" that publish books taking pictures with an iphone. She took the picture, she owns the copyright and therefore, has the right to request it removed from the site.

Not being paid for your pictures does not make one less of a photographer.

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Camera-One-Thats-You/dp/0321684788

http://www.amazon.com/The-Best-Camera-Thats-With/dp/0321684788

These are pictures I took on my iPhone 4s in Guatemala.



I took it with my phone because it wasn't safe to bring my "real" camera into many of those environments. I am a professional photographer, and I love my big expensive cameras BUT The best camera is the one you have with you!

Yeah it does stand out from the rest, not only because of the subject and the pose, but because there aren't any environmental cues like the rest (black background). Glad I could be constructive with my comments.

A good starting point is a softbox/umbrella 45 degrees over, 45 degrees up, torso pointed towards the light source, face turned about 45 degrees away from the torso/light source (towards the camera). Keep a ratio of about 2:1 key to fill light (or use a reflector), and if you want to use a rim light or kicker behind the hair for it. Or google Rembrandt lighting, which is similar.

The Syl Arena book is pretty much the gold standard of flash photography:
http://www.amazon.com/Speedliters-Handbook-Learning-Craft-Speedlites/dp/032171105X

Neil V's Tangents blog is a great online resource:
http://neilvn.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/

And of course there is strobist.com

Some of the BH photos are amazing resources. Here are a few (with differing levels of relevance):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5byuHJ9uBns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWhi4I20s10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eoi5uxZq7z8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtcD84l9eUw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9RQ6YPVWhA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJHfT7lYqCo&list=FLqfXHErKeDtB3zYN9zaNfmg&index=3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPkxS_ezVg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcpRdrVrtz0

Cheers!

I am a fan of speedlights after reading Syl Arenas' Speedlighter's Handbook. I use the following equipment:

• Backdrop Kit that includes stands and muslin backdrops. The backdrops wrinkle too easily so I have switched to paper. Check out Zack Arias' seamless white backdrop tutorial. My setup is similar.
  
• Two YN-560's and a 430 EXII for lighting. The 430 EXII is connected to my camera via a 25 ft. TTL cord. The YN-560's are wirelessly triggered by the 430 EXII.
  
• Cheap softbox and umbrella kits.
  
  Rather than surprise her, you might ask your girlfriend what she wants in a lighting kit. Personally, I would be delighted if someone surprised me with new gear but disappointed if it wasn't what I actually needed/wanted.

Picture Perfect Posing: Practicing the Art of Posing for Photographers and Models. Game changer. Teaching stuff that would take years to learn on your own.

The notion of using a lower Fstop comes from the shallower DoF, blurring out things that are far away from the focal point, mostly to draw focus to the face, however, that is not always necessary, there are some other ways to direct the attention of a portrait.

You should balance out using a faster stop for blurring out and a slower one for a sharper image. I usually tend to stick to a faster one save from some specific poses, and use some positions to enhance some features of the face.

I'd recommend the following book: https://www.amazon.com/Picture-Perfect-Posing-Practicing-Photographers/dp/0321966465/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524111845&sr=8-1&keywords=picture+perfect+posing&dpID=51vi3fNrADL&preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

I dislike some of the choices made in the book, but overall it teaches a lot of good concepts in a didactic way.

I would imagine any hot-light setup would work.

LED's are just nice as they're (fairly) inexpensive and adjustable without being too physically hot. I thought about just using the modeling lights on my strobes, but didn't think that would put out enough light.

Apparently this book has an entire chapter how to light shiny metal objects, but I've not (yet) had a chance to read it.

https://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

Glad to be helpful! If you want to learn more about, the first few chapters of the book “Light: Science and Magic” are immensely instructive

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Introduction-Photographic-Lighting/dp/0240808193/

Understanding Exposure is EXTREMELY basic, beware.

Photography Changes Everything by Marvin Heiferman

EDIT: More:

Magnum Contact Sheets by Kristen Lubben

Photography: The Definitive Visual History by Tom Ang

Michael Kenna: Images of the Seventh Day

Raised by Wolves by Jim Goldberg

The Photography Book: 2nd Edition by Ian Jeffrey

The Photographer's Eye by John Szarkowski

The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman

The Photographer's Vision by Michael Freeman

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson

I've recently taken up photography as a hobby. r/photography can be a little pretentious, but the resources linked on the side are generally pretty helpful.

Granted, there is a bit of a startup fee, whether that's buying a point and shoot with manual controls, a bridge camera, or springing for a full-blown DSLR. I started with a Panasonic DMC-LX5 which is a very, very good point and shoot, but I recently have been using my dad's Nikon D40x that he never uses since I felt increasingly silly looking into the screen instead of a viewfinder. Learning about exposure and being able to shoot in full-manual mode is incredibly rewarding.

To improve my photography, I plan to take a picture every day for at least 100 days. Having a guideline really helps motivate me to get out and shoot.

There are a lot of good books out there like the Tom Ang Digital Photography books, which are good technical information about exposure or The Photographer's Eye and its sequels for composition. Recently I've been reading The Passionate Photographer by Steve Simon, which is an incredible photo essay/photojournalism book that is my favorite photography book so far, and has inspired me to start taking more photojournalistic style pictures.

edit: fixed a link

Edit: Whoops... my eyes completely skipped the word "skate". Ack. I'll leave this here since it's still good advice in general.

• Read up on photography composition theory, but just the basics and don't take anything as gospel. The rule-of-thirds is a good starting point.
  
• Learn your camera one button at a time. I started off in Aperture-priority auto-exposure mode. This let me manually set my aperture to control the depth-of-field and just experimented with that for awhile. Then I switched to shutter-priority for awhile. Once you've got a good handle on those, you can jump into manual mode and set both by hand.
  
• When shooting JPEG it is pretty crucial to get your white balance setting as correct as possible.
  
• Learn how to switch your ISO setting quickly and efficiently. ISO 100 == slower but less noisy, ISO 1600+ == faster, but grainier.
  
• Take pictures. Thousands and thousands of pictures. I am not kidding. Thousands. (JPEG mode is a good place to start due to the reduced size.)
  
• Experiment. In those thousands of photos, try every kind of framing you can think of.
  
• Review the photos you took. Pick out good ones and examine why you like them. Pick out the worst ones and figure out why they're bad.
  
• Only ever show people the very best photos you've taken. Out of a set of 100 images I'll usually wind up with maybe 6-10 good ones (if I'm lucky). The more I practice, the better my success ratio gets, but know now that you'll wind up not using the vast majority of pictures that you take.
  
• Cropping can save a bad photo. Do not be afraid to crop.
  
• Brightness/Contrast and Color Balance are your friends. Do not be afraid to digitally develop your images. Film photographers have been doing this sort of thing since the invention of photography.
  
  Do this for a year, and then you'll be ready to really start studying the "rules" of photography. I recommend getting The Photographer's Eye as a good all-in-one crash course in photography.
  
  Get Photoshop (or similar program) and learn Brightness/Contrast, Color Balance, Levels, and Curves. Shoot in RAW. Get addicted to expensive pro-quality lenses. Have fun. :)

This is one of the foremost and comprehensive books on composition and design with a photo. Michael Freeman shows you principles, then an example photo and then why that photo works so well in achieving it.
He also shows pitfalls and common errors.

I owned an earlier version of his work, this new one incorporates digital.
Michael Freeman: The photographer's eye - Composition and design for better digital photos.

http://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301813663&sr=8-1

Point and shoot cameras have their uses but most of them are severely limited, unfortunately. If you're interested in developing your skills in photography further, I think you should probably buy a SLR camera. They give you a completely different way of shooting, it's so much more direct and controllable. You don't have to sell a kidney to afford one either, a used Canon d40 sells for about $500. If that's too pricey, look for a nice Canon 400D, if should only set you back $200 or so without a lens. Other brands are just as good ofc, Nikon has a few really good beginner models too.

Also, SLR or not, try to get your hands on a copy of The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman, I think it's a very good introduction to composition and thinking in frames and light and color. borrow it at a library if you can't afford buying it.

Other than that, I dunno. Ask if you've got any questions or want tips.

There are a lot of books on composition there, like The Photographer's Eye, by Freeman and The Art of Photography, by Barnbaum. I can recommend both of those, and they aren't terribly expensive on the used market. They are both going to give you way more than what you can read online. Barnbaum's book is more in depth and more focused on film photography, so that may be of more interest, although Freeman's book is not digital-specific (despite the subtitle).

The other approach, perhaps more intuitive, would be to study photos that you like and try and figure out why they work, why they strike your heart, and what is happening in them in terms of the placement of the subject in the frame, the lighting (what's lit and what isn't, what's high contrast, what's not), how your eye moves around the image, and what your eye rests upon. All that kind of stuff.

I've been trying to improve my composition skills. I read [Michael Freeman's "The Photographer's Eye"] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Photographers-Eye-Composition-Digital/dp/0240809343/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331946138&sr=1-1) and it opened up whole new worlds for me. The problem is that when I go out in the field to shoot, I forget every damn bit of it (well almost).

I started to re-read it taking notes, but can't find the time to do it justice and end up with long gaps between sessions, and again, I forget stuff.

So now, I've typed all my notes into a document, and I'm going through each section, taking pictures that illustrate each point. I should end up with a nice photo journal. Hopefully the concepts will be driven more deeply into my pea-brain, and some of it might even stick.

It might take a while to get through it all, but hopefully it'll help me to grow as a photographer.

They are not free, but I watch these videos by the National Geographic master photographers. Also, try this book; it's a bit weighty but very helpful in understanding the parts of composition. A blog I read is Eric Kim Street Photography, helped me out with understanding the basics of composition.

You probably have a smartphone which has a camera, right? You can start with that. Just take photos, read, watch videos, learn, take more photos, ask more questions, read more, take more photos, etc...

/r/PhotoClass2017

Book recommendations (these are excellent):

• Understanding Exposure
  
  
• The Photographer's Eye

The Photographer's Eye is something I picked up a while back, I felt like a lot of the information was helpful in one way or another. Used copies are pretty cheap too!

Let's see, there was Understanding Exposure, which is especially helpful for people who have only ever shot digital b/c it explains so much of the basic functions of the camera that most people take per granted and can improve your pictures dramatically, another one of Peterson's books, Learning to See Creatively is also really good, I also like The Photographer's Eye. Another really good book if you're into B&W is Black & White: Photographic Printing Workshop, which was written for using enlargers in a darkroom but can equally be used with basic Photoshop technique, shows how to convert blah pictures into really amazing imagery using basic dodging and burning techniques. I'll post some examples of his later when I get home.

You've got a good eye for shots and it looks like you're willing to go to interesting places and get down at eye level with snakes and other various monsters (which is awesome.)

My main critique is that many of your photos need some compositional work. I saw a lot of bullseyed subjects, midline horizons, improper DOF, etc. Check out a book called The Photographers' Eye. It'll be a game changer for you. If you want something to start on tonight I'd suggest reading up on two things: a) The Rule of Thirds and b) Hyperfocal Focusing

Keep shooting!

I don't know how a purely aural medium can effectively convey a purely visual art form.

Instead, I think it would be a better idea to pick up some ebooks on composition, light or even painting to go through. Two books I would highly suggest are:

The Photographer's Eye

https://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343

and

Learning to See Creatively

https://www.amazon.com/Learning-See-Creatively-Third-Composition/dp/1607748274

I think you're looking for this book. Buy this one and Understanding Exposure, and you'll have all the books you ever need about photography. When you're finished with those two, read Strobist.com, and your photography education will be complete. After 5,000 photos, you'll start creating a few that you really like, and after about 10,000 more after that, you'll be taking photos that other people like. Have fun!

Edit: don't wait until you've read the books to start taking your 15,000 photos. Start today.

I'm looking throught my new book "Light Science and Magic" by Hunter, Biver, Fuqua (Focal Press) that's been highly recommended in r/photography.

Every example I see of high contrast situations has a large, close diffuse light source (soft box or LED plate?) at a 90 degree angle with the camera. This book really is a fantastic resource. Amazon link.

Found this article that says when shooting high contrast to use the B&W camera setting because it doesn't waste range on color mids. I have no idea whether that works in practice.

If you haven't already, you should read Light Science and Magic. It's all about light and how it affects your photos.

Light: Science and Magic

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0240812255

A book that will help a lot with understanding lighting is Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

For Instagram, your cellphone is good! A large portion of it is the lighting.

And then there's Light: Science and Magic

https://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0240812255

Get this book if you get the chance to: http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0240812255

There's PDF's of it floating around the internet too. It'll be a really good tool.

So browsing the web since creating this post I've come across the following non-introductory options:

• Painting With Light by John Alton, 11.50$-60$
  
  
• Indie Cinema Academy: Cinematic Lighting Module Interesting, might learn some other stuff here too, but not so much about faces. 95$
  
  
• Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting, by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, Paul Fuqua 15$, not really about faces, but has outstanding reviews, and looks to be useful for everything.
  
  
• Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers, by Christopher Grey 12$. Looks very relevant.
  
  So basically nothing directly competing against the course, except maybe for the last book. Anything I missed?
  

If you don't mind buying a book, this is one of the best I've seen: http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0240812255

Hmm, in my opinion, these are the ones I'd pull: 9 (too much light behind), 13 (great moment, the sharpness and detail just aren't there), the two dancing/wedding photos, 21 (guy on the far left is creeping me out, no clearly defined subject), 25 & 26(need better lighting), 30, 34, 35, 36 (snapshots).

39 - I know what you were going for, I think you should go back and try to get the shot again, but try it from different angles. The posts in the water are blown out and your composition is unbalanced (too much stuff on the left, nothing to really offset it on the right).

If I might make a recommendation for lighting, check your local library to see if they have a copy of Light, Science and Magic for you to read through. It can teach you how to light everything.

Also, get this and this.

Also, this book is great for learning some basics, but not in a way that teaches you in depth. The author, Scott Kelby, takes an angle of just telling you what to do, not so often does he tell you why.

For that, I would look into a good magazine subscription, or Digital Photography for Dummies. Either way, you can't go wrong. Read Scott Kelby's book and you'll very quickly find yourself taking much better pictures.

I thought this series was good. Digital Photography by Scott Kelby. Go to a local store and look at one to see if you like the teaching style. The main concept to learn is how to use ISO, aperture, and shutter speed.

>I know very little about them

With all due respect, if you are asking such generic question, perhaps the best way to spend that money is to pay for a photography class or buy a good digital photography book.

Some examples:
http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photography-Book-Scott-Kelby/dp/032147404X

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Digital-Photography-Ben-Long/dp/1584507004/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291507787&sr=1-4

Better yet, save the money. Just spend more time with your camera so you understand exactly how to use it and what its current limitations are for what you want to do. Once you know what these are, then you can begin researching a lens that will answer that need. For example. I enjoy outdoor wildlife photography. Therefore I quickly learned about my cheap 70-300 canon lens' shortcomings and deficiencies (compared to "L" quality lenses, of course).

My point is, once you are more knowledgeable, the answer to this question will become much more obvious. Good luck and happy shooting!

I always suggest The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby to any new photographer. Well, actually, I've only had my SLR a couple years, I'm new too.

There are two volumes out, and another being released in August. He explains most everything in terms of how to get a specific shot, and through that you learn what the different settings of your camera can do. It is geared toward SLRs, but most point and shoots also have many of the same settings.

Anyway, good luck!

Surfing, Scuba Diving, kayaking, randomly capitalizing words For no reason, photography, painting, drawing, graphic design, gaming.

To start surfing: Get a long board. Less maneuverable, but easier to learn on. You can rent a "learner board" for fairly cheap.

Scuba diving is expensive and requires certification. Best way to check this out is to find a cheap event that will cover all the costs and has someone to watch your ass so you don't have to worry about certification (which normally takes several weeks).

If you pick up photography before you try scuba diving, you might be able to take some awesome pictures with a cheap underwater (disposable) camera, or a higher priced "usable up to xx feet underwater" camera. As a new diver, I doubt you'd go below 50 feet, so you could probably reasonably get one that is safe up to that depth.

There are photography resources everywhere, but for the sake of concision, you might just get [this book.] (http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photography-Book-Scott-Kelby/dp/032147404X) Scott Kelby is decent about explaining things succinctly without being horribly boring.

Kayaking, go to a marina and rent a kayak and paddle around. It's more fun to do with a few friends, but if you have an area nearby with interesting landscape features, you could just go check them out yourself. Again, if you pick up photography before this, you could get some interesting shots, provided you have a water-resistant camera.

Drawing is hard, because it isn't something that I think can be picked up quickly. I would suspect they have videos on youtube that might be helpful.

Painting, honestly, seriously, listen to Bob Ross. For someone who has never painted before, he's a pretty good instructor, and he can show you results who never would have thought you could get. I showed him to a few art-illiterate friends and they all had pretty good luck with him.

Graphic design for me has always been more about obtaining desired results than exploring and experimenting, so what I would say for you to get into this, is come up with something you want. I want an icon I can use for my own personal logo, or I want to make myself a new desktop for my computer, or whatever. And do it. Learn what you need to learn to accomplish your goal. Others will be a better resource for this, I mainly do graphic design for work, but I had friends who did it for fun who could make some really incredible images.

Gaming, I would say pick up Steam, and go to town. Awesomenauts has had my attention a lot lately for being fun, fast-paced, competitive, and requiring that teams work together to succeed, but any online team-based games might be good for you to check out for a lark, and they would give you a chance to socialize to an extent.


Socialization seems to come along with competitive pastimes in general, so find out what is around you. I injured my knee a while back so I'm not much for bowling, but a ton of my old coworkers formed their opwn league and would go every week. Find a local bowling alley and practice some, you could meet people and have a good time, but you might also consider going to a driving range and renting some golf equipment or any number of other sports. Your options are open, though I would avoid contact sports until you feel a little more confident in yourself. Maybe around week 30 or so.

That's true, but even so it's perfectly understandable that she'd be upset about having her genitals photographed and made accessible for the law enforcement community. I think at the least the deputy made an unwise of photographic angles. Possibly he should read this book.

Not so accurate at describing the Nikon solutions.

One of the reasons I got a D300 was for the wireless iTTL capability. It can control any number of flashes in three banks. The main flash and each of the three banks can be individually controlled. Perhaps the 7D has this capability, but no other Canon does. Nikon's Creative Lighting System is pretty amazing.

I also disagree with the statement that using a hotshoe-mounted flash is a terrible idea. Better advice is to read Joe McNally's Hot Shoe Diaries and see how a real pro uses speedlights.

I also like The Hot-Shoe Diaries for flash concepts. It is less science, and more "in the trenches", but I've gotten a lot of practical ideas from it. The only downside is that it is pretty Nikon DSLR centric, but since off-camera flash is usually done manually anyway, the concepts apply everywhere.

Scott Kelby has a great box set of books. They go through everything you could imagine in a very easy to follow set u.

I bought the set for myself and have since shared them with my girlfriend and mom, both had very little experience with photography, but had no problems reading through the books and understanding how to go about using what they learned.

The set is called Scott Kelby's Digital Photography.

here's a link from amazon,
http://www.amazon.ca/Scott-Kelbys-Digital-Photography-Volumes/dp/0321678737

And an excellent place to start it is.


Not sure of your age and whether or not you've never taken a photography course in high school or college. Not even sure if they still teach film photography in high school (gosh I'm old). But if you haven't then I suggest reading one of these books on basic photography principles. Familiarizing yourself with f stops, ISO, shutter speed, basic composition principles will go a long way.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321678737/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0321678737&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwpho006-20


as far as lenses go I would start with a prime lens. For the a6000 I suggest something closer to the Full frame equivalent of 50mm. In this case you'd be looking at the Sony 35mm f1.8 or Sigma 30mm f1.4. Using a prime will force you to move in our out to frame your shot and will prevent you from using your zoom to frame a shot. Old school photographers like my pop says zoom lenses make people lazy. You'll also get the pleasing depth of field and bokeh look out the gate.


One other tip from a non professional photographer to another is to take your camera everywhere and shoot everything. The best way to learn is to do IMO. Mirrorless cameras are light and compact so there is no excuse to not take it with you.

Edit: And if you;re on a budget I would absolutely start with the kit lens then work your way up to a prime lens. But go for a prime lens if you can.

If you are new to photography, these books are worded in an easy to understand way to get you shooting the results you want quicker. My fav set of books that still give me tips and I have been shooting for years. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0321678737

It seems that your comment contains 1 or more links that are hard to tap for mobile users.
I will extend those so they're easier for our sausage fingers to click!


Here is link number 1 - Previous text "No"



----
^Please ^PM ^/u/eganwall ^with ^issues ^or ^feedback! ^| ^Delete

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Camera-One-Thats-You/dp/0321684788

You and most of the commenters sound like gadget collectors, not photographers. I can still take a good photo with my mechanical film camera from highschool(well if I can find film). You don'r need a good camera to take good photos. Instead of concentrating on the tech, try new things with composition, lighting or subject matter. I've taken ok photos with literally a toilet plunger(made into a pinhole camera).

It is less about the camera and more about the person behind the camera. iPhones can take great photos. This book was shot entirely with an iphone camera

The iphone camera is plenty good enough to create appealing images. You might have seen the pro fashion photography with an iphone video here recently: http://fstoppers.com/iphone/
or this photography book shot all with the iphone:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0321684788/

And applying some post-processing to make up for the cameras weaknesses is a good thing! Some of the effects are over the top and/or cheesy, but he will learn to apply them more subtly with time.

Personally, I think these are quite good - [http://www.flickr.com/photos/codysanfilippo/4807166199/in/set-72157624533460560/](the Kiss) in particular. I've never shot anything that "emotional" with any camera.

Finally - the images here show that a lot of time and effort have gone into them. He spends some time shooting, some time selecting the good ones, some time post-processing them, and then he goes to the hassle of putting them online, and even asking for criticism here. And the best you come up with is "it's shit".

I guess you are right that your photos are not relevant here, but at least you could try with some constructive criticism. Or perhaps just not comment.

I recommend picking up this book, Speedliter's Handbook: Learning to Craft Light with Canon Speedlites.

You'll learn a variety of techniques you'll be able to use in a wide range of situations.

also speedliter's handbook has been highly recommended if you ever get a speedlite as it is written exclusively for canon and its flash system.

check out the strobist blog as well for more flash related things

*edit:grammar

I don't feel 100% confident with my flash, but I know the basics of how to use it and it's functionality. I own and have read (some of) Speedliter's Handbook - I should probably spend the next hour in a flash crash-course.


EDIT: PM me if you have video questions. I'd love to help.

This book is excellent on all aspects of lighting: Speedliter's Handbook: Learning to Craft Light with Canon Speedlites - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/032171105X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=032171105X&linkCode=as2&tag=digitalphot09-21

Thank you. I am planning on picking up this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Picture-Perfect-Practice-Self-Training-World-Class/dp/0321803531/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

I'm hoping it will help me learn more.

These two books (best sellers in photography) worked for me. They're also very active on youtube. You can read Kelby's in a night though will take time to learn to apply everything. Everyone learns differently but given they're best sellers good chance it will speak to you.


Books Links

• Tony Northrup's DSLR Book: How to Create Stunning Digital Photography
  
  
• The Digital Photography Book: Part 1 (2nd Edition)
  
  Their youtube channels
  
  
• Tony & Chelsea Northrup
  
  
• KelbyOne
  
  

Scott Kelby has a good introductory series. It is what got me started into the basics of photography. Book one is a good point of entry for only $15.


http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photography-Book-Part-2nd/dp/0321934946/ref=la_B000APPRO4_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415410842&sr=1-5

[This book from Scott Kelby]()http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photography-Book-Part-2nd/dp/0321934946/ is great for beginners and really helped me a lot when I first started, it skips all the technical talk and goes straight to how to get those great shots.

Not sure what is out there now but I know that when I started learning by myself almost all of the books out there where either too technical or complete garbage as a learning tool, lots of books out there that are more like the authors personal portfolio and this is the one that actually taught me in an easy fun way.

There are 3 books on this series but I don't really recommend the other two unless you really like the book and like the author style because they are more like an expansion of the first book and not as good bang for your buck.

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photography-Book-Part-2nd/dp/0321934946

This book series is great help.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0321934946/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1521743688&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=photography+digital+book&dpPl=1&dpID=51vm11Ve5iL&ref=plSrch

Buy an entry level camera (t6i) for $500. Best way to learn is to do it, and not just learn from a book. Experiment with apertures and shutter rates. And the lighting is the most important. Then experiment with geometry and angles and leading lines. It transforms regular snap shots into photography.

This book is fantastic and will change your life. http://www.amazon.com/Picture-Perfect-Posing-Practicing-Photographers/dp/0321966465/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405100634&sr=8-1&keywords=picture+perfect+posing

Get a good book on posing, try can learn a ton about how best to direct people. Also, might help to link inexperienced models to YouTube posing tutorials.

Picture Perfect Posing by Roberto Valenzuela is a good book that would help https://www.amazon.com/Picture-Perfect-Posing-Practicing-Photographers/dp/0321966465

I would recommend Syl Arena's Lighting for Digital Photography and Neil van Nierkerk's Direction and Quality of Light (his website is where I primarily send flash newbs to learn the baby steps of on-camera flash and bouncing before throwing them to the Strobist's Lighting 101 or his Lynda courses for off-camera flash; my public library gives me free access to lynda.com). Also, just for the fun of it and to start thinking about studio lighting, I'd also recommend taking a spin through Zack Arias's white seamless tutorial on youtube.

The basic college textbook on lighting is Light, Science & Magic.

These really are great skills to have as a photographer, and applicable to so many situations!

I'd really recommend Light: Science and magic to anyone who wants to learn about this.

Thank you! Yes it's a plate. I love shooting on dark tables, plates, and backgrounds. It can add really nice contrast to an image.

The most important thing for food photography is the styling so being a chef should give you a huge advantage. Grab the book Light Science and Magic to get an understanding of lighting and you will be producing masterpieces in no time!

Understanding Exposure

Agreed. When I first started a few years ago I read all these guides but was lost on the terminology and how to put it all in use. This book made a lot of things finally click for me. He explains everything in very easy to understand way. Good read for a someone getting into it.

Get this book: http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Edition-Photographs/dp/0817439390

It's a really great read. Explains the basics. And like several others here, I'd be happy to go over some photography basics with you.

It's been a while but the U of O had a group of people that met on campus and went on photography walks from time to time when I worked there. It might be worth investigating if they still do that.

Read

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Photographs-Camera/dp/0817439390

Short and easy. I have no affiliation.

1. I would purchase a DSLR over a mirror less camera because DSLR's have better view finders and thus will greatly help you with your composition.
   
   
2. I would understand how to shoot in manual mode, and that requires that you understand exposure (Aperture, shutter speed, ISO). There are many great books on this subject but here is one of many.
   
   Have fun!

Anytime. I love encouraging new/young artists. If you get a chance check out this excellent book on photography. Even after years of photography this guy still teaches me amazing things. It's great for beginners and experts alike. It's easy to follow and is an amazing resource. Lots of people get frustrated early on, especially with modern/complicated cameras. This book breaks it down and makes it fun. Of course a little toke goes a long way in keeping it fun instead of frustrating. I wish you the best man.

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is another excellent book. Instead of focusing on your camera, it explains the absolute basics of photography and you'll be able to apply that to any camera.

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Edition-Photographs/dp/0817439390

This because I suck at the whole manipulating exposure thing. I would love to understand it better so that way I can manipulate it better to make my photos more my own style! And who knows, maybe the images in the book will help me figure out what style I want to work towards!

Since you already got answers I'll add some other stuff. Thats a great camera and hopefully you be able to get loads of good shots of your daughters in the future that you will treasure. Pick up this book: Understanding Exposure and you will learn lots about how to use the camera and skills you will need as a beginner photographer.

1. Use your camera, shoot everything you can. Analyze what you did that made certain shots good, and what made others bad.
   
   
2. Buy a book or two, like this one.
   
   
3. Like anything else... Time and experience will only make you better.

One of the reviews on Amazon said that "...this book doesn't read easily, or fast. It forces the readers to engage both sides of their brain, since paying close attention to the images is as important here as carefully reading the words." Do you think this would be overwhelming for a beginner?

I'm also looking at another book posted in this thread, Understanding Exposure. Have you heard anything about that one? I feel like Understanding Exposure is more technical with some elements of design while The Photographer's Eye is more focused on purely design and composition (like the subtitle says :P). Maybe you could give me your opinion of which is more valuable for someone with not much "real" photography experience?

Well this is my bible, I bought it when I first got into photography as a hobby and it honestly is so enlightening.

Understanding Exposure

It pretty much breaks down the different conditions in which you can find yourself, from lighting to framing etc and talks practically about how to get your head around f stops. In truth there is no 'right' way of doing things, as long as you have a basic understanding and get the results that you desire.

If you do ever wish to invest more time and money into things I'd recommend getting a decent second hand variable lens that can give you wide angle for things like landscapes, and also a good zoom to help you with portraits and the like.

I hope you do find the time one day as it is such a rewarding passion.

To address your exposure issue, completely black or grainy, read Understanding Exposure. It isn't too long and I found it so interesting and a great introduction to understanding the exposure triangle.

Basically you have a triangle to balance:

• Shutter Speed (1/100, 1/200 etc)
  
• Aperture (f/4, f/5.6, f/8 etc)
  
• ISO (100, 200, 400 etc)
  
  You need to balance the three to get a correctly exposed picture. You can than use one to get the creative effect you want, Shutter Speed allows you to smooth or freeze movement, Aperture allows you to control depth of field and ISO allows you to compensate for the other two at the cost of Noise in the image.
  
  But if you change one, you need to change a different setting equally and oppositely to compensate. It is referred to as 'stops'. So if you go up one stop in one setting you need to go down one stop in another. A stop of Shutter Speed is doubling it (1/400 -> 1/200 -> 1/100 etc.); A stop of Aperture is decreasing it by sqrt(2) about 1.4 (5.6 -> 4 -> 2.8 -> 2 -> 1.4 etc); A stop of ISO is doubling it (100 -> 200 -> 400 etc.).

The book Understanding Exposure is a great intro to what you need to know to master manual mode. The basics are the same whether you're shooting film or digital.

Google "Sunny 16 rule" for guidelines on setting exposure without a meter outdoors.

/r/photoclass2015 is starting up on Jan 5. I'm one of the mods, come join us to learn about exposure and more.

Read this book --> http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Edition-Photographs/dp/0817439390

I read this book. Just downloaded an 'ahem' pdf on my phone and read it during my spare time at work. It was extremely well written and entertaining and really puts photography into understanding. You start to think about light differently after reading this.

Depends on your style, but I don't think you NEEd to pay for a course just yet. There's so much info out there already.

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Edition-Photographs/dp/0817439390

if you're just starting out, I'd recommend Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson

Maybe you could pick up a camera and start taking an interest in it with her? That way its something you could do together and you learing something.

A book that thought me an awful lot was,
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Edition-Photographs/dp/0817439390/ref=pd_sim_b_1

From what I remember of it, I think it was pretty straight to the point, shouldnt be too much for an 11 year old, but you could fly through it yourself pretty quick and just explain it to her yourself.

As a few others have said too, the reddit photo class is fantastic.

Keep us updated on her (and yours?) progress.

Usually photographers use the terms "wide" and "long" to talk about angle of view. In the beginning it would make the most since to say zoom in or zoom out because that is how everyone learns. But there are lens called primes that have a fixed length and don't zoom in our out. The most correct way to talk about the length is probably in mm. Lens lengths are measured in mm because the further away the lens is from the sensor the narrower the angle of view is and the bigger far away objects are. This is why telephoto or long lenses are also in fact big and long. Lenses get shorter up to a point where they can't physically get closer to the sensor because of the mirror or whatever and then some trickery is used (which I don't understand) and they get bigger again. If you have a zoom that comes with your camera try zooming all the way out then zooming all the way back in. There is a good chance it will be getting shorter and then pop back out suddenly at the end.

The longer your lens the more exaggerated any movement becomes either from you shaking the camera on accident or from the subject itself. There is actually a quick and dirty rule photographers use to eliminate camera shake - if you aren't using a tripod try and keep your shutter speed above the mm length you are using. So if your lens is set at 80 mm try to have a shutter speed above 1/80th of a second. It isn't absolute but it will help you know when you need to start worrying about camera shake.

As far as learning the basics Understanding Exposure is one of the best books I've ever read. There is a reason it is a best seller. At the time I read it I already knew exposure pretty well but I still learned a lot. This is because the book has a ton of example pictures with explanations on how the photo was taken and what thought process was used to get them.

I thought about picking this book and browsed around on Amazon for it and noticed that a new edition is coming out on the 10th of August so you might want to check it out since it will probably be much more up to date with the digital stuff at least (the other edition was from 2004)

Understanding Exposure New Release

There are a lot of good reading around, on the internet and books as well, like http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Edition-Photographs/dp/0817439390

Also, this guy has pretty informative videos about basic stuff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3A3SnPFPk0 you can SEE what happens when focal length, aperture, distance change..

I must add that shooting a lot, experimenting, asking questions, thinking is something you should do too :)

Check these out:
http://www.christianphoto.biz/
http://www.dmcameraclub.com/

And I reccommend the book Understanding Exposure http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Edition-Photographs/dp/0817439390

try this book

I would recommend this book if you're just starting out, http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Edition-Photographs/dp/0817439390

I should work on getting my camera fixed first. I have Understanding Exposure, but its been years since I cracked that book open.

In addition to getting out taking as many pictures as possible and just having fun I'd recommend buying a book and watching youtube videos.

• Youtube: D3200 intro/overview
  
• Book: Stunning Digital Photography
  
• Youtube: Mike Brown
  
• Youtube: Northrup Photography
  
  There are plenty of other great channels but those two are my favorites.

This is a really helpful book. Comes with a lot of video instruction. I think the e-book is like $10. Well worth it. How to Create Stunning Digital Photography https://www.amazon.com/dp/0988263408/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_qpq0BbZTVB12B

I am also new to photography but I have heard great things about Tony Northrup's Stunning Digital Photography book and I am looking to buy it: http://www.amazon.com/Tony-Northrups-DSLR-Book-Photography/dp/0988263408/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421293740&sr=8-1&keywords=tony+northrup+stunning+digital+photography

He also has a helpful youtube channel you might want to check out.

K-70 is a great camera and honestly Pentax cameras are easier to learn than others.

This guy writes E-Books for Pentax and I got one for my K50 and it helped a lot.

https://ebooks4cameras.com/shop?olsPage=products%2Fk-70-book

Also check out this book by Tony Northrop

How to Create Stunning Digital Photography https://www.amazon.com/dp/0988263408/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_I3WWDb2CDSHXJ

https://www.amazon.com/Tony-Northrups-DSLR-Book-Photography/dp/0988263408/

that's a good start imo

Maybe this is a good opportunity to upsell. Give the person a price the appropriate license...let's say OP decides it's $50. He/She can maybe offer a package that for $100 to provide that photo AND take a professional head shot or something else that could be useful for his website. Play with the numbers.


Since OP is potentially getting interest in his/her work, I suggest learning more about the business. This is my go to book for learning about the business side of photography, including pricing, licenses, taxes, etc.

EDIT: typos

I have this book, which I found quite useful.

Laurence Kim's blog has also been quite useful as well, and his blog touches on a lot of what you're interested in (I'd suggest reading it in an RSS feed since his redesign destroyed any easy readability of post titles).

You can do a lot with the kit lens. I recommend you hold off on investing more money in lenses until you've reached the limits of what the kit lens can do. Then you'll have a better idea of what you want when you go shopping for the next one.

Also, pick up a copy of Understanding Exposure to learn how to use your camera.

> What's the most important things to know, the basics, what I should/shouldn't do, etc.

A lot of recommendations for blogs and videos, but I really found Understanding Exposure (amazon link) to be a great tool.

If you're reading replies here and are thinking to yourself "I don't even know what that is" this might be a good jumping off point.

I'd recommend any of Bryan Peterson's books; Understanding Exposure and Learning to See Creatively are the ones that really got me into photography a few years ago. He has one on portraiture if that's what you're looking for.

The standard Bible.
https://www.amazon.ca/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510675108&sr=1-1&keywords=Understanding+Exposure&dpID=51RRgrqGUgL&preST=_SX258_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

This book has influenced my photography more than any other class I have taken or book I have read. I highly recommend it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607748509/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_-kzVBbTSXGZV7

There's an excellent book called Understanding Aperture Understanding Exposure that's pretty much an essential read. Highly recommended.

Edit: Corrected title

So more about taking better photos than a film camera thing specifically. Here is a great book for learning the basics.

In Amazon, you can read what the difference between 3rd and 4th edition, then you can decide

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1453897889&sr=8-2&keywords=Understanding+Exposure

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. It's a solid lens for your camera at a very affordable price. There are a few other options like random and sigma but he 55-250 optically surpasses them.

You really can't find a better lens anywhere near that price for that camera. Make sure you shop around for a good deal. Check Adorama. BH photo. Amazon. Ebay.

It's not a very long lens but like I said you have a camera with which you can crop and still get usable images. Take a look at the canon 55-250 on pixel peeper or the flickr pool for it.

That's a couple hundred thousand photos to show you the quality you can achieve.

Remember photography is not about gear as much as skill. This is a great starter lens and if you're unhappy with photos you're making there are plenty of good books to read to improve your skills.

I usually recommend these three to start

Understanding exposure
Learning to see creatively
National Geographic ultimate guide to field photography

Understanding Exposure is a great book for beginners on the subject.

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is hands down the best book on photography I have read.

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=GZTPJGDWJWPRPXX8VBNP

What you need to learn is the core elements of photography, and not necessarily the camera itself. When one learns how to use a camera, you have to be able to ask specific questions, like 'How do I change ISO?' 'How do I adjust Iris?' 'How can I put this in a framerate that I like?'

If you don't have the core fundamentals down, might as well stick to point-and-shoot type cameras.

I suggest picking up a book maybe like this one to learn, and then you'll be able to ask the specific questions you need for your camera.

If you’re interested in some reading, Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is fantastic at breaking it down and how the three relate to one another. In fact I’m a huge fan of this author and I own several of his books. Check your local library, I’d be shocked if they don’t have it.

This book, for example?
Understanding Exposure , by Bryan Peterson.
https://amzn.com/1607748509

I have been told that Understanding Exposure is supposed to be the gold standard for beginner photography education. Unfortunately I can not personally attest to the merits of this book since I have not owned or read it.

This is a good primer: http://photographylife.com/what-is-aperture-in-photography

This is a great book: http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Edition-ebook/dp/B004FEFS5E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375110728&sr=8-2&keywords=understanding+aperture

Canon, Nikon, Sony or other? (Not like it really matters, they are all just tools)

Learn about Rule of Thirds and read this book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Create-Stunning-Digital-Photography-ebook/dp/B006KY2VZ2

You're not going to become the best from it, but it will make you understand how to make photos that are more interesting.

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera-ebook/dp/B0104EOJSK/

When I first started with my G7 I was a complete beginner as well. I totally recommend this book. It's a super easy read and will help you immensely.

Do not worry about gear. As a new photographer you may get caught up in the "I need more gear" phase. That phase is expensive and not correct. You can take great pictures using whatever camera you have now and great lighting. I would suggest reading Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. People take great pictures with little to no gear. Check out this video by Chase Jarvis He is one of the best Commercial photographers in the world and talks all about how you dont need as much gear as you think. Good Luck.

I found this book really helpful advancing understanding on composition and content.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Photographers-Eye-Composition-Digital/dp/0240809343

Introduction & enjoyable read:

Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Book series (there are 3 books - 1st one is highly recommended - by many is #1 best selling photography book ever)

...aaaaand The Moment it Clicks (by Joe McNally)

For portraits: Peter Hurley

Masterpiece: James Nachtwey - Inferno (if fact ANYTHING of James Nachtwey - the guy is alone in his own league)

Just a few of the lighter purchases I've made this year that I can recommend to anyone. Maybe these are more like stocking stuffers but they're definitely must-haves.

• Nikon Lens Pen
  
• Giottos Rocket Air Blaster
  
• The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters by Joe McNally

E-TTL doesn't know the visual intent of the photographer. Depending on what camera mode and metering zone you have selected, E-TTL could be way off-base. FEC is necessary most of the time. Don't believe me? Why don't you ask the guy who wrote the book on the subject: http://www.amazon.com/Speedliters-Handbook-Learning-Craft-Speedlites/dp/032171105X

No.