Model
Iris_did
Posts: 2
Miami, Arizona, US
anyone willing to share their "rules of thumb" and secrets in getting awesome results in photography ... all advice, pointers, tips in lighting, studio sets, type of equipment, etc... would be most appreciated from a newbie ex model trying to hone her photography skills..... Iris 
Photographer
Brian Diaz
Posts: 65617
Danbury, Connecticut, US
My best advice is to look here. I learned a lot there.
Photographer
XtremeArtists
Posts: 9122
As Brian metioned, photo.net is a good source.
If I were you, I'd dump the b/f business partner and date a good photog in Miami who can help.
(Just kidding a little).
You are already assisting according to your port. That is how you are going to learn. No one is going to give away "secrets" for free if they are valuable "secrets."
Photographer
ErnieR
Posts: 32
Paragould, Arkansas, US
Two of the first things I can suggest are learn to make a good exposure and if you are using a digital camera to get the right white ballance. Here is a link to a some tips that I've put online over the years. http://www.ernierice.com/tips/
Photographer
Halcyon 7174 NYC
Posts: 20109
New York, New York, US
Posted by ErnieR:
Two of the first things I can suggest are learn to make a good exposure and if you are using a digital camera to get the right white ballance. Here is a link to a some tips that I've put online over the years. http://www.ernierice.com/tips/ This might just qualify as the most useful link ever posted here.
Photographer
Marcus J. Ranum
Posts: 3247
MORRISDALE, Pennsylvania, US
Posted by Iris_did:
anyone willing to share their "rules of thumb" and secrets in getting awesome results in photography ... There is only one true rule that I know of in photography:
Always take the lens cap off first.
Other than that, you're pretty much on your own. What I recommend you do, before you spend a lot of time figuring out all the other great advice you're getting (and Ched and Ernie and Brian just gave you some seriously great pointers) is to figure out what you're trying to accomplish. Sit down and ask yourself what, photographically, you most want to do. That's gonna be hard but it's utterly pointless to charge down another path without figuring it out first.
If you want to be a street/slice of life photographer you'll need to practice composition, rapid exposure, and being invisible.
If you want to be a war photographer, you'll need equipment that is tougher than nails, icewater in your veins, and a heart that can bleed a lot and still beat for humanity.
If you want to be a glamour photographer, you'll need to learn studio lighting and composition.
If you want to be a commercial photographer, you'll need to learn studio lighting and composition and probably should study the still life of the great masters of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Etc. The best thing you can tell yourself is "I want to be a photographer like XYZ" - not a "copycat" but that helps you target yourself. You cannot do all of the different styles of photography well. Not because it's too hard, but because they are emotionally incompatible. James Nachtwey does not shoot glamour nudes. Period. Once you figure out the kind of photographer you want to be, then you can inventory the techniques you should begin working on.
You've got a great deal of fun in store for you, as long as you can keep it fun, not take yourself too seriously, and don't ever let your fear of failure dominate your love of creativity.
mjr.
Photographer
ErnieR
Posts: 32
Paragould, Arkansas, US
Posted by Ched:
This might just qualify as the most useful link ever posted here. Ha, thanks Ched. I'm a teacher and passing out information is a habit I picked up somewhere. I got tired of answering the same questions over and over so I put that together and refer people to it.
Ernie
Photographer
Jack D Trute
Posts: 4558
New York, New York, US
Posted by Iris_did:
anyone willing to share their "rules of thumb" and secrets in getting awesome results in photography ... all advice, pointers, tips in lighting, studio sets, type of equipment, etc... would be most appreciated from a newbie ex model trying to hone her photography skills.....
Iris If you get a job that pays well enough, who needs to know photography. That is what human assistants are for.
Photographer
William Herbert
Posts: 408
Bryan, Ohio, US
Posted by Iris_did:
anyone willing to share their "rules of thumb" and secrets in getting awesome results in photography ... all advice, pointers, tips in lighting, studio sets, type of equipment, etc... would be most appreciated from a newbie ex model trying to hone her photography skills.....
Iris Tripod, handheld exposure meter, zone system, books from library, filters. Understand professional equipment, film means professional for a reason.
Any camera that doesn't allow you full manual control is not a PRO camera. I know that statement will piss alot of people off......not to say that an "amateur camera" in talented hands won't yield good results.
Photographer
XtremeArtists
Posts: 9122
Posted by William Herbert:
Posted by Iris_did:
anyone willing to share their "rules of thumb" and secrets in getting awesome results in photography ... all advice, pointers, tips in lighting, studio sets, type of equipment, etc... would be most appreciated from a newbie ex model trying to hone her photography skills.....
Iris Tripod, handheld exposure meter, zone system, books from library, filters. Understand professional equipment, film means professional for a reason.
Any camera that doesn't allow you full manual control is not a PRO camera. I know that statement will piss alot of people off......not to say that an "amateur camera" in talented hands won't yield good results. Another Herbert
Photographer
Marcus J. Ranum
Posts: 3247
MORRISDALE, Pennsylvania, US
Posted by William Herbert:
[...film means professional for a reason. [...] Any camera that doesn't allow you full manual control is not a PRO camera. [...] When a photographer starts talking about "Pro"-this and "Pro"-that it's like when you're talking about Zen. The Zen student who talks most about enlightenment is probably farthest from it while the student who has passed into mastery simply smiles.
Some photographers seek self-definition in their equipment - as if using a medium format camera will make you see better or compose better than using a cheap disposable 35mm from a convenience store. Follow that logic, and you're not going to ever be happy. What's bigger than an 8x10? If you're not shooting 16x20" TMAX negatives, are you an amateur? Bah.
Don't worry about PRO or AMATEUR gear. Take terrific photos and nobody'll give a sh*t whether you used film, or duct tape.
mjr.
Photographer
GWC
Posts: 1407
Baltimore, Maryland, US
Posted by William Herbert:
Any camera that doesn't allow you full manual control is not a PRO camera. Dude! I just looked at your portfolio and I MUST SAY IT RAWKS!! Who is that hot blonde?? I wish you'd gotten her titties out for us to see!! She looks kind of like Angelina Jolie...
I also wish you'd gotten her in focus dude! And maybe composed a little better. My non-PRO camera has autofocus so my images are, like, sharp, except for where I hand-held for arty effect. Did you use film, or digital? I can't tell, because it's impossible to tell the difference when all you're looking at is a 700-pixel high Jpeg.
GWC
Photographer
William Herbert
Posts: 408
Bryan, Ohio, US
Posted by Marcus J. Ranum:
Posted by William Herbert:
[...film means professional for a reason. [...] Any camera that doesn't allow you full manual control is not a PRO camera. [...] When a photographer starts talking about "Pro"-this and "Pro"-that it's like when you're talking about Zen. The Zen student who talks most about enlightenment is probably farthest from it while the student who has passed into mastery simply smiles.
Some photographers seek self-definition in their equipment - as if using a medium format camera will make you see better or compose better than using a cheap disposable 35mm from a convenience store. Follow that logic, and you're not going to ever be happy. What's bigger than an 8x10? If you're not shooting 16x20" TMAX negatives, are you an amateur? Bah.
Don't worry about PRO or AMATEUR gear. Take terrific photos and nobody'll give a sh*t whether you used film, or duct tape.
mjr. Well someone wanted advice and I gave it. Those things ..however maybe pompous it may have sounded will help a person. ohhhhh..to be misunderstood. Rather than dig a deeper hole.
Photographer
Brian Diaz
Posts: 65617
Danbury, Connecticut, US
Posted by William Herbert:
...film means professional for a reason. I don't understand what you mean by this. There are pro films and consumer films, just as there are pro digital cameras and consumer digicams. Would you please elaborate?
Any camera that doesn't allow you full manual control is not a PRO camera... I'd like to ammend this by saying that any camera that doesn't allow you full manual control is not a STUDENT camera. It's impossible to learn proper exposure if your camera does it all for you. We learn by making decisions--good and bad--and fully automatic cameras inhibit this.
As you say, pros can do whatever they want, but that's only because they already know how to do everything manually.
Photographer
William Herbert
Posts: 408
Bryan, Ohio, US
Posted by Brian Diaz:
Posted by William Herbert:
...film means professional for a reason. I don't understand what you mean by this. There are pro films and consumer films, just as there are pro digital cameras and consumer digicams. Would you please elaborate?
Any camera that doesn't allow you full manual control is not a PRO camera... I'd like to ammend this by saying that any camera that doesn't allow you full manual control is not a STUDENT camera. It's impossible to learn proper exposure if your camera does it all for you. We learn by making decisions--good and bad--and fully automatic cameras inhibit this.
As you say, pros can do whatever they want, but that's only because they already know how to do everything manually. That is the point I was getting at, well said.
To clear up the "film" comment I should have said " Pro film is called that for a reason."" My findings are that pro film IS generally better than what is aimed at the general public." I wasn't saying " Film is only what pro's use."
Professional lines of film are better. There is a difference. But do use what is on the budget and what is prudent for the moment.
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