Damn this thread is just str8 up awesome...It is so amazing the kinds of shots you can get with a simple cheap camera....Here's one I shot recently with a cheap camera...anybody guess where I'm standing?

near the Hollywood sign?

Sutro Tower?

good call.

Hollywood? Come on, aren't there any californians here? All guesses are wrong so far.

Indy (PS Sutro tower is pretty close)...actually it was taken atop twin peaks...i suppose this is the same spot as the sutro tower....good guess!

"Photography" was previously mentioned in this thread as a great book. Any recommendations on a photography magazine? Preferably American (the imports are generally too expensive) that's not chock full of ads and camera reviews all the time?

As mentioned when I posted the TR accompanying these pictures, I just bought a new camera. It's nothing special, just a point and click canon sd750. However, I've started taking more pictures, and would like to get better at it. Here are a couple photos I like, and a couple I'm kinda eh on. Would like to get opinions on all 4 and what could be better.

2 I like

1) Rock Beach - favorite picture in my short photography hobby



2) Sunset - I like this one the most out of the sunset pictures I took, but it still feels like something is missing.



Meh 2 - Both of these were amazing views, but I just couldn't capture it with a camera. I want to be able to change that.

3) Tree



4) Bay

i really like these

any good?




better without the light?

hey guys,

i was wondering if you had any tips for a novice photographer? i'm traveling a lot (been in asia for over a month, will likely be here till february or so). just like quick tips that novice photographers can use to make their pictures interesting/captivating. i'm taking a ton of pictures (in a month i've already taken over 1500), but i worry that i'm just snapping pictures of stuff as a sort of memory-jogger, and not taking care to make certain the picture is *good.*

so what are little things you do to improve the quality of your pictures? fwiw i have a pretty nice little digital camera i bought just before the trip... a sony cybershot dsc-7200. well, i have no idea whether it's nice or not, but i think the pictures it takes are pretty decent in terms of capturing light & color/adjusting for my shaky hand.

i know the rule of thirds now. anything else i should know to try? any settings i should tweak? thanks in advance for any help.

this is the type of photo i can't stand. i see it all the time. what is the point?

A few photos I took on a recent trip to Virginia:

Do a Google search for "Rules of photo composition" and you'll find a lot of standard "rules" for composing your photos in line with something like the "rule of thirds." I think you've already made the first leap and that's *thinking* about composition. If you remind yourself when you are taking a photo that you should consider composition, then you're halfway there.

Second, learn to use your camera. If you see a shot and have composed it in your head, you don't want the technology to get in the way of producing that shot. I don't know anything about your camera, but you want to learn how to use it. Try not to rely on fully auto as much, as it won't do your shots justice. At the very least, learn how to use Aperture Priority (Av), White Balance (WB), and ISO (light sensitivity). It'll get you a lot of the shots that you might not be able to produce on fully auto.

Third, does your camera do RAW? Do you have a way to process RAW images? You can really make up for lack of experience in post production. Shooting in RAW gives you more flexibility when processing photos after you've taken them.

Vin those pictures are awesome. I've been in situations like the top and bottom pictures, but havn't been able to get htem to come out like that. Did you shoot those in RAW?

Yes. I've only recently started using RAW in the last few months and the drastic increase in the dynamic range is amazing. Or at least the image that you're able to pull out while minimizing the amount of noise that's introduced is impressive. Still not like a full frame camera, but much improved over JPEG.

I'm happy to be able to get detail in dark images like this:



and



without completely blowing out the sky. Although in the second photo, I probably could have gotten a better exposure of the sky since it's pushed a bit.

I shot this last night out on Franklin Street. I can't explain why, but I love the image.

Too poor for real equipment, lighting, and models. But, learning is free. =D Learning as much as I can on my bargain camera Canon A550

wow, some of the pictures here are awesome BUT not posting what camera/linses were used for taking these pics is like posting a hand without reads and stack sizes.

Wrong. Worrying about what camera or lens took a picture is like worrying about the brand of paint used in a painting.

Oh come on, it's standard to post that info.

I like the Doyle image a lot, because you can tell it's Doyle right away, you can tell he's won, it's wsop and the other guy is knock the felt as if to say nice hand. It's just ashame he wasn't wearing a wsop bracelet.

Quick crop to better focus the image:

This is the type of post I can't stand, and I see it all the time also.

Is it merely the "lack of a point" that you don't understand? Because the photograph is black and white? Because you believe there's a message here you may or may not disagree with? You don't like hats? Portraiture bores you?

I'm pretty open to criticisms of my work, and I'm happy to discuss any of it with you. But I'm going to need a little more to work with.

Also, can you give examples of where else you see this photograph?

I like it. I find it very hard to photograph people and you did a very good job.

some nice landscape pics in here -ty