How do you get a great photo?

Discuss everything including the optimal equipment, seasons, techniques and tips for capturing excellent photos.

Moderators: Brenda, Kelly

User avatar
Matt
President
President
Posts: 13374
Joined: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:01 pm
Camera Model: Olympus OMD EM-1 m1, m2; Panasonic GM5, Osmo Pocket
Location: Rochester, NY
Contact:

I revised mine
[spoiler]Photographer
Camera
Date/time stamp
Miniature horse
Miniature horse clothes[/spoiler]
User avatar
Kelly
Editor
Editor
Posts: 5601
Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:23 am
Camera Model: Canon EOS 50D, EOS 7D Mi & ii, Rebel t3i, Canon M50
Location: West Henrietta, NY
Contact:

:mrgreen:
I am strong, because I've been weak.
I am fearless, because I've been afraid.
I am wise, because I've been foolish.

- Unknown

My NYFalls.com Team Page
Scenes from a Public Market
New York Historic
User avatar
dsauers7
Senior
Senior
Posts: 113
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:07 am
Camera Model: Olympus E410
Location: Gates, NY
Contact:

[spoiler]Lens
Photographer
Camera
Lighting[/spoiler]
spartacusii
Junior
Junior
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri May 28, 2010 2:03 am
Location: KS (long ago transplanted from NY :( )

my 1st answer to your question was to "buy one" :D

but seriously, define "great photo". i frequent a lot of photo forums/sites, & i see this term used WAAAY too much. i often see it on photos that i would personally consider anything but. tho, i will confess to being extremely critical when i look at an image - especially my own.

[spoiler]2 different photographers in the same conditions will produce different images. photographer has to be 1st - cuz that person is going to make a lot of decisions on everything else
photography is the capture of light, so clearly light has to be next
my next consideration is what lens to use - both in terms of quality, as well as speed of lens
& last on this list is camera. i have seen wonderful images taken with old polaroid cameras (the old pull-out-the-film type). the medium may have its limitations, but all of the pertinent aspects of a 'great photo' can be captured on [virtually] ANY camera. the key is to know what the limitations of your equipment are & what you need to do to adapt to them. (which, of course, takes you right back to #1)[/spoiler]

george raised the aspect of post processing, so i thought i would add a closing comment on that issue. pp is great, & many things can be done with an image in pp. however, if we are talking about photography, the 1 thing that pp CAN NOT DO, is create something in the image that wasn't captured. the data has to be there 1st. THEN, pp is a matter of maximizing the information from capture.

jp
User avatar
Matt
President
President
Posts: 13374
Joined: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:01 pm
Camera Model: Olympus OMD EM-1 m1, m2; Panasonic GM5, Osmo Pocket
Location: Rochester, NY
Contact:

well said
User avatar
Kelly
Editor
Editor
Posts: 5601
Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:23 am
Camera Model: Canon EOS 50D, EOS 7D Mi & ii, Rebel t3i, Canon M50
Location: West Henrietta, NY
Contact:

I am strong, because I've been weak.
I am fearless, because I've been afraid.
I am wise, because I've been foolish.

- Unknown

My NYFalls.com Team Page
Scenes from a Public Market
New York Historic
Post Reply