Thoughts on photography

[jazzfish]

So I have this cool digital camera that I got for Christmas, and I have a decently padded carrying case. (It doesn't clip on a belt very well; it's got a belt loop, but hooking it on is a pain. I may upgrade later to one like E's, with a velcro clip. I dunno. Irrelevant.) The whole point of getting a digital camera was so that I would take more pictures, on the theory that the hassles of film and the delay in actually seeing my pictures were what was keeping me from photography. Well, plus my lame little camera.

So I'm now carrying my camera around with me when I go places. And I had about two hours to kill today between the Chem lab exam and Shakespeare, so I wandered around the back of campus and took a few pictures. None of them really came out like I wanted them to, but that's not the point; with practice I'll either get better or I won't. The point is that it's (warning: cliche ahead!) an exercise in seeing. In looking for something interesting.

I had a semester-long photography class my senior year of high school, and I got to use my father's old camera. Photo was pretty cool, but I didn't take it as seriously as I could have. (Other stresses, occasional camera problems, blah blah blah.) I think I regretted that even at the time; I know I regretted it later. (Tech appears to not offer a photo class. Grr.) The result of this is that I know something about light and motion and shutter speeds and F-stops, and not so much about composition. This has two effects: point-and-shoot doesn't feel like I've put any effort into it (and thus isn't "worth anything"), and I'm stuck with taking pictures of what I like.

And based on what I noticed and what I actually shot, what I like is perspective. Parallax. Straight lines at odd angles. The way a wall can be in the foreground and still not dominate the picture, but rather focus your attention on what's past it. How different a fence looks if you look straight along it, as opposed to moving two feet to the left and looking down it again. Nature is interesting, too (the movement of muscle in a squirrel's body, for instance), but it's harder for me to find something worth seeing in a natural object. Clean straight lines are far easier to compose with.

So, anyone got a good simple photo editor (all I really want at this point is cropping and resizing) that they can recommend? The Kodak one that came with the camera is crap.

Comments

[laughin.livejournal.com]

Simple? No. LIfe is not simple.

I have always had good luck with Photoshop. If you know someone with access to it (*ahem*), get it for free and use it. It is too expensive right now to buy.

Composition is always a problem, but I believe it is in the eye of the beholder. Depends on what you are looking to do with the pictures. The main thing about composition is not to have anything sticking out of someone's head, (branches, etc.).

I have lots of video tips that I have come up with, (mostly lighting, but still cool), that I can always post. Perhaps I will at some point.

[kittykatya.livejournal.com]

IrfanView's nice, simple, and free. http://www.irfanview.com/

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

I've often thought that there's at least one good picture from any location in which you happen to find yourself.. most of it's in the composition (layout and color) more than the actual content, though content helps.

I stopped taking pictures merely for posterity years ago; even when I had a Kodak Instmatic 110 camera years ago, I tried to take well-composed pictures, as I had no other control of the process. Now I have a much better camera, and can control most aspects of a shot, but most of my effort still goes into composition.

For my image editing, I just use MS Photo Editor and MS Paint. Allows cropping, resizing, and a modicum of color control, which is enough for me.

[laughin.livejournal.com]

Of course, if I knew what OS you were running I may be able to help more. :D

[zerblinitzky.livejournal.com]

I know absolutely nothing of cameras.However, as I now have this stupidly expensive 4-megapixel camera on my shelf, I feel obligated to learn something about them and take some good pictures. Your thoughts echo mine, except that you have gone farther along than I have; I don't know what I like to take pictures of, except that I seem to prefer very complex shots, like a picture of the south end of campus taken across the drillfield from some really high point, during a class change (lots of elements there, different things to focus on.)
We should talk about cameras and photography sometime, I guess.

[jazzfish]

I've actually got access to E's Photoshop; it's old, but will probably do the trick. I just don't want to get stuck playing with all the Photoshop toys. (I'm running Win2K, and unlikely to switch in the near future.)

The main thing about composition is not to have anything sticking out of someone's head, (branches, etc.)

Heh. I'm trying to leave people out of it for now; too much hassle. Inanimate objects don't complain. Or threaten lawsuits.

[jazzfish]

most of my effort still goes into composition.

Which is probably the best way to do it; it's easier to be technically correct than to have good composition. (Witness my ability to have pretty good technique after about a semester.)

On software: I dislike Paint on principle, and appear to not have Photo Editor (unless that's the seemingly useless Imaging).

[jazzfish]

That 'free' bit is especially tasty. And it looks like it does pretty much what I want it to, too. Thanks muchly. (Now to put my computer away from the windows so that I'm not getting so much glare that I can't see...)

[wyrdone.livejournal.com]

I have a copy of Macromedia Fireworks if you want a copy (That goes for you too tucker). (Fairly new)

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

No, no, Imaging is teh suck. MS Photo Editor is an optional installable with Office, as far as I know. And Paint improved a good bit for Win2K, but it's not enough by itself.

Three of the pictures I'm rather particularly proud of:
http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=photographie&itemid=856037
http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=photographie&itemid=1591473
http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=whitelight&itemid=1584953
(All were taken in color and greyscaled digitally.)

All the rest of my pix that are online: http://skreidle.n3.net/pix.html