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How to find good black and white photo subjects?
Hello!
I hope this is the right place to post this, I'm new to navigating on googles groups as well and if this is the wrong place...oops. :x My apologies. I'm in my first photography class and learning how to take pictures with black and white film and a manual camera (Pentax 30T.) I've fumbled my way through processing film to negatives and even printed photos from my negatives (yay!) My problem is I am required for a project to take pictures of things that exhibit certain themes (such as texture, form, combination thereof). I must have shot 9 rolls of film (more actually but I won't talk about those, lol.) Only one of my shots was acceptable by my professor, he gave me tips how to take better pictures, but I'm feeling a bit down about this. I really thought this would be a snap to take a decent picture of my choice. Is this normal to go through so much shots before there is ONE acceptable photo? I expected to go through a lot of film but 9 rolls..my god. Am I that much of a plug? When I first started taking pictures, everything was a wonder, I was a click happy photographist. But now, I find myself much more selective and I know the professor wants a photo that sees with a different perspective. Suddenly, everything seems so ordinary now when I go out to find a good shot and I can't seem to find that 'special' snapshot. How can I change my view, my perspective so that I can find more than one shot per 9 rolls that the professor will accept? I must be doing something wrong and I'm willing to change it and do whatever it takes. How do you go forth and find your photos to shoot? I've combed the web for advice and there is a lot out there for digital shooting. Would those tips apply to film? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks, Marion |
#2
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How to find good black and white photo subjects?
"Marion" wrote in message oups.com... Hello! I hope this is the right place to post this, I'm new to navigating on googles groups as well and if this is the wrong place...oops. :x My apologies. I'm in my first photography class and learning how to take pictures with black and white film and a manual camera (Pentax 30T.) I've fumbled my way through processing film to negatives and even printed photos from my negatives (yay!) My problem is I am required for a project to take pictures of things that exhibit certain themes (such as texture, form, combination thereof). I must have shot 9 rolls of film (more actually but I won't talk about those, lol.) Only one of my shots was acceptable by my professor, he gave me tips how to take better pictures, but I'm feeling a bit down about this. I really thought this would be a snap to take a decent picture of my choice. Is this normal to go through so much shots before there is ONE acceptable photo? I expected to go through a lot of film but 9 rolls..my god. Am I that much of a plug? When I first started taking pictures, everything was a wonder, I was a click happy photographist. But now, I find myself much more selective and I know the professor wants a photo that sees with a different perspective. Suddenly, everything seems so ordinary now when I go out to find a good shot and I can't seem to find that 'special' snapshot. How can I change my view, my perspective so that I can find more than one shot per 9 rolls that the professor will accept? I must be doing something wrong and I'm willing to change it and do whatever it takes. How do you go forth and find your photos to shoot? I've combed the web for advice and there is a lot out there for digital shooting. Would those tips apply to film? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks, Marion yep, go Digital.............. |
#3
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How to find good black and white photo subjects?
One thing that occurred to me. I was looking at cell phone camera photos
and amazed how well those crappy little things can capture sunsets... then I realized that what makes sunsets so great is the soft rich lighting... it's so agreeable to being photographed that even a crappy little cell phone has no problem capturing the beauty... and it's always in your pocket ready. So the lesson for B&W is good lighting. That's a common photography 101 tip; to wait (or show up early for) that perfect moment at dusk. Well maybe that applies to color more than b&w but probably both. So train your eye to study the light, sometimes there is 'good lighting' at any time of day due to reflections & shadows. Funny thing is, about the only time I use b&w is if the lighting is really harsh or the colors come out awful, b&w has a way of making extreme lighting look good... as long as it's interesting! Marion wrote: Hello! I hope this is the right place to post this, I'm new to navigating on googles groups as well and if this is the wrong place...oops. :x My apologies. I'm in my first photography class and learning how to take pictures with black and white film and a manual camera (Pentax 30T.) I've fumbled my way through processing film to negatives and even printed photos from my negatives (yay!) My problem is I am required for a project to take pictures of things that exhibit certain themes (such as texture, form, combination thereof). I must have shot 9 rolls of film (more actually but I won't talk about those, lol.) Only one of my shots was acceptable by my professor, he gave me tips how to take better pictures, but I'm feeling a bit down about this. I really thought this would be a snap to take a decent picture of my choice. Is this normal to go through so much shots before there is ONE acceptable photo? I expected to go through a lot of film but 9 rolls..my god. Am I that much of a plug? When I first started taking pictures, everything was a wonder, I was a click happy photographist. But now, I find myself much more selective and I know the professor wants a photo that sees with a different perspective. Suddenly, everything seems so ordinary now when I go out to find a good shot and I can't seem to find that 'special' snapshot. How can I change my view, my perspective so that I can find more than one shot per 9 rolls that the professor will accept? I must be doing something wrong and I'm willing to change it and do whatever it takes. How do you go forth and find your photos to shoot? I've combed the web for advice and there is a lot out there for digital shooting. Would those tips apply to film? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks, Marion |
#4
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How to find good black and white photo subjects?
On Feb 13, 8:44 pm, "Lez Pawl" wrote:
"Marion" wrote in message oups.com... Hello! I hope this is the right place to post this, I'm new to navigating on googles groups as well and if this is the wrong place...oops. :x My apologies. I'm in my first photography class and learning how to take pictures with black and white film and a manual camera (Pentax 30T.) I've fumbled my way through processing film to negatives and even printed photos from my negatives (yay!) My problem is I am required for a project to take pictures of things that exhibit certain themes (such as texture, form, combination thereof). I must have shot 9 rolls of film (more actually but I won't talk about those, lol.) Only one of my shots was acceptable by my professor, he gave me tips how to take better pictures, but I'm feeling a bit down about this. I really thought this would be a snap to take a decent picture of my choice. Is this normal to go through so much shots before there is ONE acceptable photo? I expected to go through a lot of film but 9 rolls..my god. Am I that much of a plug? When I first started taking pictures, everything was a wonder, I was a click happy photographist. But now, I find myself much more selective and I know the professor wants a photo that sees with a different perspective. Suddenly, everything seems so ordinary now when I go out to find a good shot and I can't seem to find that 'special' snapshot. How can I change my view, my perspective so that I can find more than one shot per 9 rolls that the professor will accept? I must be doing something wrong and I'm willing to change it and do whatever it takes. How do you go forth and find your photos to shoot? I've combed the web for advice and there is a lot out there for digital shooting. Would those tips apply to film? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks, Marion yep, go Digital..............- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Y'know, if I could go digital I would, however this would fail me for this photo class as the professors require me to use a manual set camera and film. Digital would also make this class a helluva lot cheaper but I imagine there are lessons in film picture taking that digital fails to give. Being that I'm such a newbie to the photo world, I don't know quite yet what this is but maybe in a few months. |
#5
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How to find good black and white photo subjects?
Marion wrote: Y'know, if I could go digital I would, however this would fail me for this photo class as the professors require me to use a manual set camera and film. Digital would also make this class a helluva lot cheaper but I imagine there are lessons in film picture taking that digital fails to give. Being that I'm such a newbie to the photo world, I don't know quite yet what this is but maybe in a few months. Class aside. I learned more about composition and general photography skills with a reasonably good digital camera in about year than 30 years of film shooting. The current Digital SLRs are film camera's with digital film. [ Flame suit on ] The immediate feedback. Things like shutter speed and aperture changes and how it affects results. Composition, funny how the little branch that casts an unwanted shadow only shows after the picture is taken. With the digital camera you can try and perfect skills to achieve the desired results. w.. |
#6
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How to find good black and white photo subjects?
Marion wrote:
Hello! I hope this is the right place to post this, I'm new to navigating on googles groups as well and if this is the wrong place...oops. :x My apologies. Googles groups is the worst way to navigate and post to newgroups. It's a great way to locate past posts. Use a dedicated newsreader such as Mozilla Thunderbird, Forte, and many others. Thunderbird is pretty good and free. Of course your ISP needs to carry newsgroups. I'm in my first photography class and learning how to take pictures with black and white film and a manual camera (Pentax 30T.) I've fumbled my way through processing film to negatives and even printed photos from my negatives (yay!) Old school is cool. The wonders of B&W printing. My problem is I am required for a project to take pictures of things that exhibit certain themes (such as texture, form, combination thereof). I must have shot 9 rolls of film (more actually but I won't talk about those, lol.) Only one of my shots was acceptable by my professor, he gave me tips how to take better pictures, but I'm feeling a bit down about this. I really thought this would be a snap to take a decent picture of my choice. There is nothing like the cold independant assessment of others to reveal that we have a lot of work to develop an eye for light, form, composition, never mind the technical improvements to enhance them. If you're given honest, impersonal critique about your photos then get out of it what you can. The critic may see things that you can't. The critic might not see elements that another critic might see. The greatest harm we do to ourselves is to take criticism personally. First impressions go a long way so if some naggling detail catches his eye off the bat, his overall impression begins very low. Occasionally a critic will be a dickhead, but they're usually easy to identify and you can go look for better opinions. A good teacher should not be jealous of talented students ... but it is known to happen. Is this normal to go through so much shots before there is ONE acceptable photo? I expected to go through a lot of film but 9 rolls..my god. Am I that much of a plug? You ARE taking courses to learn, aren't you? We've got one poster around here who claims to shoot 50 rolls per average *week* yet we've never seen a single decent photo from him. The recipe for a higher "hit" rate is to take your time before you depress that shutter. Really examine the subject from as many points of view as possible. Natural light shooting can take place all day and night long, so the subject can be drastically different at each minute of the day according to light, clouds, etc. You mention "texture" as a requirement. Read that as "light". The more contrasty and dramatic lighting is a hard grazing light over a textured surface. Softer tratement: difuse light at a more direct approach to the subject (along the lens axis). I learn more about light when I _don't_ have my camera with me as it frees me to simply observe. Then later I can deliberately seek out (or create) that light to shoot. A more deliberate approach is to ALWAYS have your camera with you, even of you have no intention of shooting. Then if you see something worth shooting you're set to go. When I first started taking pictures, everything was a wonder, I was a click happy photographist. But now, I find myself much more selective and I know the professor wants a photo that sees with a different perspective. Suddenly, everything seems so ordinary now when I go out to find a good shot and I can't seem to find that 'special' snapshot. How can I change my view, my perspective so that I can find more than one shot per 9 rolls that the professor will accept? I must be doing something wrong and I'm willing to change it and do whatever it takes. Ignorance is bliss, but when you have to deliver to a requirement, then it takes more discipline and dedication. One hint is to look at closeups. This allows you a lot more control over subject, background, clutter, etc. (This may or may not fit the mandate that you have). How do you go forth and find your photos to shoot? I've combed the web for advice and there is a lot out there for digital shooting. Would those tips apply to film? Certainly. However, the digital shooter has the luxury of instant review of his image and can then reshoot with more or less extreme exposure, perspective changes, etc. to improve the image. In short, digital removes the pressure to visualize the fional image that film shooting requires. But practicing that visualization can only make you better at film and digital. I sometimes plan an outing "I'm going to such a place to get such a set of photos" I sometimes meander "I'm going out on the road and I'll stop somewhere and take a walk" Deliberate planning almost always results in the most useful photos. The best time for contrasty and warm (for color shooting) light is just before and after sunrise/sunset. (30 minutes before sunrise to about 1.5 hours after; reverse for sunset). You can also join the shootin, see link below. Cheers, Alan. -- -- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm -- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm -- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin -- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch. |
#7
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How to find good black and white photo subjects?
1. Go to Paris.
2. Look for couples in various states of embrace. 3. Snap away. 4. Crank up the contrast and stomp out all the shadow detail. 5. Voila! You are now a B/W Art-eest! |
#8
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How to find good black and white photo subjects?
"Marion" ponders:
I'm in my first photography class and learning how to take pictures with black and white film and a manual camera (Pentax 30T.) Snow (and we have plenty in upstate New York) lends itself to B/W photos. So do geometric shapes, light & shadows, low light & night photography. -- Don |
#9
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How to find good black and white photo subjects?
On Feb 14, 12:27 am, "Marion" wrote:
Hello! I hope this is the right place to post this, I'm new to navigating on googles groups as well and if this is the wrong place...oops. :x My apologies. I'm in my first photography class and learning how to take pictures with black and white film and a manual camera (Pentax 30T.) I've fumbled my way through processing film to negatives and even printed photos from my negatives (yay!) My problem is I am required for a project to take pictures of things that exhibit certain themes (such as texture, form, combination thereof). I must have shot 9 rolls of film (more actually but I won't talk about those, lol.) Only one of my shots was acceptable by my professor, he gave me tips how to take better pictures, but I'm feeling a bit down about this. I really thought this would be a snap to take a decent picture of my choice. Is this normal to go through so much shots before there is ONE acceptable photo? I expected to go through a lot of film but 9 rolls..my god. Am I that much of a plug? When I first started taking pictures, everything was a wonder, I was a click happy photographist. But now, I find myself much more selective and I know the professor wants a photo that sees with a different perspective. Suddenly, everything seems so ordinary now when I go out to find a good shot and I can't seem to find that 'special' snapshot. How can I change my view, my perspective so that I can find more than one shot per 9 rolls that the professor will accept? I must be doing something wrong and I'm willing to change it and do whatever it takes. How do you go forth and find your photos to shoot? I've combed the web for advice and there is a lot out there for digital shooting. Would those tips apply to film? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks, Marion Yup its natural. Try this. Go get a tripod you can afford.. Put it in your back yard. Put it in some place you will be for awhile e.g., your sisters patio. After the camera is on the tripod. Lock all of the tripod adjustments very firmly. Set you camera aperture and shutter speed. Focus your lens. MAKE NO ADJUSTMENTS! Leave everything as you had set them up. You can do this with a digital or film camera (must be slide film). Start before sun rise. Just go out each hour and trigger the shutter. Do this every hour on the hour until 1 hour after sunset. Look at your results. You will have invested a full day to what you may think was a waste of time. But look at your images and look at the various shadows you see and the dramatic changes in how the exact same subject changes. It is well worth a whole day of your time. Criticism from my group is welcome.. |
#10
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How to find good black and white photo subjects?
Marion wrote:
Hello! I hope this is the right place to post this, I'm new to navigating on googles groups as well and if this is the wrong place...oops. :x My apologies. I'm in my first photography class and learning how to take pictures with black and white film and a manual camera (Pentax 30T.) I've fumbled my way through processing film to negatives and even printed photos from my negatives (yay!) My problem is I am required for a project to take pictures of things that exhibit certain themes (such as texture, form, combination thereof). I must have shot 9 rolls of film (more actually but I won't talk about those, lol.) Only one of my shots was acceptable by my professor, he gave me tips how to take better pictures, but I'm feeling a bit down about this. I really thought this would be a snap to take a decent picture of my choice. Is this normal to go through so much shots before there is ONE acceptable photo? I expected to go through a lot of film but 9 rolls..my god. Am I that much of a plug? Try Google Images with the search term "How to find good black and white photo subjects". Pick out the good ones and think about WHY they're good. Then go out and try to find similar scenes to shoot. Don't be discouraged if your ratio of good shots is low. You're learning. The whole purpose of the course is to get better. But to get better, you have to practice. When I started out, I was happy to get one acceptable image on a roll. I get somewhat better than that now, but even for some of the top pros, less than 10% of their shots are "acceptable". The difference is, that as you progress, what you'll find acceptable will make higher and higher standards. When I first started taking pictures, everything was a wonder, I was a click happy photographist. But now, I find myself much more selective and I know the professor wants a photo that sees with a different perspective. Suddenly, everything seems so ordinary now when I go out to find a good shot and I can't seem to find that 'special' snapshot. How can I change my view, my perspective so that I can find more than one shot per 9 rolls that the professor will accept? I must be doing something wrong and I'm willing to change it and do whatever it takes. How do you go forth and find your photos to shoot? I've combed the web for advice and there is a lot out there for digital shooting. Would those tips apply to film? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks, Marion You're not doing anything wrong. You're learning. You just have to learn as much from the things that don't work as you do from the things that go right. Make assignments for yourself. When you comb the web, don't look for shooting techniques, look for images. Look at the images and figure out what makes them good. And you know what? A lot of them aren't any good. Anyone can put up a website. So pick out the ones that are good and figure out what makes them good. A lot of it is simple basics - S-curves, leading lines, diagonals, repetition, triangles, rule of thirds, light and shadow, high key, low key... they're all visual elements that stimulate the emotions. Learn to see them and use them to build your own composition. Which means a lot of what you shoot WILL be ordinary. So look for the extra-ordinary within the ordinary. And once you've internalized the rules, you'll come to a point where you're going to have a composition and you're going to realize it's time to break one or more of those rules. And it's going to work when you do. Don't get wrapped around the axle about digital vs film. Concentrate on what makes good images and how you can incorporate those things in YOUR images. The only way to get better is to go out and take more pictures. You may find you take more pictures for less positive result. But the positive result you do get will get better. While you're taking those pictures, think before you pull the trigger. Pre-visualize. Make a picture in your mind and then go out and find it OR create it. Make the world conform to your vision. Then capture it on film. One thing that might help is look a little closer. Break the scene down into its details. And move in closer again ... and again. Simplify. What are the fewest elements that you can include and still make the picture work for you, to say what you want it to say? Find something. Take a picture of it. Move around to your right (or left) and take another picture. Get behind it and take another picture. Get down underneath and climb on top of it ... take more pictures. Back off and take pictures. Get close to a detail and take a picture of that. Bracket your exposures, bracket your D.O.F., bracket the plane of sharp focus. And for each of these pictures find an element of composition that applies - a leading line, a negative space, a diagonal... Texture... light and shadow create texture. Get down at a low angle and catch the late afternoon sun raking across the subject... or create your own raking light. Experiment ... there's an advertising campaign going on around here that has a billboard with Thomas Edison. It says something about how he had 10,000 failures trying to invent the light bulb... but on the 10,000 and first time... For portraiture - go talk to people. Leave the camera behind and find someone doing something interesting. Get them to explain what they're doing and why they're doing it; HOW they're doing it. Then come back in a few days and ask if you can photograph them at work. And understand one thing. If you do find something special, you'll have gone far beyond "snapshot". |
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