Photography Advice

there is no particular style, just do what feels best for you. the shots i see look good, however many are from behind or up high. i would get lower down on their level. i would practice each medium until you feel your ready to move on because you understand it.

macro teaches you eye control, steadiness and focus
still life teaches you light control, balance and shadow, along with story telling.
landscape - light control, color and balance
black and white - light, shadow and contrast, seeing shapes more than color


working on telling a story is important. while the images you have are nice, they don't really tell a story. they are more like an example shot.

as for camera, it depends on your needs, budget, weight lifting etc. i have canon because i had an expensive canon flash. once your in a system you tend to stay there. you have to figure out the type of photos you shoot and get something to fit that. i have a camera with pretty good iso ability, that was my main criteria.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Hi, Brittaney,

Here are some sites that will help:

http://bestphotolessons.com/
http://digital-photography-school.com/
http://www.lightstalking.com/the-7-most-generous-websites-for-free-photography-lessons/

There are also tutorials, tips, etc. everywhere online, including YouTube. Just 'Google' your questions.

Learn to take great pictures with the camera you already have before investing in new gear. Many awesome photos on FAA were taken with point and shoot cameras, or even with cell phones!

Knowledge, practice, and skills first -- hardware later.

Good luck, and have fun! :-)

Shoot more than just wildlife. You live in one of my favorite areas for photography. Get off the beaten path and show us Savannah, the city and the river from an insider point of view and you will do well.

Thank you for the advice everyone.

After the grave picture I have decided to hit Savannah up more. I'm just waiting until after tourist season. Hopefully this fall I'll get back out there and hit up the historical areas more. Right Now its jam packed lol.

I have read about getting on the animals level. I fear one day it may get me chomped by a gator lol but I am working on that.

I'll defiantly work on my camera skills as a DSLR will be some time off. And thanks for the site. I'll take a look.

Great, Brittaney -- shoot everything . . . but no photo is worth being chomped by a gator! Watch your step! :-)

lol, gators make decent pictures. Most are more afraid of you than you are of them but every so often a aggressive gator is encountered. I have been splashed and hissed at while being on higher ground and at least 75 feet away, I didn't even see that giant until after he or she started splashing.

I couldn't add the pic here so I uploaded a example of me trying to get on the animals level with a gator that was taking the same path I was. This guy was only about 2 feet long however I was ready to get out of the way if need be lol.

I think the thing that has helped me the most in art and photography is studying composition. There are some basic compositional rules that can naturally make an image more appealing, and basically allows you to guide the viewers' eyes around your image. The more you understand these rules, the more you can effectively use them or break them. Your images with your point and shoot camera could be more appealing than a person with a more advanced camera that has no concept of composition.


~ Angela Murdock

I love your photos,they are great keep shooting what you love your gator shots are amazing good luck

i agree on the wait till you really need the better camera thing. because a better camera won't make you a better photographer. the images might be larger and maybe sharper or cleaner, but that's about it. squeeze out what you can with this current one. you don't have to get eye to eye with things with teeth. and i have heard stories where they got too close to an animal and almost had their face removed. use a longer lens for the biting type animals. but i would shoot other things. wildlife, selling wise, you have a lot of people ahead of you. people with better equipment, on location, photo blinds etc.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

To Angela's point about composition:
When I rate a series of new wildlife photos, the first cut includes those where the subject is acceptably sharp. The second cut includes those that are doing something interesting and/or are pleasing to the eye. It isn't always possible to capture the best composition shooting wildlife when there are multiple moving animals in the frame or some animals are throwing off the balance. Often all it takes is judicious cropping but lately I've been experimenting with moving elements around in post-processing.

With successive shots that include multiple animals, one of the subjects might be perfectly focused while there is motion blur in the other, but in a different capture that animal might be in sharp focus and the other animal isn't or they are doing something you don't want them to do (i.e., biting their butt). Combining the images results in acceptably sharp subjects and if need be, the subjects can also be moved around within the frame to achieve better balance.

I'm currently working on a shot that includes a great white heron perched in a tree. Just as I clicked the shutter, a black-crowned night heron flew through the frame. Both birds are acceptably sharp but the wing of the night heron obscured part of the white heron's head. It also threw off the composition. By replacing the damaged white heron with an undamaged white heron and then moving the night heron to the left of the white heron, both birds are undamaged and the composition is more balanced.

Lol yeah I got to be careful with the teethed fellows. I'll squeeze everything I can out of this camera and even location. I move a lot as I'm in the military so who knows where I'll go next. While I'm here though I'll get as much of the wildlife I can find and the historical sites.

I'll read up more on composition and anything else I need. I'm not worried about sales. I just found something I really like. i know that this place would be the best to teach me since many here do this professionally.

Thanks kim. And thanks everyone

I liked your alligator shot! Very creepy!

Lol I know what you mean about the movment and sometimes they are going something you don't want. I did catch a picture of a great white heron feeding a youngster. Issue is however its cute, the young one had half the parents head in its mouth lol. I was expecting a nice moment where a parent feeds the young where I'll have both clear head shots. But, more looks like one long bird now lol.

Speaking of great herons and heck, even the snowy egrets. I have a issue with the great light and white. How can I tone that down without darkening the entire picture?

I'd go for a refurbished Nikon D7100 or a Canon 7D if money is tight. The new versions of these cameras just came out. The old versions are excellent cameras and are and will be dropping in price. Either can likely be found in the $600-$700 range + lenses. They work well for wildlife and landscapes.

Thanks Karen lol. And thanks Adam. That's about the price range I'm looking at

Personally, for sales, I would be shooting the industrial and military areas over the historic sites. But that's me. When I said from an "insider point of view", I meant go where the tourists don't go. Where you have special knowledge and access. There are plenty of historic sites that are not full of tourists. And get over to the South Carolina side also. Both for wildlife and history. I have loads of great pictures from the popular places but so does everyone else.

Brittaney, I often shoot bright white birds against very dark backgrounds and expose for the birds so the highlights aren't blown. I use Adobe Camera Raw to selectively correct blown highlights and sometimes lighten the dark/shadowed areas a bit. If you lighten the dark areas, be sure to check for noise. Check whatever editing program you use to see if you can make local adjustments. And shoot in RAW so you have more latitude to make local adjustments.

If you are shopping for a new camera on a budget and have decided which one you want, check the used equipment on B&H and Adorama if you don't want to pay full price for new. I'm looking at a particular wide angle lens and found that it's $150 less for a used one on B&H.

Cool, thanks kathleen. All I have for now is the basics that came with my computer. It does have those options you mentioned so I'll play more.

Bradford, that's a good idea. I should hit up the historical battle sites and old forts. As for Savannah, I got ya there lol. Its just that parking is difficult and prices are jacked up. At least where the best stuff is. There isn't to much that isn't covered in tours but there is buildings hundreds of years old off the path that I'll check out. Some of the stuff in Savannah I want to explore like the gardens. Then there is the iron dolphin gutter spouts that I'm hoping to catch water coming out of one day. Since I'm new to Savannah I'm still discovering places. But for sure will catch pictures of them as I discover them.

What's wrong with shooting tourists? instead of looking to shoot what all the tourists are shooting, shoot them.

I'd recommend an advanced point and shoot and a field guide. These cameras have the main controls found on a DSLR, decent zoom lenses and a range of other functions. The field guides give examples of how best to utilize the settings and controls and a basic introduction to different types of photography.

Used together you can become quite proficient at how to get the most out of a scene, to get the best possible shots under various conditions, and even how to experiment for added drama and tension.

Also photography books like the 35mm Handbook (any edition) are a good introduction to advanced photography in general

I have a Coolpix p530. its a good camera. I just wish I could zoom in further as my favorite subject matter isn't that easy to get close to lol. I did see a book at the store, I should have picked it up.

you can take pictures of random people and not worry about anyone or anything if its seen online?

I thought you meant you had something smaller and automatic.

The easiest solution is a p610 or a p900 because you'd already be familiar with the controls. In DSLR world everything is bigger, heavier and cumbersome, regardless of price. Mirrorless is the smallest lightest option, but you'll be saving a bit longer.

I agree to keep using your current camera until you start running into it's limitations.

When you are ready to buy a dSLR, be open minded. Don't look for a particular brand, go to a camera store and hold them. Ask to take some test shots and see how it feels in your hand. Any of the top brands would serve you well, Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax.

When you do buy one, don't be surprised if your photos are disappointed. Essentially you'll be learning a new piece of equipment so in many ways it's starting over again.

I'm one of those who love my Pentax DSLR with the larger sensor and more color data. A plug for Pentax; it costs about a third less than Nikon with the same quality sensor, high ISO. ALL lenses from past years of ALL Pentax DSLR models will fit. You can get a three year old K5 (top of the line) for $500 less lens (you can buy older lenses). Pentax is known for professional steel bodies (you will drop your camera!) they are heavier (not anywhere near as heavy as a full frame camera!).

I think I'm starting to hit those limitations. I want to freeze wings. I like flying objects. I've even followed a bumble bee around to work on moving targets. I like catching butterfly's in mid air and dragonflys. There is a osprey nest near me and I've tried catching these birds diving in the water but I can ever catch a clear shot. Sometimes I'll get focused but I miss more than I catch. Even when I see the image clearly the camera still gives the little red box indicating its not focused. I missed a roseate spoonbill yesterday because of this. Beautiful bird, only seen one one other time. And missed my shot. I saw it clear but the camera wouldn't focus

Not to mention you're probably running into shutter lag issues. That doesn't exist with an SLR.

freezing wings is tough. you need a flash that can stop it down and iso to bring up the light. even with really fast flashes i've had issues. a bird you can get away with, but a bee and such have faster wings. make sure your using center focus and spot focus if you have it. and if you see a bird, be sure your on the bird before it takes off. if the bird has little contrast - it may not focus at all. and other times it may have been in focus but lost it because it moved away from you. the more advanced DSLR's have tracking abilities. my camera alone has i think 50 pages dedicated in focus modes. but write down your needs and look for those things on the next camera.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Yes, the shutter is a issue to.

Thanks Mike. I will play with it some more. Mine didn't come with a book. I have to down load it. Guess I'll be reading tonight lol. I've tried putting it in manual a well, only gives me like 4 zoom options and then does the same thing. Of course I didn't pick the easiest medium to take pictures of as birds will be birds. But I like a challenge

and once you have it locked, you need depth of focus. zoom options are digital -- never use any of them.

birding and macros usually need special lenses, all of them expensive. with birding, a long zoom, zoom flash enhancer dealy, and a good tripod are needed. with macro a macro lens, sliding rail, tripod are needed. you can do it free hand, but won't get those super results. with macro i never got into it because you can spend a day pacing back and forth looking for bugs and never spot a thing.

also you can't wear sunscreen, they can see that apparently. i had much worse luck shooting bugs when i wore it. dragonflies always land in the same spot every time. or within inches of that spot. so if you can follow one back and set up there, just wait a minute and it will come back.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Brittaney, I like to shoot birds in motion too and it is a challenge. I upgraded from a T4i to a 7d Mark II. The percentage of keepers using the same lens has risen dramatically because the new camera is much more responsive and fires in bursts. I always use manual settings and set the camera to al servo to shoot moving subjects and the new camera tracks beautifully. The 7d Mark II body isn't cheap but it is cheaper than a lot of full frame cameras and I think it is well worth the money.

Mike, that is one reason I like dragonflys. They almost always come right back.

I think I will have to save for a camera that can do as both of you are mentioning. That is exactly what I am looking for. Faster shutter, better ISO control, great macro and tracking plus I get to have the control. For now I will have to take everyones advice and work with what I got. But one day, Ill have something that does exactly as has been mentioned.

if your going to go for it, get full frame, but it will be $2000-3000 for the body alone. however you can get them on sale. supposedly the 5dmk4 will be coming out in august, and theoretically, that should drop the mk2 lower down. i don't think the mk3 will lower though because they are selling both cameras right now.

the macro has more to do with the lens you choose. and if you do just macro then invest in a macro lens. however those will set you back like $1200 just for the lens. you can get a prime macro lens and use it for two things. mostly for macro you need a good flash rig. and you'll find an assortment of odd things online of what people made. large plastic cones with flashes on each side. to light up bugs is no different than lighting up a still life. the lighting often makes the difference, but its an investment... and they don't sell that well btw. there really isn't a good place in a house to put a bug... except the bathroom. a perfect place is to have something like spiders coming out of a toilet - snakes too... just to be evil...

chances are though you won't find the perfect camera, its usually more of a lens set up. that 10 lb 1200mm lens that costs as much as a car. lenses that look like a bazooka. since your on a base, if they allow you too, you can shoot people practicing, i think that would be more interesting than all the other things you can get, since not many have access. just don't get yourself arrested.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

lol I have been thinking about that as well, in fact I have a flag ceremony picture I want to print for my dad. You have given me a lot of information and a lot to think about. I thank you.

As for bugs, It is just more of a personal interest lol. I put them mostly on FB. I just want to show people what they often look past. Something often feared or ignored can be very beautiful if someone would just give it a chance. I've had people tell me ''oh how cool, what is that?'' ''how do you find this stuff?'' yet its the same thing probably crawling around in their house or yard lol. I just like to highlight the little guy. There will be 50 cameras pointed at the gators then there is me off by myself chasing a tiny critter.

If I was serious about wildlife I'd probably go for the Nikon D750. It has an unlimited continuous mode and big burst mode so you'll get a bunch of frozen pictures to choose the best from. It's recent so will be current for a few years yet. It also has all the Nikon scene modes so there's an easy pick for other conditions.

And a 2x teleconverter to make a long zoom longer.

A small tripod maybe, because the zoom will be darker as a result, added to the fact that you may be sitting for some time until something interesting starts to happen

A macro attachment to reverse the lens (you can use any lens)

And a remote wireless flash or two

So a few grand just for the basiccamera/zoom combo, but it'd be all I'd need for years

cool, thanks. I will add it to my list of cameras to look at