chrischoi

iTrader: (2)

so where are my photographers...
any tips on taking pics of people?

and is photoshop a good idea?
kingofska told me about contrast... and thats been helping me...

any other advice... something more to edit?

HELP!

matt_a

The best thing you can do to improve is read. There are ton's of great photography forums where you can access a wealth of FREE knowledge. That's much better than spending $20-$30 on a single book.
Another thing that helps a lot is practice...practice...practice. With digital cameras you can snap away all day long for free. Depending on your camera, you can practice using different settings and adjustments. I recently made the jump to my first DSLR camera and I love it. It gives me tons of options and flexibility, but you can also get awesome shots from a standard fixed-lens point & shoot camera. Portraits or "people shots" can be an art all in it's own. I do pretty well with sports/action, macro, and nature shots...but for some reason I've never taken great portraits. I need to read and practice! Just have fun with it.

Gonzo_xb

Photography has always been a big interest of mine. With a portrait, you want to concentrate on the eyes of your subject. Get the camera to their eye level and focus on them. This works especially well if you are taking pictures of kids. Too often people "shoot down" at kids with the camera from a standing position resulting in the same old boring photo, you really need to get down to their level. Also try to fill the frame up as much as possible with your subject and get as much unnecessary stuff out of the background as possible. Just doing those things will dramatically improve your portraits.

And as far as photoshop goes, I can't live without it! It is great for correcting color and like you said, setting the proper contrast.

chrischoi

iTrader: (2)

anything else with photoshop than contrast?

Gonzo_xb

yes, hit Control L to bring up Levels. This will display a histogram of your image with three sliders underneath it. The left most slider sets your darkest darks, the right most slider sets the brightest brights, and the middle slider controls the middle values. I usually leave the middle slider alone, but other than that, you want to position the other two sliders directly underneath the point in the histogram where the data begins and ends. This will give you perfect contrast. The more you do this however, the more data the image loses and you will eventually see a drop in image quality. I know that is kind of wordy, so here is a pic:

iwantajdmgrl

check this forum out...
http://www.accessphoto.com/forum/index.php?showforum=11

hiram

last week my dad handed me down his OLD camera which is still in excellent condition. its a Canon T70 from the mid 80's. ive yet to go develop the pics i took with it and i have no idea how theyd come out considering im a total noob

dgHotLava

this is indeed the best advice out there for portraits.
fill the frame.
eye level of the subject.
focus and recompose if you need to (if shooting two or more people focus on the eyes of one, then move to get everybody in the frame).
i was reading yesterday on some new lenses...the f stop is very important on portraits, if set right it will cause the background to be soft and warm. will make the subject in the pic be the most important thing in the pic.

other than that...read, practice...read, practice...

SSM_tC

I just started getting back into photography again after a long break. I never had any kind of professional training and hardly ever read a book about the subject. The best advice I ever got was to "Take your time and shoot with your heart"
It means different things to different people, but to me, it meant "Look at the picture in the viewfinder and ask yourself "would I want that picture hanging on a wall in my house?"

Just take your time. Photography is soooo much easier and cheaper now with digital media. Be glad that you're not limited by film and developing costs. =)

Oh, and also, a couple more things and these came from a professional photographer for Sports Illustrated whose name I can't remember.

" Out of a hundred shots, don't be disappointed if you only get one or two good ones. "

"Your subject does not HAVE TO BE in the center"

"A Great photo never needs digital manipulation" - That's his opinion as a purist, but man, do I loooove all the crazy things you can do with Photoshop/GIMP

"Practice practice practice."

Good luck! It's a great hobby that really opens your eyes to the world around you.

dagarhart

That is fact. only one or two truely good pics come out of every 100 pics.

SSM_tC

Yeah, I should elaborate that by "Good" he meant Publishable ones.

dgHotLava

forgot about this one...i almost never let the subject be in the center anymore. it makes the pic look so more interesting.

its_ikon

the term for that is the rule of thirds. it is the best way to set up a shot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

dgHotLava

thanks.

i was hoping there was a name (term) for this...now i can sound smarter when dealing with the pros who shot my wedding...

dachmo

If you're lucky