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Photography for Beginners.
Published: 2005-03-24 11:04:34 +0000 UTC; Views: 447435; Favourites: 3971; Downloads: 50100
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Description
Are you relatively new to digital photography, and want your work to look more polished?Then this is for you!
I am going to share some tips and suggestions that helped me when I first started out, without getting into technical details.
It might take a while to load, please be patient
Please feel free to point out any corrections/additions.
Update: I presented a live tutorial on May 7th in the #photography chatroom on dAmn, that builds upon this one. You can find the log here: [link]
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Comments: 908
I learned more from this tutorial than I did in my 6 week photography course.
Thank you.
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thanks for taking the time to do this....i read thru it tonight and learnt a lot...thank u
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i actually like the first uncropped image better myself.
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It's art, there will always be a difference of opinion.
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yeah and i still would have croped it some at the top
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The only comment I have to add is the part about long exposures 
Although I'm sure you already know that 
anyways. .. all in all a really good tutorial I think
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cable releases are definitely helpful. The only reason I left them out is since I felt it was beyond the scope of this guide, as it is meant for beginners.... for most of whom a tripod is already a big step up.
Cheers.
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I Like this a lot! Although I have been photographing now for almost a year (yet still suck) I can really see this as being helpful for begginers, and i wish i saw this a year ago!
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Well the whole thing with slit wrists and domesticated animals... i dunno. it depends.does the artist enjoy taking this pics have a certain reason they are doing this? maybe so. it's what they like to do and it's the kind of photos they like taking. Who are we to say what photos people should take and submit to their own gallery? It's not like they are pulling us into their gallery by our necks and making us look at their work. Suzi9mm submits a lot of fake blood shots, hell i think she even submitted a few real blood shots before, i look forward to them because she does it with such movie-type quality.
I have become rather intrigued by a small beagal lately so i take a lot of photos but each one seems different and portrays a different mood of the dog each time. i have submitted a lot of photos of him, and a lot of goldfish. it all depends really on how it is taken and that it isn't just some shotty web cam image of an animal. even one time use cams and capture some decent shots.
No one can say what is art. that's why i quit college as an art major. i think certain aspects, tips and history can be taught about art but it goes to far when someone tells someone else that their art is simply, not art. I had a professor of art tell me that comic art is not an art. Simply silly i must say. Maybe i am making this all out to be something more than it is but it's just my opinion.
Furthermore, the tutorial was really nice and well put together. I think it would help out a lot of beginners. Great job on that.
.manda
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It was specifically mentioned that the entire thing is based on my personal opinions and preferences.
I respect your right to disagree, however you obviously did not realize that a lot of those comments were aimed at specific crowds and behavioural patterns that are quite common on dA, to say the least. It is impossible to write a tutorial tailored to accomodate individual bodies of work, one has to make generalizations. Therefore, arguing against the validity of any of the opinions stated by referencing a specific artists work is not logical. Instead you have to consider whether they hold true for the majoity of cases.
As for the statements about what is and isnt art... they were made with reference to photography, and ill stand by them come hell or heigh water. Simply taking a snapshot and running it through filter after filter is not art as far as photography is concerned... though it might be considered art in other artforms.
But as I mentioned earlier, this piece is based on my opinion, and on suggestions that I believe will benefit others. I respect your right to disagree.
I would have been inclined to discuss this further and in greater depth, had you actually given dialogue a chance before jumping to conclusions.
Cheers.
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I did not jump to any conclusions, like you I was merely stating an opinion
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Which is why you hastened to post a journal before waiting for a response?
Not that I care at all about the journal itself; but had you waited for my response, we could have discussed this properly and reached a better understanding.
Anyways, cheerio.
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You are soo right...hehe...I wondered if there are still openminded persons...
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Excellent guide, dude. Well done, and thanks for the tips
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This Tutorial helps a lot! Makes me want to just delete my entire gallery and start over from scratch. 
-R.
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Thanks for this, i only knew half of this, the other half is just great
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the comment about filling your galllery with pics of domesticated animals and slit wrist pics is all too tru
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Nicely written, this will definetley help seeing as though I'm quite new to photography but also want to take my interest further and probably even onto uni. Thanks. +fave
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This is going to come in so handy for several friends of mine...not to mention provide a little refresher for me!
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well presented and as i read it i found myself nodding.......... i wish someone had told me all these things before i had to spend so much time figuring them out myself! *slaps head*
you time on this will definitely not have gone to waste. i hope the many people who have no idea will take the time to check this out
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You do not know how perfect this was for me to find it, you have NO idea, i started taking my first digital photos today and they were of nature and i think they suck, maybe after reading this i'll have better pictures next time,
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Glad to hear you found it useful.
Just keep trying and you'll get there.
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this is great, I've been doing graphic design ever since I got a computer (when I was 12, I'm 18 now 
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Wow, very well written, and the examples you chose were perfect, for both how good they look and teaching purposes.
This has helped me out a lot!
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Thank you for these great tips! I was lost comparing dozens of digital photography books (and wondering which one may be the most useful) before I found your tutorial. Short, to the point and well-illustrated: just what I needed to start exploring digital photography.
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Wonderful and highly informative piece 
Bridget
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good work, there are things ill always keep in mind from now on~!
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wonderful , here are some tips you stated that I never thought about before , thanks !
*runs off to take pictures*
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I will be out of town that night!! 
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Although I wont be changing the way I shoot after reading this, it was indeed a good read and would be great for begginers.
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Great job! Very helpful...
Thank you!
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Great tutorial! Not too long as to bore the reader, and all the main ideas are nicely summarized. Great example photos as well. I'm saving it as a reference; yes, it's THAT good.
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Wonderful Tutorial; thanks so much for posting!
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great
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Fantastic summary! Thanks so much for doing this... any others on "advanced techniques" would be great!
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wow that was great, a lot easier to go through than huge books, and for me. easier to understand
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excellent
May I also suggest an addition? Where you give advise about reducing images to a reasonable size for publishing on the internet, I agree totally. But in my gallery, i try to reduce images by the same extent, where possible. This means that most of my photos have been reduced by about 28% from 3072x2048, and this gives my gallery a continuous, transitional feel, and makes it (or so i think) a bit easier to browse. Just a thought
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I think most people end up cropping their shots in photoshop, so the constant resize ratio idea wouldnt work for everyone.
I figured that if I just suggested a maximum width and height.... that would automatically lead to a continuous feel just as you mentioned.
But thanks for the suggestion, you do make a good point.
As for the b/w, I'd be more than happy to help you out.
However, I feel this is not the place for such a discussion.
[link] I set up this thread in my personal forum for photography questions.
Please do me a favor and ask about the b/w there.... and we can discuss it properly and I can get you headed in the right direction.
Also, that way others will be able to see it too.
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Very good tutorial, even for the non-beginners
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