iloveyourhumor asked: How did you do the "hey you" on dashboard?? :)
I used tumblr’s new highlighted post feature to do that. You can do it too by checking the ‘Highlight this Post’ checkbox under your posts.
iloveyourhumor asked: How did you do the "hey you" on dashboard?? :)
I used tumblr’s new highlighted post feature to do that. You can do it too by checking the ‘Highlight this Post’ checkbox under your posts.
dale917 asked: I'm 13 and I'm really getting into photography, but I'm limited to a not-so-great camera right now, and pretty confined as for the areas I can photograph, any tips for me?
Hey Dale, you’ve got plenty of time to get more expensive gear and go exciting places. For now, you should focus how to look at things in interesting ways and how to compose images correctly.
I see from your site that you have a Coolpix S210. From what I’ve read it sounds like it’s a very capable camera.
In terms of learning about composition, your best bet is to read about the rule of thirds and think about it while you take pictures. Having a good eye for composition can make all of your photos better.
Secondly, don’t worry about having a limited area to take pictures in. You may not know this, but a lot of the pictures I take are actually from a relatively small area. What you should do is try to photograph as much of the area you can photograph as you can and (this is important) make it look amazing. Figure out how to highlight colors and interesting things you see on a day to day basis.
Use your constraints as a benefit - rather than looking at a small area as a limiting factor, look at it as a challenge. Try to document that area in a variety of ways, angles, and of details.
Ultimately, that’s what photography comes down to.
Update: A great point from replies:
the-tale-of-a-librarian: you can edit pictures on your phone or computer to different constrasting colours and sometimes that kind of thing can really make a picture amazing, just cause your cameras not so great shouldnt limit you. From a fellow budding photographer. xox.
Don’t forget that it’s more than the camera or software that makes your photo - its the subject, perspective, colors, contrast, and how you utilize those elements to make the photo.
theipodchronicles asked: What are your favorite subjects to shoot? I love your shots of classic cars, and street art. They are so full of character and so beautiful. I was just wondering what your favorites were.
Great question - I’ve been meaning to collect my series/subjects for a while now into a link or some sort of self standing page. Feel free to click through all these links to see my shots from the particular subject/series.
My favorite series I’ve been shooting are:
As for what I like to shoot that isn’t classified as a series, you are very right that I love shooting cars and street art, but I also love shooting:
autumnsnowfall-deactivated20120 asked: How often do you go out shooting? and your photos are pretty great!
Thanks! I have my camera with me and take pictures every day, just like my website says. Everything I post was taken the day before, except for film shots which clearly can’t be posted day of (or at least they won’t until I get into gear and start developing stuff at home)
nancyelizablogs asked: Why did you stop using your D90?
I had a great relationship with my D90. It was my first camera, and I put it through hell. I used it for 828 days in a row and pressed the shutter over 60,000 times.
It came with me every day in my bag, through rain, snow and everything in between. It even came along with me on trips to Mexico and Brazil, not to mention enduring the humidity of Miami in June.
There were days where it was pushed hard and days where I pushed it even harder. I really learned how to make photos on that camera and learned what made a good photo using that camera.
I realized that while the D90 is an amazing camera, the updated features of the D7000 (which I wrote about in this post and followed up in this post) made it an awesome upgrade. I’ve never looked back.
lifeofalens asked: Hi Joel, I am an amateur photographer in LA. I really dig your photos. I would like to get your advice if you don't mind. Currently, I take most of my photos with my iPhone 4 (I know that is extremely amateur), but I have an old (1980's) Canon F-1 at home that I plan to put back into action soon (needs new batteries and some basic cleaning. What is your opinion regarding shooting with actual film over using digital now a days?
You know what they say - the best camera is the one that’s with you, so don’t worry about being amateurish, you’re taking photos, that’s what matters.
I’ve recently gotten into film lately, and have been loving it. I’m going to talk about film cameras in a future buying guide post, but it’s something definitely worth pursuing.
The biggest counterpoint against film is also one of the benefits of shooting film. Because you’re limited by the number of shots per roll (and most likely paying for the development of each shot), you have to be more cognizant of the shots you take. You’ll probably be less likely to throw away shots since you will be more economical with your exposures (this isn’t a bad thing).
So basically, go for film all you’d like, just keep in mind there are actual costs associated with it, and mental costs that may actually help you become a better photographer.
broken-wingz asked: Hey Joel, I love what you're doing with your 365 Project. You've inspired me to go start my own, hopefully today! You're "Plugging the World Out" got my attention, that's a great photo. Keep up what you're doing & thank you!!
Hey Nick, You should definitely start up a project. It’s been the most formative things I can recommend for someone to improve their photographic abilities. As someone who’s on his third year of doing them (you can view the lot of them on tumblr, or in their yearly sets on flickr: Year 1, Year 2, Year 3), I can’t (and won’t) stop taking pictures for a while. I can offer some tips (which I’ve posted a variation of before):
Good luck!
To the billions of you asking me to recommend a camera or your first camera or a camera for this type of use, I’m sorry I haven’t answered you properly. Truthfully, I wouldn’t consider myself to be an expert in these sorts of recommendation since I’ve really only used 2 cameras - two DSLRs, namely the Nikon D90 and Nikon D7000 (which is what I currently shoot with) - and I haven’t handled too many others (the Canon G11 is pretty well the only other one).
That being said, the internet is an amazing place for these sorts of things, and the awesome site of lifehacker wrote an article about how to choose a camera. So head over to this article telling you how to choose a camera and get out there and shoot.
Edit: as oliveryeh notes: A great place for reviews and feedback for cameras is dpreview.com/, which raises another good point, don’t just trust what you read online in a single spot. Research across lots of sites and if you can go to a camera store and see the camera in person, see how it feels in your hand and how it feels to use it. You’re going to spend a decent amount of money on a camera (realistically), so it should be something you like to use.
wesomajorlyhavetotalk asked: your photography is absolutely amazing!! how long have you been taking photographs?
Thanks a lot! I’ve been taking photos for exactly 1,014 days today (which works out to around 2.75 years). They are maybe all under the “Every Day” tag here on Tumblr and are all visible on flickr here.
akindlystranger asked: I recently picked up a Nikkor 50/ 1.4 as well.
What made you decide on the 1.4D rather than the newer AF-S 1.4G? The portability?
I know the 1.4D is amazingly small and light, plus it is possessed of faster AF which I would imagine is key for street photography.
Sorry for taking a little bit of time to respond but I actually want to use the lens for a bit before I actually wrote about it.
I really don’t have a need for the G class of Nikons - I know that the glass is better, but I don’t need autofocus (the D7000 has an internal motor), for some reason I prefer the construction on the D lenses much more. I really really like having the focal distance on the lens (both for appearance’s sake, and because sometimes I’ll manually mess around with the focus, and it’s a nice reference to have) and the relative small size is a plus too.
So largely, I got it for it’s looks, and it’s relatively quicker autofocus is nice too. Well that and I got it used, so it was cheaper than normal.
becauseofbacon asked: Sweer wide angle on grand Central! Was that shot with the Tokina? The quality looks really crisp, but I've always been a little hesitant on buying non-Nikon lenses.
Yep, letigre, all my shots yesterday were taken with the Tokina. It’s a great lens, as I’ve already written about here.
jokantah-deactivated20120409 asked: Hello,
Your work is AMAZING. Im wondering, I reblogged a picture that I would love to buy a print of as a gift. Its not on your website. does that mean it's not for sale at all?
Thanks so much!
If you want to buy any of my photos as a print (that isn’t listed on my etsy store) then contact me (either via ask or on etsy itself) and we can sort out the details. Basically, it’ll be the same price if you want the sizes to be the same, and cheaper if it’s smaller, or more expensive if it’s bigger!
Let me know, and I’ll see what I can do! If you have any questions at all about buying prints, feel free to ask!
deshaunicus asked: Do you ever get asked to leave places you are photographing? I actually was told I couldn't photograph anything at Elevated Acre except "the view" the other day.
I’ve definitely had a few ‘conversations’ with some security guards about taking photos, specifically one at the entrance of the Elevated Acre.
There’s two parts of dealing with this: the first, and most important, is being polite. I took a lot from this video by photographer Jordan Matter, especially when he deals with a security guard. The best thing to do is be calm and rational, because you don’t really want to get in trouble.
The second part of dealing with this is knowing your rights, this particular document is very useful, and I recommend having a printed copy of it in your bag with you. Petapixel also sells them as white balance cards. By no means am I a lawyer (or an expert on this in anyway) but those are useful links to look at and especially to understand.
I’ve had a few people ask me about general techniques when it comes to taking a picture.
I was going to answer in my long, drawn out style, but instead, I’ll take a note from the latest episode of Back to Work (which you should listen to if you don’t already) and just say this:
Take photos every day. Don’t ever stop taking photos.
When you do this, you’ll teach yourself what interests you, what works for you and what doesn’t. And when you figure out those things you’ll start to take great photos.
(This isn’t a specific answer. If you have a specific question, feel free to ask)
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