rebecca_fowler1 Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Hi everyone, I'm new here to photo.net, and actually I'm new to b&w photography too. I'm just finishing up building my darkroom and I'm starting to get overwhelmed with all the choices of equipment and supplies. I was just curious if anyone had some advice they'd like to pass on that would've made their voyage into photography a little more pleasant. Any advice will be more than appreciated. Thanks so much! -Rebecca P.S. I did search the website to make sure nothing like this has been posted, if it has feel free to point me in the right direction and delete this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis_vener_photography Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 No piece of gear will make you a better photographer - only making lots of photos and learning , possibly with input of people you respect for their vision, to edit tightly will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_appleyard Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Ellis makes a great point! It is true that the photographer takes/makes the photo, but I would add to buy the best equipment YOU can. Read all you can, take photo classes at local colleges/arts centers, go to photo exhibits/art galleries and look at other peoples work. Don't necessarily copy their work, but learn from it and perhaps improve on it. Most of all, go out and take all the photos you can, but, make them all good ones! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerbrain_ronny_perry Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 If you can not see it, you can not photograph it,so work on your awareness level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonio_garcia_russell Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Gear has a big influence on final image quality, there can be no doubt about that. Get the best you can afford, stick to one film/developer combination and go take pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjferron Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Maybe keep it simple at first. One film, one format. Your work flow will become a snap. Good suggestions above about "seeing and "educating". Also maybe find a style and subject matter that appeals to you. A passion for the subject will show in the end results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aplumpton Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Be yourself. Read and look a lot (art, photography). Absorb ideas and choose those that fit your approach. Ask specific questions where answers might aid you to overcome a problem or unknown (PN is pretty good for that, most of us like to share experience). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce_karnopp1 Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 I suppose you have a camera of some sort already. However, it is a lot more enjoyable to deal with rollfilm when enlarging. Each format has its challenges, but the larger the negative, the easier it is to print. I didn't get to 4X5 until I was 66, but that meant getting an enlarger and a good way to develop sheets. I now use an expert drum for developing and a gravity system for washing. Each format has some good advice from those of us who stumbled through trial and error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucecahn Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Wow! I agree with everything said above. Would add this: do not make a photograph that looks like one you have seen already. If you want real satisfaction, force yourself to do original work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_waller Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 There is no magic combination of film and dev, or paper and dev, that will make your photographs brilliant - but practice will. Initially, stick to one fast film, one slow film and one film developer. Ditto paper and paper developer. When you have mastered these, then, and only then, try other films and developers. Always make sure you have a tried and tested routine to fall back on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis_vener_photography Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 "Gear has a big influence on final image quality, there can be no doubt about that." Untrue on all levels. Gear doesn't make photographs, photographers do. owning better gear doesn't make you a better photographer, hard work does. Better gear might make it easier but that's all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Lewis1664881697 Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Don't get too caught up in multiple lenses and multiple cameras. Before learning to shoot with any kind of artificial lighting, learn to use the sun as a light source. And lastly... a $2000 digital body is a waste of money if it isn't making money for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tripanfal Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 "Gear has a big influence on final image quality, there can be no doubt about that." I agree, to a point. I have made some great images with a pinhole camera, but won't a better quality lens make a better QUALITY photograph when it comes to sharpness,resolution...? Then again, just because an image is soft, does not mean it's poor quality... I'm talking in circles I think... I love making good photographs from cheap/poor gear. Makes it very satisfying :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_drew4 Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Back in 1968 or '69 when I was beginning in news journalism, I wish someone had told me, "Wait for digital!" :-) <p> I'd be much wealthier, assuming I knew what 'digital' meant! My mother was more philosophical with her comment back then, "At least you did not choose horse-racing!" :-) <p> . . . and so it goes . . . <p> Learn a few tools and practice a lot! There is no end, so enjoy the journey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce_watson1 Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 1) The only way to understand, to learn, to improve, is to go out and burn lots of film. In this way you'll come to learn the difference between "taking pictures" and "making photographs." 2) Master your craft to the point that it's all just a set of tools for you to use. Do this so that the craft is nearly automatic and you can therefore concentrate on making your art. 3) Take every chance you can to get into galleries and museums and look at other people's art. Spend the time to see if you can figure out why some art "works" for you and other art doesn't. Consciously or unconsciously you'll pull this learning into your own art. Repeat continuously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnycake_.1 Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 1. Save ALL your negatives/slides and ...files... for the worst are also important. You will learn from your mistakes. Where you are depends an awfully lot on where you have been. [i have found that it is a lot easier to save 'film' in an easily accessible fashion than it is to save ''digital files' in tomorrow's format.] 2. Follow the light. Johnny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles_Webster Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 The one piece of advice that I got when I began, and that I give everyday is "Everything in the frame must contribute to the picture" Unfortunately, I had been taking pictures for several years before I got that advice, so I wasted a lot of film, paper, and darkroom time. As for life advice, also applicable to photography: "If you don't have time to do it right the first time, you certainly don't have time to do it over." <Chas> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustys pics Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 I think JohnnyCake has good advice. Spend time looking at the stuff you shoot. In grad school, all of us put up a big homasote board in our apartments. We tacked up work prints, contact sheets, whatever we had printed. Sometimes even test strips. Seeing those everyday you would tend to make little discoveries about what you were photographing and how you were printing. It made a big difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_jones5 Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Avoid being ensnared in the equipment trap. Buy only what will improve your print quality and consider that the very best is hugely more expensive than what is perfectly serviceable. Consider bypassing 35mm and go directly to 120 in the form of a basic twin lens reflex. Your friends will probably roll their eyes but when they see the print quality all the snickering will cease and desist. Tri X and D76 1:1 period. Learn what is meant by "expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights" and let that guide you for the rest of your photographic life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian_harris6 Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 "Gear has a big influence on final image quality, there can be no doubt about that." >Untrue on all levels. This has to be the most boring photography debate... right behind "film vs. digital." Yes, we all know that guns don't kill people, cameras don't take photos, etc. Yet if this were true then we'd find professionals in ANY field using low-grade equipment because, after all, equipment has little to do with their output, right? So golfers and tennis players should use wood clubs/racquets. Super Bowl photographers should use manual focus film cameras with F5.6 lenses. Let's extend this logic across all domains and suddenly it appears absolutely bankrupt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebecca_fowler1 Posted January 25, 2008 Author Share Posted January 25, 2008 Wow, thank you all so much! I wasn't expecting such a great response. As of right now i'm working strictly with a pinhole. My photography teacher says "If you can make good photo's with a grits box you know you have the talent to make good photos with a better camera." Which kinda goes along with the better equipment debate. Thanks again for the response, and i'll look forward to reading more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lex_jenkins Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 You have an uncommonly sensible photography teacher, Rebecca. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_s Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 (i) Study composition all the time. Look at paintings, architecture, graphic design. (ii) Most of your best photos will be made using a normal lens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithostertag Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 I would like to add: photograph from your heart, not just from your head. Make photos that mean something to you, or that move you in some way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ross_chambers Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Sorry Lex, but I must disagree -- assuming that the "grits box" is your reference. I'm not sure (as an Australian) how deep a grits box is, but I suspect quite wide optically as a pinhole camera. Apart from a guesstimate of exposure time and a wild guess at composition, a pinhole really is hard to learn basic principles from. How about depth of focus, good composition, accurate exposure, perspective of focal length, the whole aperture/exposure relationship? I have home modified pinhole and Zero Image pinhole cameras, and they are fascinating to use, but only as an adjunct and via application of principles learned from conventional cameras. And the conventional camera doesn't need to be something expensive with lots of bells and whistles, you will know that the less the automation, the better the learning possibilities. My apologies if I misunderstand your post. Rebecca, when you are fairly happy with your chosen regular film/developer combination launch out and try something radically different, there are surprising looks to achieve, especially in printing, papers and paper developers. Regards - Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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