Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by CameraClicker on May 26, 2011 at 3:16am

The point & shoot has the advantage of being light and inconspicuous.  The dSLR has the advantage of interchangeable lenses and a large image sensor which typically has less noise (grain) and more dynamic range.  Each has its place and makes some images easier and some more difficult to capture.  All the examples in your post appear possible with a point & shoot.

 

When taking pictures, take time to take a few extra shots from different angles, lower, higher, closer to the fence/wall/tree, etc.  The pictures you have in your gallery are interesting.  Keep shooting and experimenting, you will get the shots you desire.

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Brookfield on May 26, 2011 at 4:50pm

Yeah, that seems to be the answer to be honest, I shall try again the next time weather permits me! :)

Thanks for the reply, CC :)

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Permalink Reply by George David Snow on May 26, 2011 at 7:36pm

Andrew!  The photograph that you're showing us is certainly a shot in the right direction!  It sometimes takes a while to develop an "eye" for photography.  Look at lots of picture books, not to copy them, but to learn different ways of seeing.  Shoot subjects that you like, go to photography shows, even perhaps a convention, if you like.  Don't worry about using a point and shoot camera - a good photographer can shoot great pix with a box camera if he or she has to.  Many very good photographs have been made with P&S cameras - experiment with the features that your camera has - most of us don't use half the features that our cameras are capable of, be they DSLR's or P&S's.  Most of the time, I haven't used all my features of my present camera before I've gotten a new one.  Read a few good photography books, maybe take a class or workshop or two, if you can afford to - you'll gain much from these experiences - but, by all means keep on shooting and looking!  Hope this will help you!  :>)

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Permalink Reply by Visage Photography Ⓒ on May 27, 2011 at 6:17am

Hi Andrew,

don't get despondent, for most people it takes time and patience, some people are blessed with superb natural artistic talent, but for most it is a comfortable and gradual learning curve.

Composing an image is very similar to painting on a canvas so i actually suggest attending art classes where you can understand how light and shadow are rendered and how different elements including lines, curves and out of focus elements blend together to lead the eye into what you want the image to convey.

Digital art classes also help enormously with understanding editing and color balance as it's not really about applying cliche filters.

With your point and shoot you can frame effectively, you say you can't fit everything in your frame - why would you want to - quite often if you have an interesting focal point you need to disregard the clutter around it.

I'm gonna recommend an excellent site for you to have a look at, the images are all top quality, but it is the critique part of the site that is interesting:

http://1x.com/critique

Reading the comments there will help you understand compositional faults and success's from many points of view that really aren't all that dissimilar in conclusion.

Hope this helps,

regards,

Gary

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Brookfield on May 28, 2011 at 12:39pm

Thanks everyone for your encouraging advice!

Visage: thank you very much for the link, I am finding the comments to be quite enlightening...

 

I think I might have worked out what plays a major part in dramatic photography which was so simple I just didn't even realise it. The focus.

 

I'm trying to point towards a focus in a huge array of colour and interest surrounding it. What I'm taking pictures of isn't "focused". It's more of a general feeling of the photo overall. I need to find smaller things to close in on and work my way up to the big guns :)

 

Now, I don't have a detachable lens, so I was wondering if anyone knows of any (preferably free) programs that can blur out sections of a photograph, thus leaving a clear focal point such as:

http://1x.com/forum/photo-critique/27842

 

or more like this one:
http://1x.com/forum/photo-critique/27791

is the style I'd be thinking of (while not perfect, I really like that shot).

 

Anyone know of any or even how to get this effect on a point-and-shoot? 

 

Thanks again, guys, you've been a big help!

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Permalink Reply by Visage Photography Ⓒ on May 28, 2011 at 1:22pm

Hi Andrew,

i understand the frustration because the sensor in a point and shoot is so small, it’s hard to get that shallow depth of field to create that creamy background blur.

On the editing side you can use a graduated 'gaussian / lens blur' by slightly increasing intensity of the blur radiating from the subject in the case of the sausage photo you linked to or a blanket intensity in the case of the portrait of the girl, but you must get the masking around the subject spot on between the fine hair or it's gonna look fake lol

Alien Skin make a 'Bokeh Creator', i've never tried it as i use CS5, but it may well be worth looking at for a temp solution, the link is here:

http://www.alienskin.com/bokeh/examples/creative-focus.aspx

The other thing would be find yourself a used dslr like a Nikon D40 or something older that should be 'cheap as chips' on ebay as we say in the UK.

Rendering bokeh with software will never look as convincing as the real thing on a wide aperture lens.

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Permalink Reply by George David Snow on May 28, 2011 at 4:24pm

Andrew!  It's going to be a little tough for a shot like the "stunning young woman" picture unless you zoom all the way out, and then sharply focus the subject, keeping any background far away in the background - I have the same problem with my P&S Megazoom!  This photograph is one of the best that I've encountered in a long time!  The other photograph didn't come up on the critique site correctly - there was a list, but no numbers to identify the right picture.  TTYL! :>)

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