I am into my watches, but I am fed up of taking rubbish pictures of them with my phone/iPad. I am in fact rather envious of some of the stunning pictures some forum members take. Problem is, I am a complete novice point and shoot man. In addition to the phone & Ipad, I have a Panasonic DMC-TZ 40 camera that is constantly on the auto function.
How do I start learning to take decent photos please? Any good websites, etc. Would help
Talk photography is a good start. Good forum. Mostly friendly folks and caters for all levels of experience and skill. I am on there quite a lot. Don't post too much but read a lot. When I initially started out I didn't know my backside from my elbow but I got a lot of advice and have improved quite a lot. I am on there under the same user name.
Chris
Thanks, I will definitely take a look at talk photography.
Originally Posted by Bluemoon7
If you are serious about learning then lookup your local camera club. They are usually a social bunch as well and you will learn much quicker from people's practical experience IMHO. it's a fun hobby too
http://www.amershamphotosoc.com/join-or-visit-us/
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 14th April 2017 at 07:23.
Talk photography is a great help, also have a look at some of the videos on line
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004FEFS...ng=UTF8&btkr=1
good book to understand the basics
Thanks. Any specific good videos you could suggest? There are so many on youtube.
I had no idea there was a camera club in my area. I had a look at the link you sent. All quite serious, with a committee, etc. A little daunting for a complete novice like me to be honest.
Might be worth a chat and a visit. They did say anyone welcome. Maybe it's me but I prefer to learn from people first hand. M
Welcome to the club OP - it's very addictive!
Agree with the earlier post, Talk Photography is generally a very friendly forum and you'll get good advice there on the whole.
As for videos, Mike Borwne - https://www.youtube.com/user/photoexposed - is very good for the novice 'tog. Some feels he is a little patronising, but I don't think that's very fair. His videos cover a lot of the basics in a very approachable way.
This is also worth a read... http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tut...a-exposure.htm
Enjoy!
Been dabbling in the art of photography for 10 year, that is not to say I'm a good or even a mediocre photographer. Still use my 10 yrs old Nikon D 50, I'm happy with it - it serves my purpose
When I started out I found this book useful. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Com...M93DDHVGYDZPF1
I also used Ken Rockwell's website, good details there too.
Not too sure about photography forums. Talk photography sounds good will give it try.
Just to pick up on your initial post, if it's watch photo's you want to take specifically, this is quite a specialist skill and not something you'll learn from many of the normal sources. I seem to remember Tony (Learningtofly) who is excellent at it, put some tips and information about it on here. It was some time ago though. Could be worth doing a search.
I have 2 friends who are professional photographers.
All my Canon camera gear was stolen just over a year ago so I asked for some advice from both .
I couldn't decide between canon or Nikon and they both agreed it doesn't really matter .
So I changed to Nikon .
The advice was by the newest cheapest SLR and put all the money in the glass.
I got a Nikon D3300 kit for $400 but added the 105 micro with ring flash for work . Next purchase was a 55-300 zoom.
My final lens I intend to purchase (ha!) will be a shorter faster lens - perhaps a sigma 24-35 f/2 .
Then I just keep playing and asking for advice. Nikon website has some pretty good basic tutorials.
I'm not based in the UK so buy my stuff in NYC at B and H - only the body was new everything else I buy second hand but hardly used - it always looks brand new and saves 35-50%.
Perhaps the Digital Photography section of a watch forum might be a good place to ask questions about taking pictures of . . . watches? ;-)
F.T.F.A.
I shoot watches for a living and actually find it relatively easy but that's probably because I have 25 years experience!
It's not something you learn overnight from watching a you-tube tutorial.
I have an aversion to the camera clubs/RPS/scene as it just seems like recycling a particular aesthetic but that's just me.
My advice is don't turn into a gear-head but concentrate on developing visual awareness, when I meet other photographers socially we don't talk about gear but things that inspire us particularly film, art, travel.
My advice is learn to see as the technical bits are easy, shoot lots and look at lots of inspirational media particularly film and don't get hooked up on the equipment.
^^^^^^^^^^
best advice here.
all you need to know - exposure, depth of field, how to work with light (OK, the last one will take a time). once you understand this, you will take decent photo with almost any camera, be it smartphone or Hasselblad.
And this too. To paraphrase one of my old professors "The camera is not important, the head behind the camera is"
I must admit, my initial reaction was that my camera will need upgrading, but I will try to get the best out of what I have before buying something else. I registered on Talk Photography yesterday and must admit to being drawn to the classified section. Probably not a bad thing access is initially restricted. I can imagine the place being almost as dangerous as SC!
I will try to watch a few videos over the long weekend and play around with the functions on the camera I have.
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I just had a look at your website. Stunning pictures. Really like what you did with the light around the Breguet and the Omega lume shot. Some of the movement pictures are also lovely.
Someone has already recommended 'Understanding Exposure' which is great. The other book I really found helped was 'The Photographer's Eye' which is still on Amazon.
As far as watches go, I have had a lot of fun with a cheapie macro adapter on my iPhone which was about £8!
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I paid @ £2.80 for mine . . .
I'm not an expert at all, but I got a very cheap fold out light box which came with black, white backgrounds. This shot I took under natural light with a compact camera and I had to under expose by about 1 full stop because of the blacjk background. I also had a buff A4 envelope which I positioned to cut out reflections. Cuz I already had the camera, this set up cost me about £20.
I would like to do some more interesting photos with nice backgrounds though.
I have also just started out, let me recommend https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tony-Northr...FXYM7SV1JAJ2C0 this book for novices.
I picked up a compact camera, decided it wasn't for me, and went mirrorless with a Fuji X-T20. It's a revolution for my picture taking and my wife is actually encouraging me to do more with a hobby for once...
iPhone photo's don't have to be rubbish. Took this one a couple of days ago - no special lighting or set up. It's not great, but acceptable...
Search Thomas Heaton on YouTube. His videos are excellent, landscape photography, not watches but his enthusiasm and patience is amazing and well worth watching.
Which one? I've been looking for one. Cannot justify spending on a macro lens so have a Raynox 150 conversion lens! So far so good.
Your TZ 40 camera is not the best tool for close-up photography … Any interchangeable lens camera will produce better c/u results . I use manual focus macro lenses but you'd likely find any AF macro lens easier to use e.g. this s/h example which offers s good saving compared to the new price
http://www.ffordes.com/product/17041110415181
… it's a micro 4/3 format lens so will work with any Panasonic or Olympus M4/3 camera e.g. ...
http://www.ffordes.com/category/Digi...n/OM-D/Cameras
... if on a budget even this Panasonic G1 will produce excellent results
http://www.ffordes.com/product/17033017203081
… it's cheap because it has no video function
However, c/u photography is as much about lighting as using close focusing equipment
A good introduction to c/u lighting is this ancient s/h book by Alfred Blaker costing just ONE PENNY plus postage from Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Photography...ic+photography
… and which has lots of simple lighting diagrams for use with home made lighting apparatus i.e. various simple reflectors which can be used on a table top next to a window. Book was written in the film era but lighting techniques advocated are as valid now as they were then.
Another 'One Penny' s/h book worth reading which has many apparatus and lighting diagrams is Heather Angel's 'The Book of Close-up Photography
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Close-...up+photography
You'll also need a decent tripod and tripod head and ideally a focusing rack / stage too to support and focus the camera.
http://www.ffordes.com/product/16101416134581
http://www.ffordes.com/product/16020314151731
Equipment and books only offer the means … 'practice practice practice' improves results ... and never be satisfied because we can all do better than we did the last time we tried.
dunk
Last edited by sundial; 16th April 2017 at 13:48.
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
This one I think.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00...N1Z632E59ZN1EJ
I also have a terrific Nikon 55mm Micro which I haven't used in about 10 years - which just goes to prove that the best camera is the on you have with you!
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This arrived today:
Fitted on my basic Moto G, it's changed the close ups from this:
To these:
(Macro)
(Fish-eye)
(Ginger)
Pretty impressed.
Except the book 'goes out the window' when it comes to lighting watches as they have multifaceted curved shiny reflective surfaces and for aesthetics you don't want to see the camera or an obvious light source reflected in the watch.… and which has lots of simple lighting diagrams for use with home made lighting apparatus i.e. various simple reflectors which can be used on a table top next to a window. Book was written in the film era but lighting techniques advocated are as valid now as they were then.
My advice is a camera/lens combo that gets you as far away from the subject as possible but high enough magnification (I use 120mm on full frame) which makes this less of an issue.
Obviously if it's just a case of recording the object in front of you as big as possible then getting as close as possible with a true macro (beyond 1:1) lens and plenty of light is the way forward.
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