Hi from Perth Hills

[Chris C]

Hi all,

Firstly, thanks for a great site. Very useful information and photos that are both inspiring but also somewhat frighteningly good...

I'm Chris, aged 65, and brand new to 'proper' photography. Sure, I already have the usual large collection of snaps of headless relatives, blurred kids and empty branches where a bird was perched a few seconds before, from past years. But last month my wife kindly treated me to what is only an 'entry level' DSLR - a Canon 600D with a couple of kit lenses - but which to me is still a magically complex and mysterious gadget with enormous potential. So I finally need to learn how to do more than point and hope. Now I have to get the experience - the necessary hundreds or thousands of hours - that lie between me and being reasonably good instead of just enthusiastic. I'm looking forward to the journey.

I've discovered so far that it's not that hard to take an "OK" picture by layman's standards, but to shoot one that creeps up to "good" (again using only layman's standards) is a lot harder. But the real kicker is that as your eye and experience improves, what looked "good" last week is binned without a second glance today. That's both interesting and a bit of a worry! It's also intriguing to see that there are tens of thousands of technically impressive pictures on the internet, but the percentage that really seem to have "something to say" about the subject is not really all that high. "Brilliantly bland" seems not uncommon. But what's the difference? Is is something subtle, or does it just vary depending on who is looking? How on earth do you decide? Apart from getting some sort of handle on how the technical stuff works, I hope to go some way towards finding answers to the subtler aesthetic questions too. Not much to ask is it?....... ;) :rolleyes:

The dreaded Flickr page (only one page so far) Chris C333's photostream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisandvicki/)

Good luck to you all with your photography.

Cheers,

Chris

[rene52]

Firstly - welcome to the site - I hope you do stick around and post some photos for us all to see how your journey goes.

In regards to the main part of your story - a photo is only as good as the person who views it thinks it is (well not entirely true but mainly true). You will find what you so aptly call 'bland' photos everywhere and people will ( as long as they get some good feedback) improve as time goes on. I am not one to delete old photos (or even not take a photo based on first thoughts either) as I feel there is always something in the photo that I saw and that I liked. To become a professional photographer takes a lot of learning (and I believe that we all are doing that everytime we take a photo and post it to get feedback) and also a lot of money. As you said the 600D is an entry level but this is still quite a bit of money for a 'learners' tool. To progress you would need to either pay a reasonable amount for some good glass (lens) and/or a full frame camera. I am still amazed at the difference that I see in similar shots from my 7D to a 5D Mark II.
I do enjoy photography and enjoy passing on my enthusiasm to others - again welcome and get out there and learn.

[Wayne63]

Welcome to AP Chris, Enjoy the site and look forward to seeing some of your pics in the forums soon

[Kym]

:gday: & Welcome
- lets see some photos in the main CC forums (http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/forumdisplay.php?5) maybe try a competition or 2 and have fun!


Maybe have a look at the New to Photography (http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showlibrary.php?title=Books:New_To_Photography_Book) book and the Learning Plan in the book.

[Chris C]

Thanks very much for the welcome posts. :)

I've bookmarked the New To Photography book and plan and am now already enjoying the information. Very useful indeed. Thanks very much to all those who contributed to it.


Yes, rene52, I agree with your point that there was usually something 'there' in the photo to make you take it in the first place, and I'm looking forward to gaining the skills to bring it out. For instance, I noticed that a nearby camera club had "Patterns of Nature" for one of their monthly subjects which prompted me to walk around our bush block taking pictures. My problem is that it nearly ALL looks good to my newbie eyes, and I'm liking just about anything that had a natural subject and is reasonably in focus. :o So I'm looking forward to doing a lot more reading here, studying what others do, and then putting up some of my attempts to learn what I could or should have done to lift it up a notch or three. I got some reasonable shots of the bark on an old tree yesterday which intrigued me, but well.... others may not share that view. It would most probably be "Right, it's tree bark. So what?" :rolleyes: When I've read through all the rules about posting I'll put a picture or two up and see what I learn. Some of the posters here seem incredibly generous with their tips and time.

Cheers,

Chris

[Mark L]

Well Chris, welcome to AP, though more importantly, welcome to the world of DSLR photography.

[Kel]

G'day and Welcome to the site, hope to see you around the forums

[Chinook]

A very warm welcome to the site Chris good to have youon board.

Just Start clicking away and posting some pics for CC and you will be suprised how quickly you will learn.
This site has been a great help to me. I am in the foothiils of Perth.
I also belong to the Gem Camera Club in Kalamunda open to photographers of all levels.

How lucky to get a great gift from your wife now the cooler days are here it may be easier to get out and start taking pics. Have fun and enjoy!!!:):th3:

[Chris C]

A very warm welcome to the site Chris good to have youon board.

Just Start clicking away and posting some pics for CC and you will be suprised how quickly you will learn.
This site has been a great help to me. I am in the foothiils of Perth.
I also belong to the Gem Camera Club in Kalamunda open to photographers of all levels.


Thanks Chinook. :) How do you find the Gem club? I went along for a guest visit a couple of weeks ago, and it was a mixed experience. The night's topic was photo storage on computer, which I guess is very good to know about. But watching someone fiddle with a computer is OK for about one minute and then nothing really sticks unless you're actually doing it yourself. The speaker wasn't easy to hear at the back of the hall, and the projected image was hard to see from that distance, so I didn't really learn much - except that good old Ric can talk for one and a half solid hours!! Fortunately, what saved it from being the dullest night of my entire life was that the photos he was using as examples were very good. I was also interested to see a lady there with what looked like the sort of basket that might carry a small baby, but which contained a rather cute little black dog! She had cleverly brought her laptop along - perhaps to while away the duller moments, and spent the evening working on it. :)

I've heard some good reports about the club in general though. Ric and Ailsa told me that they have had something of an rash of new members lately, so perhaps they're 'fully stocked' with newcomers. I should try again later anyway.

Cheers,

Chris

[Epicaricacy]

Hi and welcome Chris.

I'm in Carmel, and have ever heard of the gem club (gems in Kalamunda usually refer to the oldies polishing stones for sale at the craft wagon next to the library)

Is it more than just lectures on the type of stuff you referred to? Where do I find more info?

cheers

[Chris C]

Hi and welcome Chris.

I'm in Carmel, and have ever heard of the gem club (gems in Kalamunda usually refer to the oldies polishing stones for sale at the craft wagon next to the library)

Is it more than just lectures on the type of stuff you referred to? Where do I find more info?

cheers

Hi,

No, it's definitely not just lectures. There's the usual regular monthly competitions and commentary, group photographic outings etc. They were discussing an outing to somewhere like the Pilbara (I think???) when i was there. More than just a trip to the local park anyway. More info at their web site:

Gem Camera Club Kalamunda (http://www.gemcameraclub.com.au/index.html)

Apologies if that bends any rules about posting links, but I have no connection to the club and it's not a commercial organisation in the usual sense of selling something. If the link gets scrubbed just Google the obvious words.

Cheers,

Chris

[Blueywa]

Welcome Chris,
A nice part of town to play with the camera.
I really enjoy the John Forrest Park and Mundaring Weir area...


http://www.swanvalleycameraclub.org.au/

[selaw]

Welcome Chris, you're sure to enjoy your stay with AP :)

[clcapope]

Hello Chris
I live in the Perth Hills as well and we are certainly not sure of subject material in this area

There is also the Swan Hills Photographic Society in Mundaring 3 Cragie Place MUNDARING WA, 6073, not that I have been there myself but it is closer to you than Kalamunda !!

Enjoy the camera, enjoy the photography

[Chinook]

HI Chris,

I think you must have turned up on one of the nights that they were teaching about your computer files etc. I missed that week but most months and the 101's at Rick & Ailsa's house are excellent and I have never been bored.
They have a great range or knowledge and judges. Lots of local outings as well as the ones down sounth and up north. Clubs are good but I must say I picked up most of what skills I have done here on AP. Love the site and a great bunch of friendly people and a fantastic range of stuff for people wanting to learn. If I have ever wanted to know something people are most helpful. I was very unsure at first to put up my pics because I saw so many that were so much better than I hoped I would ever be able to produce. Have fun take some pics and pop them up and maybe the other clubs may be closer to you. Worth trying Gem again if you are close by.:)

[Chris C]

Thanks very much to rene52, Wayne63, Kym, Mark L, Kel, Chinook, Epicaricacy, Blueywa, selaw and clcapope for the welcomes. Thank you all for taking the time to encourage a newcomer. It's much appreciated. :)




Hello Chris
I live in the Perth Hills as well and we are certainly not sure of subject material in this area

There is also the Swan Hills Photographic Society in Mundaring 3 Cragie Place MUNDARING WA, 6073, not that I have been there myself but it is closer to you than Kalamunda !!

Enjoy the camera, enjoy the photography

Thanks, maybe I'll see you there sometime? I went to one of their meetings a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. A small but very friendly group, with some even coming from Northam. I'm planning to join next month.

I also had the Swan Valley one ( that Blueywa mentioned) on my list of three to visit. They have a great web site and look very newbie friendly, but Ellenbrook mat be just a tad too far. Might try it eventually though. Some friends of mine are are very involved with the Workshop club in who meet in the Riverton area, but it's a bit of a journey from here. It's a very active club though.

Cheers,

Chris

[Tommo1965]

hi Chris and welcome.....mundaring is awesome...:)