Good photography forums

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JamesG
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Good photography forums

Post by JamesG »

Hello,

I am wondering whether any photography enthusiasts on Bogleheads can recommend one or two good photography forums that they follow?

Perhaps an impossible benchmark to which to aspire - but I am wondering whether you have found anything approaching the quality of the Bogleheads forum - but in the photography hobbyist space!

I would be very grateful for your recommendations.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.
He who has a garden and a library wants for nothing. Cicero.
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tennisplyr
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by tennisplyr »

This may not be exactly what you're looking for but take a look.

https://gurushots.com/photo_contest
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exodusing
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by exodusing »

Long a leading forum. Earlier this year it announced it was shutting down, yet it keeps going: https://www.dpreview.com/forums

A replacement: https://dprevived.com/
livesoft
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by livesoft »

Wiki This signature message sponsored by sscritic: Learn to fish.
TetrisCollider
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by TetrisCollider »

Give this one a try - it's pretty close to how Bogleheads is run:

https://photographylife.com/
For some reason, people that know nothing, seem to know everything...
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rob
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by rob »

If you like shooting and doing competitions - Give dpchallenge.com a go... It's a shadow of its former self (sadly) but if you like that sort of comp it's a great site and a bit different from the usual. fredmiranda is the other great site IMO.
| Rob | Its a dangerous business going out your front door. - J.R.R.Tolkien
pomomojo
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by pomomojo »

I'm second Fredmiranda. It has a active set of users, and skews towards advanced hobbyists and working professionals. The most active photogs have a generous budgets for their hobby and use mostly professional level gear. Photographylife is not as highly trafficked.

Photography-on-the-net is also good, though I frequent that site less often. Are you looking to improve or just want to read up on general information? There are also specific content blogs and youtube channels that I enjoy immensely. Both B&H and Adorama have a plethora of different free instructional videos. The quality varies between different presenters, but overall I found them a worthwhile use of my time. As far as flash photography is concerned, the Strobist is a wonderful introduction into off camera flash.
iamlucky13
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by iamlucky13 »

exodusing wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 6:15 pm Long a leading forum. Earlier this year it announced it was shutting down, yet it keeps going: https://www.dpreview.com/forums

A replacement: https://dprevived.com/

Interesting. We knew the content would be kept online for a while. I'm only moderately surprised they let the forums stay active, as it seemed viable to subsist on community moderation and part time tech support unless and until any major issues arose. On the other hand, they did say specifically that they were going to lock the site by April 10.

I'm very surprised to see they're still publishing reviews, so their content staff are still on the payroll, which I assume comprise the biggest share of their operating costs. They did say they would finish up reviews they had already started, but that was over 2 months ago, and was presumed to be subject to the same April 10 date. The latest articles include a preview of the Leica Q3 and a fairly detailed "initial review" of the Fuji X-S20, both of which were announced only 2 days ago.

I wonder if the announcement of the closure generated enough attention that there was a bump in traffic sufficient to justify extending operations and see how it goes. The latest management update seems careful to avoid giving any hints:

https://www.dpreview.com/news/899578412 ... -an-update
Last edited by iamlucky13 on Fri May 26, 2023 9:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.
DownToThis
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by DownToThis »

If you're interested in wildlife photography I highly recommend Steve Perry's website and tutorials. His books are great and very easy to follow along. The website is backcountrygallery.com. the forums are some of the most supportive and informative I've seen as well. Everyone is very friendly and the content/pictures people post are simply incredible.
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by rob »

pomomojo wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 8:30 pmAs far as flash photography is concerned, the Strobist is a wonderful introduction into off camera flash.
Cannot believe that I forgot David.... Yeah for flash & lighting off camera - there is none equal. I would add Zack Arias & Joe McNally (especially if you Nikon) to the list for flash topics also.
| Rob | Its a dangerous business going out your front door. - J.R.R.Tolkien
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JamesG
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by JamesG »

These suggestions are fantastic. Thank you everyone for your generous time and ideas. The forums look great, and the competition sites look like they could be a lot of fun. I have been looking for forums that I could read in the evenings just for improvements and ideas, and for a bit of fun. I did not know about competition sites like gurushots, which look like they could be a great way to build skills on diverse subjects while having some fun.

I am spending more time on the hobby after something of a covid-induced slump, as most of my photography has been related to travel and family events, which suffered over the past few years. We bought our daughter a Canon R10 for Christmas, and she and I have been enjoying taking our cameras out and about and shooting together. This has motivated me to place an order for an R6 mkii to replace my twelve year old 60D. I have accumulated some good lenses over the years for the 60D, which I have been trying out with a mount adaptor on my daughter’s excellent R10, so I’m really looking forward to the R6 arriving!

Thanks again!
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Sandtrap
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by Sandtrap »

JamesG wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 5:46 pm Hello,

I am wondering whether any photography enthusiasts on Bogleheads can recommend one or two good photography forums that they follow?

Perhaps an impossible benchmark to which to aspire - but I am wondering whether you have found anything approaching the quality of the Bogleheads forum - but in the photography hobbyist space!

I would be very grateful for your recommendations.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.
One of the oldest and largest and most popular, globally, photography everything forums online.
Select the sub forums that fit your interests, from beginner to amateur to serious to pro.
Be inspired.
Photography and gear, etc.
"Photography on the Net"
https://photography-on-the.net/index.php

Do not be swept up by the current "film" retro fad. Photography is photography. It's the photographer, not the gizmo, that makes "iconic" photographic imagery as seen in National Geographic and Time/Life, etc.

****The photographer/phy community is highly supportive and there are outstanding high level "boglehead" photographers here,too. Check out the long running "birds" thread here.

To OP:
Above all, have fun, feel the pleasant inspiration and "humble admiration" for excellent photography, the kind of images that convey emotion, and the purity of the moment. As a "hobby", there are all types of hobbyists; some that try things and quit things, or burnout, or become judgemental or "know it alls/snobs, etc.
So....remain true to one's own path on these things, and let each of our passions enrich our lives as we pursue them, like a child with a first bicycle, then motorcycle, then Porche, or . . . with a bicycle.

j :D
dis dis laimer: zillions of ways to things and opinionizations and onions based on nil to zero to extensive personal and professional experience and implicit and explicit cognitive psychology, et al. This is only one. :D :D
Last edited by Sandtrap on Sun May 28, 2023 7:33 am, edited 3 times in total.
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TN_Boy
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by TN_Boy »

DownToThis wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 9:09 pm If you're interested in wildlife photography I highly recommend Steve Perry's website and tutorials. His books are great and very easy to follow along. The website is backcountrygallery.com. the forums are some of the most supportive and informative I've seen as well. Everyone is very friendly and the content/pictures people post are simply incredible.
I agree, his ebooks and videos are quite good, and there are some active forums there. Definitely good for the wildlife photographer.
ErRyTour
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by ErRyTour »

As others have suggested, fredmiranda.com.

Also, naturescapes.net
A. L. Breguet
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by A. L. Breguet »

https://discuss.pixls.us

This is a small, friendly community with some very knowledgeable people. A unifying thread here is--to a large extent--enthusiasm for free raw development and other imaging software like Raw Therapee (which I use), Dark Table, GIMP, and the like.
Mr. Buzzkill
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by Mr. Buzzkill »

Are you looking for equipment reviews and measure-bating over tech specs?

Or serious discussion of the art and craft of fine photography?

If you wish to just socialize online with other photographers, then I think any forum will do. Google for them. Try each until you stick with one.

Do you wish to be a better photographer, however you define that for a subjective medium? Ansel Adams wrote that a “good” photograph is one that creates an emotional resonance in the person viewing it ( I.e., without regard to objective quality).

Photography was my avocation long before online forums on photography were a thing. I managed to do some professional photography work in my twenties, and won first place in the first juried photography contest to which I was not too insecure to submit my work.

I went from amateur snap shooter, spraying and praying with my camera and obsessing over gear, to aspiring artist by:

1) reading the words of greats and looking at the their works, like
- Ansel Adams (whose Time-Life series of books The Camera, The Negative, and The Print taught me to truly understand the mechanics of non-automatic exposure and and non-autofocus photography and the effect on results)
- Galen Rowell whose thoughtful magazine columns taught me to stop photographing things and to start photographing light as it falls on things, a subtle distinction with profound implications for intent of the photographer (in the 1990s I actually got to meet Rowell in person).

2) analyzing and critiquing the works of the great and not great photographers: what I liked or disliked about each photo, what I would do differently, trying to understand and figure out how they made each photo

3) ruthlessly critiquing my own work the same way, figuring out how I could have made each image better, what I would have done differently if I could do it over.

I’ve put aside my photography completely for other priorities but if I was still into it, I’d skip online forums. Photographers should be out shooting, not spending much time and effort online that could be spent shooting.

Just my cynical opinion…
A strategy that works only in bull markets isn’t much of a strategy. Anyway, four dollars a pound.
TN_Boy
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by TN_Boy »

Mr. Buzzkill wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 7:23 am Are you looking for equipment reviews and measure-bating over tech specs?

Or serious discussion of the art and craft of fine photography?

If you wish to just socialize online with other photographers, then I think any forum will do. Google for them. Try each until you stick with one.

Do you wish to be a better photographer, however you define that for a subjective medium? Ansel Adams wrote that a “good” photograph is one that creates an emotional resonance in the person viewing it ( I.e., without regard to objective quality).

Photography was my avocation long before online forums on photography were a thing. I managed to do some professional photography work in my twenties, and won first place in the first juried photography contest to which I was not too insecure to submit my work.

I went from amateur snap shooter, spraying and praying with my camera and obsessing over gear, to aspiring artist by:

1) reading the words of greats and looking at the their works, like
- Ansel Adams (whose Time-Life series of books The Camera, The Negative, and The Print taught me to truly understand the mechanics of non-automatic exposure and and non-autofocus photography and the effect on results)
- Galen Rowell whose thoughtful magazine columns taught me to stop photographing things and to start photographing light as it falls on things, a subtle distinction with profound implications for intent of the photographer (in the 1990s I actually got to meet Rowell in person).

2) analyzing and critiquing the works of the great and not great photographers: what I liked or disliked about each photo, what I would do differently, trying to understand and figure out how they made each photo

3) ruthlessly critiquing my own work the same way, figuring out how I could have made each image better, what I would have done differently if I could do it over.

I’ve put aside my photography completely for other priorities but if I was still into it, I’d skip online forums. Photographers should be out shooting, not spending much time and effort online that could be spent shooting.

Just my cynical opinion…
And I'm going to disagree, mostly, with your cynical opinion. Sure, you can go to forums and wind up debating the finer points of a given Canon or Nikon for dozens of posts and that's not going to improve your photography.

I'd agree studying the works (and sometimes the words) of great photographers is a fine idea.

But the forums available now give you a lot of options. Plenty of them allow you to post "how do I" type questions about technique, and quickly get answers. Or take the back country gallery site mentioned by a couple of us. It has a Nature Photography Critique Forum expressly designed for people to post pictures and get feedback. You can take a picture in the morning, post it, and get constructive feedback within the hour on composition, post-processing choices, etc etc.

Plus photographic equipment is very very complex now. Some of the questions I've seen concern general techniques* plus camera specific puzzlement. I recall one thread in a forum where a poster was asking about BIF shots. The person understood the shutter speeds needed (general knowledge) but was not aware of the various autofocus options on their Nikon (for their camera group-area was the right choice for BIF most of the time). Those sorts of questions are real and can be answered in forums. It's the dreaded "technical stuff" that some like to turn their noses up at, but knowing the right answers for some of the technical questions when doing sports and wildlife result in more successful photography.

Put another way, forums can help greatly with understanding technical issues using today's complicated digital cameras, but they can also be used to seek constructive input on pictures.

* I'll note the general technique of using back button focus, for example, greatly improved my bird photography.
TN_Boy
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by TN_Boy »

A. L. Breguet wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 1:27 am https://discuss.pixls.us

This is a small, friendly community with some very knowledgeable people. A unifying thread here is--to a large extent--enthusiasm for free raw development and other imaging software like Raw Therapee (which I use), Dark Table, GIMP, and the like.
A lot of people like messing with the free stuff, and if you are a die-hard Linux fan, or just can't bring yourself to pay for software, I guess that is good. It's nice to have a forum dedicated to those tools.

A bit of a tangent I guess, but I will say I think the current Adobe subscription price of about $10 a month for Lightroom and Photoshop is actually a steal. I wasn't happy at first when they moved to a subscription model, but they've done a good job routinely adding new useful features to Lightroom (I don't use Photoshop that much).
TN_Boy
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by TN_Boy »

Sandtrap wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 6:57 pm
stuff deleted

Do not be swept up by the current "film" retro fad. Photography is photography. It's the photographer, not the gizmo, that makes "iconic" photographic imagery as seen in National Geographic and Time/Life, etc.

stuff deleted
It's funny, but I got out of photography for years because I grew to hate dealing with film. Every time I opened the shutter I'm thinking that just cost me a quarter ..... Then light conditions change and the 200 ISO film in the camera is just ... not ... the right answer. Or I send a roll
off and the shop does a poor job with the print. Arg. Painful.

Now with today's digital cameras every shot is free unless I get it printed, and I can get instant feedback on it. And the image quality is awesome.
JD2775
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by JD2775 »

DownToThis wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 9:09 pm If you're interested in wildlife photography I highly recommend Steve Perry's website and tutorials. His books are great and very easy to follow along. The website is backcountrygallery.com. the forums are some of the most supportive and informative I've seen as well. Everyone is very friendly and the content/pictures people post are simply incredible.
I had no idea that site existed. His work (along with the others who post there) is really good. Thanks for the link, bookmarked!
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Sandtrap
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by Sandtrap »

TN_Boy wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 9:02 am
Sandtrap wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 6:57 pm
stuff deleted

Do not be swept up by the current "film" retro fad. Photography is photography. It's the photographer, not the gizmo, that makes "iconic" photographic imagery as seen in National Geographic and Time/Life, etc.

stuff deleted
It's funny, but I got out of photography for years because I grew to hate dealing with film. Every time I opened the shutter I'm thinking that just cost me a quarter ..... Then light conditions change and the 200 ISO film in the camera is just ... not ... the right answer. Or I send a roll
off and the shop does a poor job with the print. Arg. Painful.

Now with today's digital cameras every shot is free unless I get it printed, and I can get instant feedback on it. And the image quality is awesome.
+1
DW and I were serious amateur photographers (she was pro and paid, featured in magazines, etc) since the days of the Nikon F1 and, as you say, film. Even with shooting B n W and a home lab, it costed money for every click of the shutter. And, hours spent in the darkroom doing the same fundamentals that are in Photoshop/Lightroom/Capture One, etc, now.
All our platforms were "full frame".

We got on with the lst digital cameras and software which was primitive. And, still kept up with film work.
But, slowly, with the advent of the Canon and Nikon "full frame" digital cameras, all the Pro's got on board with this. Then, medium format digital hit, and all the Vogue and studio and other Pro's got on board with that right away. Computer systems and software costed a fortune and the learning curve was steep.

Now, our portfolios on Getty, Adobe, Shutterstock, etc, as well as product photoshoots , studio and location work, have to meet the ever rising highest standards of resolution, composition, etc, because the best "Pros" in the industry globally keep getting better and better, as well as the technology. Sony used to dominate the "full frame" pro end but now, Nikon and Canon are fully on board. This doesn't mean the death of non mirrorless or the "megapixel" marketing wars, though. IE: 20 mp on a full frame sensor still means bigger "eyes" with greater saturation, than 45 mp full frame "tiny eyes but more of them". And, various Pro's (international) have all their opinions on that as well.
IE: the new Canon R5 and Pro "L" lense matches are formidable. And, at around 45 mp, impressive. But, we shall see how it holds up.

(of course there are always niche, fad, brag, etc, things like, "I shoot film", "I only use "Leica" and "Rolex", and all that, which is fun for each of those things and folks)

All of this is exciting to see the technology evolve and how Pro's are responding. Of course, the "work" is still exceptional at the highest levels regardless of the tech. Because, after all, it's the "photographer"/artist...not the tech or the paint brush.

Always enjoy your pro input.
j :D :D
I shot this one with an Olympus OMDE Mk III (micro 4/3 sensor) and a pro lens, neutral density filter at sunset, polarizer. Coronado Beach, San Diego. Couple years ago.
Image
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Mr. Buzzkill
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by Mr. Buzzkill »

TN_Boy wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 9:02 am
Sandtrap wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 6:57 pm
stuff deleted

Do not be swept up by the current "film" retro fad. Photography is photography. It's the photographer, not the gizmo, that makes "iconic" photographic imagery as seen in National Geographic and Time/Life, etc.

stuff deleted
It's funny, but I got out of photography for years because I grew to hate dealing with film. Every time I opened the shutter I'm thinking that just cost me a quarter ..... Then light conditions change and the 200 ISO film in the camera is just ... not ... the right answer. Or I send a roll
off and the shop does a poor job with the print. Arg. Painful.

Now with today's digital cameras every shot is free unless I get it printed, and I can get instant feedback on it. And the image quality is awesome.
I agree, I hated wet darkroom work but did it reasonably well. But having that background helped me master digital editing because I knew what I wanted to achieve for each digital image even though I always tried to make the image in-camera as close to finished as I could before downloading for editing.
A strategy that works only in bull markets isn’t much of a strategy. Anyway, four dollars a pound.
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Sandtrap
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by Sandtrap »

Mr. Buzzkill wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 12:30 pm
TN_Boy wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 9:02 am
Sandtrap wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 6:57 pm
stuff deleted

Do not be swept up by the current "film" retro fad. Photography is photography. It's the photographer, not the gizmo, that makes "iconic" photographic imagery as seen in National Geographic and Time/Life, etc.

stuff deleted
It's funny, but I got out of photography for years because I grew to hate dealing with film. Every time I opened the shutter I'm thinking that just cost me a quarter ..... Then light conditions change and the 200 ISO film in the camera is just ... not ... the right answer. Or I send a roll
off and the shop does a poor job with the print. Arg. Painful.

Now with today's digital cameras every shot is free unless I get it printed, and I can get instant feedback on it. And the image quality is awesome.
I agree, I hated wet darkroom work but did it reasonably well. But having that background helped me master digital editing because I knew what I wanted to achieve for each digital image even though I always tried to make the image in-camera as close to finished as I could before downloading for editing.
+1
The beginning computer post processing programs used the same "terms" and "techniques" is in the darkroom; "dodge", "burn", "exposure", etc.
Except no stinky smells and toxic chemicals, etc.

There is a lot lost from the time one "sees" an iconic image, then attempts to "capture that emotion, etc" with the camera (any camera or cell phone or film or what doesn't matter", the digital processing from in camera to etc in computer post, takes out even more. The attempt in post is to try to bring back all that was lost and have the resultant image, whether digital viewed forever or mounted on a wall 6 feet high, so that the image and emotionall content that took place at the time of the shot, is fully restored. (not enhanced or AI or changed substantively). Good examples are images that were seen in Time/Life Magazine or National Geographic, or even the best of high european fashion medium format shots that are iconic and timeless.
For some, snapshots are great and capture a moment that is meaningful or memorable. For others....there are so many ways to these things. The camera is a tool, like a typewriter captures prose, like a pencil on paper sketch, etc. All are tools to convey to others what the artist had seen in the mind's "eye".

And, cameras and lenses, and various platforms, are all added to the craftsman's toolbox, much like a set of fine Swiss wood carving chisels, etc.
j :D :D
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TN_Boy
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by TN_Boy »

Sandtrap wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 4:14 pm
Mr. Buzzkill wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 12:30 pm
TN_Boy wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 9:02 am
Sandtrap wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 6:57 pm
stuff deleted

Do not be swept up by the current "film" retro fad. Photography is photography. It's the photographer, not the gizmo, that makes "iconic" photographic imagery as seen in National Geographic and Time/Life, etc.

stuff deleted
It's funny, but I got out of photography for years because I grew to hate dealing with film. Every time I opened the shutter I'm thinking that just cost me a quarter ..... Then light conditions change and the 200 ISO film in the camera is just ... not ... the right answer. Or I send a roll
off and the shop does a poor job with the print. Arg. Painful.

Now with today's digital cameras every shot is free unless I get it printed, and I can get instant feedback on it. And the image quality is awesome.
I agree, I hated wet darkroom work but did it reasonably well. But having that background helped me master digital editing because I knew what I wanted to achieve for each digital image even though I always tried to make the image in-camera as close to finished as I could before downloading for editing.
+1
The beginning computer post processing programs used the same "terms" and "techniques" is in the darkroom; "dodge", "burn", "exposure", etc.
Except no stinky smells and toxic chemicals, etc.

j
I avoided all that darkroom joy .... though in some ways it is almost "too easy" now to get the right exposure, crop etc. When I'm shooting a landscape type picture and have time, I certainly try and get the exposure and composition exactly what I like in camera .... though even then, in a shot with a wide dynamic range, I may pull shadows up a bit, etc in post-processing. The human eye has a wider dynamic range than the cameras do and you might have to underexpose a bit to keep from blowing highlights. Still, it's easier to get right in camera most of the time in a static scene.

But if you are shooting wildlife and such the ability to shoot in RAW mode and then adjust things in post-processing is awesome. It's almost impossible to get the exposure and composition right all the time in situations where critters are moving, in and out of shadows ... at least for me.

Yeah digital photography!
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by pomomojo »

TN_Boy wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 8:51 am And I'm going to disagree, mostly, with your cynical opinion. Sure, you can go to forums and wind up debating the finer points of a given Canon or Nikon for dozens of posts and that's not going to improve your photography.

I'd agree studying the works (and sometimes the words) of great photographers is a fine idea.

But the forums available now give you a lot of options. Plenty of them allow you to post "how do I" type questions about technique, and quickly get answers. Or take the back country gallery site mentioned by a couple of us. It has a Nature Photography Critique Forum expressly designed for people to post pictures and get feedback. You can take a picture in the morning, post it, and get constructive feedback within the hour on composition, post-processing choices, etc etc.

Put another way, forums can help greatly with understanding technical issues using today's complicated digital cameras, but they can also be used to seek constructive input on pictures.
I have to agree with TN Boy about the utility of visiting a dedicated photo forum or hobbyist forum. Photography is an artistic medium, yet there are a slew of different sub-genres that require vastly different techniques. Technology has had a tremendous impact on the quality of work that can be produced by hobbyists. Being technically proficient in both the initial capture of images and post production, can have a meaningful influence on the impact of a finished work. We can all study the works of Ansel Adams or Helmut Newton, but not everyone has access to beautiful National Parks or runway models to hone their craft. And some of the more modern forms of photography only have a limited examples that predate the digital era due to aforementioned technological innovations (focus stacking in macro photography).
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rob
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Re: Good photography forums

Post by rob »

pomomojo wrote: Wed May 31, 2023 9:12 pm
TN_Boy wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 8:51 am And I'm going to disagree, mostly, with your cynical opinion. Sure, you can go to forums and wind up debating the finer points of a given Canon or Nikon for dozens of posts and that's not going to improve your photography.

I'd agree studying the works (and sometimes the words) of great photographers is a fine idea.

But the forums available now give you a lot of options. Plenty of them allow you to post "how do I" type questions about technique, and quickly get answers. Or take the back country gallery site mentioned by a couple of us. It has a Nature Photography Critique Forum expressly designed for people to post pictures and get feedback. You can take a picture in the morning, post it, and get constructive feedback within the hour on composition, post-processing choices, etc etc.

Put another way, forums can help greatly with understanding technical issues using today's complicated digital cameras, but they can also be used to seek constructive input on pictures.
I have to agree with TN Boy about the utility of visiting a dedicated photo forum or hobbyist forum. Photography is an artistic medium, yet there are a slew of different sub-genres that require vastly different techniques. Technology has had a tremendous impact on the quality of work that can be produced by hobbyists. Being technically proficient in both the initial capture of images and post production, can have a meaningful influence on the impact of a finished work. We can all study the works of Ansel Adams or Helmut Newton, but not everyone has access to beautiful National Parks or runway models to hone their craft. And some of the more modern forms of photography only have a limited examples that predate the digital era due to aforementioned technological innovations (focus stacking in macro photography).
Maybe because I still shoot both for different reasons (and did before film became popular again): I think this whole digital v analogue is overblown (sorry but I'll be here all week)... Adams was a master in the darkroom and yet there are gaggles of people trying to "duplicate" his shots by standing in the same spot, with the same camera & lens, at the same time of year & day based on... I dunno... shadow lengths in his pics (I made that up... but would not surprise me in the least).... It's nonsense in the end because it was his exposure & post work and his image regardless of the mechanics - I have no idea whether he would be analogue or digital today but I bet his images would look like his images.

I agree there is a core technical requirement and that differs depending on what your doing - astro needs to understand the 500 "rule" (I hate using the word rule) & stacking, portrait need to understand flash power and distance becoming a pentagon rather than the usual triangle etc etc.. BUT it can be light (sorry again) in some cases and heavy in other cases.

The issue I have with photo forums (& clubs if your old as dirt like me) - you get this local group-think... You need to match that with what you want to do or what looks interesting and you want to do and ignore the rest. Don't get caught up in that but rather steal info for what you want.... ok.. putting that apple box away now (enough again) ;-)
| Rob | Its a dangerous business going out your front door. - J.R.R.Tolkien
pomomojo
Posts: 109
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2010 12:07 pm

Re: Good photography forums

Post by pomomojo »

FYI, https://photography-on-the.net/index.php shuttered during the past year.

I still read Fredmiranda on a regular basis, but wish there were more resources for an advanced amateur.

I am currently watching videos from Seantuck on youtube. His instructional videos for portrait photography and Lightroom post production are great.
r60rider
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:39 am

Re: Good photography forums

Post by r60rider »

Check out "the photographic eye" on youtube

it is not a forum of course, but and excellent source of information about the art of photography
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