Thanks to Matt Mullenweg who loaned me his Lumix GF-1 and Tim who gave me the most awesome, Hot Shots book, now I am obsessed with taking pictures of flowers and fauna. Eventually I will get to being good, but here are a few I took when walking around Los Angeles this week. Any tips and suggestions? I am all ears.
chase the light you like, not the subject.
Agreed. I am trying to do that. 🙂
Google Plus has the best photographer community. You can find me here https://plus.google.com/u/0/107607283928071930737/posts and then create your own circle of photogs. Nice shots. aE
Read “Photography and the Art of Seeing” by Freeman Patterson. Best book I’ve read about finding and seeing pictures before you even touch your camera. Composition and light are everything.
The Panasonic-built Leica lenses in the Lumix series allow for a terrific depth of field – which means you can play around a lot with the shallowness or depth of field as you see fit. Everyone finds a different way to do that. Modulating shutter speed, aperture, both.
I’m a shutter speed fan, and the newest software in the Lumix series makes it easy to switch into macro mode a few different ways. That means you can get really close to your subject and vary how the background fits into the image.
If it doesn’t hinder your flexibility, try a monopod. Allows pretty slow speeds for when you want the greatest depth of field. And the Lumix are a great choice both for software and lens.
I have 2. One that stays in my pocket all the time outdoors. Another “big” one for going back to a choice spot for serious work.
Matt has good taste in cameras as well as friends. :-]
Don’t get caught up in technical issues. Forget words like nice and beautiful, fight the urge to create photographic clichés, and avoid “photographic communities” and regression to the mean. Strive to find your own voice, try to say something unique with your images.
They already seem pretty good! There are a few that stand out, and probably for the reason on the previous comment: good lighting. I can understand your obsession. I recently went to a photography workshop that featured wildlife photography. It was really inspiring, and here are my favourite tips or “rules” of photography:
* the rule of thirds (which you can break, but it’s a good starting point)
* the simpler, the better. Avoid clutter
* Taking pictures at dawn or dusk usually gives the best lighting
Enjoy your photography! 🙂