5 ms·

A good camera goes a long way in the hands of a skilled photographer. I could use the best camera and still my photos would look like it came from a potato.

by 1-6 6y ago

x3iv130f 6y ago
Good photographers spend a lot of time editing and curating their photos. Everyone takes potato quality photos from time to time.
- ghaff 6y ago
  Good photographers may have better eyes/skills/technique. They also put the time and effort to be in the right place and the right time. And, as you say, you see a tiny fraction of what they shoot--after it's all been edited. I'm not remotely in the class of top photographers but my Flickr feed is a very curated version of the pictures I take. (How curated being somewhat a function of why I'm uploading.)
- 1-6 6y ago
  Apple Photos and Google Photos have started to assemble nice slideshows with music. Now they're doing face recognition. I think there's great potential for ML to curate the photos for me. I hope my phone can one day present to me low quality vs high quality images based on exposure, focus, and composure. I can then swipe left or right to keep or delete. There's nothing more exhausting than having to sort through photos after a vacation :-)
vel0city 6y ago
The two main tricks I'd recommend to not take potato-quality pictures are lighting and framing/composing. Asking yourself a few questions about the lighting situation (which way is the light coming from? Is my foreground darker than my background? should I take the shot from the other direction, if possible?) will help a good bit to start. For a quick idea on composing, think about the rule of thirds and the golden ratio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds https://www.apogeephoto.com/how-to-use-the-golden-ratio-to-improve-your-photography/ https://www.apogeephoto.com/how-to-use-the-golden-ratio-to-i... Just these two concepts will get you started taking much better photos than most unskilled photographers, and at least I find it doesn't take me too much time to give a second or two thought to them. I'd encourage you to turn on a rule of thirds layer on your camera, it'll start to make it really easy to do some quick composition.
- kokey 6y ago
  I'm nodding in agreement here. For composing I would suggest people also look into cropping the photos before sharing them to get to the golden ratio or rule of thirds. It's usually a really quick and simple edit to make and it makes a huge difference. I would also add a third useful concept: find ways to hold the camera still when taking the photo. This can be by using a delay timer, or use the volume button instead of the on screen button, or just holding the phone differently.

A good camera goes a long way in the hands of a skilled photographer. I could use the best camera and still my photos would look like it came from a potato.

by 1-6 6y ago

A good camera goes a long way in the hands of a skilled photographer. I could use the best camera and still my photos would look like it came from a potato.

x3iv130f 6y ago

Good photographers spend a lot of time editing and curating their photos. Everyone takes potato quality photos from time to time.

ghaff 6y ago
Good photographers may have better eyes/skills/technique. They also put the time and effort to be in the right place and the right time. And, as you say, you see a tiny fraction of what they shoot--after it's all been edited. I'm not remotely in the class of top photographers but my Flickr feed is a very curated version of the pictures I take. (How curated being somewhat a function of why I'm uploading.)
1-6 6y ago
Apple Photos and Google Photos have started to assemble nice slideshows with music. Now they're doing face recognition. I think there's great potential for ML to curate the photos for me. I hope my phone can one day present to me low quality vs high quality images based on exposure, focus, and composure. I can then swipe left or right to keep or delete. There's nothing more exhausting than having to sort through photos after a vacation :-)

vel0city 6y ago

The two main tricks I'd recommend to not take potato-quality pictures are lighting and framing/composing. Asking yourself a few questions about the lighting situation (which way is the light coming from? Is my foreground darker than my background? should I take the shot from the other direction, if possible?) will help a good bit to start. For a quick idea on composing, think about the rule of thirds and the golden ratio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds https://www.apogeephoto.com/how-to-use-the-golden-ratio-to-improve-your-photography/ https://www.apogeephoto.com/how-to-use-the-golden-ratio-to-i... Just these two concepts will get you started taking much better photos than most unskilled photographers, and at least I find it doesn't take me too much time to give a second or two thought to them. I'd encourage you to turn on a rule of thirds layer on your camera, it'll start to make it really easy to do some quick composition.

kokey 6y ago
I'm nodding in agreement here. For composing I would suggest people also look into cropping the photos before sharing them to get to the golden ratio or rule of thirds. It's usually a really quick and simple edit to make and it makes a huge difference. I would also add a third useful concept: find ways to hold the camera still when taking the photo. This can be by using a delay timer, or use the volume button instead of the on screen button, or just holding the phone differently.