This is the place to ask any questions you may have about photography. No question is too small, nor too stupid.

Hello! I'm looking for a really good structured course that goes in depth on the benefits and unique traits of Lightroom classic and Photoshop. I want to learn the software in and out so I can make editing less of a guessing game and be more confident in how to make my photos really stand out. I know I need more practice but I'm looking for beyond "look at what these sliders do, :D" and more of an in depth analysis of how I can make the most use of the app and create my own frictionless workflow. (sorry I hope that's not too obtuse lol)

Hi,
I've mainly been shooting TFP but am slowly realizing that this create challenges when trying to fit shoots into my schedule so to accommodate I am looking to do some payed shoots.

However I am a bit uncertain about the etiquette regarding final images, it seems a bit strange to pay someone and then give away the images, however I get the feeling that this is the way it's done, am I correct in this or how are you guys doing.

TLDR: if you are paying a model do you give them the images after the shoot and if so with what limitations?

Hello! This is a long shot and I realize that but I’m going to take a leap of faith and hope that at least one person knows what I am talking about.

I’m looking for a photo I saw back in college. This would’ve been somewhere from 2016-2018. I was in a photojournalism program at the time, and I saw a photo that has stuck with me ever since then. I’d really love to be able to find it if anyone knows what I’m talking about.

My professor was showing us a judging of some kind. I think maybe they were picking finalists. We were watching on something similar to a livestream where they would display a photo and the judges would declare it either in or out. (We were just seeing the photo and hearing voices.)

The photo itself was a black and white image that I believe was taken in an abandoned church or similar building. There was a needle stuck into a pew, and the angle the photo was taken at made it look like a cross. The second it came up, my entire class gasped, and then the judge declared it out. It left the screen, and I never saw it again, but I’ve thought about it so many times over the years.

I asked my old professor. His best suggestion was to check out the Best of Photojournalism archives from that year, or dig into College Photographer of the Year archives, but I’d really love to know if this picture sounds familiar to anybody. I wish I knew what contest they were judging, but I believe in the power of the internet! Thanks in advance :)

So, I am currently using pixiset for my booking page, and I'm tired of paying for it. Anyone have any recommendations on free/cheaper alternatives that still are straightforward and professional?

I’m just wondering how many people use their left eye in the viewfinder. I’m a righty but left eye dominate and have always used my left eye when peeping in. I’m looking at an A6700 as a possibility but haven’t held one in person yet. Should I switch the eye used for viewfinder or not?

I have been having an issue. I tried with 2 different emails, I get a message saying "you will be notified within 24 hours if your registration has been accepted" but I haven't gotten a confirmation or anything. I tried to join 3 days ago, then tried again last night. Same deal? I've checked my junk... I have no idea what is going on. Has anyone had success lately? Thanks!

I've had a few cheaper cameras over the years, and they all either got damaged, lost, or I only had them temporarily, and it had been years since I had actually held one until about a month ago where I picked up my mom's canon 80D that she hasn't been using, and it has focused my mind in a way nothing else ever has.

I've had many mental health problems in the past, but they've been drastically reduced, I don't overeat as much, I have been taking care of myself, talking to people significantly more, and there's been no major life changes other than having and using this camera.

I've found myself browsing the prices for mirrorless cameras and photography programs at colleges I'm near, but I just want to know if it would be ridiculous to invest so much time and money into something that I haven't done for long, and is notoriously hard to make a living with.

Idk what kind of answer I'm looking for, but I think everyone I know IRL will be too supportive to potentially give a reality check because of my past mental health problems, so I'm hoping I can trust Redditors to be less polite or people pleasing.

(Also as I reread this I realized I should clarify that to my knowledge I've never had a manic episode)

I slapped on a Polar Pro CP on my drone the day I got it and have never taken it off. I use it mostly for editorial stills but I notice some color shifts and wondering if I should take it off and just do everything in post.

I use it a lot over water for surf and landscape shots of water and coastlines along with other images.

I realise I cant turn the CP once its in the air and realise the angle to the sun will change with the drones position etc but I wonder if the cut down in glare and effect when shooting water is worth it

Would love to hear everyones opinions.

Show off cool photography-related stuff you've created or experienced or any general discussion you'd like to have with the community in the comments of this post! We want to see and discuss your pictures, albums, videos, website... anything, really!

Don't forget that /r/photographs is available all week to post single images for sharing and feedback or critique.

Weekly Community Threads:

Watch this space, more to come!

Monthly Community Threads:

(hopefully the right flair)

Hey fellow shooters,

I'm currently running low-ish on my NAS and are thinking about compressing my older archival footage (about 15tb) to reduce space and would prefer not to buy new drives in the current economy lol.

Do you have experience with the different pros and cons of zip, rar etc and what works best for you? I wouldn't compress them all to one large zip, I think about yearly or maybe even quarterly folders.

Thx for your advice

Edit:
Just tested:
normal folder 14.3gb
zip: 14.0gb
rar: 14.0gb
That’s about 2.1%, for my whole archive 315gb if I’m not mistaken. Not really worth the effort of compressing. Had some hope that there’s that magical compression algorithm I’ve never heard of but seems I’m out of luck and start culling and deleting stuff that’s e.g. out of focus or hope for the AI crash and get cheap drives :D

I have another post wondering whether I should participate and detailing more about how I found them if you're curious.

This post is directed at people wondering if they should participate in this exhibition and it's only meant to explain my experience

Let me preface this by saying I payed a total of 98€ for my two printed fotos.

I got an email about two weeks before the event detailing the day and place and that (and they emphasized this was very important) any people that wanted to come to the event that weren't the artists should RSPV in a website as soon as posible because the attendance was limited. The exposition was 2 days (thursday and friday) for 2h, but opened to artists only and +1s 30 mins before on the first day.

My plan was to get to go to those 30 mins were only allowed, to meet other artists and just enjoy the event. I was there 10 mins late because of public transport.

The first thing I noticed was that no one was at the door, people were free to come in and out as they pleased, which remained the case the whole time I was there. And the second and most obvious one, there was so much people inside, it was crammed. being inside was not pleasant, the gallery was very small and the "halls" were very narrow. you got to see your two pictures one on top of another (which *had* to be vertical according to their emails, although in the gallery there were two pairs of pictures that were horizontal), with your name and instagram in a printed paper in a super small font unreadable unless you were upclose, separating both pictures. Your pictures were separated from your "neighbor's" by like 30 cm.

The vibes there were, caotic and to be honest I think everyone there only wanted to see their pictures. a lot of people taking pictures with their pictures, or just at random spots talking, which would be fine if the gallery hadn't been so narrow. At one point like four friends of the artist next to me were talking in front of my pictures, completely obscuring them. Obviously I don't think it was done on purpose, but it was mildly annoying. I talked to no one and no one talked to me while I was there, but honestly I stayed for less than an hour, maybe 45 mins. I found it quite stressful.

The pictures there were also mixed. It was very obvious some were from professional studio photographers, which was most of the obvious professional ones. And then some were, for lack of a better word, quite bad and amateurish. It was quite a stark contrast.

The second day I attended with some friends. I was honestly a bit sorry that they had to register into a random website to rsvp for there to be no one at the door to check who was entering. We got there right in the middle of the time it was opened, at 1h after it started. Since you were free to take your pictures at any point, half the gallery walls were already empty.

When I asked to take my pictures, I was told to talk to the organizer, he told me he didn't have the chance to meet me the day before and ask if those were my pictures. I said yes and I took them. There was no check of any kind to make sure those pictures I payed almost 100€ for were mine (and tbh also nothing to stop me from just taking them and leaving without telling anyone). He told me not to touch them as to not leave fingerprints. I did touch them after getting home and it didn't feel like the sort of material that would leave fingerprints.

Today I discovered maybe the reason why he said that. The pictures are printed in thick paper and with a cheap plastic frame. After taking the frame out, I discovered that 1. one of my pictures wasn't fully cut, just folded, and 2. that there was a transparent plastic sheet to serve as like "glass" that was between the behind of the frame, a generic photo from a family that frames come with and my picture. I think the print is good quality (but this is from someone who knows nothing about printing), but it is just printed in paper.

So TLDR: the gallery experience sucked, and the price for the print is 0 justified

Hi, I recently moved to Paris and do mostly live music photo.
I was wondering how what could I do to live of my photo, I know it will not be only concert. But I'm a little lost on where to begin with.

I was thinking contacting venue, label but I have the feeling I'm too small for that.
Also I started doing a bit of video as well to maybe offert that idk.

Any advice on this?

I’m curious how much editing people do after they are done with a series. For example 1 day on holiday walking about a city I’ll usually get 200-500 photos depending on what we’re doing. An average photo walk I might get about 100 shots.

For each shooting session I end up with 10-15 images I actually want to edit. Of those 15, maybe 5 I’m really excited for.

Again this is purely as a hobby. I don’t even have Instagram followers to keep up with so my motivation is entirely my own enjoyment.

What does your editing numbers break down to?

https://youtu.be/XyHqqYuEbUo?is=Pkajlr17qTtLTKnW

Hi!

I just finished organising the pictures of my last session and I was wondering:

If you take 100 pictures, how many do you:

Consider good/great
Consider decent and use for posting/family/client
Reject but they fulfill the technical aspect (sharpness, lighting), reasons being for example: doubles, boring, bad composition
Reject because they are straight up garbage (lens cap on, test shots, focus choosing whatever it finds funny at the moment)

I would be happy to know if you are a professional and/or your level of experience to see if this makes a difference!

So for me it would be:

Great: rarely(!) 1-2
Ok: 10-15
Technically correct: 40-50
Garbage: 30

I am an absolute beginner, started photography around a year ago, obviously amateur, shooting DSLR.

Maybe also post how you’re shooting, I think analog will be different than digital.

Thank you!

I’m thinking about sharing something fairly personal on my photography Instagram page.

The story is about a difficult period in my life, how things got to the point where I was considering selling my camera and entire kit, and how photography and more importantly, a few people around me—helped me through that period.

My hesitation is that the page is primarily a photography page, and I’m wondering whether something this personal would feel out of place or overly emotional to an audience that mostly follows me for my photographs.

For photographers who have shared personal experiences, struggles, or stories on their photography pages:
Did it feel like the right thing to do
Or do you think it’s better to keep personal struggles separate from a photography portfolio?

I've been taking photos for years but only just got a decent camera, so have been playing around with settings in a way I previously couldn't. I have pretty bad astigmatism, and I find quite a frequent problem is seeing what I think will be a great picture and then holding up my camera and realising it looks kinda lame without my astigmatism, which obviously the camera doesn't replicate. I'd love to be able to take pictures that replicate my astigmatism and therefore look how I imagine them to, because it's a pain in the arse but especially at night it can be so beautiful.

Does anyone have any advice on settings combos or filters or editing techniques or whatever that could help me take pictures that replicate an astigmatism? Thanks for reading :)

Hello. Some information about me: I have been taking photos with my compact digital since young, but wasn't particularly caring about making my photos interesting or appealing to look. More like I was taking photos for record?

I came to a conclusion I should look at examples of "good" photos first. I don't even know which field of photography I want to shoot, so my current mission is to look at as many photographer's work as possible.

I got a film DSLR recently but I'm trying to work with what I got already, mainly with my XP140 (the compact digital I mentioned).

Please let me know if I'm on the wrong track or something. Thank you so much.

I recently filled in for another photographer who was dealing with an injury and couldn’t photograph two extended family sessions she already had booked. She had photographed these families and their events for years, so they already had an established relationship with her. I was stepping in to help her out and cover the sessions.

I’ve been photographing for a long time, so I wasn’t going into this as a new photographer. That said, I definitely don’t claim to know everything, and this experience gave me some things to learn from and think about going forward.

Both sessions were at the families’ homes, so I worked with the locations and backgrounds that were available to me. I completed both sessions as scheduled and edited and delivered the images the same day.

The first family had no complaints, and everything seemed to go well.

For the second family, I was given a list of all the different family combinations they wanted, and we went down the list one by one. After each combination, I showed the photos on the back of my camera to my main contact, who was ultimately the person who complained.

I want to clarify that I wasn’t showing them the images as finished photos or asking them to judge the final editing. I was showing them so they could get an idea of the placement, posing, background, who was in the photo, and the overall setup before we moved on to the next combination. I knew there would still be editing afterward.

Nothing was brought up while we were going through the combinations. I wasn’t asked to change the background, reposition anyone, redo a particular grouping, or take additional photos before moving on.

After I delivered the gallery, that same person ended up being unhappy with the photos. She was the only person from either family who complained to me.

Some of the concerns were about the background, posing, organization of people in the photos, and some smaller details. I completely understand that someone can look at the finished gallery afterward and decide they don’t love the photos. At the same time, some of the concerns were things that could be seen on the back of the camera during the session, which is part of why I had been showing the images as we went.

She had also seen my website and portfolio beforehand, so my general photography and editing style wasn’t something she was seeing for the first time after receiving the gallery.

Ultimately, a refund was requested so they could have the photos redone with their regular photographer. I refunded the session rather than dragging the situation out.

One of the other things that made the experience uncomfortable was the dynamic with the photographer I was filling in for. Even though I was another photographer stepping in to cover sessions she physically couldn’t photograph, at times I felt like I was being treated more like her employee than an independent photographer who was helping her out. Looking back, I think expectations, responsibilities, communication with the families, and what happens if a client is unhappy should have been much more clearly established before I agreed to fill in.

I’m definitely taking things away from the experience. In the future, if I fill in for another photographer, I’ll want everything spelled out much more clearly beforehand, including who the client is technically hiring, whose style and standards I’m expected to follow, who handles complaints, and how refunds or reshoots are handled.

I also learned some things from the actual photography side that I can improve on. I’ve been doing this for a long time, but I don’t think any photographer gets to a point where there’s nothing left to learn.

I’m curious how other photographers would view this situation. If you fill in for another photographer’s established clients, how much responsibility do you think falls on the fill-in photographer versus the photographer who originally booked the clients? And if a client was shown the posing, placement, and background throughout the session and didn’t raise any concerns at the time, how would you handle complaints about those things afterward?

Would you have refunded them, offered a reshoot, or handled it differently?

​

Shot the lunar eclipse, posted it, then woke up to another photographer reposting my exact image with their own watermark on it. 😂

I messaged them and they apologized and removed it immediately, so no drama -but adding your watermark to someone else’s photo is wild.

Do you watermark your photos- I normally don't because it's easily removable

Hey guys, just to start, I'm not here to talk about the ethics of street photography. It's a topic that has been debated a thousand times over, and nobody ever seems to change their opinion about it. This post is strictly about my experiences and what I took away from it. ALSO THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE. I cannot overstate this enough. Laws vary by country and circumstance; ask your own lawyer for advice.

So here's what happened. I was composing some photos (didn't actually take any) down on a major street when I spotted a lady staring at me. I was using a film camera, so I assumed that she was just interested in the camera, so when she started to follow me, I didn't think too much of it. This continued for several blocks.

I was a little nervous at this point but my city has absurdly low crime and I doubted she'd be the type to rob somebody, so I assumed she just had some social anxiety about talking to me and was just staying behind me to look at my camera. I continued walking, and then something caught my eye, leading me to walk back in her direction.

Suddenly, she popped out of nowhere, pulled me aside and started asking me questions.

"what are you doing?"

"Is it legal for you to take these photos?"

Generally, I try not to lie to people regarding street photography; I find honesty to be the only thing fair to people in public, so I answered each question truthfully. Also, even if I didn't feel it was the right thing, I do find it by far the best method to de-escalate a situation.

"I'm a photographer who tries to capture moments of life on the street."

"No, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable (keep in mind I had not taken her photo or pointed a camera in her direction) but my style of photography is in fact legal."

She then asked. "Did you take any photos of me?"

"No." I replied.

She continued by saying "I don't believe you, I'm going to call the cops."

At this point I felt pretty okay. I had not in fact taken her photo, so I definitely did nothing wrong, and even if I had it was legal in my city. I decided not to fight her in terms of calling the cops as I didn't want this to play out as a clip online, where I would have far less control over the situation. I assumed that if the cops, instead of me told her that what I did was in fact legal, it would help her calm down a bit. THIS WAS A MISTAKE.

The cops came, six of them, and immediately pulled me to the side. They asked to see my photos, of course it was on film so I tried to explain to them this wasn't possible. They demanded again (I think they may have thought it was instax), and it was only after I talked to one of the elder officers that he managed to explain to them the situation. They continued to interrogate me (I'm a minor btw so I'm pretty sure it's illegal), and I did my best to comply by answering all their questions truthfully about why I was there, what I was doing, and personal information. What I was expecting was that they'd understand the situation and let me go. What instead happened was that they threatened me with jail time. They said that what I was doing was highly illegal and could possibly bring me years in jail. I told them I was sorry, tried my best to comply with any further questions they had, and eventually they let me go with a warning.

So, do I hate this woman. No, not particularly. I get that people can feel afraid and uncomfortable when cameras are around. I get that people may want to voice their concerns with me. And since she was absolutely convinced what I was doing was in fact illegal, I don't particularly blame her for calling the cops. However, I am still quite upset at how the cops handled this problem. I think their treatment of a minor was deplorable, and their tactics to try and goad me into a confession of guilt (I can't lie I almost did since I was scared shitless) was terrible.

Most importantly though, it taught me that in these situations as photographers being legally (I'm not saying morally) right in taking a photo provides us little to no protection in the real world. Cops aren't know it alls about photography laws, and there isn't a whole lot you can do to convince them that you are in fact legally right. After talking to a couple people who have far more experience with the law than I do, the general advice is, call out other peoples bullshit if they're doing stupid shit to you (i.e following me for several blocks). Ask for as much information as possible. Don't let them take away your phone (yes they did I was stupid). Tell cops as little as possible, it's not an admissiobn of guilt. Especially if you're a minor like I am, ask for a parent. In general, get a lawyer. I've dealt with literally hundreds of confrontations before. In many ways I'd say I'm far more prepared than an average person, but you literally never know what's gonna happen, and you can't practice for the unexpected.

Anyways, I think that's enough ranting for today, let me know what you guys think.

EDIT: I'm sorry I completely forgot to add the fact that I was taking photos in Hong Kong, so it's completely legal here. There is a law against using photos where you put the person's name in it and defame them, but obviously, I A) didn't take the photo. and B) She's a stranger, so I wouldn't have been able to put her name in anyway.

EDIT 2: I think a lot of people are upset and think this is fake because I "didn't respond". Timezones exist. I wrote this before going to bed and then woke up a little while later to check replies. Sorry this became such a big deal. More than happy to answer any questions now though.

I love taking photos. I love getting outside, visiting waterfalls and mountains, going to sporting events, or just taking far too many photos of my dog. 😂

The problem is… once I've taken them, I basically forget they exist.

I've got loads of photos sitting on my camera and phone that I've barely looked at. And when I eventually do, I immediately start comparing them to other people's photography and thinking, “Mine are rubbish.”

I like the idea of editing them in Lightroom. In my head, I'll sit down, go through my favourites, carefully edit them, get them looking amazing, then print and frame them.

Reality?

I open Lightroom, start editing, get bored/distracted, lose interest, start questioning everything I've done and eventually abandon the whole thing. 🤦

Then I look at the photos again weeks or months later and hate them.

I've actually got several empty photo frames hanging on my wall that have been there for nearly TWO YEARS. 😂

My wife regularly asks, “When are you going to put some photos in those?”

And honestly… I don't know. 😂

It seemed like such a good project at the time. Classic ADHD, I suppose — the excitement of starting something is far greater than the motivation required to actually finish it.

I've even caught myself looking at new cameras thinking, “Maybe that'll get me interested in photography again.”

But realistically, buying another camera isn't going to fix the fact that I struggle to go through my photos, decide which ones are good enough, edit them and actually do something with them.

So I'm wondering if anyone else with ADHD has found a way around this?

How do you get yourself to:

Actually go through your photos?

Pick the ones you like?

Edit them without getting bored?

Stop obsessing over whether they're “good enough”?

And, most importantly, actually get them printed and put in the bloody frames?! 😂

I'd genuinely love to hear what works for other people.

Because apparently taking the photos is the easy part. 🤦😂

Hi I am very new to this (so please explain in very basic language). I am trying out different stacking tools and then calibarting the spectra in RSpec (I have already stacked in RSpec, using Siril is the next stage in my project). I have used the star analyser 100 with a 135mm lens and sony a6100. I have my darks, flats, lights, and bias frames all set up right in folders for siril. The OSC_Processing script works for me but gets rid of all my spectra (just stars left). How do i stack without loosing them? Does anyone know of a useful step-by-step guide or youtube video that would be relevant?

Also, when i tried stacking my images in RSpec (by converting them to FITS first), the FITS images became very dark so i couldnt see the spectra at all and only occasionally see stars- so after a bunch of messing around i converted them all to JPEG which worked okay, but i lost some quality. (My raw images are very bright and i can see lots of stars and spectra but also a lot of noise). Any tips? Thank you.