Deciding to do what you do

[BecdS]

A lot of suggestions I receive say that I should decide on an area of photography and practice within it eg landscapes, portraits, sport etc. I love photographing animals, but my technique and knowledge are not nearly good enough to think fast enough to pull these off right now. I love taking candid-type pictures of people, but the same problem strikes again. I've found that I don't really have a very good eye for landscapes.

So, I'd like to know how you decided to focus on the area that you do now. Did you focus on this specific area or stumble into it while concentrating on something else? If you don't stick to one particular theme, how have you progressed?

I don't mean for this to apply to only professionals, but the enthusiast too.

[ricktas]

focus on what interests you! If you don't do that, you will get bored with photography. So you say you want to photograph animals, so do it. Work on it, learn from your mistakes, read what others say about how to do it well, and practice, practice, practice. Don't expect to be perfect in a month, but set yourself a goal of being better than you are now, in a month.

I shoot landscapes cause I love what the planet has on offer. I like catching the many moods of the environment.

[ozwapet]

This is a good question ... I can't answer because I am going through the same process as a relative newcomer to enthusiast photography.

I've decided to try relating my photography to the other things I'm passionate about in life.

I took this from my sister in law, who is an author. She goes on trips to places that she is interested in, and then uses the experience in her books - and it works. I guess photography is the same.

[mrDooba]

Don't decide on a particular type of photography....... Let it come to you.

I tried to find something to focus on Macro, Landscape this didn't work. One day I took a photo of a bird so I could ID it and now all I want to do is photograph birds

[kiwi]

I'm agreeing. Take photos if stuff you enjoy being around even without a camera

For me that was family and sport

For mongo it could be zoos and abotoirs

[peterking]

Agree totally with Rick and Kiwi. You like photographing animals then keep at it.
Put up images for critique and learn from it. Go to meets with like minded people and ask question. Listen. Learn. Experimment. Read.

You think I was good at what I do when I started. I know I wasn't. It took me three years and a lot of mistakes and questions to get the half decent stuff I now get.

It is only since this year that I have ventured into other areas and learnt even more.

[Xebadir]

Agree with the above, don't try to force it...you need to be passionate about it if you are going to shoot it.

Like Rick I love the moods of the environment, I probably take it to a touch more of an extreme but this reflects my passion (thunderstorms and general weather related photography). I find I really enjoy shooting weddings and doing things that are abstract and conceptual. In contrast candid/street style photography on its own, normal portraiture, most birds and animals (I draw exception here on birds of prey.), macro and flat and boring landscapes, sport just don't interest me that much. Once you find what you are enjoy its just a matter of practice from there.

[triptych]

Yep agree, take photo's of what you love.

I chose portraits because I love capturing moments with kids and families. Its what I love doing.

[BecdS]

Yep agree, take photo's of what you love.

I chose portraits because I love capturing moments with kids and families. Its what I love doing.

How did you start out doing this? Do you have a family of your own that you could practice on? My Mr has been extremely patient with me lately, but as we don't have any children and I don't really have any friends, I'm extremely limited in "people" subjects.

[ricktas]

How did you start out doing this? Do you have a family of your own that you could practice on? My Mr has been extremely patient with me lately, but as we don't have any children and I don't really have any friends, I'm extremely limited in "people" subjects.

Bec, have a look at www.modelmayhem.com, sign up and look for some models in your area. Many will work with you to get some good photos, as long as you provide them with a small payment, or some photos for them to use in their portfolio, etc.

[old dog]

if you enjoy photography then why limit yourself. You should just have fun and experiment in whatever genre. That`s my opinion and what I do as well.

[triptych]

How did you start out doing this? Do you have a family of your own that you could practice on? My Mr has been extremely patient with me lately, but as we don't have any children and I don't really have any friends, I'm extremely limited in "people" subjects.

I have two kids, so they were my original inspiration, then I started doing photo's for friends, and it went from there really.

[Geoff79]

Yeah, this is an odd one for me. I always loved beautiful landscapes and of course my pups, holiday locations, my wife etc. And because of that I tried to photograph them to capture what drew me to a certain thing at a certain point in time... often purely for memory's sake.

Only then, much later, did I actually get a little more involved in this thing I was using to capture what I already loved. And now I take the photos I take a lot more seriously than I used to in the past. But trying to photograph something I'm not interested in, obviously, has no interest to me. So I only photograph what I already thought was marvellous before a camera came into the picture, so to speak.

[Dylan & Marianne]

I always loved hiking and I've always been up before dawn as a light sleeper - combining those traits with photography seemed a good idea for landscape photography

The other genres I've taken an interest in but it's not where the passion lies and hence I don't devote as much time to self progression in those areas either.

[occifer nick]

I love all aspects of photography from underwater photography to taking pics of my family. I just started taking seascapes but know that I really want to take some photographs of wild cats, lions, tigers etc in the near future as well. So I might not ever master one particular aspect but I'll certainly have fun doing it.
Ps: "The worst camera you own is the one you leave at home." or something like that not sure who said it but know that I read it, somewhere!

[JM Tran]

I came from a family of artists in Vietnam, going back to the beginning of last century so not that long ago. I have always been enthralled by the paintings and wood-carvings and drawings from my great grandfather, grandpa and dad himself - so it was only natural I got into it at a very young age.

So as a result my niche in photography has always been on the more artistic/creative side where I seek to create something from nothing, instead of just capturing it. Plus with my journalism on the side I have always worked in developing worlds so doing photo-essays of the people that live there is a bit of a passion for me.

[Terri]

I have always been drawn to the same sort of photos, normally night / street / city type shots. So, those are the shots I like to take coz they're the ones I want to look at!

[atky]

I see photography as a way of being involved in almost anything. So I would say shoot what you like to shoot but stay open to anything that may come along.

[mongo]

I'm agreeing. Take photos if stuff you enjoy being around even without a camera

For me that was family and sport

For mongo it could be zoos and abotoirs

Mongo agrees with KIWI’s first line.

In relation to photography, Mongo is with photography as he is with food – totally omnivorous !

Mongo will photograph anything that he finds interesting at the time. Photography is about feeding your interest – and not about having to fit into a set of rules or limited genre (unless of course, you only like that genre).

[KLi]

Its always go to give everything a try and see what you like best especially in the beginning of learning photography, you won't know what you might love without giving it a try.