Am I just a bitcher without 1 ounce of talent or what?

A thing I find good is to think why am I taking the shot. If I can give myself a good reason, there is a good chance that the subject is good.

jbeausol wrote in post #9874443
...determine the reasons and helped him move forward to taking better pics....

This is key. Without sample pics here it is very difficult to make any assessment. Post up some pics here in one of the share forums and request C&C. The only way to get better is to analyze what you have and make adjustments. As mentioned practice, analyze, practice, analyze, and practice.

Macro or close up is a whole new world.

Open your eyes!

There are lots of things with textures you can capture, forms you can capture, colors you can capture, the interplay of tones (think black-and-white film photography emulation), etc. The most creatively expanding thing to do is simply FORCE yourself to stay within a relatively small space and FIND photographs.

Then as your technical skills grow, learn to CREATE photographs with even more visual impact!

yogestee wrote in post #9861621
Sell the wife and use the money for an overseas photographic holiday

LOL, let's hope that isn't necessary.

People always become immune to their environment. The brain doesn't get especially excited about the things it takes for granted. Maybe that's why people radically change their viewpoint after a dramatic near-death experience. Try this : rather then asking "what's exciting about this place?" (to which the brain answers "nothing, i've seen it a thousand times, boring") ask "what's right about this place?". Try to see the beauty even in those things which you find ordinary. Others will find them amazing. You need to force your way out of the box

andylo wrote in post #9859416
Hi all,
I am a newbie photography who lives in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Apparently is the fastest glowing city in population in Australia.

I know it’s only a small city down under and majority of the users of this forum are from US. But I hope someone from Australia can give me a some insight.

I live down the road from you on the Gold Coast. I don't have quite the time constraints you describe, but do find that opportunity and inspiration can be a challenge.

I try to find an hour or so on the weekend to go for a walk with my camera and see what I can find. Doesn't always happen and I don't always find anything interesting, but often have a nice walk and if one of the kids comes along, a nice chat.

I sometimes despair at my image quality and feel self-pressured to produce a masterpiece, when really, I just enjoy taking snaps and the activity of photography.

As for things to photograph in Brisbane, are you near the bay? If you're interested in landscapes, there's some nice spots there. I was at Victoria Point recently and wish I'd had the time to take a few more shots.

One other idea, on Flickr there's a group called Brisbanites. Perhaps some inspiration there?

- Simon

yogestee wrote in post #9861621
Sell the wife and use the money for an overseas photographic holiday

Nah more like that 70-200 MK2 and 200 2.0 you've been wanting and that too


But to be on topic, my town doesn't have much either.. nothing landscape worthy either- reason my lenses are all on the long-end. Just a clutter of bushes everywhere and most places are far too cluttered.
That's why I decided to get into Macro though- the world under you springs to life

My primary objective is always to make individual objects stand out. Make the everyday object look more interesting.
As a start take pictures of signs completely blowing out the background so only the sign is in focus and there is nothing distracting.
Shoot every picture with at least 3 different perspectives. Pretend that you were a dog staring up at the sign instead of just taking the regular straight-on shot,.

To cheer myself up whenever someone negatively comments on my lack of good photographer, I look at those 'noob' Facebook fan pages of Photographers that have lots of fans and have something written like "My rate is __ an hour, DSLRS are expensive" but they haven't even mastered proper exposure and lack any interesting shots.

I'm nobody's idea of an expert, so take this for what it's worth. I think it is very hard to take interesting pictures of things that aren't intrinsically important to you. It can absolutely be done but really requires an artistic eye. In addition there probably is some limit to how many pictures you want of say 'landscapes near my town' even if they are well done and in good light. An example of that for me is bird shots - they do impress me but once you could do it how many bird pictures do you really want to look at - a bit dull after the first few hundred unless you love birdwatching for its own sake. On the other hand it is relatively easy to learn to take good pictures (maybe not artistically great) of the things in your life that otherwise interest you - whether it's cars, your kids' sports, dogshows, coin collection, your family events etc. Also fairly easy to get good at pictures of local events if you have any interest - and people are always happy to have good pictures of such things. It's possible also that if you become good at taking pictures of things that are important to you and your family your wife will appreciate it more, also possible that in so doing you'll develop your skills that will serve you well in more creative/artistic shots.

I give a ton of credit to those who can just go out and take pictures for photography's sake alone. For me I'm happy to 95% of the time just try to capture things important to our family - vacations, events, pets, kids etc. I doubt if when I'm gone anyone would give a crap if I had a few thousand artsy shots of flowers or whatever - but I'm sure they'll value having high quality shots of our family stuff. YMMV.

Thanks a lot guys. A lots of wisdom here and it really helps. One thing for sure, I really am into photography now and I managed to overlook my missus negative comments Afterall beauty is in the eye of beholder.

Just the Saturday I went to a nearby city Redcliffe to take a few pictures. Some is people but most is landscape again. (I literally did some research by knocking off work early on Friday, actually go to the city and drive around the coast, check out which are the best spots for photos)

I timed myself get outta door at 3pm and trying to take as much photos as possible during the magic hour (+/- 1 hour sunset) I still didn't have a masterpiece I really liked, but was using the Auto Bracket function of my 500D and created couple of HDRs just to try it out (using Photomatix... but still trial version)

I am checking out how you guys upload photos and I will try to post some of mine ASAP.

Great to hear! Looking forward to seeing them

I really like Smugmug although I'm sure the other pay hosting sites are similar, a photo hosting site makes a great offsite backup plus allows sending of a link to family/friends etc. instead of trying to downsize pictures and guess their bandwidth for Email. Also makes posting and sharing on Facebook etc. or posting here very easy. I also really like to be able to show people my pictures from any web-connected PC. I do not regret for 1 second spending the 40 bucks a year (or thereabouts) for Smugmug.

Great advice from so many of you here. It's easier to be negative and find fault than to be supportive. It's too bad your wife is such a downer. If you love something, you do it for yourself first. I would develop a circle of friends here and ones you trust at home that will support you and your growth as a photographer. And by the way, beauty is found anywhere, just try to look at the same ole same ole with new eyes and a fresh perspective. Babies and Children are the master at this! Good luck.