[NaClH2O]

Hi Randy, Good question
I'd say, in order: Macro photography; PP techniques (and speed!!!) and street photography.
I've done some macro work, sometimes it comes out OK sometimes it's junk. I'd like to get the keepers to junk ratio much higher. My PP techni1que is pretty bad, it takes me twice as long to get decent reults as it should. And my B&W conversion is really poor. I'd love to get that much better. Like a lot of others have said, I feel very uncomfortable with a camera in my hand around people, I wish that could improve, and techinque also. I live in one of the great cities of the world, there are literally dozens and dozens of opportunities for great street photography here in NYC every time I walk out my door.

NaCl(my progress seems glacial at times)H2O

[foxglove]

Funny how many photographers aren't comfortable photographing people. I'm yet another. It'd be nice to be more relaxed about it, but that's not so much photographic technique as learning to stop projecting my dislike of being photographed onto others. Mostly I'd like to get better over all, to have a higher keeper ratio. At least I'm not wasting film any more with my disasters!

Julie

[trog100]

an acquaintance of mine admittedly a bit weird looking was taking some point an shoot type pictures in birmingham city centre a couple of months back..

a while later he was in a cafe.. two plain clothed policemen approached him and pretty much accused him of being a paedophile.. he was very lucky only shots of buidings were on his camera.. someone had reported him for taking pictures of children and the police saw fit to act upon the report..

add in the terrorist factor and it seems taking pictures in the UK is now a somewhat risky business..

trog

[davemdsn]

I wish I were better at self portraits. Unfortunately it is not my photography that needs to improve, it's me. Took one last night just for fun. Oh yeah, great fun, woo hoo! Where are my pills? lol

[davemdsn]

an acquaintance of mine admittedly a bit weird looking was taking some point an shoot type pictures in birmingham city centre a couple of months back..

a while later he was in a cafe.. two plain clothed policemen approached him and pretty much accused him of being a paedophile.. he was very lucky only shots of buidings were on his camera.. someone had reported him for taking pictures of children and the police saw fit to act upon the report..

add in the terrorist factor and it seems taking pictures in the UK is now a somewhat risky business..

trog

This is pretty much my fear. I got accused of stealing cars right in front of the police dept because I had locked my keys in my car and was leaning against it while waiting for the locksmith (the local police won't help with this). If people think I am commiting a crime while just standing there, what will they think if I take pictures of them?

[bdavis]

What do I win, Tom? What do I win!?


On another note, from what I've seen of the rest of the replies to this thread, I'm glad that I've got my friends and family mostly "broken in" in regard to having a camera in their face.

[Rolly]

I wish I were better at self portraits. Unfortunately it is not my photography that needs to improve, it's me. Took one last night just for fun. Oh yeah, great fun, woo hoo! Where are my pills? lol

What's it like on your island Robinson?? (Crusoe)

[elums]

I would have to say Macro, I am not really good at it at all. Some of the photos that people post on these forums and others of Macro subjects are really nice. But then again I need to invest in a real Macro lens.

[shadowrulz3164]

i wish i was better at posed shots and portraits. i think i do a decent job at everything else. buit of course all of my photography could be better.

[slip]

thank you everyone for posting. some interesting responses!
Not to many said that they don't need to improve their photography skills

cheers

randy

[jdarrough]

I want to learn how to take good portraits with my K100D. I am going to attempt to do a few in a local coffee house that the owner will display in her establishment. All the employees (so far) are really excited about it, and I am really hoping to do a great job. Free of course.

Any suggestions on what kind of filter, if any, to use? It's a dark-ish shop with lots of light where the employees work. I presently have a CP, star, ND and a yellow filter. I plan to use a tripod with ambient light.

Also plan to use the auto setting. And maybe take a couple of "raw" shots to compare.

Any suggestions?

Thanks, Jim

[foxglove]

I want to learn how to take good portraits with my K100D. I am going to attempt to do a few in a local coffee house that the owner will display in her establishment. All the employees (so far) are really excited about it, and I am really hoping to do a great job. Free of course.

Any suggestions on what kind of filter, if any, to use? It's a dark-ish shop with lots of light where the employees work. I presently have a CP, star, ND and a yellow filter. I plan to use a tripod with ambient light.

Also plan to use the auto setting. And maybe take a couple of "raw" shots to compare.

Any suggestions?

Thanks, Jim

Well, I'm certainly no expert, but that's never stopped me from shooting my mouth off anyway.

Working with ambient light, I'd avoid filters if I were you. They just reduce the amount of light getting into the camera. The "lots of light" you mention - is that from some form of electric lights? If so, you're going to have to deal with white balance. The K100 doesn't seem to know what to do with indoor lighting - auto WB is great in any sort of natural light, but not so good with various electric sources. Go and do some test shots - maybe it'll sort it out on its own, otherwise you'll have to either learn to do manual WB (not a big deal, but it's still something to get familiar with before the big day) or shoot raw. The latter is my solution, I'm too lazy to set manual WB. Pathetic, isn't it?

This sounds like a great opportunity - a bunch of enthusiastic, willing subjects, a familiar setting, ample time to do some testing. Hm, maybe they'd like something similar at my favourite coffee shop... I hope you'll be able to post the results of your "job". Have fun with it!

Julie

[jdarrough]

Well, I'm certainly no expert, but that's never stopped me from shooting my mouth off anyway.

Working with ambient light, I'd avoid filters if I were you. They just reduce the amount of light getting into the camera. The "lots of light" you mention - is that from some form of electric lights? If so, you're going to have to deal with white balance. The K100 doesn't seem to know what to do with indoor lighting - auto WB is great in any sort of natural light, but not so good with various electric sources. Go and do some test shots - maybe it'll sort it out on its own, otherwise you'll have to either learn to do manual WB (not a big deal, but it's still something to get familiar with before the big day) or shoot raw. The latter is my solution, I'm too lazy to set manual WB. Pathetic, isn't it?

This sounds like a great opportunity - a bunch of enthusiastic, willing subjects, a familiar setting, ample time to do some testing. Hm, maybe they'd like something similar at my favourite coffee shop... I hope you'll be able to post the results of your "job". Have fun with it!

Julie

I will use RAW mode then. I did install the Pentax-supplied "lab" software, and played around with it a bit. See my "Abandoned" post in User Gallery. It was shot RAW then I corrected brightness, etc. with the Pentax software. I have a lot to learn about how to operate the different parts of the program.

The coffee shot shoot is a friendly endeavor, and I am looking forward to doing it. Nothing formal, just catch them as they are working. I'll edit the photos, then print each one with my old trusty Epson Photo 820 (which does a fabulous job). One copy for the store owner, and one each for the ladies (and the guys if there are any employed).

What really surprised me was that the owner and both of the employees I spoke to are very excited. Guess after I edit the photo's with Pentax software, I will have to run them through Sonic or Photoshop.

Thanks for your kind reply and the interest.

Regards, Jim in Springfield, OR

[WMBP]

I want to learn how to take good portraits with my K100D. I am going to attempt to do a few in a local coffee house that the owner will display in her establishment. All the employees (so far) are really excited about it, and I am really hoping to do a great job. Free of course.

Any suggestions on what kind of filter, if any, to use? It's a dark-ish shop with lots of light where the employees work. I presently have a CP, star, ND and a yellow filter. I plan to use a tripod with ambient light.

I agree with Julie: skip the filters. I also agree that in-camera conversion to Raw is the way to go, especially for this kind of thing. I always try to say "in-camera conversion to Raw," because it's useful to remember that we're all shooting Raw willy-nilly. The only question is whether you let the camera's software do the conversion and lock you into a JPEG, or whether you do the conversion on the computer and give yourself the chance to tweak things.

But even if you shoot Raw, you should definitely try to get the white balance as close to right as possible while you're shooting. I'm even lazier than Julie: I shoot Raw, but I don't like having to fix hundreds of photos on the computer when I could have avoided the problems in the first place by taking a minute to get things right. I generally set the white balance manually. I seldom use Auto. I've found that using custom white balance and setting the WB by pointing the camera at the most neutral area of the subject is better than Auto. I'm serious - give it a try! Of course, if I have a lens that takes my ExpoDisc or a white/gray card, that's usually best. And if I don't have the ExpoDisc, I try the WB presets for incandescent or flourescent light, take a test shot and review it before proceeding. One of the best things about these cameras is the bright sharp LCD on the back. I can tell at a glance if the photo has a poor color cast or bad white balance.

What's the max aperture of the lens you'll be shooting with? I dislike the flash myself, love shooting with ambient light. But it reallys help if you have a reasonably fast lens and don't have to push the ISO to get a correct exposure unless you WANT noise in the photos for artistic effect.

Will

[NLAlston]

For me? All of it .