General Help.. LOL

[Amber Poole]

I am somewhat new to photography, I did it a while ago when I was younger but I wasn't really taught much...
I was wondering if anyone had some advice for me, I I like to shoot simple things, and generally I just use the natural lighting and I edit it in photoshop a little bit.
I don't have any lighting equipment but is there anything that I can do?
and can I get some help with good angles? or anything really that could help me with just starting out.
I like to take close up pictures up small things that I find interesting but more times than not, they turn out blurry.
Are there any certain tricks to photographing people? I would really like to, but I have NO IDEA how to photograph people

[Stacy ♥ DOF]

I made a light box with some $7 spot lamps from home depot and some white foam board. Really good for playing around with close up macro shots . And cheap! Google light box and there are a lot of how to's out there...

[Lynn M. Watson]

Practice, experiment, practice and experiment some more. I like to find one thing and shoot with different settings, angles, filters, flash direction, etc. and see what happens . . . find what works for you and what you like . . .

[Dayna Titus]

one simple trick i use alot in my work is to slant my images a bit... basically shoot at an angle, not just a perfect vertical or horizonal frame. I do that alot with portraits but it's a great trick for just about anything. Give it a try! It makes the shot just a bit more interesting and sometimes it's so subtle that no one can really figure out what it is that sets it apart, but they just like the composition so much. Good luck in your endeavors!

[Lisa]

I had a quick look at your project and I'd say you're on the right track.

A few of my favourite tips:
Look at everything around you as is if has the potential to become a great photo.
Look at everyday objects from a different perspective.
Pay attention to the light. This is one of the most important elements in photography.
Get up close.
Experiment with everything.
Learn from others. If you see a photograph you really like, try to recreate it.

A couple of my favourite websites for learning about photography are:
http://photo.tutsplus.com/
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/

I also have a number of ebooks by David DuChemin. They're excellence resources and only US$5 each (available at http://craftandvision.com/). I also just ordered Scott Kelby's Digital Photography boxed set from Amazon.

[Cynthia C.]

Takes pictures! Lots and lots of pictures! Different angle, different light, different crop, different settings.... when I started my 365 project, I could often take 50-70 pics of the subject (of course, it's not possible with everything). Same thing with doing portraits. I had no idea what to do, so I looked at a lot of portrait on Internet. And some day I went in town with a friend for a photo shoot, just for fun. I took sooo many pics, but only kept a few. I think it's a good way to learn.

[Danielle (lvmychunkalunka)]

So far all my pictures have been natural light, what kind of camera do you have? If you like to take closeups, does it have a macro/ close up mode? I take lots and lots of pictures of the same thing and then I go through them and choose my three (or so) favorites and edit from there.

I can't offer too much advice because I'm a beginner myself.. Good luck with your picture taking adventures :D

[Kathryn Marshall]

I am a beginner myself. I think all of the above advice is good. I am reading two books on photography composition. In one of the books, the author gives you exercises to do. These are really helpful for me. The book is Learning to See Creatively-How to Compose Great Photographs, by Bryan Peterson.