Music is my life and my passion.
That being said as a musician/artist i would like to get involved into the art of photography.
Are any members here that are Pro photographers or hobbyists ?
What are your experiences ?
Show us some of your work.
Give us your advice.
Some great tutorials that we should all watch ?
GEAR that we should buy ? $100-300/300-500/500-1000/1000 & up categories ?
Is an iphone good for photography ? what are your thoughts ?
Photography for musicians : what should we all keep in mind ?

Please keep your comments on the subject thanks !

 

Last edited by a moderator: Oct 11, 2017

see others work , lenses are the most important gear , iphone takes pictures so you might take some decent shots , but you you dont have full manual controls

 

thanks for your reply, are you a photographer yourself ?,what lenses would you suggest and cameras ?

 

You're opening up a can of worms asking "best" questions. You should ask what would be a good start. That being said in my opinion I would suggest you start out with a 50mm fast lens - something around 1.2f stops. Decent brands? Pros can use Cannon, Nikon, Zeiss, Leica glass. But pros can also use a $10 Kodak throw away camera & still produce amazing photos... Why would I suggest a 50mm lens to start out with? Because a 50mm produce about the closest aprox of what a human naturally sees. Why does the speed matter? The faster the glass the more low light it can let in. As for a camera body, youve got as many opinions as photographers. But you wouldn't go wrong with a full frame DSLR from Cannon or Nikon. However there are many other brands that can give you superb shots. Keep in mind, you will sometimes have to buy adapters for the glass to mate with mismatched brands. Similar to songs & recording quality, I believe a great photo doesnt have to be made with great gear. I could ramble on all night about photo gear... Any questions PM or reply here., Also, check out some pro photograhers blogs & or website. I usually reference some of Phillip blooms reviews whenever I'm looking for new toys to buy.

http://philipbloom.net/blog/

 

thanks man, RESPECT

 

Today everybody is a photographer. But there is a different type of photographer and it doesn't matter if they use an iPhone or a DSLR and these people print their work. On photographic quality paper and not on a $59 Epson. Faunas said I phones do not have full manual control, but better apps (I use Camera+) will give you this and may be a good way to learn about depth of field through the use of f-stops, exposure times, ISO ratings etc. before you jump into the deep end. When you finally have a shot that you want to frame and hang on a wall, you'll know you're a photographer.

 

The camera doesn't take the photo. The photographer takes the photo. Equipment doesn't really matter as much as imagination and vision on your part. I have been shooting with a Pentax K-50 and several lenses that I picked up on Craig's list and it suits me just fine. Don't let anyone tell you that you need a Nikon or Canon to take decent pix. Before you buy, do some reading about the physics of a dslr camera vs a point and shoot vs mirrorless. Study the basics of photography as explained by tooloud. There are a thousand different opinions and most of them want to sell you something. Buyer beware. Buyer be educated.

 

thanks for your thoughts,really interesting

 

thanks for your thoughts and suggestions my friend .I REALLY REALLY LOVE YOUR SIGNATURE

 

Most important question is: what is going to be your 'genre'. Photographers tend to repeat the "the camera doesn't take the photo, the photographer does" routine endlessly and that's correct and important for the most part. But you shoot yourself in the foot or both feet if you try to do sports or wildlife with cheaper bodies and slow (in terms of f-stops) lenses or macros with standard zoom lenses...it's all possible but you'll get better results with specific gear - or results at all if you really need fast autofocus.

With that in mind: it's always up to the photographer to frame and expose. You can buy a D5 and superb lenses and still get not one single shot of a wide receiver catching the touchdown (or some other dramatic moment you'll need fast focus and as many fps as you want) because you had no idea how to set up your camera. If you're into macro photography you'll end up never using autofocus sooner or later (the sooner the better ;) ) and then you want either focus peaking or a nice and bright viewfinder to see what's in focus. Photography is not about the gear but the right gear under the right circumstances can help a lot. Even if it's a hobby.

The best thing to do (as was stated before) is to learn all about aperture, exposure etc. beforehand because that stuff is ALWAYS the same. Aperture, shutter speed, depth of field, focal lengths, ISO. I for once knew that I'd be the "full manual" guy so my first cam was the Nikon D7000 with two control dials. I only got it because my insane father-in-law signed me up as photographer for a trip on the Orient-Express but even before this trip I took about 20.000 photos just to practice. It was May when I bought the cam and so I found out that I love macros the most in the ideal season: summer...when I had to sell the D7000 due to lack of money it was just under 39.000 photos old. I miss my macro gear...

Now I am down to the Sony A5100 which I mostly got for filming. Way better sensor but the standard lens is crap. And this is also a lesson to know beforehand (and was stated here before): most important are the lenses (except if you need superfast autofocus then it's BOTH). Mirrorless cameras have the advantage of being able to adapt several manufacturers lenses but may lack support of some features then etc...well that's not relevant now...

You can take great photos with anything that can take photos at all. It's down to the photographer's knowledge, experience and talent. It helps a lot if the camera isn't in the way of either the challenges of your favorite subjects and of your development so if you can afford the good stuff: get it. If you can't: there's so much good stuff in every price range now especially if you consider buying used stuff it's ridiculous. So generalized advice is quite pointless atm imho. Some people wouldn't consider buying 3rd party lenses. I wouldn't consider buying anything but Sigma... ;)

 

Hello
I am a photographer hobbyist too
Well i will write what i did, but all the above recommendations and advices is it good to keep them in a safe place too
I use Sony a6000 ,before i used a canon 60D with a bunch of lenses' upgrade my gear to Sony cam because i wanted more megapixels 24 and something, the reason is if i want to make a photo look blur or if i want to give some distortion with filters i prefer to have a good quality taken photo that will look much better
If you wanna start and your wallet is friendly start with a full frame cam, if not start with a crop cam, also start with 50mm lenses f/1.8 but for me i don't like the 50mm i prefer wider lenses like 12mm or 35mm because i like and some natural distortion on my photos
iPhone 8 will be great for start point but you will not be satisfy
Also make an account and a member in a sites were other photographers are sharing their photos ,upload yours, search ,like, and wait, they will like your photos too,envolve your self
I never went to a school photography, i learned tips and tricks through internet, like i learned for mixing and composing my music too, and still learning
Good cameras for me are very expensive like Leica costs about 5000 $ and up hehehe
You will find the way you like taking pictures also you will need and a software like photoshop or Lightroom that i use too to recreate photos and do magic to your pictures ,this is really fun, also you will find what the most lenses you like by try them and see what distance fits your artistic needs
As a hobbyist musician i love taking pictures, were the empty space of my music comes photography anδ complements perfectly!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nikilaos/