What photography advice do you ignore?

[olivermoss]

I follow the twitter of a few photography related accounts on twitter, including some blogs, to try to stay in the loop on things. One thing I see often is professional photographers urging me not to pixel peep! I usually pixel peep. If you are unfamiliar, pixel peeping is when you pause after a photo to preview it, zoom in and check the fine details. Apparently, this is bad for some reason. Since I do a lot of shooting in the dark, and also shoot street art, I need to pixel peep. Shooting handheld in the dark is hard. Also, as I've learned the hard way, street art might not still be there the next day!














I've looked at a few of these articles I keep seeing in my feed, and apparently making sure you got a clear shot hurts your artistic self or stops people from experimenting? I am baffled by these explanations.

What common photography advice do you ignore?

Comments

[bleodswean]

So, we used to call this aping, some of us still do. But pixel peeping is all about enlarging the image on the LCD....and that takes time if you're in the field. In the studio, I have to do that with the Hasselblad to insure my focus as I tend to shoot wide open. In the field, I will ape to make sure that my settings are where I need to be because who has time to bracket if you're shooting people. You can do that if you're shooting subjects as you do.

I def say IGNORE.

[bleodswean]

I ignore advice that says sharper is better. I love bokeh and I love soft focus and I love selective focus.

[olivermoss]

I mostly do night shooting with a portrait lens that is a bit soft. I don't want blur from an unsteady hand or my focus being wrong, but I want to make sure I got the shot before I head home. My favorite street art find, I messed up the image and it was already gone when I went to reshoot.

[bleodswean]

I use a tripod 80% of the time, so blur is not really an issue for me. I also have a battery grip on my Nikon and that really makes a huge difference for handheld shooting.

[olivermoss]

I should use a tripod, but since I am in the dark, loitering outside of houses anyway, I feel awkward setting one up. I am going to make myself bring one anyway at some point this week.

[bleodswean]

You are a street photographer and I am not. What you're doing sure seems to be working for you.

[olivermoss]

It works sometimes. You don't see the shots I miss :) I tried reshooting a faerie graveyard last night and it just wasn't working out.

[bleodswean]

Lol. Chimping, too. These are funny terms to me!

[olivermoss]

With some of my primes I can get depth of field that is too shallow for my subject and I'm left wondering why the flower petals are blurred.

[bleodswean]

I only shoot with prime lenses. What is your go-to manual setting?

[olivermoss]

Manual setting? I usually start with aperture then see how far I can push ISO without going over a 3rd of a second shutter speed. I have done 3-second hand held long exposures, but those are easier to do if I can crouch, so it's more for landscapes.

[bleodswean]

Interesting! I don't know much about working like that. With studio and portrait work I tend toward the same settings. That's great if you can handhold 3 seconds!

[olivermoss]

Oh, lol, yeah I use different settings for each shot. I wasn't even sure what you were asking.

I know very little about studio work. I did a bit at the start of the pandemic. I was taking pictures of my dice and things. Proper macro lenses were sold out, so I was doing close focus with the lenses I have and my tripod in an inverted set up. Studio work is so odd for me, that idea that I can ... effect the lighting? Just move it? Doesn't even occur to me mid-shoot.

[bleodswean]

Oh, yeah, lighting is a whole 'nother convo. I prefer natural lighting, even in studio and use whiteboards to redirect.

[highlander_ii]

i think, aside from the 'rule of 3rds', i just don't remember most advice and do what i want. XD i have to SEE the end result to have any idea of what i'm getting anyway, b/c i literally cannot picture things in my head - so take picture -> look at picture -> decide if good -> move to next thing. =)

also - i ascribe to the 'learn the rules at the beginning, then break them as you see fit for your style' =)

[olivermoss]

Yeah, I think rules can get in the way of growth. Rule of 3rds doesn't work at all with most of what I shoot these days, the images would seem weird and stiff.

I kinda did rule of 3rds in my top image, but I didn't think about it. I twas just trying to add more visual context, show that it was on a telephone pole.

[highlander_ii]

i tend to approach Ro3rds more with 'the field is 9 squares and the subject should be more toward the middle in most cases' i almost never put the subject dead-center unless going for a very specific look

i told you - i don't even remember what most of the rules are anymore =) i learned them in photography classes, but psssshhhhhttt forgot most of them. also - p sure i ended up with shittier pictures when i had to stop and think about all the rules

[olivermoss]

Nah, having lots of practice is better than following rules. I put a lot of subjects dead center and filling the screen when I am in the city. Trying to do anything else with street art, yard art, etc just looks weird and forces.

[mistressofmuses]

That sounds like kind of bonkers advice.

To be fair, I'm working with an off-brand cell phone camera, mostly taking pictures on nature walks and hikes, so I know that I'm not the target audience.

But of COURSE I want to make sure I got a decent picture of whatever it was I was trying to get a picture of. I wanted a picture of a flower or a bee or a frog or a rock formation, and if I get home and discover all the pictures I took were out of focus, I'd definitely be disappointed. (And sometimes still am, ha.)

[olivermoss]

Yeah, it's good to make sure you got the shot before you go! It is the most comment advice I see in my feeds and I'm just ???