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1500 questions
104
votes
23 answers
Why do breathtaking views turn into "boring" photos, and how can I do better?
I recently purchased a Canon 700D with a 18-135 IS lens to get into photography. I'm trying to improve, but my photos seem 'boring'. Let me give some examples:
I took these today. The scenery looks breath-taking when viewing it from the highway,…
Paze
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103
votes
22 answers
I know what a bad photo is, so why do I keep taking them?
9 out of 10 photos that I take are boring, and this is immediately apparent when I look at a new batch on my computer screen. Since I'm fully capable of identifying a bad photo, why can't I stop myself from pressing the shutter button when I see it…
Ross Adamson
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102
votes
13 answers
Why are lenses always round in shape?
Why are lenses round in shape although the image sensor is not? Why they can not be square or something matching the shape of image sensor?
V.B
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101
votes
8 answers
Can the sun damage the camera sensor? Under what conditions?
I want to experiment taking photos in which the sun appears. I'm afraid of what might happen if I take one with a narrower angle (where sun would be bigger). Can the lens act as a magnifying glass and burn the CCD or CMOS sensor?
Under which…
tomm89
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100
votes
4 answers
What does an unprocessed RAW file look like?
I know people use fancy software like Lightroom or Darktable to post-process their RAW files. But what if I don't? What does the file look like, just, y'know, RAW?
mattdm
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88
votes
6 answers
What is "angle of view" in photography?
I read on the Lens Buying Guide @ neocamera:
Focal-length determines the angle-of-view seen through a lens for a
given sensor-size. With a full-frame sensor a lens gives the same
angle-of-view as it would on a 35mm film camera. With a smaller
…
kacalapy
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88
votes
4 answers
What historic reasons are there for common aspect ratios?
The most common width to height ratio rates in the "old good" paper photography seems to be 3:2, which was adopted by today's DSLRs. Early (non-professional) digital cameras adopted 4:3 aspect ratio, which was the industry standard for computer…
Boris Gorelik
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88
votes
10 answers
How do you photograph rain?
What are recommended settings for my Nikon Coolpix P1 to best portray rain?
Here's what I got. No retouching was applied.
The picture I took when the rain was heavy with the automatic settings:
The picture I took with the "Sports" program; by…
badp
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85
votes
11 answers
How should I photograph falling snow?
We don't get much snow in the UK, so I don't have much experience photographing it, and when I tried photographing falling snow last year I found it very hard to capture the snowflakes in the air — they either didn't show up or were just streaks. Is…
Chris Betterton
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84
votes
11 answers
How much do lens lineups vary across DSLR platforms?
I was reading this question and recalled how often I hear the advice "choose your lenses and then choose the body that matches" in the context of deciding on a camera platform (Nikon/Canon/Pentax/Sony, etc).
I shoot Nikon and so I study a lot about…
Craig Walker
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84
votes
4 answers
What is Rembrandt lighting, and when do I use it?
I often hear studio photographers talk about 'Rembrandt Lighting' when they're setting up lights and doing studio portrait photography. What is Rembrandt Lighting, and when do I use it?
Jay Lance Photography
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84
votes
13 answers
How can I get my portrait subjects to look natural and drop the cheesy smile?
I am surprised by how many people automatically put on a cheesy smile when I point a camera in their direction.
How can I encourage them to act more naturally, and what can I do to get better, more natural-looking portraits?
AJ Finch
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83
votes
4 answers
Is it worth trying to process film shot in 1989? (Fall of the Berlin Wall)
The "Can I develop my b&w film a year after shooting it?" question got me to thinking...
I have some film, both B&W and colo(u)r, which I shot the night the Berlin Wall fell at Checkpoint Charlie, and have not yet gotten round to processing.
Would…
Mawg says reinstate Monica
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82
votes
8 answers
Do fluorescent lighting and shutter speed create a problem with color cast?
I took a bunch of photos at my son's martial arts club using a D90 with a 50mm F1.8. The club is lit with overhead fluorescent lighting, and I was getting some weird results where some shots are "white", others have an "orange cast", and still…
seanmc
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82
votes
6 answers
How do I convert lens focal length (mm) to x-times optical zoom?
What is the rule to convert the 'mm' notation to the 'optical zoom' notation? I searched a bit and found this one:
$$\text{Optical zoom} = \frac{\text{Maximum focal length}}{\text{Minimum focal length}}$$
For example a 18–55mm lens would have a 3x…
dialex
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