Inspired by Walden’s landscapes and Darwins bugs and Denny’s planets and stars, I want to learn how to take pretty pictures. My webcam is not expensive, and it’s kinda old, too. So, short of getting a new camera (I have no money haha) what are your tips for taking pretty pictures?
Buy and read The National Geographic Photography Field Guide.
From the POV of a professional photographer, this book is probably the very best photography instruction book out, written by some of the best photographers in the world.
There are additional books in the Photographic Field Guide series, (like one on Portraits, one on Landscapes, one on Travel, one on Digital) but start with the main book; it will teach the essentials and the “rules” of taking a good picture.
The reason that this is probably the very best book to learn from is it is, aside from being an instruction on how to take NGS Acceptable photos, one of the very few that I have ever seen that give examples of a good picture and a bad picture and WHY they are good or bad.
Do I have to buy it? Can’t I check it out from the library?
You can start with websites like this](http://www.dcviews.com/tutors.htm%22%3Ethis) one, this](http://www.shortcourses.com/using/index.htm%22%3Ethis) one, or this one.
At the library, check out an old book about photography, because
everything that applies to film cameras (composition, lighting, etc.)
will apply to digital cameras.
Sure you can, if you want. If you discover you really have a passion for photography, you’ll want to buy it though; it’s an awsome refference.
Also, if you get into it, the best way to get better at your photography is to study others’ photos (go to the library and research famous photographers, religiously study the photos in the National Geographic magazine, etc.)
If they carry it.
Interlibrary loan. You can get most anything. Of course if you ask for “How to Serve Man” the government will track it.
Isn’t that a cookbook?
I love the twilight zone!
It was published by the Soylent company. But Cranberry is a vegetarian so I doubt that he would request it.
I want this so bad.
It’s kind of spooky that there are so many other people who have seen the same TV shows or read the same books that I have. Neat, too, to be able to reference them and know that I don’t have to explain what I’m talking about, like I have to if I mention these kinds of things to my husband!
Have you read the short story by Damon Knight that was based on?
My photography is more of the point-and-shoot and hope I don’t get a tree growing out of someone’s head kind. One of these days when the prices come down a bit more and we get some of the credit cards paid off we’ll get a nice digital camera.
Reminds me of my favorite Simpson’s “Treehouse of Horror”:
Lisa displays a book called How to Cook People.
Kodos takes the book and blows off the dust, revealing the
title How to Cook For Humans. Lisa blows off more dust:
How to Cook For_ty_ Humans. Kodos blows off yet more
dust. The full title reads How to Cook For Forty Humans.
The aliens are shocked and hurt that the Simpsons
thought they were going to eat them.
This’ll help.
Shoot, shoot, and shoot more. Go places, anywhere, look for shots and shoot it!! Keep shooting!!!
For inspiration go to: http://www.topleftpixel.com
Thanks for the book reference House.
Question for you professionals, does the decline of film photography upset you? I, and I’m less than amateur, am stubbornly refusing to get a digital camera. Should I smarten up and step into the 21st Century?
And does anyone have any recommendations for anyone about to take the digital leap? I’m not sure whether to go with the upper-end of the point-and-shoots (the Olympus C-8080 gets good reviews, a discontinued model, but still available) or the lower end of the digital SLR range. I’d been putting off doing this, but was convinced when I had the chance to try out my son’s new camera–he’s in a college photo program, and they decided to shift emphasis heavily to digital this year, so every student needed a new SLR. (I don’t need one quite as good as the one he saved up for this summer.) It would have been fascinating to be eavesdropping on the faculty meetings that led to this decision.
From my experience…
• Take a lot of shots.
• Sort through those shots.
• Crop as necessary.
• Count on what you thought to be a great shot not to come out at all.
The first half of the pictures I took (or, rather tried to take) Tuesday didn’t even get shot, because I hadn’t figured out how to use the digital camera, and they hadn’t even snapped. I’d previously used film and paid 99¢ extra for Wal-Mart to make digital images when I had the film developed.
Does anybody know if it’s possible to take pictures with the digital camera, upload them to the computer, then order actual pictures from them and have them mailed to you?
I know some stores advertise that they will make prints from the digital images.
Someday I will get a nice digital camera and find out for myself. After we pay off a bunch of credit card bills.
I have multiple thousands of dollars in medical bills, yet I still have a digital camera. Albeit, it’s one that only sometimes works and the buttons get stuck every two seconds. 
It is the American dream, after all.