Practice, practice, practice!

I often have new photographers asking me how I get my images to look the way they do.  There really are no secrets to what I do although I am sure the people in my Inspiration list have secrets!  When I first picked up a camera I was less than thrilled with the quality of the images.  My first camera was a Nikon D70s.  I snapped away for months and was completely frustrated that my images lacked the sharpness, color, polish, etc. that I saw many other photographers work to possess.  Now, I am talking image quality here and not composition and subject choice which are topics for another discussion.  Why wasn't my work looking like theirs?  We all use the same device don't we?  We can all push a shutter button.  We hear all the time that equipment doesn't matter and I have found that they are right--it doesn't matter (most of the time anyway).

What I have found to be important in getting great image quality is control of the contrast in the situation, control of your exposure, your ability to focus accurately and deliberately, and the work you do (or don't do!) in post processing.  The later of which is very important.  All of these aspects take time to develop a proficiency that will transfer into better quality images.  I'll tell you that I didn't understand that and after a few months of using my D70s and blaming it for the lack of image quality I was getting I went out and  spent a small fortune on the best camera equipment I could buy.  At least now I couldn't blame my gear for my bad images.

While that bought me some peace of mind and tools that I could grow into instead of out of the act didn't do anything to make my work better.  In fact it made it worse for a short time until I learned how to handle the new camera.  I guess what I am saying is there are no secrets to getting good quality images.  You need to practice your techniques and understanding of light and get decent with your post processing skills.  I am still learning and striving for a higher level of image quality and I have a lot yet to learn. If you aren't doing post work on your images then you are losing out big time making them the best they can be.  I can bet you five bucks and a pinch of 'coon shit that many of the images you admire do not come straight out of the camera.  If the photographer tells you that and you believe it then I have a bridge I'd like to sell you--cheap.