I used my first digi camera much as I had done the 35mm camera that preceded it. Well, with the occasional deletion of an image that I’d completely messed up. Programs like Lightroom suddenly allow me to just take every possible permutation of a shot, which can be as liberating as it can be limiting.

I had a go at the 5 photo challenge. It took me a little while to really get into the spirit of it. I’ve only actually done four because I threw my fifth away when I saw a different angle for one of the shots I’d already taken.

I decided I’d rather get the other shot and forfeit the challenge than miss the photo. It is about the photos, after all.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marwood/tags/fivephotochallenge/

It was a good experience and certainly more valuable than my attempt to only use a 50mm lens for a weekend. Which I was rubbish at.

For a starter, you can have a look at photo.net critique forum picks. Lot of overdone post processing, but also brilliant, good stuff. I’m not going into dog-fight competition of whose daddy is better fighter, I just politely expressed where I’m thinking your level of work is right now ;)

Work harder for both technique and vision. Photography is different medium than painting, with some new skill sets needed. But you will learn if you have a talent. Good luck.

If anything, Kate, you were too terse in the e-mail, because I knew little about you or how you normally work :)

You should go out more frequently with camera and talk less ;)

Yeah, but I think it’s not only good for students to have certain limitations. It makes you aware of ways to be creative. It’s the same with composing music on a computer. How to create anything if there is gigabytes of samples waiting for you? You have to make up at least one decision to initiate something…

In my opinion if you would be able to shoot whatever you see, just the way it looks without artefacts then most of my photos would be boring. I the way some photos turn out and surprise me.

I think most people are really scary of any noise in a photo, influenced by stock agencies and clean visual design everywhere around them. However, I noticed that noise on 100% view looks far worse than when you print photos.

Using noise as a design element can be cool. I like it in the second photo, less in the first one, but that’s my taste. :)

The grain to me is an integral part of the picture - not an unfortunate side effect of taking the photograph at a high ISO. The view out of the bus was a snap capture of a moment in time. Yes, grain again, but it still has ’something’ in the image which pleases me.

The shore photograph was a deliberate attempt to capture movement and jolt the viewer because so little was at rest! The final ropes in the water just leapt out at me for their utter stillness and the pattern they conveyed.

I imagine it’s much like the whole ‘I work best under pressure’ most students eventually come across in crunch time :)

I’m glad there’s been so many insightful comments on this one so far. Thanks, all, and keep ‘em coming.

I just enjoy looking around in an environment and all of a sudden there is that interesting object emerging into my view to take photos of. Or I think of something and try to create it… Funny thing is that for many people, photography is so closely related to technical issues that indeed, most people ask me about technical questions (”how to get that flash right?”). Technical knowledge is of course important (especially with DSLR’s, it is good to know what you’re doing), but it is striking that very few conversations are about what to do with “that 10Mpx camera” or “this lens”. I suppose it is a lack of inspiration or a different way of looking at photography.

I often hear “If I have this, I will be able to do that” but not “I can do this with this camera I have.” When I take multiple images, it is mainly because my old Rebel almost falls apart (yes, after taking too many photos) and it suffers from some weird technical malfuntions. But it makes me creative in dodging the technical flaws. :) For me, somehow, limitations work best. Putting on a 50mm prime or trying to be creative with a wide angle lens can be quite inspiring…

I guess endless possibilities do not work for everyone. I like the assignment of going out and taking 5 photos. I will give it a shot!

I really got excited last night, as I read this post. I’m not very experienced in photography, but I did learn a thing or two taking photography as an extra class in school. Started out using film and I do remember beeing in the darkroom as we made our filmrolls prior to going out and shooting. Also the ever-lasting time after returning to the darkroom, waiting and waiting.

Got my very first Digital SLR last night, and I saw this as a great opportunity to learn all over again. I also got a compact digital a couple of weeks back, and as I read this, I realized my thoughtprocess now was focused around getting as many shots as possible, making sure I got it right.

Have to use one of these days for this, just as soon as I figure out this new camera…

I encounter a lot of ‘technicians’ who intimidate me as a photographer because they know how the camera works down to the tiniest detail and can waffle on about all the technical aspects of photography - I am far more bothered about what I’m actually taking the photo of so I tend to burn out highlights etc in my haste to capture the shot I want before the moment passes.

I love this style of photography, I like what Kate is doing and this critique is very interesting. I shall be out looking for my 5 perfect photos this weekend!

With the possible exception of the surf (which I like because of it’s technical flaws), these all seem uninteresting. Kate may be an artistic genius , remember I am le non-art, but I sincerely dislike these shots and not on technical grounds. They’re just plain uninteresting. They evoke no emotion and tell me no story.

That being said, I *really* like the idea of a five-shot challenge. I’ll see what I can do about getting this going. It reminds me of a Q&A session I went to with a magazine photographer who’s name I can’t recall. He spoke of doing magazine covers and shooting nine shots. No more. He said the pressure helped him focus and improved his shots beyond what he’d get if he shot a thousand frames.

I’ve recognized the lack of care that photographers who work and learned in primarily digital (read: me) before. I used give myself film limits for a walk. I’d say “okay, I have a 24 frame roll until I get to so and so’s house” which is an hour’s walk, two if I’m shooting. Normally this is the kind of thing where I’ll come away with one or two hundred frames and pick out three at the end.