Mike Gunter said:Perhaps realizing that there are no small jobs - everyone deserves your best.

Words to live by. I only wish more restaurants worked with that kind of motivation. :]

Hi,

Can one assume from the topic that this is different that what a Canon/Sony/etc., user would do? ;-)

Be open-minded to classes and mentoring and being mentored.

Perhaps realizing that there are no small jobs - everyone deserves your best.

Learn something every day.

My best,

Mike

I keep a pocket notebook with camera settings for various things like metering, AF settings, flash settings, etc. for different situations. I also put in there the rare settings that I don't use often for flash controls and even thumbnails of flash use with different WB settings, various diffuses and gels. The most common thing I see beginners do is neglecting to learn the different modes and when to use them. Pause and check your settings before you start shooting.

@redirector

<<Great idea. Downloading the manual .pdf to your iPad or smartphone etc keeps it handy in the field too. If that makes sense!>>

It is in my iPhone! Thanks

Could also download something like this and read it while waiting for something.

http://bythom.com/nikond7000guide.htm

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ken-rockwells-d7000-guide/id486668969?mt=8

I suspect there are others.

Join a club. I'm a member of a photo club that has a monthly competition, I don't alway agree with the judges but the competition pushes me to make better images. Self publish (photoblog or web page) I don't want people to see my bad work so I've become a little more discriminating of what I publish.

msmoto said:
What, all 484 pages? Well, Tao, this is what I suggested in the first paragraph, but needs reemphasizing as you have done. I just thought about the Digitutor series that NIKON has on the website, and these are really nice for getting started. One goes to the overview of the camera on NIKON and at the lower left corner is the digitutor link which opens a new window. Here is the D4 overview as an example.
http://www.nikonusa.com/Nikon-Products/Product/Digital-SLR-Cameras/25482/D4.html#tab-ProductDetail-ProductTabs-Overview

Great idea. Downloading the manual .pdf to your iPad or smartphone etc keeps it handy in the field too. If that makes sense!

What many of us don't have: the talent to visualize an image before we take it and then the knowledge of how to manipulate our equipment to be able to get that image we visualized.

Go to http://www.imaging-resource.com/ look at Photo of the Day. Scroll through them and realize how many excellent images were taken by what we would consider "lesser" or "inadequate" or "outdated" equipment: even many by "inferior" Canon equipment.

Conclusion: most of the time what is holding us back is not our equipment, it is us.

Seek critique.
Be creative.
Test ideas.
Ask how it could be done with greater impact.
Practice every day.

TaoTeJared said:
Read the manual!

What, all 484 pages? Well, Tao, this is what I suggested in the first paragraph, but needs reemphasizing as you have done. I just thought about the Digitutor series that NIKON has on the website, and these are really nice for getting started. One goes to the overview of the camera on NIKON and at the lower left corner is the digitutor link which opens a new window. Here is the D4 overview as an example.
http://www.nikonusa.com/Nikon-Products/Product/Digital-SLR-Cameras/25482/D4.html#tab-ProductDetail-ProductTabs-Overview

Read the manual!

How many questions come up here in this forum that are easily found in the lens or camera manual? Tons. And actually, many times it clearly states what settings to use for particular situations and is a really helpful base to build off of.

Oh and +1 on this-

bjrichus said:
...in two words: "shoot pictures"!

Study the photograph done by others to understand how it is done and how to reproduce it and keep trying.
Do not be effraid of doing too much and put your passion into it.
But the most important is to be out-there seeking opportunities with opened eyes, mind and hart.
Learn post-processing.
Be patient.

Take a challenging, but lower paying job in an area of photography you desire to do but have little experience, bring a different perspective to it, and do amazing work. You might create happy clients who will recommend you. And you will get better.

Lose your inhibitions.
Don't be afraid to get your knees or pants dirty.
Shoot from an angle that no one else is shooting from.
Ignore the strange looks.
In terms of flash photography: don't just read the books and blogs, go and practice it.

A course or two and some literature on post processing can do a world of good as well. Its a great investment in the age of digital for anyone I think.

msmoto said:
Several threads have circled this topic, but maybe we can think about what it is that makes us better.

Ignoring brand names (you certainly didn't use on, did you MrsM?), in two words: "shoot pictures"!

The more I shoot, the better I get.

Better ? Better than what? C@&*n? well we have Nikon.. 'nuff said! ;-)

As a Nikon user: Nothing. You already have the best bodies and lenses ;-)

As a photographer: Visualization. I find that visualizing what my photos would look like before I push the shutter button always adds that missing touch.

The one thing that has helped me the most as a Nikon user is this NikonRumors forum.

Several threads have circled this topic, but maybe we can think about what it is that makes us better. Certainly, equipment which is new can excite us and may actually make us read a page or two in the manual. Even though reading the manual may be close to sin, it can actually help clear up some issues.

To start out, I am of the opinion, a prime lens will help to improve one's results. There is nothing better for learning than to find you cannot get the shot you want because the lens is too short or too long. If one is always using zoom, this may not come to light and instead of learning the perspectives of different distances, one simply zooms in or out and does not have the opportunity to see the subject from a closer or more distant perspective. And, objects change dramatically as we move in and out.

So, we will see what happens.....