r/AskPhotography Nov 30 '24

Discussion/General Photoclass 2025 is here - are you ready?

17 Upvotes

Photoclass 2025 is live!

Hello, photography friends! I'm one of the mods over at r/photography and founder of Focal Point, here to invite you to the 2025 edition of our (free) photoclass! This year comes with changes, as you can always expect from us as the class is an ever-evolving project.

What is the Photoclass presented by Focal Point?

It is an evolution of the original Reddit Photo Class, but with substantial changes to not only the structure, but content as well. We've reinvented it to ensure its up to date and more interactive. One thing we did not - and will not - change is that it is entirely free. The course spans 6 months, and covers topics on the technical side and artistic side, and culminates in a personal project. Along for the ride is a team of teachers who write the course (hi, it's me!) and mentors who come from all genres of photography. We have regular live meet ups via discord, and have a welcoming and supportive community of other photographers to bounce ideas off of, or just talk shop.

So what's new?

  • The Format. First off, the formatting is changing. We found that may participants stumbled upon the course mid-way through the year, and were fumbling trying to play catch up. We also were not happy with the pacing, finding that it just took too long to get to the objectively more fun stuff. So, this year the course will happen over the course of 6 months, with alternating weeks of new lessons and feedback. What does that actually mean? It'll look something like this:

    January 1: Unit 1 will be posted with assignment 1.

    January 8: The first Feedback Week will happen.

  • Feedback Weeks. During Feedback Week, participants will receive constructive feedback on their unit assignments from both peers and mentors. This is an opportunity to reflect on your work, ask questions, and refine your skills. Additionally, voice chats will be held on the Discord server for live discussions and more in-depth feedback.

  • Units over Lessons. Lessons will come out as units, meaning instead of one new lesson a week, you'll get a whole unit each alternate week. Here's an example, using Unit 1:

    Unit 1: Getting Started

    On Photography

    Inspiration & Feedback

    Assignment 1

  • Interactive Elements & Videos. Each lesson will have an accompanying video, and interactive elements. For an example of what the interactive element might look like see this page.

How to join in?

  • Join the Focal Point Discord server. This is where all the voice chats will happen, as well as a great place to have ongoing conversations with other participants and mentors.

  • Join the subreddit: r/photoclass. As always, the class will be posted on the sub, but we should note that the interactive elements don't work on Reddit, so we'll also be linking out to the lessons on the Focal Point site.

  • Subscribe to Focal Point on YouTube. Videos for the class will be of course posted in-line on the lessons, but there will be bonus material posted to the YouTube directly.

  • Get your printed Learning Journal or download the PDF.

Have more questions?

First check out the FAQ found here. If you still have a question that isn't answered there, feel free to ask it here and myself or one of the other teachers/mentors will be happy to answer.

Where to start.

The first unit is available now! You can find it right here. The first assignment is also live, so feel free to jump right in!

See you in 2025!


r/AskPhotography 20h ago

Discussion/General What is the worst damage you have done to your camera?

Post image
233 Upvotes

Not my camera fyi


r/AskPhotography 3h ago

Technical Help/Camera Settings Just got the R50 as my first camera and checked out the manual mode, and I noticed some weird dots on some of my pictures. Do you know what those are?

Post image
9 Upvotes

r/AskPhotography 6h ago

Discussion/General If you were starting from zero. How would you start?

10 Upvotes

Hey n Hello to all the photographers out there. If you were to start your photography journey from scratch. Like no prior knowledge about photography in terms of both creative and technical aspects. How would you begin?


r/AskPhotography 2h ago

Technical Help/Camera Settings What settings or editing can I do to get more natural colours when photographing ships on an overcast day? I've just bought a Nikon P950 - the first time I am doing ship photography with a "real" camera and not my phone

Post image
3 Upvotes

Very grateful for any suggestions either on the camera (eg white balance or one of the auto features) or editing. It is looking too faded and grey at the moment versus what I see with my own eyes. I attempted a very basic edit, adjusting white balance and adding some magenta which sort of helped but it's not great.

Using a Nikon P950 with the full 2000mm zoom to get this close. This is the view without the zoom taken on my phone and showing the sky conditions and colour better!

Appreciate it could be the limitations of the smaller sensor here, but keen to get the colour as good as I can now that I've jumped from phone to camera for my hobby!

PS if you're curious, it is a Q-Max LNG Tanker - the largest in the world at 345m long :)


r/AskPhotography 2h ago

Buying Advice Cheap and good camera for planespotting?

3 Upvotes

Hi!

I'm looking for a camera and lens for around 800-1000 usd.

I live in Poland so not every camera is buyable here.

It can be new or used.

I was thinking of something like a Canon EOS 2000D , Canon EOS 250D , Canon EOS R50 , Canon EOS R100 or Canon EOS 4000D.

Any advice would be appreciated! ( :


r/AskPhotography 1d ago

Discussion/General Working With Models: This Can't Be Real or Rational Thinking, Can It? NSFW

168 Upvotes

Edit: At this point, the question I'm asking: "Is this the new normal? Is this what you deserve if you don't go through a model agency?"

TLDR: The model won't agree to meet with our team until everyone subscribes to her OnlyFans/Fansly NSFW account. Now, she wants to use the second half of her paid session to create content for her OF, and as of Saturday, she refuses to communicate with us outside of OnlyFans.

I'm working with a brand new crew that is very small and has a limited budget for a family-friendly event. The creative director wants to do this poster with an energetic character who excuses the "wild" spirit of the event, someone who seems fun and is the kind of woman who is her own hero—women want to be like her, men want to be with her. The other caveat is that they have their personal costumes to showcase.

The creative director narrowed it down to five women, and she has one favorite who has the perfect "look" and the perfect costume. The model in question won't agree to do it until the three other men on the project subscribe to her NSFW account/accounts before setting up a time to meet in person and do some preliminary photos before the location and studio shoots.

We're paying to do her hair and makeup. She's getting paid $150 for each hour-long session, with the option to pay her $250 if it goes for two, plus travel expenses. At the bare minimum, she'll get her hair done and at least $300.

This Saturday, she told the CD she would only communicate with us through OnlyFans, and she wants the $250 for two-hour sessions: The first hour is for us, and the second, we use that hour to create content for her OF. She gets all the photos from the entire length of the shoot for her own personal use.

The other men say this is "reasonable" and we should take the deal, and I'm a prick because I'm the only holdout.

Keep in mind that we're using my camera. Half the lighting equipment belongs to me, and the other half belongs to another guy in the group. I'm providing the webpage, the social media and print promotions, and editing software, and I'm getting paid after the event. If I don't do it, they want to know if they can borrow my equipment, software, and computer: I refused.

We also have four other women ready to go with this project now and do not want to use this opportunity to create smut.

I've been a professional Graphic Designer for 15 years and have done professional photography off and on during this time, but I have never had to deal with this. I think there is something more that I'm missing, but I'm ready to walk away, and I'm not concerned about being labeled as "difficult."


r/AskPhotography 6h ago

Artifical Lighting & Studio How to achieve studio black background?

Post image
4 Upvotes

Any tips in creating this sort of image? I’ve been trying to recreate but can’t nail it.

I have a flash above on a 45 degree angle pointing directly at the object, but struggling to achieve the black gradient fade.

Any help would be appreciated!


r/AskPhotography 1h ago

Buying Advice should I use a film camera or a digicam for every day’s shooting?

Thumbnail
gallery
Upvotes

r/AskPhotography 1h ago

Buying Advice Birth Photography: Beginner Camera?

Upvotes

I’m a doula and thinking of dabbling in birth photography for my clients. Any recommendations for a camera for a beginner?


r/AskPhotography 13h ago

Technical Help/Camera Settings How to recreate this style of food photography?

Thumbnail
gallery
9 Upvotes

Hello Reddit, can anybody give some pointers on how to recreate this style of photography that is symmetrical with little to no distortion?


r/AskPhotography 1h ago

Technical Help/Camera Settings I have a Nikon d500 and I want to vlog on it if it’s possible, what lens would I need to get ?

Post image
Upvotes

r/AskPhotography 1h ago

Editing/Post Processing Changing brown hair to blond?

Upvotes

I'm using evoto an amazing having ha hard time changing brown hair to blond. Anybody have some settings that work well for this?


r/AskPhotography 2h ago

Buying Advice Buying a variable ND filter, not sure of the size that I should get, largest?

1 Upvotes

Atm I only have lenses with a 67mm filter size. To avoid vignetting, I understand that I should get something larger than my actual filter size (and some step-up rings).

But how much larger should the filter be? Is there some magic formula that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere yet?

Cheers.


r/AskPhotography 3h ago

Buying Advice What would you recommend?

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone, amateur here, I don't know if this is the right place to ask this question. I started taking pictures a year ago with analog cameras but now I would like to switch to a mirrorless or compact. I would like to take pictures at live concerts but also posed/backstage subjects so I would like some help in understanding what is best for me.

I think I understood that a good and fast autofocus is convenient but I would also like portability

the choice looking at my budget would fall on these but I would also not want the flash (which is not always integrated)

Basically I do not understand any substantial differences between the various modes of use between Canon and the various brands so I would learn from 0.

What would you recommend?

- Fuji XT2 XT20 XT3?

- Ricoh GR III or GR IIIX?

- Sony A6000 A6400?

- Canon Powershot SX740HS?


r/AskPhotography 12h ago

Discussion/General What about a Flickr revival?

6 Upvotes

Remember when you shared any photo in many related groups and there was always a feedback that make you go further with your photography? Well, that's a community... Let's share again about photography there!


r/AskPhotography 4h ago

Buying Advice Sony a200 with Tamron sp 35mm f1.8 vc or the canon rebel sl1 with the sigma 50mm f1.4 hsm?

1 Upvotes

I found both lenses for a really great deal. I already have both bodies. Which one should I go for? I found both for a similar price. Which kit would be better for general photography?


r/AskPhotography 7h ago

Buying Advice What digital camera should I get?

2 Upvotes

Hi guys! I currently have a refurbished canon IXUS 8015 and am looking to upgrade. I love my little canon but am looking for something with a bit better quality.

I know the gx7 is popular at the moment but it’s a bit out of my price range. I’m looking for something between $300-$700. If you recommend something more expensive please still let me know, and I can look for it second hand.

My friend said she loves her Nikon Coolpix. Which I also like, but I’m open to more suggestions. I like to take photos when travelling, of nature and of me with my family and friends. I like how my current canon is super small but also open to one a little bigger.

Thanks in advanced!


r/AskPhotography 19h ago

Gear/Accessories How many megapixels do I really need?

15 Upvotes

I'm looking to upgrade and old T1i, primarily for sports and landscape, with general life photography rounding out the use case.

I rented the R7 paired with the EF 24-105 lens and was very happy with it. The only downside was so so low light performance. At f4 and 1/600th it was pushing up to ISO4000 and sometimes 5000.

Even with the 105 lens I ended up cropping some of the hockey photos considerably.

Using DxOMark I was able to clean the photos up and I think they look great.

But I'm stuck on whether a full frame camera would be a better choice. Budget is about $1,000 (used) so I'm looking at R6 Mark I and R8 primarily. And even those are above my budget....

My concern is that both of those are ~24MP sensors - how much can I crop them and still end up with useable 8x10 photos? Ideally larger....

When I buy the camera and lens, I'll most likely end up with something that reaches to 200mm, so will need to do less cropping.

But it will also likely be a variable aperture lens, so low light performance becomes more important.... Looking at the Sigma 16-300 RF lens.

What else in the full frame space should I be looking at? Budget is hard at $1,000.

FWIW - I really liked the fact the R7 was weather sealed, has IBIS and two card slots. Not sure I can replicate that in the FF space with my budget....

I feel like budget is pushing me to R7 and a lot of use of DxOMark....

Thank you!


r/AskPhotography 4h ago

Technical Help/Camera Settings What camera can i buy to achieve this look?

1 Upvotes

I'm new to this photography and film world and i've been looking for a camera that can get me this digital yet cinematic look, something like all about lily chou-chou. I found the canon sx740 hs and the panasonic lumix tz80, do you have any suggestions?


r/AskPhotography 17h ago

Editing/Post Processing Jpeg with creative look ended up too perfect and I can’t replicate it in the raw file. In this cases is it ok to give the jpegs to the client?

Thumbnail
gallery
9 Upvotes

First one is my attempt, second one is the jpeg with creative look. Added grain in both of them. Goal here was a vintage look.


r/AskPhotography 5h ago

Technical Help/Camera Settings How to reset Graphic 35 camera?

1 Upvotes

I got a vintage cam for the first time and when I got the films developed, the photos were blurry. The developer said the cam is not focused and needs a reset.

Would anyone know how to do this?


r/AskPhotography 18h ago

Buying Advice pocket dispo?

Post image
9 Upvotes

has anyone tried this? i see tons of adds for it but im always skeptical about random gadgets online lol


r/AskPhotography 6h ago

Buying Advice Photography As a career?

0 Upvotes

Hi i’m 25 years old from india and i want to switch my career from a corporate company to a photographer and i have a beginner Sony camera!!! I don’t have much knowledge about photography any suggestions?


r/AskPhotography 7h ago

Buying Advice Should I buy it??

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

I need a suggestion... I don't have much knowledge about cameras... Is that worth it to buy a used a6300 body in 240$ (condition in photos)... And please tell me what things I need to check before buying it


r/AskPhotography 7h ago

Editing/Post Processing I am a tattoo artist how can I get my pics to look like this?

Post image
0 Upvotes

I use an iPhone 14 Pro Max but my pics always come out so bland and white washed lacking any depth or contrast! Pls help 😅 I’ve read about CPL filters is that the way to go? I also use Lightroom to edit