Pictures; Horrible (self) to Great (pro) here on PL, lets better self photography!

[DanO]

Well I have been here for a while and as a budding Pin Up photographer I review many of the pictures on this sight and have noticed a few things. First there are two major categories of pics, professionally  captured and snapshots.  The majority of professional shots look good but of course run from good to great, and so do the amateur pics but there is a very important distinction; the vast majority of amateur based pics, at least what I think are amateur tend to have the majority of them  relegated to the poor end of the spectrum. Many of them are obviously taken with cell phones and many of those in poor sets such as bathrooms, etc.

I say this because ladies, you deserve much better quality photos to show off your assets! So, my questions is; if we could get the various photographers here to start a segment on "How to create you own - Home Grown photo shoot would you be interested? I am a much better adult training instructor than photog but I would certainly contribute and I am sure the pros would too. I think we could help you become much better photographers, is there any interest??

Dan

[MissRoniG]

I think it's a wonderful idea. It will help anyone trying to get ready for a photshoot. I'm planning on doing one this year so any tips would be awesome.

[RochelleRemy]

That is a good idea! A very good idea!! :)

[Kitty Luv {★}]

This is a great idea, and I appreciate all the information given so far!!

[richardwangphotography]

Equipment is at best a secondary or tertiary issue in photography.

I can hand someone my 1Ds MKIII with a 85 f/1.2 and all my lighting and drop you off in my studio and there's no guaranteed you'll take a marginal let alone a good picture

But I can hand an iPhone and a $9 work lamp to Bruce Weber, Steven Meisel or Erwin Olaf and they'll produce some great photos.

All equipment allow you to do is make it easier to translate what's in your head into reality.  But if you don't know what your doing then it makes no difference.

Technique is important but it's not hard to learn. I can probably teach you everything you need to know in about 2 days.

Composition is the ability to bring all the pieces together to create an image.  Without the skill to compose, you'll produce very static emotionless picture. 

For a beginner, I recommend spending the majority of your time on composition.

The best book is the US Navy manual entitle "Basic Photographic Techniques"

Here's the link:  http://photoinf.com/General/NAVY/Photographic_composition_Balance.htm

[DanO]

Richard Wang, quite true, and I like the link!

[violet mansfield]

sounds fantastic