[Bruce Browne]

I have joined the site for information and discussion--I am a college professor of theatre and film, and enjoy travel.
In an earlier life, I was a wedding videographer and still photographer; I shoot mostly with Nikon equipment.

[vlad]

Welcome to shuttertalk! It's nice having you here. I found that people involved in other arts, theatre included, take great photos.

[Barbara G.]

Welcome to the digital photography forums! It is a pleasure to have you on board with us! Please take some time to look around and join in on the conversations!

[Anne mcdonnell]

Welcome to shuttertalk! It's nice having you here. I found that people involved in other arts, theatre included, take great photos.

hi, my name is anne from northern ireland.
i have been a member since december 2012 but never have posted a post before if thats the right phrase to use i have always liked photography and always been snapping away over the years albeit mostly holiday snaps events etc, i got my first serious camera 5 yrs ago or@least serious to me anything i ever had it was a canon powershot A605/IS. with that i struggled on my own trying to learn then i joined a local camera club about 3 yrs ago in the hope i would gain further knowledge of photography as i am a very novice photographer honestly this is so true of me and shines in my pictures the camera settings etc. after joining the club i heard all this talk about from members oh my camera is a so;; so;; slr i genuinely didn't know exactly what a slr camera did that my little powershot wouldn't do so now do you believe me when i say how novice i am, so after saving very hard well over 3yrs i bought a nikon slr but still i am not much better@photography and now i have come to conclusion i am never going to get it just sell my camera and cut my losses. unless any of you can tell me yes it does take many years to get the hang of i will appreciate any encouragement guys please yous can give me or you're honestly by telling me that i am fooling myself cause serious don't you think i should have learned the knack by now, for no matter what i attend be it club or whatever i become disheartened that my pictures are never going to be as good as sharp etc. even this site for instance i have been a member over two years now and this is my first posting bet you are all hoping that it will be my last apologies for moaning on for so long, please Mr editor take a lot of this out otherwise you have no people left on the site. thank you for giving me your time.

[kNox]

Hey Bruce, welcome to the site!

@Anne: I'd say "welcome" to you too but it seems you've been here for a long time too. You can start posting here - there's a Photo Critique section where we don't judge, but we try to improve. Try posting some of your photos there and there's bound to be someone to give you some useful advice. Also, don't take it all to heart - we all have our up and downs!

[Barbara G.]

Hello Anne and welcome to the forums! We are all here to help each other, so post any questions you may have! Thanks for posting your intro for the other members to see!

[Simon Rose]

Welcome to shuttertalk! It's nice having you here. I found that people involved in other arts, theatre included, take great photos.

hi, my name is anne from northern ireland.
i have been a member since december 2012 but never have posted a post before if thats the right phrase to use i have always liked photography and always been snapping away over the years albeit mostly holiday snaps events etc, i got my first serious camera 5 yrs ago or@least serious to me anything i ever had it was a canon powershot A605/IS. with that i struggled on my own trying to learn then i joined a local camera club about 3 yrs ago in the hope i would gain further knowledge of photography as i am a very novice photographer honestly this is so true of me and shines in my pictures the camera settings etc. after joining the club i heard all this talk about from members oh my camera is a so;; so;; slr i genuinely didn't know exactly what a slr camera did that my little powershot wouldn't do so now do you believe me when i say how novice i am, so after saving very hard well over 3yrs i bought a nikon slr but still i am not much better@photography and now i have come to conclusion i am never going to get it just sell my camera and cut my losses. unless any of you can tell me yes it does take many years to get the hang of i will appreciate any encouragement guys please yous can give me or you're honestly by telling me that i am fooling myself cause serious don't you think i should have learned the knack by now, for no matter what i attend be it club or whatever i become disheartened that my pictures are never going to be as good as sharp etc. even this site for instance i have been a member over two years now and this is my first posting bet you are all hoping that it will be my last apologies for moaning on for so long, please Mr editor take a lot of this out otherwise you have no people left on the site. thank you for giving me your time.

Welcome Bruce.

Anne. I had to respond to your post because I think everyone who has ever picked up a camera has been where you are.
Photographers of all abilities are their own worst critics in my opinion and because of that some put their cameras away.
When I first started taking photographs I couldn't for the life of me understand why the shots never looked the way I saw them through the view finder. By asking others and showing them my shots I started to understand what was going wrong. I had a scattergun approach, shooting anything and everything. I found that by concentrating on one particular subject - landscape, portraits, close ups - at a time and shooting until I felt I'd got it right and more importantly understood why I'd got it right I began to get a grip of the whole thing. I'm no expert Anne, but I now understand MY camera and I know what settings work best for me. I just takes time, patience and perseverance.
I hope this helps Anne. Stick with it and post some images people here will offer genuine guidance if it's needed. It's a great way to learn and improve.

Simon