Looking to get into photography profession

sanias · May 26th, 2009, 14:16

The macs a great OS especially with the Apple aperature software.. I got this installed on my mac additionally... and its a great software on a great machine... the aperature software is not free.. but then i had saved quite a bit on the macbook with the student offer and managed to get this in too...

alokclicks · Aug 15th, 2009, 15:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by maury

A few random thoughts on the topic: I am a professional photographer - somewhere around 40+ years making my living with a camera. I was in India for a month last October. I carried 2 inexpensive point & shoot cameras. I won't mention the brand name - it is really not important - but they were in the $150.00 price range. So far I have sold one photo story form the trip that will probably cover my airfare. With luck, I will sell more and probably come out a few bucks ahead - not bad considering that I was there on my own, for a vacation, not a job.

The point is that the equipment you use is of little importance - espically in today's digital world. I was able to get good, saleable images with pretty cheap equipment.

Bottom line: you can't buy your way into professional photography any more than buying a sports car will make you a professional race driver.

Hi Maury
Congratulation your photo were published in a magazine and u got good money for that, but whenever i try to send pictures taken by my Canon Powershot 430 camera, the publisher ask me for pictures at 300 DPI and this camera is giving pictures at 180 DPI only . Did u get 300 DPI pictures from your camera, if yes please let me know model no and make also, so that i may go ahead with that maodel too.

Thanks
alok

Haylo · Aug 15th, 2009, 19:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by alokclicks

whenever i try to send pictures taken by my Canon Powershot 430 camera, the publisher ask me for pictures at 300 DPI and this camera is giving pictures at 180 DPI only

This may sound obvious, but are you using your camera on "Superfine" setting?

If so, there's not much you can do but buy a new camera - while I'm sure yours is still working perfectly well and it's always a shame to change a camera you're happy and getting good results with, things have moved on a lot since you bought it and 4mp is a bit low for consumer use these days, yet alone anything professional.

federica · Aug 15th, 2009, 23:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by alokclicks

... but whenever i try to send pictures taken by my Canon Powershot 430 camera, the publisher ask me for pictures at 300 DPI and this camera is giving pictures at 180 DPI only .

Your camera doesn't "shoot" pictures at 180 dpi. Tell me how many Megapixels your cam has and then I can tell you what the image size would be at a resolution of 300 dpi. Not sure if you understand what I mean, but you can resize any 180 dpi picture to 300 dpi, the size of the picture only gets smaller. Maybe too small for a print.

alokclicks · Aug 15th, 2009, 23:31

hi Frederica
I have a 4 MP cam giving pictures at 180 DPI.

Thanks
alok

Haylo · Aug 15th, 2009, 23:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by federica

Not sure if you understand what I mean, but you can resize any 180 dpi picture to 300 dpi

Yes, you're right. Presumably the magazine was asking for images of a set size?

Reason I suggested checking that the camera was set on "superfine" is that whatever rating in megapixels a camera has, you have the option of adjusting the image quality / picture size to a certain extent.

Many people take photographs at less than the maxiumum setting, because it produces photographs with too large a file size. My 5mp Nikon, which is of a simlar age to alokclicks' camera, has settings up to file sizes of 15Mb - but I rarely use that.

federica · Aug 16th, 2009, 00:23

A 4 Megapixel camera can take pictures of a maximum resolution of 2272 x 1704 pixels or 2304 x 1728 pixels. You should find this somewhere in your camera settings!

This size printed with 300 dpi (again, the camera doesn't take pictures at any "dpi") allows a printed picture of around 19 x 14 cm. This would be the maximum printable size with 300 dpi.

maury · Aug 16th, 2009, 10:38

I think the last few posts answered Alo's question. I hate to recomend any particular camera, espically with changes happening so quickly. The cameras I used were in the 10-12 mp range. I also use Lightroom. there are several programs out there that can actually add pixels to an image, so this might solve the problem of getting a descent print size and still maintainig 300 dpi.

Things were easier when we used film!

nycank · Aug 18th, 2009, 04:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by maury

Bottom line: you can't buy your way into professional photography any more than buying a sports car will make you a professional race driver.

I agree. If one does not have the eye, or the temperament no amount of gear will work. Having said that, there are aspects of pro-photography that are truly mundane and painstakingly slow. Industrial in house photographers.

ngupta · Aug 18th, 2009, 05:24

Being a semi-pro photographer myself, I've never really been able to achieve "publish-able" work using a point-and-shoot. Its not just the eye, but the settings that come into play; of course you can make a lot of "adjustments" using post-processing, but thats a different game altogether. So you can't buy your way into professional photography, but you need the "ticket" to become a contender.

On the topic, a 10MP pixel camera usually suffices for professional work--equals about 8x10 on 300dpi. This works everywhere unless you are trying to print a calendar

nycank · Aug 18th, 2009, 08:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by ngupta

On the topic, a 10MP pixel camera usually suffices for professional work--equals about 8x10 on 300dpi. This works everywhere unless you are trying to print a calendar

Calendar, posters, and spreads are where the moola is.

alokclicks · Aug 18th, 2009, 13:36

Hi
I am very much confused, suppose a magazine requires 8*10 inches at 300 DPI, now let me know , can i get 8*10 at 300 DPI with a Compact , Prosumer or DSLR ?? I do not want pics for Calenders, posters etc

Thanks
alok

ngupta · Aug 18th, 2009, 13:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by alokclicks

Hi
I am very much confused, suppose a magazine requires 8*10 inches at 300 DPI, now let me know , can i get 8*10 at 300 DPI with a Compact , Prosumer or DSLR ?? I do not want pics for Calenders, posters etc

Thanks
alok

You can do the calculations yourself. Megapixels required are

(height x dpi) x (width x dpi) / (1024 x 1024)

Therefore for 8x10 at 300dpi, you need (8x300)x(10x300) = 7200000, which is roughly 6.86MP. All you need is a > 6.86MP camera which may be of any kind.

federica · Aug 18th, 2009, 17:12

With all this megapixel discussions, I just wanted to add that a high number of MP says very little about the quality of a camera.

alokclicks · Aug 18th, 2009, 19:05

Hi All
Suppose we take a photo with a 10 MP Compact, 10MP Prosumer and with a DSLR, they have diffrent Sensor sizes now my question is that , is there going to be any difference in between all three photographs ? or all three pictures will be of same quality ??
If there is a diffence ?? please let me know , what will be the difference in between them .

Thanks
alok

May 26th, 2009, 14:16	#16
sanias Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 7	mac and photos The macs a great OS especially with the Apple aperature software.. I got this installed on my mac additionally... and its a great software on a great machine... the aperature software is not free.. but then i had saved quite a bit on the macbook with the student offer and managed to get this in too... Attached Thumbnails

Aug 15th, 2009, 23:31	#20
alokclicks Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Bihar Posts: 47	My cam's Megapixel hi Frederica I have a 4 MP cam giving pictures at 180 DPI. Thanks alok

Aug 18th, 2009, 13:36	#27
alokclicks Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Bihar Posts: 47	10 MP compact , 10 MP prosumer or 10 MP DSLR Hi I am very much confused, suppose a magazine requires 810 inches at 300 DPI, now let me know , can i get 810 at 300 DPI with a Compact , Prosumer or DSLR ?? I do not want pics for Calenders, posters etc Thanks alok

Aug 18th, 2009, 19:05	#30
alokclicks Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Bihar Posts: 47	Megapixel and Sensor size Hi All Suppose we take a photo with a 10 MP Compact, 10MP Prosumer and with a DSLR, they have diffrent Sensor sizes now my question is that , is there going to be any difference in between all three photographs ? or all three pictures will be of same quality ?? If there is a diffence ?? please let me know , what will be the difference in between them . Thanks alok

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Aug 16th, 2009, 00:23	#22
federica Maha Guru Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Bavaria Posts: 1,774	A 4 Megapixel camera can take pictures of a maximum resolution of 2272 x 1704 pixels or 2304 x 1728 pixels. You should find this somewhere in your camera settings! This size printed with 300 dpi (again, the camera doesn't take pictures at any "dpi") allows a printed picture of around 19 x 14 cm. This would be the maximum printable size with 300 dpi.

Aug 16th, 2009, 10:38	#23
maury Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: New York City Posts: 65	I think the last few posts answered Alo's question. I hate to recomend any particular camera, espically with changes happening so quickly. The cameras I used were in the 10-12 mp range. I also use Lightroom. there are several programs out there that can actually add pixels to an image, so this might solve the problem of getting a descent print size and still maintainig 300 dpi. Things were easier when we used film!

Aug 18th, 2009, 05:24	#25
ngupta Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Delhi Posts: 11	Being a semi-pro photographer myself, I've never really been able to achieve "publish-able" work using a point-and-shoot. Its not just the eye, but the settings that come into play; of course you can make a lot of "adjustments" using post-processing, but thats a different game altogether. So you can't buy your way into professional photography, but you need the "ticket" to become a contender. On the topic, a 10MP pixel camera usually suffices for professional work--equals about 8x10 on 300dpi. This works everywhere unless you are trying to print a calendar

Aug 18th, 2009, 17:12	#29
federica Maha Guru Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Bavaria Posts: 1,774	With all this megapixel discussions, I just wanted to add that a high number of MP says very little about the quality of a camera.

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