Hi Michael. Thank you very much. I"m here watching your channel because I just decided to learn photography seriously. Really love your work and appreciate the candid and informative way you talk about stuff. Am now deciding what to buy as my first DSLR. I realized watching you here in this video has probably saved me at least 10 years of my life and more than thousands of dollars. Thank you very much. Love your work by the way! I was drooling over all your portrait work in your videos. Great lighting. So beautiful. I'd like to be able to do that too! All the best.
Thank you Michael! FYI all the wedding photographers out there : you have to be part psychologist and psychiatrist if you’re a wedding photographer. There will be many situations where you will need those skills.
Thank you Micheal for your “Real World” advice and explanations. A “true” pro gives back at the same level he/she were mentored/coached/helped. You are a “true professional”.
Many years ago I was once a UV filter person until the UV filter shattered and scratched my front lens element. I would have had less damage if I just used the lens hood instead. For everyday little bumps and bangs, front lens elements are more durable than I thought when I first started. In my opinion, Lens hoods gives me more protection.
Real work sir.. Your work will be remembered. Not like some channel who have deep hands with companies and then companies promote their videos on RUclips. Will will promote you channel. Keep doing good work. And Thanks..
I very much enjoy your enthusiasm about photography. And, about the word "intimate" I like that word because of "Intimations of Immortality" which as you might know is Wordsworth's great Ode. I live in Texas now, but I will always consider myself a Hawaiian because of my stays their like yours. Aloha!
I am a hobbyist photographer so I choose to buy mostly used since I cannot write off new purchases. I saw another RUclips channel talk about IRS will let you earn money as a hobbyist but not interested in that right now. The life cycle of cameras is good to know if I decide to purchase a new camera body.
The whole concept of kicking back and self-reflection is both brilliant and humbling (or should be :-) ). You Tube has been so good for me as a photographer. My Top 10 List of things I wish I had know would start out like this: - get to know your camera inside and out. For years carried around my 50D and later my 70D as expensive 'point and shoots'. master the gear be it the body, the flash, the lens! - avoid people who say "wow nice picture, you must have a good camera" Aargh! - like you the addiction to 'stuff'. Lenses were (are?) my achilles heel. I just didn't know what I really wanted/needed until I bought enough L series to put the Canon staff's kids through university! It is so painful to go on to Ebay and see what I could get for that almost brand new L series zoom I have sitting there gathering dust. Where was this video years ago?! :-) Thanks Michael. As always, top drawer info and technique!
Good video. I also have a collection of UV filters because I was told that I needed them during a photo course. However, the only filters I actually use is a Polarizer and a few ND filters. I find that using a lens hood is more effective at protecting my lenses. And I only have a handful of lenses, 50mm, 35mm, 10-20mm and my favorite 18-105mm, not including the kit lenses, which I hardly ever use. The 18-105mm pretty much stays on my camera, unless I am shooting portrait or landscapes. I like your down to earth and practical approach to photography. Keep it simple. Too many accessories and gadgets is overwhelming. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos. I have taken many courses and read lots of books and watch youtube videos. You can learn a lot that way.
I wish I didn't crop in camera. I watched a youtube video when I first got into photography where the photographer recommended cropping in camera to save time. I made that mistake and listened. I later on change and wanted to try different crops but I could not. I wished I was better at watching my highlights and shadows.
Watching this I'm getting painful flashbacks to my own similar mistakes...so many pricey mistakes! ;-) Wish i would have seen this about 20 years ago. All great advice. Craig
3 uses 4 UV filter. #1 Filming minerals that are flooded with UV light. #2 Filming with black light as the only source of light. #3 filming construction, excavation and Mining sites it's much easier cleaning the filter being that it is flat and not recessed. These are real world applications!
Thank you for saying "two lenses". I always feel like the black sheep that I don't have multiple lenses to use. Just starting out myself and for the occasional shot a different lens would be cool to have, I can't justify spending the money on a lens I'd rarely use. I'm saving up for an f/2.8 24-70mm (ish) lens now. I'd like something that works better in lower light than the 3.5 16-50mm kit lens I have now.
I like what you said. About the new cameras, I think it could be smart to wait for a new model to be announced and released, and then buy the current model at a discount, so, to be one generation behind in the body, but the savings could be used to buy a better quality lens, and as you said, lens > body.
youuuuuuuuuuutube That would be my plan. Cameras are so good today that you really don’t need to get the latest right away. Just wait and you will get the same camera at a much lower price.
Well...did the uv filter thing; but my worst mistake(and I’m still a beginner), was buying a camera totally unsuitable for how I wanted to use it in my environment.
Damn, none of this really applied to me. I do buy UV filters but only the cheap ones (less than 10 dollars) and only for protection (dust, sand, lint, water and weather). If the shot really matters I'll usually take it off.
Two things...I use lens hoods and I dont bring more than one,maybe two lenses..Too much hype about gear,about weight,about speed,aND IT only REALLY COMES DOWN TO skill..
I'm in the period when I realize, that one lens is mounted on my camera for majority of time and the other 3 that I have, I just carry around. Expensive lesson, since I'm using FF camera and buying lenses for that...
generic, fully manual strobes are the shit. $40 on amazon. Best way to learn how to use them, especially for OFC work. also, my 24-105 is my workhorse.
Budget will come into play, but for a pure beginner I’d say get what you can afford and shoot everyday. You will learn quickly and eventually have a better idea of what you want. In the beginning learning the basics is more important.
@@MMaven Thank you. I bought some dvds from your website but I sold my Nikon D500 because I used it a couple times and I would like to buy a nikon again but something cheap to start learning.
I will still always put a high quality protection filter on an expensive lens. There’s virtually no loss of image quality even at extreme pixel peeping levels. And I just feel far more comfortable cleaning a filter than the front element. I can always get a new $150 filter but don’t want to mess up the front glass on a $2,000 lens. But the cheaper sub $500 lenses can stay naked 😅 And good advice about selling at the right time, a mistake I ALWAYS seem to make. Maybe that’s why I’ve got a house full of camera gear that’s become pretty much valueless 😭
Ray Valdez Photography I am extremely careful with my lovely gear so that’s not really an issue. My greater reason is just the more comfortable feeling I have in cleaning a filter vs the front element.
2 lenses. Only 2 lenses. That hit me hard. I watched a documentary camera man's tutorial. It was shot in the beginning of digital film era. (He used Canon camera and lens.) He said use only one lens because every lens produces different color, and it's pain in the ass to fix in post. Shooting a whole production with only one lens! That was eye-opener for me.
I'm laughing and crying watching this video. I must be a professional after all these years as I did most of the mistakes. Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS laughingly) is the worst of them all especially in the digital photography age. When the Canon R5/R6 came out my three Canon 5D Mk IIIs cost $3200 new and on eBay I might get $450.00 ea competing with 30 others trying to sell them. Before the R5/R6 release Mk IIIs were selling on eBay for $1600-1800. Meanwhile did I really need 17 L series lenses and 4 Canon flashes for all my Canon bodies? Of course not after what I did best in photography. You have to figure that out. Like Michael I learned it mostly on my on but was lucky to have mentors at the right moment. My Dad knew the best portrait photographer business in town so I got studio time. Then I was the photographer for my High School yearbook also doing some weddings. Later in the Navy I was the photographer for their version of a yearbook. Out of the Navy I met the best wedding photographer in Los Angeles who took me in. Years later I met friends in Atlanta who made a fortune in wedding photography who added more to my experience. With wedding photography I've done well. But times move on with digital more into video with a crew. Personally on my own I learned about 40 percent of what a Canon 5D Mk III could do but with Michael's DVDs I learned 100 percent of what it can do. That gave me more options to consider. Then Michael has this PhotoShop Crash Course where I hired people in my company to make my wedding pictures look great. Maybe you could do it cheaper with the basics not hiring anyone. Michael made the point on the video per Marissia Andweson taking pictures of horses and selling them. The point is photography can go a dozen different ways and you have to figure out what you are good at without spending a fortune in gear thinking it will resolve your issues. It won't. Use your heart and passion and only then you figure it out if you are good enough. Regards
I blew away a lot of money on B+W brand UVA filters and Singh-Ray variable ND filters for my L lenses. Painful to see them almost never used. 😢 At the time I justified the cost because they were going to be on L glass but then I realized I liked the photos I took without them on, better.
I watch hundreds of hours of video now , on photography...I don’t have a camera..lol...and I still feel like a puppy...lol..when it comes to this but I have a Question.. I’m getting a free camera ...the range will be long the lines of ...m50...Sony a6500 Sony a7ll ...or the dslr line ...or should look at a6000 and better lens ....I want to grow with camera..but not overwhelming when I first start ..lol...and did I mention I will be doing on types of pictures and video.....sssshhhh help
The reasoning is this: maximizing gear to its full potential is actually a skill. Give a beginner great gear, put them against a pro with beginner gear, it’s no contest. Pro wins every time.
We are new photographers with an a9 and purchased your course. It’s good and we appreciate it, but you go over things too fast sometimes without enough explanation. It would be nice to see what controls and dials your fingers are pushing or turning because you do not explain.
I wish I could waste $10000 on gear. The used D800 I bought I'm keeping her until the shutter won't click no more. I went with polarizing instead of UV. You see a difference with polar filters!
The _only_ problem with the 24-70 is it gives practical, but boring, iPhone style images. High end primes allow you to create something "unique" (that only 100,000s create, instead of 100s of millions)
I have to say I'm so against your advice about selling to maximize profit, all you did is transfer the loss and heartbreak to someone else, imagine if you are the one buying! Share the information about upcoming cams with your buyer, be civilized and human, not capitalist and hurtful.
Him selling his equipment when a new model is around the corner to maximize his earnings is not a bad thing. Everybody does it. Why should he tell the buyer what his intentions are. There is so much information on the internet, that one should research the heck out of what they're buying anyway and then they would probably find that information out. Now if he was selling a camera that had a known defect, and was trying to pass it off as it was in perfect condition, or somehow told the buyer the camera would hold its value, then that would be wrong. Everybody knows when you buy something new or used it's going to continue to lose value. Bottom line is it's incumbent upon the buyer to do his homework before buying.
So you believe I should “hurt” myself because someone is willing to pay a fair price at the time of sale? When they agree to a price, I should actually take less? That makes zero sense. You are welcome to “hurt” yourself if you choose, so just remember to sell things for less than they are actually worth the next time you do. That’s your logic and you are welcome to live by that.
@@MMaven the question is, if you were buying, and two days later u found out it should have been priced less but the seller took advantage of you not knowing, like video says, sell it before anyone finds out, how would you feel? Don't do to others what you don't like done to you.
I don’t think you have any clue what you are talking about. I typically buy 7-10 cameras a year, at full price, and when I sell them, it’s usually for many hundreds less than I purchased them. I lost $1500 on the A9 alone. This is normal for me. And those who buy them are saving huge amounts of money vs buying new. They are thrilled. So you might want to actually think about that before coming to such conclusions.
Hi Michael. Thank you very much. I"m here watching your channel because I just decided to learn photography seriously. Really love your work and appreciate the candid and informative way you talk about stuff. Am now deciding what to buy as my first DSLR. I realized watching you here in this video has probably saved me at least 10 years of my life and more than thousands of dollars. Thank you very much. Love your work by the way! I was drooling over all your portrait work in your videos. Great lighting. So beautiful. I'd like to be able to do that too! All the best.
Thank you Michael!
FYI all the wedding photographers out there : you have to be part psychologist and psychiatrist if you’re a wedding photographer.
There will be many situations where you will need those skills.
Thank you Micheal for your “Real World” advice and explanations. A “true” pro gives back at the same level he/she were mentored/coached/helped. You are a “true professional”.
Thank you my friend!
Many years ago I was once a UV filter person until the UV filter shattered and scratched my front lens element. I would have had less damage if I just used the lens hood instead. For everyday little bumps and bangs, front lens elements are more durable than I thought when I first started. In my opinion, Lens hoods gives me more protection.
pebmets UV filters are the greatest hoax perpetrated on the photography industry. 😂
exactly
Real work sir.. Your work will be remembered. Not like some channel who have deep hands with companies and then companies promote their videos on RUclips. Will will promote you channel. Keep doing good work. And Thanks..
GAS , it is real indeed , thank you for your insights Mr. Maven . Been a tremendous help.
Thanks for all the great tips!
I very much enjoy your enthusiasm about photography. And, about the word "intimate" I like that word because of "Intimations of Immortality" which as you might know is Wordsworth's great Ode. I live in Texas now, but I will always consider myself a Hawaiian because of my stays their like yours. Aloha!
I am a hobbyist photographer so I choose to buy mostly used since I cannot write off new purchases. I saw another RUclips channel talk about IRS will let you earn money as a hobbyist but not interested in that right now. The life cycle of cameras is good to know if I decide to purchase a new camera body.
The whole concept of kicking back and self-reflection is both brilliant and humbling (or should be :-) ). You Tube has been so good for me as a photographer. My Top 10 List of things I wish I had know would start out like this:
- get to know your camera inside and out. For years carried around my 50D and later my 70D as expensive 'point and shoots'. master the gear be it the body, the flash, the lens!
- avoid people who say "wow nice picture, you must have a good camera" Aargh!
- like you the addiction to 'stuff'. Lenses were (are?) my achilles heel. I just didn't know what I really wanted/needed until I bought enough L series to put the Canon staff's kids through university! It is so painful to go on to Ebay and see what I could get for that almost brand new L series zoom I have sitting there gathering dust. Where was this video years ago?! :-)
Thanks Michael. As always, top drawer info and technique!
Good video. I also have a collection of UV filters because I was told that I needed them during a photo course. However, the only filters I actually use is a Polarizer and a few ND filters. I find that using a lens hood is more effective at protecting my lenses. And I only have a handful of lenses, 50mm, 35mm, 10-20mm and my favorite 18-105mm, not including the kit lenses, which I hardly ever use. The 18-105mm pretty much stays on my camera, unless I am shooting portrait or landscapes. I like your down to earth and practical approach to photography. Keep it simple. Too many accessories and gadgets is overwhelming. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos. I have taken many courses and read lots of books and watch youtube videos. You can learn a lot that way.
Some very solid advice presented here, especially regarding lenses.
Peace.
This guy deserves a million subscribers compare to others one sided vloggers that loyal to their brand gears
Solid Advice Micheal as always. The 10 commandments !!
I wish I didn't crop in camera. I watched a youtube video when I first got into photography where the photographer recommended cropping in camera to save time. I made that mistake and listened. I later on change and wanted to try different crops but I could not. I wished I was better at watching my highlights and shadows.
Watching this I'm getting painful flashbacks to my own similar mistakes...so many pricey mistakes! ;-) Wish i would have seen this about 20 years ago. All great advice. Craig
3 uses 4 UV filter. #1 Filming minerals that are flooded with UV light. #2 Filming with black light as the only source of light. #3 filming construction, excavation and Mining sites it's much easier cleaning the filter being that it is flat and not recessed. These are real world applications!
Thank you for saying "two lenses". I always feel like the black sheep that I don't have multiple lenses to use. Just starting out myself and for the occasional shot a different lens would be cool to have, I can't justify spending the money on a lens I'd rarely use. I'm saving up for an f/2.8 24-70mm (ish) lens now. I'd like something that works better in lower light than the 3.5 16-50mm kit lens I have now.
greet work done bro thanks for teaching me how to focus am from uganda africa
I like what you said. About the new cameras, I think it could be smart to wait for a new model to be announced and released, and then buy the current model at a discount, so, to be one generation behind in the body, but the savings could be used to buy a better quality lens, and as you said, lens > body.
youuuuuuuuuuutube That would be my plan. Cameras are so good today that you really don’t need to get the latest right away. Just wait and you will get the same camera at a much lower price.
So what steps do you take to test for sharpness?
very helpful as always. thanx sir love your videos 😘
Thank you Ryk
Really it's all very important and very useful.. thank u sir...
No worries man it is a growing experience
It’s been painful sometimes, but well worth it. I’ve loved the journey.
Thank Michael, saved my bank for this amazing experienced you share. Thank again :)
Well...did the uv filter thing; but my worst mistake(and I’m still a beginner), was buying a camera totally unsuitable for how I wanted to use it in my environment.
Which camera was wrong for your environment Hal?
A7rIII
Awesome video man!
Thank you my friend!
I recently removed my 50 mm from my camera bag, after carrying for years. Now I just have my old but awesome D700 with 24 70 2.8 lense.
Damn, none of this really applied to me. I do buy UV filters but only the cheap ones (less than 10 dollars) and only for protection (dust, sand, lint, water and weather). If the shot really matters I'll usually take it off.
Best medicine against GAS is to sell consequently parts of your gear system you did not touch for more than 6 months. Helps you mentally a lot :)
Two things...I use lens hoods and I dont bring more than one,maybe two lenses..Too much hype about gear,about weight,about speed,aND IT only REALLY COMES DOWN TO skill..
I'm in the period when I realize, that one lens is mounted on my camera for majority of time and the other 3 that I have, I just carry around. Expensive lesson, since I'm using FF camera and buying lenses for that...
We have all been there. I do always feel a little better those 5% of the times I switch them lol :)
generic, fully manual strobes are the shit. $40 on amazon. Best way to learn how to use them, especially for OFC work.
also, my 24-105 is my workhorse.
Which camara do you reccomend to start photography?
Budget will come into play, but for a pure beginner I’d say get what you can afford and shoot everyday. You will learn quickly and eventually have a better idea of what you want. In the beginning learning the basics is more important.
@@MMaven Thank you. I bought some dvds from your website but I sold my Nikon D500 because I used it a couple times and I would like to buy a nikon again but something cheap to start learning.
I will still always put a high quality protection filter on an expensive lens. There’s virtually no loss of image quality even at extreme pixel peeping levels. And I just feel far more comfortable cleaning a filter than the front element. I can always get a new $150 filter but don’t want to mess up the front glass on a $2,000 lens. But the cheaper sub $500 lenses can stay naked 😅 And good advice about selling at the right time, a mistake I ALWAYS seem to make. Maybe that’s why I’ve got a house full of camera gear that’s become pretty much valueless 😭
Tony Northup says that sometimes the filter can make damage worse if the front has an impact because of how the filter screws in.
Ray Valdez Photography I am extremely careful with my lovely gear so that’s not really an issue. My greater reason is just the more comfortable feeling I have in cleaning a filter vs the front element.
Not so fast my friend, one day you will be able to open a small museum to showcase your camera gear!
UFGator1972 I could almost do that now 😂 I’ve got about 130 cameras 😱
@@aussie8114... oh, shoot!
2 lenses. Only 2 lenses. That hit me hard. I watched a documentary camera man's tutorial. It was shot in the beginning of digital film era. (He used Canon camera and lens.) He said use only one lens because every lens produces different color, and it's pain in the ass to fix in post. Shooting a whole production with only one lens! That was eye-opener for me.
There is a lot of wisdom on that
@@MMaven, Yes, they say "less is more."
I still use my late 80's early 90's Nikkor lens , with my Nikon DSLR's .
You should post my photo by each of these equipment mistakes.
Avoid lens fungus. UV filters block fungus-killing light from cleaning lenses. Maybe keep filter on when using lens, remove when storing???
I'm laughing and crying watching this video. I must be a professional after all these years as I did most of the mistakes. Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS laughingly) is the worst of them all especially in the digital photography age. When the Canon R5/R6 came out my three Canon 5D Mk IIIs cost $3200 new and on eBay I might get $450.00 ea competing with 30 others trying to sell them. Before the R5/R6 release Mk IIIs were selling on eBay for $1600-1800. Meanwhile did I really need 17 L series lenses and 4 Canon flashes for all my Canon bodies? Of course not after what I did best in photography. You have to figure that out.
Like Michael I learned it mostly on my on but was lucky to have mentors at the right moment. My Dad knew the best portrait photographer business in town so I got studio time. Then I was the photographer for my High School yearbook also doing some weddings. Later in the Navy I was the photographer for their version of a yearbook. Out of the Navy I met the best wedding photographer in Los Angeles who took me in. Years later I met friends in Atlanta who made a fortune in wedding photography who added more to my experience. With wedding photography I've done well. But times move on with digital more into video with a crew.
Personally on my own I learned about 40 percent of what a Canon 5D Mk III could do but with Michael's DVDs I learned 100 percent of what it can do. That gave me more options to consider. Then Michael has this PhotoShop Crash Course where I hired people in my company to make my wedding pictures look great. Maybe you could do it cheaper with the basics not hiring anyone.
Michael made the point on the video per Marissia Andweson taking pictures of horses and selling them. The point is photography can go a dozen different ways and you have to figure out what you are good at without spending a fortune in gear thinking it will resolve your issues. It won't. Use your heart and passion and only then you figure it out if you are good enough.
Regards
I blew away a lot of money on B+W brand UVA filters and
Singh-Ray variable ND filters for my L lenses. Painful to see them almost never used. 😢 At the time I justified the cost because they were going to be on L glass but then I realized I liked the photos I took without them on, better.
I went through the same thing. I think I spent $300 on mine. Hated it after the first time I used it.
I watch hundreds of hours of video now , on photography...I don’t have a camera..lol...and I still feel like a puppy...lol..when it comes to this but I have a Question.. I’m getting a free camera ...the range will be long the lines of ...m50...Sony a6500 Sony a7ll ...or the dslr line ...or should look at a6000 and better lens ....I want to grow with camera..but not overwhelming when I first start ..lol...and did I mention I will be doing on types of pictures and video.....sssshhhh help
I don't know why people keep comparing skills and gear. If the skill is a variable, the gear is the coefficient. The outcome is determined by both.
The reasoning is this: maximizing gear to its full potential is actually a skill.
Give a beginner great gear, put them against a pro with beginner gear, it’s no contest. Pro wins every time.
We are new photographers with an a9 and purchased your course. It’s good and we appreciate it, but you go over things too fast sometimes without enough explanation. It would be nice to see what controls and dials your fingers are pushing or turning because you do not explain.
Can you mentor me please?
What kind of mentoring do you need?
I had two destroyed UV filters that saved my front lens.
Pieter look into a non UV filter. They are usually cheaper and retain quality
I wish I could waste $10000 on gear. The used D800 I bought I'm keeping her until the shutter won't click no more. I went with polarizing instead of UV. You see a difference with polar filters!
Gear Acquisition Syndrome is another name for successful marketing, or if we come right down to it, capitalism.
The _only_ problem with the 24-70 is it gives practical, but boring, iPhone style images. High end primes allow you to create something "unique" (that only 100,000s create, instead of 100s of millions)
Dirty secrets, lol
I have to say I'm so against your advice about selling to maximize profit, all you did is transfer the loss and heartbreak to someone else, imagine if you are the one buying! Share the information about upcoming cams with your buyer, be civilized and human, not capitalist and hurtful.
Him selling his equipment when a new model is around the corner to maximize his earnings is not a bad thing. Everybody does it. Why should he tell the buyer what his intentions are. There is so much information on the internet, that one should research the heck out of what they're buying anyway and then they would probably find that information out. Now if he was selling a camera that had a known defect, and was trying to pass it off as it was in perfect condition, or somehow told the buyer the camera would hold its value, then that would be wrong. Everybody knows when you buy something new or used it's going to continue to lose value. Bottom line is it's incumbent upon the buyer to do his homework before buying.
@@jamesmarko1787 you would do it, i would never do it, i would never hide a piece of information i know if i were a buyer i would want to know
So you believe I should “hurt” myself because someone is willing to pay a fair price at the time of sale? When they agree to a price, I should actually take less? That makes zero sense.
You are welcome to “hurt” yourself if you choose, so just remember to sell things for less than they are actually worth the next time you do. That’s your logic and you are welcome to live by that.
@@MMaven the question is, if you were buying, and two days later u found out it should have been priced less but the seller took advantage of you not knowing, like video says, sell it before anyone finds out, how would you feel? Don't do to others what you don't like done to you.
I don’t think you have any clue what you are talking about. I typically buy 7-10 cameras a year, at full price, and when I sell them, it’s usually for many hundreds less than I purchased them. I lost $1500 on the A9 alone. This is normal for me. And those who buy them are saving huge amounts of money vs buying new. They are thrilled. So you might want to actually think about that before coming to such conclusions.