1. does the uploading site matter? like i saw a stickied thread and im wondering if i could just use imageshack.us?
2. What makes a photo good?
3. is a 7.2 megapixel camera good?
4. what should i begin taking pictures of for practice
5. how do i become better?
6. what are some mistakes you made when you first started that i should watch out for?

2. that differs, but if you want some technical advice, when shooting at an object, try to keep the camera on the same level as the subject. Try placing your
subject 1/3 into the picture, from top/bottom/left/right, your choice. If you have a straight line somewhere in your picture try to reposition yourself so it
becomes a diagonal one over the whole pic
3. megapixels does not matter
4. what do you want to take pictures of when it is not practise? I take pictures of everything I find interesting
5. by evaluating what made some of your photos good/bad and thinking what you can do better next time
6. No general mistakes except horizons that were screwed, but I made no general mistake imo, I was mainly trying to teach myself how my camera works.

Taking nice pictures is a mixture of a few things you need to control:
- Know the basics: how apeture relates to shutterspeed and the effect of high/low values of apeture and shutterspeed. It's rather basic and straightforward but most people do not get it.
- Know your camera and read the fucking manual. Never use the "automatic" setting. Everytime you're serious about photography and use "automatic" a child will die somewhere in extreme agony.
- Spend time on pictures you like to find out what drives a good picture. Composition is key. Reading some books on the subject can't hurt. (1/3 rule is key)
- Go outside. The best pictures usually come unexpectedly. Go to places you don't normally go and just look around. The best thing about photography is that you get to see the world 'from a distance', that is, away from every day life. It's almost freaking therapy.
- Easiest camera to start off with is a compact, due to the live view on it. It has the most immediate learning-by-seeing-effect. However, if you use the automatic setting, another earthquake will hit Haiti.

To further improve:
- Shoot in Raw and use software (read: lightroom) to process your pictures. This is an investment in time and effort (to get to know Lightroom), but your picture quality will improve drastically. I wouldn't start with it unless you're really into it though.
- Get good equipment. With DLSR, you have to remember that the lens is more important than the body of the camera. Invest in the lens, not the body. With a compact, make sure you can at least set shutterspeed/apeture/iso/white balance easily, so you get to know what photography is about.
- Follow a course on photography. You might be stuck between female pensioneers (I know: my father gives those courses), but the lessons are very valuable.
- Do not try to die while taking pictures.

#1: I suggest directupload.net (dunno if it's in german for all users), fast & free

1. No the upload doesn't matter, really. I use photobucket.com. You can have your own account there and organize your photos and go back to them if you want to share them elsewhere. I don't like imageshack 'cause you can't do that. I recommend anything BUT imageshack and tinypic.

2. Composition, the effort you put into it, and correct settings makes a good photo

3. Megapixels does not matter - I quote. Don't be fooled by the amount of mega pixels a camera has, rather look at the other things.

4. Anything that inspires you, catches your eye. Take pictures of things that interest you. Do you like bugs, sports, nature, animals?

5. By practicing and taking photos and learning from them! Post here or on a photo forum and you can get tips on how to make that particular photo better.

6. Mistakes I made, well, when taking a photo of a sunset, I took a picture of the actual sun, rather than looking behind me, there is so much more beauty with the colors the sun lets off. Also, I needed to work on my composition. I used to forget that the horizon needed to be straight and not crooked, so I had to work on that too. Also, I learned you have to have a lot of patience with photography; don't expect your photo to come out perfect when you first start out, and if you can't be persistent and patient and willing to learn how to make it better, then it really makes photography a stressful hobby.

Good luck my friend!

but but but mine is 300MP!!!

1. does the uploading site matter? like i saw a stickied thread and im wondering if i could just use imageshack.us?
2. What makes a photo good?
3. is a 7.2 megapixel camera good?
4. what should i begin taking pictures of for practice
5. how do i become better?
6. what are some mistakes you made when you first started that i should watch out for?


1. flickr / even if it doesnt just the feeling of uploading on it makes it better. although they do have different sizes you can use too.
2. your personal imput and find your own style, if you like it and its you. then its a good photo.
3. megapixel only means how big of a photo you can take, it doesnt mean how good it is. i actually dont even use all of my 15mp because i dont need it.
4. anything and everything you see, practice will only make you better. so take it everywhere or whenever you feel like it, or even when you dont. you will always want to take a photo of something and wish you brought it. try different settings.
5. practice / study
6. dont leave any of your things around! someone stole my camera and all my lenses. >.<
but as for photography itself, its good to make mistakes, it leads to making you a better photographer or it can turn into part of your style or open new doors.

large format film and good scanner?

psh its a time machine.

imageshack is good, just remember to resize the picture before uploading, no matter where you upload. allso if you do some sharpening for the photo sharpen after resizing

theres meny things that make a good photo, not everyone of them is required for every shots. some type of pics can be good just because of good composition and technical stuff, some need to show emotions etc

i know a 4 mp camera thats better than the 7.2 mp camera your talking about(what ever it is). mega pixels is just the picture size, too meny mega pixels on small sensor can be a bad thing

shoot everything, but do it with full manual mode

look what you shoot and analyze them, analyze other peoples photos, reading some books help, find info from internet etc

youll figure out what you did wrong after you get better. take a good look what camera you should buy if your buying a dslr and stick with it untill your ready to get much much better camera