Many hobbyists and beginner photographers these days can very easily take a good photo by simply pointing and shooting with a digital camera in auto mode. While your photos will be well exposed and in focus they come with limitations. Getting to know your cameras inner workings will result in better photography. Setting your camera to manual mode will give you more creative control of your image and will require a deeper understanding of photography to take your photos from good to great. These elements include and are not limited to aperture, shutter speed, iso and focal length. A master photography will know how to blend these to give their work a more creative flare.
Exposing correctly for a particular shot can be thought of as an equation; as you increase your shutter speed to “freeze motion” you lose what is called “stops” of light and you would need to compensate and balance exposure by adjusting aperture or iso. Inexperienced photographers will often miss the money shot by wasting too much time thinking about this. With the knowledge of how different camera functions interact with each other, you should be able to quickly and efficiently take higher quality photos the way you envision them.
LIGHT IS LIFE
“I don’t paint people and things; I paint the way light reacts to people and things. This brings me to the basics about light and dark.” These are the words of artist Harley Brown and they sum up the most basic element of anything you can see. Without light, there is no colour or visual form and light is essentially your medium when creating photographs. Understanding the qualities of light and how it reacts with objects in the world. Reflections and shadows are a couple of the essentials to give your compositions depth and dimension. A good photographer will spend time observing the properties of light to understand how to use both natural and artificial sources to “paint his picture”.
Light meters can be used to accurately measure the light in your scene and help you make informed decisions regarding your approach to shooting. In more controlled environments a photographer can use single or multiple connected flashes to have greater creative control over his lighting and overcome many of the limitation of using natural lighting. The way you light your subject can greatly impact the mood or tone of your image. If illuminated incorrectly an innocent scene could come across as menacing or just even unsightly; pay attention to the shadows as the negative is just as important as the positive.
RESOURCEFULNESS
Outdoor photography can present many obstacles and hazards not only to your creativity but also your gear. These can include everything from bad weather to shaking vehicles and even just general safety. There are many tricks photographers develop over years of experience to make their lives easier. Beauty can be found in the harshest environments, it just takes a trained eye to find the perfect composition that communicates the right message.
As a photographer on-the-run you want to be carrying minimal equipment, be able to read and use natural lighting and other environmental factors creatively. The goal is to eliminate setup times to make spontaneous decisions in the unpredictable world outside of a studio. With a wide variety of gear available on the market you can be prepared for anything that comes your way. New photographers are often too precious about their equipment but nothing good ever came without risk. Get out there, be fearless, get involved and get that first camera body scratch over with and focus on capturing great moments.
EDITING
Any experienced photographer will tell you when it comes to post-production less is always more. It is very easy for people to go overdo photo manipulation with careless and frivolous use of filters and effects. One should generally start with the basics such as color correcting images that don’t look the way they should due to undesired color casts or tints. You may also desire to manipulate exposure, shadows and highlights. With so many tools available to edit your photos in infinite ways it is important to remember that in capturing the real world you are using them to enhance your image and guide the viewer’s attention. Any good editor will probably tell you that if their job has been done well, nobody will notice; but if you do a bad job it will be all people see. An editor should be sparing and resourceful.
Apart from improving the appearance of your photographs, software can also allow you to do more physical changes such as removing unwanted elements in your photo or adding new ones. The possibilities are limitless. Software such as Adobe Photoshop offers you all of this and a lot more. The technology for photo manipulation has come a very long way and is extremely powerful.
WORKFLOW
The manner in which your photography will be used will determine the workflow for a particular project. It is crucial to plan accordingly to streamline your work and get the best end results. The workflow for an image intended for web use would be different from that of a billboard. However, if you have the storage capacity it would be recommended to shoot everything in a RAW format to ensure image integrity for all uses. You should familiarize yourself with requirements for digital or print media formats and the difference between RGB and CMYK color spaces to mention a few technical components of workflow.
Nothing beats practical experience. Learn techniques from an experienced photographer and take your skills from beginner to professional with immersive one on one workshops designed to arm you with all the knowledge and practical experience you will need.