What is the most important ingredient that makes a good photograph? A lot of new learners to photography focus way too much on the camera, gadgets, and post-editing; but really it's all about the photographer's eye. Through the lenses, it shows how you see the world. It is how you take a stand as a photographer, and how you show your perspective.
Use the below presentation as an entry point to a photographic course. It consists of two parts:
- What are the common mistakes people make and how to avoid them;
- What are some easy tricks that get maximum effects?
You may be surprised at the richness of discussion it generates in a class setting.
Ah - the joy of parenting is obvious in this one. When your eyes are fixed on your subject (the child, or the banana) you seem to just enjoy the moment and not care about what else is in the pictorial frame. The foundation of a good photograph is composition, composition, composition! Train yourself to see what is in the frame, and always know where your fingers are.
This photo is unsettling for some very obvious reasons and the movement clearly is unintentional. While we can
almost work out the subjects, the movement (probably caused by pressing down the shutter) is simply too distracting..
Viewpoint and perspective are crucial in photography.. and in 3D trick art! Taken from a
wrong viewpoint, the picture does not show the magic, but documents an event in progress.
Yup, too often we only realise much later that all sorts of things grow out of our head... As a starting point of practice, avoid putting your subject in the centre of the picture. This will really force you to think about how to frame your picture.
It's so important for a photographer to build a rapport with her subject, in order to take a complemary, genuine photo... Not sure about anyone else, but I would definitely prefer photos that make me feel great about myself,
A true documentary created when dad was excited to try out the remote control of the camera. Yup, looks like I was the only one ready for the photo.
Photographing in location requires a bit more experience in working with light sources that you have less control of. Yeah, it's an overexposed one. What's more - having the subjects facing the sun makes their facial expressions all so ... intense.
What's wrong with this one? What are we looking at? The plant or the person? Is it a wedding or a murder? You practising depth of field?
It hurts my eyes when they have to try so hard to focus... Use manual focus, or step back a bit to allow your camera to pick up the subject. Set selective focus, or just put the camera down.
A general rule is to not ask your subject to appear in front of a light source, and people tend to forget that windows allow the light in? Zoom in to take the light meter reading from the face of the subject, then zoom out to take the photo. You may find the backgroud is over-exposed, but saves the time to do post-editing.
In this day and age we seem to consider this type of photo 'normal' as we are almost always in front of a screen. The light source is too close to the subject so some features (i.e., the chin) disappear due to over-exposure. Difuse the light and adjust the white balance!
The following examples are successful expressions using appropriate photographic techniques, processes, and methods. They communicates a clear message to the viewer.
Art is purposeful existence.
Zoom in, include only parts of the repeated subjects in the frame to create a sense of mass in number. Micro lense would help.
Low f-stop, close to the subject, selective focus if required.
'Normal' f-stop (say a f5.6 - 8) and a slow shutter (say, 1/15s - 1/90s), stand where you are and look into the viewfinder of the camera. Then make sure that you turn your head as you have the camera glued to your forehead to follow the cyclist. Sports mode may only help with panning when you move the camera significantly - the moving subject is super fast.
High f-stop means a small aperture so that everything is in focus. The nature of photography creates an illusion of sclae using perspective.
Light trail - A large shutter number means long exposure, say 10-15 seconds. 'normal' f-stop 8 - 16. Set the camera on a tripod and use a remote shutter release!
Zoom panning - this is so much fun and you don't have to use the manual mode. Just adjust the zoom while pressing down the shutter button. Then you can change to manual control if you want a more controlled pan.
This shows how setting up a scene is important. A set-up like this one can be easily done at home and creates brilliant pictures. The photographer's eye captures the moment, and one has to create the moment a lot of the time.
Light trail, light graffiti. Set the shutter to BULB so you can control when you open and close the shutter.
Photoshop is great. To make the process a breeze, you should also prepare and pre-plan the shots. You need to take two shots and put the camera on a tripod so the settings stay the same between the two. Mark the locations of the shoes so that the feet can stand in the right places. Overlap the two photographs in Photoshop as two seperate layers. Erase the unwanted stuff. (This super simplified version certainly makes it sound like a breeze..)
Well, the point is, as one starts to learn about photography they should not rely on Photoshop! This picture says it all - most times to achive what you want, it takes a lot of preparation, planning, and manipulation of materials (including using props). Most important, practise and produce
a series of work so that you are able to evaluate what works for you.
Love it. Do it.
