Basics- Round Two

Camera Settings
You don't need a fancy SLR (Single Lense Reflex) to take good photographs. It's all about learning to extract the best from your equipment. Here are a few things I recommend:

• Never use digital zoom. Turn it off if you can.
• Always shoot in program (P) mode if your camera has one. It's semi-automatic, makes all the setting decisions for you- but lets you customize to suit your needs. It's as easy as shooting in auto- so don't worry.
• This might seem strange right now, but never use your camera flash! You should only use your camear flash if you need to take photos in low light of a close objuct, or can't get an image without it being blurry.
• Trying shooting in the lowest ISO (Speed Range) without getting a blurry image.
• Never use on camera sharpening, saturation or contrast controls. These are much better done on the computer in the future.
• The above applies to black and white photos as well, it'll be much better to do it on your computer later on.

What are you photographing?
A good photograph will always require a certain amount of thought to go into it.
The first thing you should ask yourself is, what do you want to take a photograph of? If you're just taking a photo because it looks beautiful or interesting- what makes you think that? Is it the landscape it's in? The fact that it's off to the side? What catches your eye about it?
This helps you identify the key elements that you want to capture. Now, try to fit all the key elements into the frame of the photo. Also try to eliminate all unnecessary elements, which may distract the viewer from the main focus of the image.
Also, pay attention to the back ground- say you're taking a photo of a person. Do you really want a lamp post sticking out of their head? Either ask your subject to move, and if not possible- move yourself. If the key element in your photo is in the foreground (In the front of the photo), always try for a less cluttered background. If there is something obstructing your view, move closer or off to the side to keep it out of the photo.
Remember, when it comes to composition less is sometimes more. So don't take a wide picture, if you only want to focus attention on say- a person. That just wont have the same affect as if you moved a little closer, or zoomed and took the picture.

Rules of Photo Composition

Rule of Thirds

• The Rule of Thirds is based on the fact that the human eye is naturally drawn to a point about two-thirds up a page. Crop, zoom or focus your photo so that the main subjects are located around one of the intersection points rather than in the center of the image.
• Your landscapes will be optimally pleasing to the eye if you apply the Rule of Thirds when you place your horizon line.
  If the area of interest is land or water, the horizon line will usually be two-thirds up from the bottom. Alternately, if the sky is the area of emphasis, the horizon line may be one-third up from the bottom, leaving the sky to take up the top two-thirds of the picture.

Golden Section Rule

• It has been found that certain points in a picture's composition automatically attract the viewer's attention. Similarly, many natural or man-made objects and scenes with certain proportions (whether by chance or by design) automatically please us.
  To get a clearer sense of these special "Golden" composition points, imagine a picture divided into nine unequal parts with four lines. Each line is drawn so that the width of the resulting small part of the image relates to that of the big part exactly as the width of the whole image relates to the width of the big part. Points where the lines intersect are the "golden" points of the picture.

That's all for now Photography fanatics~

Photography Tutorial: Starting Out

When I first started out...

Everything I learned I did so myself. Looking back, I'm surprised I somehow worked myself through the last two years without taking a class or something. But I think learning on my own helped me become more independent as a photographer. Well I am proud of how far I've come,but it was anything but smooth sailing. So I've compiled a list of things that you should know so everything is a little less bumpy-road for you.

Know what you want to do first...

Sounds simple, but is rather complicated. Decide what you want to do. Do you want to shoot weddings? Do you want to do conceptual work? Or do you want to travel around the world and take pictures of the landscapes? No matter what anyone says, it does matter in the end. When I first started out, I was taking pictures of landscapes and snow- then I decided to take conceptual photography, and now it's macro photography. When your goals change, the equipment you use is going to change too. Each change in direction ended up with me either spending more money, or spending a couple of months at a time making mistakes trying to learn what to do.
Believe it or not, it matters. Why? Because there isn't a do-it-all lens or camera. There just isn't. For each goal you have as a photographer there might be a different lens, or new equipment.
Not knowing what you want will cost some money in the end, or in some cases, a lot of money. If you want to do protraits and end up buying a fisheye lens because it's on sale and you have no idea what it does, you're not taking a step toward your goal- you're taking several back.  True, you're learning by making your own mistakes, but I'd rather you not learn the hard way, which brings me to my next point...

Be Realistic-Seriously!
When you start out, or even a couple months in- you have really high hopes. Everyone does, when I first started out I thought I was the best and I had all the hope in the world. But the truth is, I wasn't very good. But no one told me. You realize after a time- don't aim too high. You have to be realistic.
When you aim too high, you might fall short. Falling too short can always be discouraging and then you end up thinking that you're not any good. Not realizing that if you aim to high, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. You can't mount the horse for the first time and assume you're going to be amazing- it just doesn't work that way. There's a first time for everything- and you're not always going to be good at it. So keep your expectations realistic. It'll save you a lot of problems.
When you first start, try shooting shadows or simple things. Try getting non-blurry images with longer than average exposure. Don't try to take a big panorama on your first day without a tripod. Take baby-steps. It may take longer, but it'll involve less backtracking.