I've always loved photography. Especially holding an SLR and focusing the lens (there's something so timeless and classic about that pose). I love it so much and I don't know a thing about it. I don't know my ISO from my aperture - I've tried, trust me. I studied photography at school and again at design college. How I passed those modules I'll never know, but somehow I did.
The advent of the digital camera in recent years has been a welcome innovation for every budding photographer (and happy snapper). Gone are the days of forking out cash at the photo shop for a bunch of blurred, red-eyed or headless snaps (remember how someone's head always managed to get cropped out?). Or even more devastating - opening the back of your camera to unload only to discover the film had never spooled on (happened to me after a trip to the Great Wall, honestly).
No worries with digital. Now you can instantly check to see if your photo is a dud. No more wasting precious pennies on film and developing. Of course, I'm still a mad fan of film photography. Particularly now that 'toy'/retro cameras are all the rage. Even when you stuff it up it looks cool in an alternative, indie kind of way. It's exciting having to wait to get the photos back (who knew it would become a novelty again?).
But regardless of your preference, it pays to know the basics. Most of the terms and techniques of film photography still apply to digital. There are books upon magazines upon websites all about photography - so where on earth do you start? Well, fear not my eager shutter bugs - I've done all the work for you...
After listening to Daniela Federici talk about her photography at Semi-Permanent, I got all inspired to try out different lighting techniques. Then I stumbled upon young photography prodigy Eleanor Hardwick. And I got really inspired. But first things first...
Nancy Hill has a great article on photography.com titled 5 Elements of a Great Photograph, which I will paraphrase/embellish upon:
- Composition: Think about how to frame your image. Should you go in close? Or step back just a little to let a background narrative creep in?
- Rule of 3: Nancy talks about drawing 3 imaginary horizontal and 3 vertical lines across your image - where they intersect is the focus of your images. Move the lines around and see what compositions who create.
- Exposure: There is only so much Photoshop can do. Learn how to take a photograph properly and you'll have a greater chance of getting the image you want.
- Emotion: What do you want to evoke in the viewer? The emotion you're trying to create will determine the best techniques to employ (soft lighting to calm, reflective emotions, or highly contrasted, bold lighting for aggressive emotions etc.)
- Put a bit of life into it: A great photo somehow captures a wisdom of life - it stops people and makes them think. Happy, sad, joyful...how can you communicate that through your image?
It's a Dog's Life; 'Round and 'Round We Go - Danielle Hughson on FlickrThe three basic things you need to know about are
ISO,
Shutter Speed and
Aperture. I don't want to go all crazy trying to explain these to you - but I know a great place to find out
more.
In a nutshell,
ISO refers sensitivity of the film (or image sensor). ISO is measured on a scale of 100, 200, 400, 800 etc. The rule of thumb here is to use a high ISO in darker situations - ISO 100 is the most common everyday measurement. Higher ISOs are good for indoor sports events, concerts, art galleries/churches etc where the light is minimal.
Shutter Speed is a measurement of the amount of time the 'shutter' is open - allowing light in. It is measured in fractions of seconds along the range of 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/18, 1/15 etc. You can sometimes have the option of even slower shutter speeds measured in full seconds (i.e. 30 seconds), and some cameras allow you to manually control the shutter speed. Very slow shutter speeds are great for very low light situations also, for creating special effects or for capturing a lot of movement (blurred).
Aperture measures the size of the opening of the shutter in the lens. The larger the hole, the more lights gets in, obviously. Aperture is measured in F-Stops: f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/22 etc. Confusingly, the smaller the aperture the larger the hole. Which is important to remember when it comes to Depth of Field. DOF is basically the amount of the scene you are capturing that is in focus. A small or shallow DOF only has part of the scene in focus, and a large DOF will have most of the area in focus. Small apertures are great for landscapes - they allow subjects in the foreground to the horizon to be in focus (large DOF). Large apertures are good for portraiture - placing focus on the person so they are not competing with the background.
Check out the (short) articles on
digital-photograph-school.com (terms are links at top of this section). Each article has great photos to help illustrate what everything means and makes it
so much easier to understand.
Now, some ideas! I'm really keen to try out some of the following lighting techniques. I'll write another article when I've had a chance to try some of them out. That way I can post example photos to show you how to try them yourself. But in the meantime i'll list them here in case you're eager to research them yourself and have a go.
- Colour Gels: Basically just placing coloured transparencies over the light source to create colourful lighting. Great to try several at once - start with blue and orange/amber 'gels' which are the most common.
- Ring Light: These lights are notoriously expensive (anything from $500 to over $1000), but there are loads of DIY tutorials on the net detailing how to make your own. A ringlight is basically a ring of lights that the camera lens shoots through. It creates an even, shadow-free illumination great for close-up portraits.
- Soft Box: You'll have seen these. Black sides with reflective material inside and a translucent front - these lights give a soft, diffused light. Also lots of tutorials to make your own.
- Backlighting: Hard to master, but worth experimenting! Backlighting can enhance tiny details in a subject (such as dust particles). Early morning sunrise or evening sunset ambient light is great for this - but very limited time wise. It is recommended you use a lens hood to reduce glare - and aperture settings should be shorter to limit the amount of light coming in and overexposing the photo.
- Long Exposures: Lots of different techniques - such as Light Painting, Capturing Movement and Turning Night into Day. Search under 'long exposure photography' for various articles and photo examples. I'm keen to try the second. Great for fast moving subjects (like a carousel at a fairground). But also interesting to try with limited movement. You get a soft, painterly effect. I'm interested in trying this with portraiture.
That's it for now - well done if you've made it to the end of this post! I'm super excited to be receiving my Canon 40D in the next day or two. No more pinching my lil' sister point and shoot. Now I can take some real photographs...hehe
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