Photography is now a more accessible hobby than ever before, providing
you've got some time and a few hundred pounds to spare. While film
cameras may have a certain prestige and have become something of a
reserve for purists, digital cameras have some useful innovations and
the ability to store thousands of photographs without the need for
expensive rolls of film and a dark room full of poisonous chemicals to
develop them in. Becoming a photographer will completely change your
world view; it will allow you to appreciate small details that you might
otherwise miss and identify beauty in situations that might otherwise
be incredibly bleak (read up on the Afghan Girl for a great example of that.)Step one - choosing your kit
It's essentially a choice between a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) or a compact camera. Which one you should get depends on what you want to do - if you want to point, click and not worry about settings then a compact is the one for you. If you would like more creative control then a DSLR is the better option.
| Compact | DSLR |
|---|---|
| Cheap < £100 | Expensive > £400 |
| Light | Heavy |
| Easy to use | Requires more training |
| Not customisable – self contained. Some modifications exist but they can be bulky and imprecise | Customisable – can swap out lenses and extend its working life and functionality, attach external light sources, etc |
| Limited settings – most will be automatic | Full control over settings |
| Low maintenance, durable | High maintenance – requires cleaning to remove dust |
| Not good in low light conditions | Great in low light conditions |
| Slow to respond – can miss shots | Fast – captures an image almost immediately after pressing the shutter |
Step two - what you need to know
Here are some core principles of photography and image composition that you should be aware of.
The rule of thirds
The rule of thirds is the concept that, for whatever reason, the human eye finds it more comfortable to look at an image that is intersecting these imaginary lines than an image that is dead centre.
 |
| Image credits Adam Browning |
Applying this to a picture of a landscape would result in a picture that is two thirds sea and one third land or vice versa. This isn't an absolute rule and you're encouraged to break it but it's the easiest way to make an image look well composed, balanced and professional.
Focus
Focus in a camera emulates what the lens in your eye does when focussing on an object. The focus can be adjusted so that one point of the shot is crisp while the rest is blurry.
 |
| Image credits Adam Browning |
However, it's not that simple. Focus is dependant on aperture and depth of field, elements which relate to camera exposure.
Exposure
Exposure is the amount of light that your image is exposed to. Whether it is under-exposed (too dark), over-exposed (too light) or correctly exposed depends on three things: aperture, ISO and shutter speed. Both under and over exposures are bad because fine details are lost and even though the picture can be 'saved' in a graphics program, the over all quality is poor. Getting the exposure right takes practice.
Aperture
Aperture is the amount of light that the camera lets through the lens - it's like the pupil in your eye. It is represented on your camera as something called an 'f-stop' and you'll see it rendered as f/1.4, f/9.8, etc. The smaller that number is, the wider the opening. Conversely, the larger the number, the narrower the opening.
You can expand or contract this opening depending on the kind of shot you want to take. To take a landscape shot, you'll need a larger f-stop number/narrower opening to ensure a deep 'depth of field', which will capture the maximum amount of detail.
On the other end of the scale, an extreme close up requires a smaller f-stop number and a wider aperture opening. This creates a shallow depth of field, where one point is in focus and the rest is blurry. However, on this picture of a damselfly, a narrow aperture was used to compensate for the magnification of the lens. The red ring shows roughly where the boundary of the aperture opening was in the camera that took the picture. Inside of the ring the image is sharp; everything outside of the ring is blurry.
Shutter speed
Shutter speed is the amount of time that the camera allows the light to come in and be recorded. You might also hear it referred to as a 'long' or 'short' exposure. It is measured in seconds (or fractions of seconds.) You would use a fast shutter speed to capture action shots, like at a football match. Another example is in nature documentaries where you might see a slow motion sequence of a hummingbird flapping its wings - the shutter speed would have to have been extremely fast in order the capture the detail in each individual shot without it looking blurred. A slow shutter speed will produce photographs which look 'smooth'. Two identical scenes are compared below:
 |
| Faster shutter speed - 1/5th of a second |
 |
| Slower shutter speed - 110 seconds |
ISO
ISO is the amount of work that the processor in your camera is putting in to negotiate the effects of low light. A higher ISO number will increase the sensitivity of the camera sensor, but unfortunately it'll also make the image look grainy. If the light is fine, then the ISO number should be kept as low as possible. ISO exists as trade off between being able to take a picture in dark conditions and image quality, if you need it.
Step three - finding something that you care about enough to photograph
This last step can be the most difficult. Adam Browning, who has taken the pictures used in this article, specialises in macro images of insects. He does this because he says that insects and their adaptations fascinate him and that he enjoys capturing them in detail. Your passion might not be creepy crawlies - it could be sprawling landscapes, animals or other people. The only way to find out is to get out there and start taking pictures; it doesn't even matter if they aren't that good. Just make sure that you always have your camera on you - you never know when you might stumble across something interesting.
Notes - image licensing
Girl with camera
Compact camera
DSLR camera
Adam Browning's photographs used with permission - http://500px.com/adambrowning
No comments:
Post a Comment