There are many out there who write about photography. There are many magazines and websites where authors pontificate on how to do this or that; or what equipment you should use. For those new to photography, or those who want to take better photos, the overload of information can appear daunting. It is. In fact, most of the information out there can make a person feel down about their work, spend too much money, and in the end, be frustrated. I can help.
Forget everything you’ve read in the magazines and online about lenses, ISO, and the other nonsense. Just take photos. Take many photos. Take as many photos as you can.
Years ago on a family trip to Walt Disney World, I joked to my significant other that her new nickname was “click click” because she’d take two steps and then take three photos. She wanted to capture photos of all the places the kids were going, the rides they were going on, and all that Disney “magic” people talk about. I shouldn’t have given her that nickname. That was wrong of me. I have learned and mellowed – my viewpoint has willingly changed. Take lots of photos. Take all the photos and then some. The trick is to go through the photos after and delete the ones you don’t want.
I started in photography when I was about 10 years old. Kodak film was king. You had to be selective when taking photos because film and processing cost money. As I progressed into photography in high school, I learned to develop film myself in a dark room. This didn’t reduce the cost any, but you did gain the ability to take a few more photos and have more control over what you printed. Enter the digital camera.
You only pay for what you print with digital. Most people take photos and never print one. They share online, by email, on social media, or even fill digital photo frames. The cost of photography, once you buy a camera or camera phone, drops to zero – except for your time.
The camera you own is the right camera for you. You don’t need a fancy $4,000 camera body and a $3,000 camera lens to take good photos. iPhones are amazing at low-light photography and vivid images. Point-and-shoot cameras are great because you don’t have to fiddle with different lenses to take a photo. I use a digital single lens reflex camera. That’s babble-speak for a camera where you can change lenses. It’s more work, and I can do more things with it. But even with the seven year old tech I own, new technology is easily making what I have largely obsolete.
At our son’s graduation this spring, someone forgot to turn the lights up at the ceremony. Trying to be courteous to other parents, I didn’t haul out my flash which can blast people with the light of 1,000 suns when used. Instead I made do with my camera and a low-light lens. The photos had to be processed multiple times in Photoshop to get something passably okay. Meanwhile a friend who was there took great photos with their iPhone. Same light, but with Apple magic.
There is a lot of techno-babble in photography: ISO, f/stop, shutter speed, exposure triangles, HDR, exposure compensation, and all the other terms. The only one you really need to concern yourself with is shutter speed. To not have blurry photos at a gathering, take photos at 1/60th of a second or faster. For action photos, use 1/500th of a second or faster. If your camera has a sports mode, use that. There’s a lot of terms as well: rule of thirds, golden spiral, and others for how to compose a photo. Ignore all those. Center your subject, snap the photo, and move on.
I take photos. I also make photos. There is a difference. Taking a photo is when you freeze a snapshot in time – a child’s birthday party, a wedding, or a graduation. Making a photo is when you compose a photo to tell a story. You can go into overload with all the technical stuff. Don’t. If you see a scene, a piece of countryside, a mountain range, or anything you like that looks nice, point, click, and be done with it. Check your photos after to make sure you got what you want. Don’t get stuck in the weeds – point, click, and move to the next thing.
Remember, ignore the magazines and camera blogs that say you need XYZ camera to be able to take good photos. Or if you don’t do this your photos will not be good. Rubbish! Your photo will be good because you took it. Your photo will be good because it is a snapshot in time, a memory, an event, or a nice scene that you liked. Don’t over-think it. Just take a picture and enjoy. Have fun.
This column was originally published in the July 31, 2024 print edition of The Morrisburg Leader.
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