During photography’s entire history, the amateur and the professional have represented distinct and often contrary approaches to photography, each battling for supremacy. Has the digital revolution tilted the field of battle irrevocably in the amateur’s favour? Or has it swept this traditional rivalry into the dustbin? Can anyone say? For the 19th-century practitioner, photography was fraught with personal and technical adversity. The darkroom environment was equally challenging: space was constrained, and in smaller field tents the photographer had to kneel or lie down to work. Ventilation was poor or non-existent, and lightproofing faulty. Digital photography is starting to become accessible to the average consumer. Camera prices are falling and image quality is improving. Compared to conventional 35-mm photography, there is no film or processing costs, and results are immediately viewable so a re-shoot can be made quickly if needed. Plus there are more and more applications where digital images are more convenient and cost effective.
Good photos result from the following elements: always having your camera with you; being in the frame of mind that you THINK about taking pictures when a good opportunity presents itself; experience in knowing what the camera can do and can’t do, such as how to adjust your camera to compensate for poor lighting conditions or anything else that doesn’t happen to be just right; have patience; taking lots and lots and lots of photos- the average professional photographer takes around 120 shots for every ONE that he/she actually uses and gets paid for; and finally, luck.
To take a successful landscape picture, you want the whole thing to be in focus. You’ll want the focal length to be as short as possible, to create a greater depth of field. You can use the rule of thirds to create a balance between land and sky. Also, having a subject, such as an object in the foreground, might give a better sense of dimensionality. When photographing water, you will want to use a slow shutter speed, giving the impression of water flowing, and when photographing the sea, add a polarizing filter and give the water a transparency effect. A tripod is a good investment in photography, especially if you want to take panoramic pictures. You’ll have to set your tripod in a place where you can swivel the camera smoothly from left to right, and not up and down. You will have to figure out where you want your pictures to overlap, so that you don’t have huge gaps in your resulting picture. Once you figure that out, you can swivel your camera in one direction, clockwise or counterclockwise, to take the pictures you want. Once you’re done, all you have to do is put them together with a simple graphics program or photo-editing software.
Color laser printers, once the stuff of dreams (or professional print shops); have rapidly become both more economical and more photo-friendly. The latest and greatest color laser printers cost under $300, produce high-quality color output, and features like PictBridge (that allows direct connection to many digital cameras) are starting to appear in this class. It’s looking like color laser printers may finally start to break into the huge home-office market, partly on their photo-printing strengths. Even without going to specialized photo paper, you can improve the quality of your printer’s output by careful paper choice. 24lb weight paper is best for most photo printing, though more expensive than normal 20lb paper, used for most printing. Lower weights will often bleed through too much ink; higher paper weights can cause reliability problems in typical home office printers.
While many consider themselves amateurs when it comes to taking artistic photographs, with a little study and an independent experimentation, most anyone with persistence could quickly become an expert in photographing works of art. What is the market for such a skill? With the Internet and e-mail the market for photographing works of art is growing by leaps and bounds. Those artists that have made it to the level of giving exhibits around the nation need excellent pictorial representations of their art work to market to various galleries. The greater exposure they enjoy the more art they will sell. One company sends sales people from one farm to another with an aerial photograph of their home in hand. There are few homeowners that will turn down a readily available heirloom photograph of their land unless they already have one. One other important market is to take photographs of buildings for insurance companies or architects who have just created an award-winning design of a life-time.
Focus on the eyes: This is an absolute. As in most portraiture, the eyes are the key to understanding the child. They reveal character, and most often have a lot of expression in them. If you don’t focus on the eyes you will always feel as if there is something missing from the photograph. There are of course artistic exceptions to this rule. For instance, the hand of the child at a particular moment might hold tremendous amounts of character and expression. Shoot as if you were three feet tall: When shooting from the child’s point of view of the world, you get the world as viewed by children. Also the child will feel safer and equal in the session. Let the children invite you into their space. Just find your inner child. Come on it’s fun! Shoot in couples or groups: Some of the best baby pictures I have ever taken are of children interacting with each other. There is something special and honest about the way they treat their peers. Be aware that some of your more active children may want to interact more violently then others. Props (especially soft ones) can be a great aid in both getting their attention and aiding in constructive interaction.
These days in news photography you could be selecting that career. This is probably one of the most exciting careers a beginner photographer could embark on. These photographers bring in photos that are current and stay with today’s flow of news. The picture should have power and capture the reader’s attention. It is difficult to just start being a news photographer, it is better to have some experience in the field. It takes a lot of trial and error to become really good at this field. Here are a couple really good tips: You have to master the art of holding the perfect shot. You have to make sure that you hold the shot longer. You should know how to create intervals for every shot that you take. You should know the story and listen well in your interviews. Ask your reporter for instructions so that you can follow his insight on where he would like to go with the story. Always use a tripod in capturing shots. Many believe that a video camera should be held steadily in place. However, some photographers want to move freely in capturing their shots.
