In the last issue we talked about quick tips for creating beautiful

photography. In this issue we are going to go over the basics of

photography - a little refresher!

 

Living in Jupiter Florida I'm a huge beach ocean lover. Big fan of tropical scenes and sunsets if you already can't tell from my Instagram, but If you are a sports fan, you know what it means when a team goes into

a “rebuilding year”.  It is just when the owners or coaches decide its

time to train new members and correct bad habits in others. And

invariably, what team leadership says when they go into such a time is

that they are going “back to basics.”

 

Sometimes it’s good for us as photographers to go back to basics.

And, of course, if you are just getting started in the world of photography

and want to learn “the ropes”, the basics are a natural start.  But you

want the basics of what the professionals know about the craft of

photography.

 

Anybody can take a picture.  I attended a wedding reception where the

wedding party left a disposable digital camera on each table at the

reception for guests to snap photos.  Before the evening was over, it

was the children who were running around taking pictures of everything

from the dirty dishes to their own underwear.  These were not

photographers and while those pictures will no doubt get a few

chuckles, these are not the kind of professional pictures people want

for their long-term memories.

 

Obviously, the cornerstone of the basics of photography is the camera.

When you see a camera geek walking around with enough equipment

on his neck to launch a space shuttle, you get the impression that

cameras are phenomenally complex, more than mere mortals can

grasp.  But look at the professionals and you see them working with

portable, relatively easy to operate cameras.  That is because the

basics of running a camera come down to aperture and shutter speed.

 

Now don’t get nervous about fancy terms.  Aperture is just a term for

how wide your camera lens is open to let in light.  And shutter speed is

just how long you let the light come in to affect the picture.  For getting a

shot of a fast moving event, you want a wide aperture to let in a lot of

light but a short shutter speed so you capture the event quickly and

close the window so the picture is caught before more light hurts the

quality.

 

Photography is really all about light.  You can and will learn a lot

about lenses and flash photography and other ways to turn the control

over the lighting of a shot to you.  So add to your core skills of

photography a willingness to never stop learning.  The better and more

sophisticated you get in your ability to work with the equipment, the

more you will learn and the more you will want to learn.

 

You can get a greater control over these basic controls of the camera

such as aperture and shutter speed by learning how to switch from

automatic settings to manual settings.  The automatic settings of any

camera are just there for the general public who are not interested in

learning the basics.  So they give you some basic settings like

landscape, portrait and sports settings.  By switching to manual, you

can learn what settings work best in different situations.

 

And that takes us to the most important basic about becoming a great

photographer and that is practice.  Take some time with your

equipment and play with it.  Take it to situations and take photos with

different aperture and shutter speed settings, in outdoor and indoor

settings and different orientations to light.  Don’t get upset when some

shots don’t work.  That’s part of the learning curve.

 

By learning by doing, you will build your confidence in your work and

eventually become a great photographer.  But don’t get cocky, there is

always more to learn.  And that is one of the fun things about

photography, isn't it?

 

Make sure you look for your next issue soon. We will be talking about

great lighting tips to help make your photos look like they were taken by

a professional.