My neighbour's daughter's car. I always take photos of it because it's one of those 'old' cars (don't know how else to describe them) that I really like...
The river. I'm sure you're all very familiar with this scene- I'm always taking pictures of it because I have nothing else to capture :P
One of my favourites... it's a cockatoo, by the way. There are so many around my area that I decided to capture at least one in flight. I managed to take two :)
Sun setting...
5 comments:
Those are so beautiful!
May I offer some advice?
Yess, that'd be great Jeff :)
OK, Lu, two bits of basic advice about photography.
First, you should try to get away from becoming too obsessed with the hardware. Cameras have been sexy since the 60’s, and they’re still sexy now. People get too bound up with that and think better cameras take better pictures. Generally speaking, they don’t. More expensive cameras offer more functions which can broaden your scope, and with digital photography there’s the fact that better definition results from a higher pixel size, but that’s all. I had pictures accepted for the Photography Yearbook three years on the trot in the 90’s, and you’d be surprised at how many of the images in there were made using cheap, basic, East European cameras.
The fact is that good photography starts in the mind and eye of the photographer. Second is the understanding of technique, composition, lighting etc that needs to be learned. The camera is just the final tool that translates it into something people can look at. There’s no harm in loving your camera as long as you understand that it’s limited by your intentions and its own capabilities. See it always as a tool.
The second point is hard to explain. When most people look through the viewfinder of a camera, they think they’re seeing the same thing as they looked at outside the camera. So people look at a beautiful landscape, point the camera in that direction, and then get disappointed when they see the result. When you make a photograph, you’re converting a three dimensional reality - and one that’s big and all around you if we’re talking landscapes and skies – and reducing it to a small, self-contained, two dimensional image. What you need to do, therefore, is learn to switch off your memory of the external reality when you look through the viewfinder. See it for what it is – a small, two dimensional image. Study the elements within that image and see how they relate when they’re brought together as a self-contained picture. That way, you recognise when elements that looked fine in reality are too small (or sometimes even too big) to harmonise well with the rest of the composition. Getting balance in composition comes from looking at the image in a viewfinder as just an image, not a comprehensive representation of what’s outside the camera.
I hope that makes some sense. Will it do for now?
I spent a lot of years studying photography and working as a photographer, but you’re obviously free to ignore me if you want. Equally, feel free to ask me questions if you think it might be helpful. Photography is a wonderful hobby. I lived, ate and slept it for years. There’s a magic about it. Good luck.
Thank you so much for that, Jeff! What you've written- especially in the second point- has written helped. Two-dimensional image is a new point to consider for me, thanks :)
I will definitely annoy you with all my future questions about photography, to be sure, Jeff, if only you wouldn't mind answering them! :)
Post a Comment