I just wrote something about becoming a better photographer, from a high level
perspective. I’d appreciate feedback on it.
It wouldn’t all fit in one email to the list, so here is part 1
In my opinion, most discussions about taking better pictures have a misplaced
level of specificity. People will ask which camera, or lens, they should buy
with little regard to what sort of photos they want to take. Pronouncements
will be made as absolutes, with little understanding about about how and when
they do and don't apply. I will try to take a step back and treat photography
as a do, (or tao, or path), a set of skills that can always be sharpened but
never perfected.
The first thing to consider is the idea that the only people who consider
themselves to be experts in any field are those of intermediate skills. The
people who have learned enough to have dramatically improved since they have
started, but who haven't learned enough to realize how little they know. If
your goal is growth, your opportunities for improvement (future strengths) are
at least as important as your current strengths.
In order to keep your skills at their sharpest at any activity, it is
worthwhile to practice and drill on, the fundamental skills. This could be
musicians playing scales, golfers at a driving range, martial artists
practicing kata the list is nearly infinite. I will list some of these, and
some ways you might learn, or practice them.
What follows is neither a comprehensive list of subjects, and is only a brief
overview of those subjects. It is meant only as a starting place and each
subject, practically each paragraph could be expanded into a whole book.
Holding your camera:
I could make an argument that this is the most egregiously overlooked
photographic skill. It is something that I almost never see discussed, but is
probably responsible for as many lost shots, and lost sharpness than almost any
single other thing. In many situations you can get around this by using a
faster shutter speed and higher ISO, in others you can use a tripod or monopod,
but there will come a time when there just isn't enough light and time or space
for a tripod.
Once you have learned some of the basics for how to hold your camera steady,
practice. Set up something to photograph, and practice photographing it, with
different lenses on your camera, at slower and slower shutter speeds. Then
pixel peep the images on your computer to see how well you do.
As a point of reference, using a 31mm lens, in controlled circumstances on a
camera with image stabilization, I was able to consistently shoot at 1/3 second
without blur, and was still getting a fair number of sharp photos at 1/2. In
real world conditions, I found that at 1/10 second using a monopod would
dramatically improve my keeper ratio.
Exposure:
On one hand, exposure is incredibly simple, and in good light it is so
straightforward that it can be figured out by a microprocessor that costs less
than a dollar. However, in challenging light, it is necessary to make
tradeoffs. ISO trades off with both noise and dynamic range. Shutter speed and
blur. Aperture can trade off with depth of field, vignetting, exacerbating dust
spots on the sensor, sharpness, and diffraction. And of course, they all trade
off against one another.
There are different techniques for determining the appropriate exposure such as
expose to the right, using a grey card, spot metering, center weighted, and of
course chosing which side of the triangle to let the computer automate (shutter
speed, aperture, or ISO sensitivity). You need to understand when to adjust
exposure automatically, and when to let the camera choose. Then there is the
question of when and how to bracket, and how ISO invarience can play a role, or
not in any of the above.
One of the best ways to learn exposure is to get a hand held meter and spend
time using it to get your initial exposure settings, take a test shot, and
after looking at the results (histogram) adjusting your settings until you get
what seems to be a good result. Then you need to process your photos and take
a look at what works, or doesn't, in the final images. Once you can do it
fairly well with a light meter, do this exercise without a light meter. Look at
the scene, take a guess at the settings, and take a test shot based on your
educated guess, the adjust from there.
Doing this will force you to slow down and actually think about how you are
setting the camera and why. Just doing this can dramatically improve your work.
I know several people who complained that once they went from shooting large
format film (at several dollars every time they take an exposure) to shooting
digital the quality of their work dropped significantly.
There are many things related to exposure that will ruin a photo. The biggest
tends to be blowing out highlights, possibly in only one color channel. The
second most common tends to be blur, either of the subject or from moving the
camera. Insufficient depth of field, in my experience is less common than
those, and the least common is noise from underexposure or using too high of an
ISO.
focal length:
People often think of focal length only in terms of how large a subject is in
the frame, but choosing focal length is often more important in choosing what
is in the background of a photo. If you want to isolate your subject from the
background, use a longer focal length and angle of view of the background will
be narrower, making it easy to not show distracting or ugly items behind your
subject. If you want to show more context, use a shorter focal length, move
closer and the background will show a much wider angle of view.
One of the best ways to get a feel for this is to spend a lot of time shooting
at only one focal length. Put either a wide or a long prime on your camera and
shoot with only that lens for a while.
Learn about light:
The authors of the book "Light, Science and Magic" did a much better job
teaching about how to use light for photography than I can. Read the book and do at least
some of the exercises at the end of each chapter. It doesn't have to be the most recent
edition of the book either.
Critique:
One of the most important skills you can develop is learning how to take
critique. When someone is telling you how your photo could be better, they are
trying to help you, they are not attacking you. When possible, you should try
to follow their advice, and compare the results with the processing that you
originally showed.
Do understand, however, that not everyone has the same idea of what makes for a
good photo. Seek out the advice of people who you consider to do good work.
Find a community where good critiques are shared and read what people say of
each other's work. You can learn as much from reading what is said about other
photos as you can getting feedback on your own, and your own feelings are less
likely to get in the way.
Similarly, you should learn how to analyze other people's photos, and how to
reverse engineer them. What did they do, and why? How did they set up the
lighting?
Mindfully take a lot of photos:
To a first approximation it does not cost any money to take a digital photo.
Every time you have a few extra minutes you can wander around with your camera
and look for things to photograph. Don't worry about getting great photos,
think about getting the best photo of whatever subject you see, with the
resources you have.
Every time you do this, you learn a little bit and when you do get the chance
at that great photo, you have a much better chance of having done something
similar and learned what works better or worse rather than needing to start
from first principles. Often times, even saving a few seconds can be the
difference between getting a great shot for your portfolio and missing the shot
altogether.
Just as importantly, this exercise helps train you to see potential photos.
There are some places where it is hard to not get a decent shot, but it takes
practice to see the great photo in the same scene.
Take out everything that isn't great:
You don't make a great photo by putting more good stuff into it, you make a
great photo by taking out everything that isn't great. When you are composing,
and when you are editing, look for things that you can take out.
Show less work:
You will be judged not by your best work, or even the overall quality of your
work, but by the weakest work that you show.
--
Larry Colen
[email protected]
