Photography Basics

I was first introduced to photography when I attended Dudley College on a Media course. I loved it, however when I left things happened, I ventured new paths and never really pursed it liked I thought I would. Anyway I was asked a while back to take some photographs of a new born. I jumped at the chance, then I realised I needed to brush up on the basics, which lead me to writing this piece. Occasionally it is beneficial for us as photographers to go back to basics. Of course, if you want to get started in the world of photography, the basics is the natural way to start.  But you require the basics of what the professionals know about the craft of photography.

Obviously, the foundation of the basics of photography is the photographic camera.  When you catch a camera geek walking about with plenty of gear around his neck to set in motion a space shuttle, you believe that cameras are phenomenally difficult, more than simple mortals can apprehend.  But view the professionals and you see them operating portable, relatively easy to control cameras.  That is because the basics of operating a camera boils down to aperture and shutter speed.

Now do not get uneasy about fancy terms.  Aperture is merely a term for how wide your photographic camera lens is open to allow in light, and shutter speed is merely how long you allow the light in to affect the picture.  For catching a shot of a high-speed moving event, you desire a wide aperture to allow in a lot of light but a short shutter speed so you catch the event quickly and close the window so the picture is captured before further light hurts the quality.

Photography is actually entirely about light.  You are able to and will learn a great deal about lenses and flash photography and the additional ways to convert the control over the lighting of a shot to you.  Therefore add to your core skills of photography a willingness to never cease learning.  The more effective and more advanced you get in your ability to work with the equipment, the further you will progress and the more you will wish to learn.

You are able to acquire a greater control over these basic controls of the camera such as aperture and shutter speed by learning how to change from automatic settings to manual settings.  The automatic settings of any camera are merely there for the generalised public who are not actually concerned in learning the basic principles.  Thus they give you a few basic settings like landscape, portrait and sports settings.  By alternating to manual, you are able to learn what settings work better in different situations.

Now the most crucial basic factor about turning into a great photographer is practice, practice and practice.  Take some time with your equipment, and experiment with them.  Take it to places where you are able to take photographs with different aperture and shutter speed settings, in outside and inside settings and different orientations to light.  Do not become upset when a few snapshots do not work.  That's part of the learning process.

By learning by doing, you'll build up your self-confidence in your work and sooner or later become a great photographer.  However do not become cocky, there is always a lot of learning to do, for that's the fun about photography, isn’t it?

Happy Shooting.