Today we continue our series of photo tutorials. George Barrie will describe some useful photography techniques. Also he will give you an advice about photo cameras. You will find useful tips for creating black and white photographs as well as colour photography. Firstly the art of photography is the art of photo lighting. In these photography lessons you will learn everything about photography light.
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Welcome to this week’s newsletter, my apologies for the delay, gremlins on my pc and with internet connections.
Always remember, these newsletters are meant to be read by aspiring photographers and enthusiasts.
This week I just want to talk about cameras, or means of capturing images.
These days, nearly everything can capture images, ipods, mobile phones, PDA,s etc. They are fine if you ate stuck and need to send an image to someone, as happened last night, Leanna, my future daughter in law sent some images of the little Yorkie pups.
The quality of those images is not high, and my experience of this means of capturing images suggests it has limited practical use. It is the purist in me again. Phones are for phoning, cameras are for taking pictures.
Digital cameras have come on leaps and bounds over the last few years; they have also physically shrunk and will shrink further. The capabilities have increased by orders of magnitude with more and more features. I am convinced most of the “features” are there because the technology is available, not because it is necessary.
I remember an early experiment we all did as students, and it puts things into perspective. You take a shoe box, put a pinhole in the end, and attach a piece of photosensitive paper to the inside (in the dark of course) seal it up. Then take it outside and place it on a wall, uncover the pinhole for 30 seconds. Take the box back to the darkroom and process the paper, hey presto, you have a photograph. Technology now, it almost makes the tea!!!!
My very first camera was a Kodak Brownie 127, I kept it for years. It was of course a simple film camera, fixed focus, fixed shutter speed and fixed aperture. The film was black and white; I used to take it to the local chemists in the village, 3 days later you got 12 enprints, 3×2 inches if I remember correctly. Nostalgia!!!
Digital imaging changed everything; it is not that long since this technology was introduced when looked at through the history of photography. They are in essence not any different to my brownie 127. They have a lens, a shutter and aperture that focuses the image in front of you onto a light sensitive surface, on a CCD or CMOS chip instead of a piece of film.
When you decide to look for a digital camera, don’t be mesmerized by the salesman or the “wonderful” spec quoted. First decide what you need it for, is it for record shots of the family, holidays, sporting occasions? That should determine and narrow down your search a bit. How compact does it have to be? There are digital cameras that are keyrings, quality of the images are shocking.
As you know I am a working professional photographer, in addition to the high end equipment I use, I also have a compact digital camera for occasions when my high end equipment would be impractical.
I will talk about some practical tips next week to make your images better.
What have I been photographing this week? It is flowers and food. I like photographing those items; first, you never go hungry and the flowers make the studio look wonderful. Both of these subjects need some specialist equipment to get the impact the client wants. I will tell you about that some other time.
Talk to you next week, remember email me if you have questions.
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George Barrie has a significant experience in wedding photography as well as in portraiture. You can arrange individual photography workshops with George Barrie.
Contact details:
George Barrie
Summit Studios
Pioneer House
Lodge St
Middleton
Manchester
M24 6AA
Tel: (+044)0161 643 5892
