Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Photography - A journey of sorts

jan21aa

What I've learned thus far:
  • Don't compare your photos to those of other photographers.  (This doesn't mean that I don't - it means I've learned that I shouldn't.)
  • Be original and have your own style, which will come out on its own.  Don't rush it.
  • You are smarter than your camera.  
  • If you want to learn to shoot in manual, shoot in manual.  It may be frustrating at first but it's the only way to learn.
  • Don't follow trends.  What are trends?  Here are some examples:
    • Shooting on a tilt
    • Blowing out whites on black & white conversions
    • Over-brightening
    • Sharpening and over-editing eyes
    • Adding too much contrast (this is a new one I've recently noticed)
  • Get it right in the camera.  You shouldn't rely on editing software.  
  • It's okay to take less than perfect photos.  It happens to everyone. 
  • Practice.  Practice.  Practice.
jan21bb

I'm still mentally struggling with how to progress in my journey.  This is due in part to the weather, I think.  It's hard to find inspiration when you're stuck inside most of the time with weak winter light.  
We had another storm roll through here last night. I debated over taking my camera to work with me, thinking that some snowy city scenes would provide some inspiration. My thought process of late is that I need to stretch away from my standard repertoire. In the end, I decided not to take it, for a variety of reasons. I'm glad I made that decision because it doesn't even look like it snowed in Boston. I was expecting messy snowbanks when I stepped out of South Station this morning. Not so much.

Maybe I need to learn that progress is progress no matter how slow it may seem.

4 comments:

Laurie said...

I first found your blog when I was on maternity leave with my daughter and I started reading it from the beginning. I think your photography journey is very inspiring!

Sofia's mom said...

I love your posts about photography. They give me inspiration to practice and learn more about photography. I have simple Fujifilm FinePix S4200 and my goal is not to become professional photographer. I just want to learn more so I can take good photos of my daughter and one day I want to buy fancy camera, but at this point I think it would be wasted money.I have good Photoshop skills and I know what you can do with average photo and that's why the first thing I loved when I found your blog was that you're not following photography editing trends, unlike most mummy bloggers.

Sarah said...

Aw, thanks for the nice comments!!

Greg said...

When the experts say you’ve got an eye for beauty and you’re able to capture this in photos … does it make one a good photographer? Some of the most awarded photography pieces are those showing some great realism of man’s ugly wars. I agree, by the way. Don’t rely on editing software.