healing gracie

Ok, I am finally getting around to posting more about photography and healing. And I'm going to start with the technical aspect of photography. To be honest, not my favorite thing to focus on (so this will be short), but it is an absolutely essential part of photography. If you don't know the technical stuff, it is very hard (probably impossible) to get the kind of pictures you want. That is something I have come to learn during my photographic journey. I have come to realize that without learning all the technical stuff I wouldn't be able to accomplish what I wanted to when it came to creativity.

Now, I'm not going to give any sort of "lessons" on how to be a great photographer (I'll leave that to the professionals). And I definitely don't profess to know everything there is to know about photography...I am still learning as well. But I will list a few things that were a part of my learning experience.

Stuff I learned (whether I wanted to or not):

Camera functions: It is very important to know how your camera works, whether you are using a high-quality digital SLR camera, or a dinky little point-and-shoot. Know your camera. Know the different settings, what all the buttons do (or at least the ones you will be using a majority of the time). By learning more about your camera and how it works can be a great advantage. It was for me.

Exposure: This applies mostly to the SLR cameras, but it does somewhat apply to point-and-shoots as well. The exposure is pretty much essential to photography (understatement there). It's only through exposure that an image is captured. The exposure all depends on light and how much light is being allowed to reach the sensor in digital cameras or the film in traditional. There are three things that control exposure: shutter-speed, aperture, and ISO. Shutter-speed refers to how long the exposure time is. The aperture refers to the amount of light being let in. And the ISO refers to the sensitivity of the sensor/film to that light. I remember in my first photography class this was my least favorite part...because we had to memorize all the various shutter-speed times and aperture settings. Now, looking back, I see how much it makes life easier to have those memorized when you are taking pictures. It makes finding the exposure (and adjusting it to create a certain effect) much more easier.

Composition: How to compose your image so it creates the most effect. I could spend a whole post on this one...however I am trying not to go into lecture-mode here...though I think I am getting pretty close. The composition can make or break the photo. There are several ways to compose a photo: rule-of-thirds is one of the easiest, and probably the one I use most frequently (that I know of). You can try shooting from different perspectives, angles, etc. You can shoot from a distance, or do close-up. Honestly, when it comes to composing a photo I don't remember much of the rules I learned. I tend to rely more on intuition when it comes to composing a piece. Sometimes my intuition is on, and sometimes it is far off. For me, it takes a lot of experimenting.

Color: Color is very important in photography. All color evokes some kind of meaning, response, or emotion. Take red, for example. It is often associated with passion, anger, speed, etc. It's an intense color and tend to create a more intense response. A blue, on the other hand, tends to be a more calming color. It is often associated with peace, tranquility, etc. Photographers often use color as a means of communicating a certain message through photography. The absence of color also conveys a message. Because color can be a distracting element (especially if you don't have much control over it), it can be very beneficial to do a photo in black-and-white.

Practice, practice, practice: That's the best way to improve your skill in photography. You can read all the books you want, all the articles, watch as many tutorials as you can stand. But it actually requires you going out there, camera in hand, and taking pictures. I can say that I have (for the most part) had a camera attached to my hand a good chunk of my life. I was always taking pictures, of people, places, scenery, things. And I loved it! The more I took pictures, the better I became. My skill became more refined. My eye for what made a good photo became enhanced.

Along with practicing, I highly recommend experimenting. Try different ways of taking pictures. Different techniques, compostion, lighting, colors, etc. It's through experimenting that you can really increase your creativity.

Well, this did turn into somewhat of a lecture after all. Not as short as I expected it to be. Sorry folks. I could probably ramble about photography all day if given the chance.

Next post I will be talking more about creativity and ways I get inspired. Thanks for reading!