This is the first in a series of articles that I plan to write called "Pathways". These posts will be about specific things that I've done to improve my photography over the years. Sounds simple, right? Some of the things are indeed simple, and on the other hand some of them take years to master. But that's part of the photographic journey that all of us are on....to find our vision and the best ways to get there! We need to find our pathways...
To start with, in this first post, I want to talk very briefly about cameras...
Today’s compact digital cameras and digital SLR’s (DSLR’s) are modern marvels packed with technology that enable people to take great photos without having to think about the technical aspects of operating the camera. Assuming the essential elements of a good photo are present (subject, lighting, etc), no matter how complex your camera is, it can be set to its “Auto” mode and under a large majority of circumstances you can just point the camera at your subject, shoot, and a technically good photo is the result.
This is truly a remarkable thing. It has done much to bring photography to an ever-increasing number of people precisely because it’s so easy. But to those who are interested in taking more than snapshots, who really want their photography to leap off their computer screens and prints, there’s a much bigger world out there. It involves taking your camera off “Auto” to reach it…I encourage you to try it!
Over the past few years that I’ve been developing the creative aspects of my photography, I’ve learned a lot of techniques that helped me realize my vision. Many of the techniques are directly tied to understanding and using the many non-automated features of my DSLR.
The whole principle of advancing your creativity is about skipping the auto-everything modes to instead use the Shutter, Aperture, and Manual modes to achieve a desired creative result. It’s about utilizing other metering modes besides evaluative or matrix to creatively meter a scene to emphasize the lighting and color that you want for your subjects, not what your camera wants.
The theory behind why Shutter, Aperture, and Manual modes exist in cameras is actually very straight forward. These modes allow you to take charge of your photographic results. Period.
In their Auto mode, cameras are all about averages. Left to their own devices, they choose average shutter speed and aperture combinations to ensure a balanced photographic result. They’re designed to produce an averaged brightness level throughout a given scene (e.g., in evaluative metering mode the camera meters an entire scene before it and averages it out to obtain what it thinks a “correct exposure” is for a given subject).
There are caveats to this averaging though…
Have you ever taken a picture outside in the snow and then viewed it later to see the picture looks dull and the snow looks gray? You were the victim of averages…
Have you ever taken a picture at a party where your subject turned out perfect and the room they were standing in with all the nice lighting was reduced to almost total blackness behind them? You were the victim of averages…
The question then is: Can you take control of the camera to do a better job at fulfilling your vision than its Auto mode does? The answer in most cases is…..yes!
In future posts in my "Pathways" series, I’ll address some of the steps that I took down the non-Auto path to achieving more effective photographic results. My progress over the years has been the result of developing my personal photographic vision, or what many photographers refer to as their “eye”. I’ve developed the skills to imagine what I want a scene to look like in a completed image, and I understand how to use my camera to fulfill that vision. I've also practiced a lot and read many great books and articles to help me along the way.
It’s a fun and challenging journey! More to come...
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