All about Photography!

From my very early days when I was about 7 or 8, I have been absolutely fascinated by photography. It’s a hobby which lets you be yourself, allows you to see the world through your composition and capture a moment which you want to freeze forever! This blog was an attempt to put down what does photography mean to me from various aspects – like how would it fit in aesthetically speaking, or how would I define it in technical language.

Generally we approach photography in a very casual manner. Now a days we have camera available in so many ways – in a mobile phone, in a PC, in a tablet and so on. This has opened up new avenues of clicking photographs just about any time, any place. That kind of photography is more for domestic day to day purpose. But if you want to get into more serious photography, you would need to atleast start with a decent point and shoot camera. I have had a Canon S3 IS model for a long time. This cam has a 10 x zoom and all the standard features/modes. But I must confess here that I didn’t use about 80% of those features or atleast was not aware about them. This led me to think that photography is so much more than a simple click. It’s about putting together various components of photography into one single shot that makes the photo interesting. How to make a photograph interesting is a separate discussion altogether. But in simple words, one needs to cultivate this skill as it doesn't come that easy. One can start with some simple experiments and then build upon it. I personally take a shot from different angle and then see which one looks better. For me, composition of a photo is the key to any good pic followed by other technicalities involved. Infact I have seen a good composition pic taken by a mobile camera looks far better than a bad composite pic taken by a high end SLR.

In order to truly enjoy the joys of photography, I feel that one should get acquainted with the nuts of bolts involved in photography. Following is a simple list to start with –

1) Know your camera well. Explore all the features and functionalities. Challenge yourself to know the meaning and function of each button present on your camera.

2) Deep dive into basic concepts of photography. What is the meaning of ‘Exposure’? What is ISO? How does aperture and shutter speed affect the photograph and so on. The more you grasp these concepts, the better you would be able to apply in photography

3) Pick up your camera and practice shooting. This point is the most ignored one. It has happened with me too – I have probably spent more time reading and learning about photography than actually shooting with my camera.

4) Pick up a particular field in photography – it’s not a good idea to do portraits, and also engage in wildlife and also landscape. This is good to experiment with, but if you would like to build your expertise, chose one area and give your best. Sustaining multiple areas of interest is difficult from long term.

5) Build or join a social group with affiliation to photography. It can be a small group or a big one, the idea is to socialize and learn from others. If you can join a course, attend a seminar on photography, that's a great start. Internet is another great place to get started in this direction which offers various photography related social platforms such as Flickr, Instagram etc. 

Last but not least, pick up your camera and start shooting !!

PS - The pic as appearing above is taken via Canon S3 IS at a local beach in North Kerala. 
(Settings: 1/500ƒ/4ISO 7510.6 mm)