Over the past few months, I have been working to share my knowledge on photography. Here are few projects on the pipeline:
- I have discussed with
to host training sessions for TeamMalaysia members where he'll be teaching all about animation & banner while I teach about photography
- Collaborating with a few from SteemitEducation where I'll be responsible for photography courses while my partners like
concentrates on writing and
will educate fellow Steemians on formatting Steemit posts using basic HTML (tentative).
- Support
on this project that is also Steemit education based but with a proper platform.
Below is the outline for my course (and I may do some edit over the next 7 days). And over the week, I'll elaborate on the topic below.
To take a simple still subject such as these flowers takes a certain knowledge. There is a reason why one's photo looks better than others.
PRE-PRODUCTION
What Is Photography?
- Science: Photography is simply a process of capturing an image that is reflected by light. Light is the most important element in photography.
- Art: As they say in art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There are categories of art that is well received by most, and there are categories, which are loved by a selected few. The same applies to photography as it itself is an art.
- Marketing: Photos is important to compliment and enhance your post. A good photo helps to visualize the subject matter and is a good representation of your personality and traits.
Basic Rules:
- 1-Second-Rule: Unless it is an abstract photo, our audience should be able to describe or name the theme of the photo within 1 second of looking at it.
- Rule of Thirds: Main subject should be position, intersected or aligned at the 1/3 of the photo frame. Only time it doesn’t apply is when there is perfect symmetry.
- Golden Hour Photography: Photos taken outdoor during dawn or dusk.
- Use Frames: Add elements to supplement the story behind the subject matter.
- Main subject: Main subject should occupy majority space of the photo.
- Secondary subject: Act as a compliment to the main subject.
- Invisible Arrows:
A) Leading lines for eyes to follow.
B) Eye contacts are exactly like arrows and is usually the deciding factor to a good or bad photo involving people. - Depth: Introduce fore/middle/background to photos.
- Symmetry & Patterns: Eye pleasing. This subject is mainly relevant to architecture or nature photography. Can be natural or man made, but for most cases, it is true for the latter.
- Rule of Space: Give room to your subject matter. If surrounding compliments the subject or is esthetically pleasing, then incorporate the extra frame on the photo can further enhance the quality of the photo.
It takes practice and skills to capture photos that are meaning full. And I'll guide you through with examples
PRODUCTION
Point of View: Many times, we love photos of subject we are familiar with but from a different perspective. That is the reason why we love drone shots (bird’s eye view) as it is close to impossible for us to enjoy such view in real life. Photo from point of view of others such as toddlers and pets is also a good example.
Patience & Opportunity: When framing a photo, we need to be patient wait for the right time. There are times when knowledge and experience can help. At other times, there is luck.
Be Mobile: Best photos are rarely taken from a fixed position or where the photographer sits or stands. One who strives for quality photo will need to acrobatic, creative and mobile.
Quality Photo: Only capture photos that are worthy of collection. There are many times where instinctively capture photos to keep it as memory. But these photos do not meet the Basic Rules (see post above).
Be Ready: One needs to be familiar with the settings and functions for the camera or smartphone. For event photography, it is wise to be familiar with the agenda or schedule. For travel photography, research and homework makes a lot of difference between a sub-par quality photo and a photo that is worthy to win praises.
Most important step to take photos of good composition. Post production is important (but not the most important) to enhance a photo as it makes a good photo better with some touch up.
POST-PRODUCTION
Step 1
Delete Photos: Less is more. Delete photos that are blur or do not meet the Basic Rules above or repetitive. There is no guideline to quantity of photos per album. But rule of thumb is that there should be enough to entertain the viewer but not too many to bore yourself or someone who is a fan of your photos. Deleting photos may involve a few rounds.
Step 2
Cropping: Cropping is the single most important pre-production step to enhance your photo. And it only takes seconds to decide and take action to do the cropping.
Step 3
Editing: Minor touch up, editing or choosing filters is also important. Sometimes, this step can be skipped altogether. Other time, this step could take a few minutes or more (especially when one tries to salvage an important photo)
Step 4
Organize: Organize, naming, tagging is important for future references. Naming accordingly to the event and storing them in order ensure that you can conveniently locate your photos in the future.
Step 5
Share: Share your photos on social media platform, messenger platform or online photo albums.
Step 6
Store and organize: Most people ignore this step and ends up in dismay when their phone, computer or hand disk is stolen, lost or spoilt.
