The art of digital photography may lie in its simplicity.Its not the camera that takes the shot but the photographer and when that photographer has a digital camera it is like a magic wand is to a magician. Taking the photo is simplicity itself because the new equipment does it all for you but getting your head around how to take photos is a wee bit harder. There are endless possibilities and countless angles but now there is no need to worry about F stops or technical stuff so you would think it would be a piece of cake but what do we do? We start worrying that it is so simple we must not be doing it right.I mean how hard can it be? Pick up the camera and click. Anything can be a great photo if you want to turn it into something extra special with editing but instead we spend time trying to take “the perfect shot” and nothing less will do and that may stop us from attempting anything at all until we “get it right”.Once we give away the old concepts of trying to take the perfect shot we will realize that any photo can become the perfect photo given the right circumstances. With the right editing you will find that your boring photo suddenly appears in brilliant color, crystal clear, exciting, resembling something you have aspired to for ages.Key concepts to get right that I have discovered in my quest to learn digital photography are:
Head on out and take lots of photos, this will help you get comfortable with your camera and what it does
Make your photos clear – that means get a camera with built in anti shake or use a tripod
Turn the flash off for most photos as this will distort your subject and give portraits a startled appearance
Move up close to the subject so that it fills the whole frame
Suspend your judgement on what you think will come up great in a photo – an old shoe can make a fantastic work of art and I have taken photos of rocks that have come out absolutely amazing in macro.
Experiment and see how your photos come out and you will find you start to develop a theme and a feel for the direction you want your photography to go in.Learn as you go, do not sit around reading the manual, waiting for the right day, the right opportunity, the perfect angle and use any discarded photos as learning experiences to be edited and enjoyed and enjoy creating and learning new ways of doing things.