21: Photography ramblings

In a previous life, I was a photographer. I did some freelance work for small-time newspapers, some editorial work for local magazines, and worked in a portrait studio/lab. An old friend messaged me today asking for advice since he's recently become interested in photography. I figured I'd copy my rather lengthy response here.

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Ahhh! Those aren't "the basics." Most people spend their entire lives trying to figure that out what makes a good angle and whatnot.

With photography, you have to learn the rules, learn the systematic techniques, read your camera's instruction manual backwards and forwards, follow the numbered directions, the mechanical recipe of a "good" photograph, all the un-creative boring stuff. Once you've got that down, then can you figure out what rules to break and what directions to ignore to make something completely original.

Stepping away from my little highfalutin rambling, here's some specific tid-bits that come to mind right now:

1. The quality of the camera does not = the quality of your picture. The "lil thing" you keep in your pocket will be just as good as an expensive camera in terms of angles/composition/visual aesthetic etc

2. Frame the picture IN CAMERA as close as possible as what you want the finished picture to look like. (as opposed to taking a picture then expecting to crop/edit in Photoshop later.)

2.5. Frame the object/subject as tightly as possible. Zoom in. FILL the frame with the object. Even if the picture is of a landscape, a deserted horizon, a tiny object in a vast emptiness...I don't care. Basically, every single space of your frame should be part of the image...as much as possible, nothing empty or useless meant to be edited/cropped out later.

3. Composition > angle. Don't confuse a fancy/crazy angle for a good composition. You can come up with an angle no one in the history of photography has ever used before and it would be pointless if the composition was lacking. Vice versa, the most amazing photographs are composed beautifully and taken with the most mundane angles. (Some people would even say that a fancy angle is just compensating for poor composition.)

3.5. Learn the basic rules of composition. Rule of thirds, rule of diagonals, triadic composition, use negative space, figure-ground confusion, framing etc.
Some useful links:
http://www.galitz.co.il/en/articles/composition.shtml
http://digital-photography-school.com/rapid-composition-how-to-compose-a-photo-quickly
http://www.digicamhelp.com/taking-photos/advanced-techniques/composing-photos/

4. Learn photography terms/tools. Not everything...just the most common and important. A good starting list:
http://www.arecintophotography.com/blog/photography-tutorials/common-photography-terms-and-usage-examples

5. Use as much natural light as possible (unless it night-time. Then use a tripod or stead your arm/body against a wall/railing/table.) When shooting indoors, use light from a window/door/etc. Indoor lights leave an un-natural yellow/blue glow and using a flash over-exposes everything and leaves harsh shadows.

6. LOOK at photographs. LOOK at good photographs (this is subjective...but a general idea of what is considered "good" is a start). LOOK at bad photographs. Compare and contrast.

7. TAKE PICTURES. I cannot stress enough how monumentally important this is. Photography really is one of those things that you learn just by doing. Specially in these days of digital cameras where you can take hundreds at little to no cost. Think of it in these terms: You have an unlimited number of amazing photographs inside you just waiting for you to take them....but you only get ONE per 100 shots you take.